17:67 Al-Israa (The Night Journey)

ومن رحمته الدالة على أنه وحده المعبود دون ما سواه أنهم إذا مسهم الضر في البحر فخافوا من الهلاك لتراكم الأمواج ضل عنهم ما كانوا يدعون من دون الله في حال الرخاء من الأحياء والأموات، فكأنهم لم يكونوا يدعونهم في وقت من الأوقات لعلمهم أنهم ضعفاء عاجزون عن كشف الضر وصرخوا بدعوة فاطر الأرض والسماوات الذي تستغيث به في شدائدها جميع المخلوقات وأخلصوا له الدعاء والتضرع في هذه الحال. فلما كشف الله عنهم الضر ونجاهم إلى البر ونسوا ما كانوا يدعون إليه من قبل وأشركوا به من لا ينفع ولا يضر ولا يعطي ولا يمنع وأعرضوا عن الإخلاص لربهم ومليكهم، وهذا من جهل الإنسان وكفره فإن الإنسان كفور للنعم، إلا من هدى الله فمن عليه بالعقل السليم واهتدى إلى الصراط المستقيم، فإنه يعلم أن الذي يكشف الشدائد وينجي من الأهوال هو الذي يستحق أن يفرد وتخلص له سائر الأعمال في الشدة والرخاء واليسر والعسر. وأما من خذل ووكل إلى عقله الضعيف فإنه لم يلحظ وقت الشدة إلا مصلحته الحاضرة وإنجاءه في تلك الحال. فلما حصلت له النجاة وزالت عنه المشقة ظن بجهله أنه قد أعجز الله ولم يخطر بقلبه شيء من العواقب الدنيوية فضلا عن أمور الآخرة.

يخبر تبارك وتعالى أن الناس إذا مسهم ضر دعوه منيبين إليه مخلصين له الدين ولهذا قال تعالى "وإذا مسكم الضر في البحر ضل من تدعون إلا إياه" أي ذهب عن قلوبكم كل ما تعبدون غير الله تعالى كما اتفق لعكرمة ابن أبي جهل لما ذهب فارا من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم حين فتح مكة فذهب هاربا فركب في البحر ليدخل الحبشة فجاءتهم ريح عاصف فقال القوم بعضهم لبعض إنه لا يغني عنكم إلا أن تدعو الله وحده فقال عكرمة في نفسه والله إن كان لا ينفع في البحر غيره فإنه لا ينفع في البر غيره اللهم لك علي عهد لئن أخرجتني منه لأذهبن فلأضعن يدي في يد محمد فلأجدنه رءوفا رحيما فخرجوا من البحر فرجع إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فأسلم وحسن إسلامه رضي الله عنه وأرضاه. وقوله تعالى "فلما نجاكم إلى البر أعرضتم" أي نسيتم ما عرفتم من توحيده في البحر وأعرضتم عن دعائه وحده لا شريك له "وكان الإنسان كفورا" أي سجيته هذا ينسى النعم ويجحدها إلا من عصم الله.

When Harm befalls Them, the Disbelievers do not remember anyone except Allah

Allah tells us that when harm befalls people, they call on Him, turning to Him and sincerely beseeching Him. Hence Allah says:

وَإِذَا مَسَّكُمُ الْضُّرُّ فِى الْبَحْرِ ضَلَّ مَن تَدْعُونَ إِلاَ إِيَّاهُ

(And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him.) meaning, everything they worship besides Allah disappears from their hearts and minds. Similar happened to `Ikrimah bin Abi Jahl when he fled from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ after the conquest of Makkah, and headed for Ethiopia. He set out across the sea to go to Ethiopia, but a stormy wind arose. The people said to one another: "None can save you except Allah Alone." `Ikrimah said to himself, "By Allah if none can benefit on the sea except Allah then no doubt none can benefit on land except Allah. `O Allah! I promise You that if You bring me safely out of this, I will go and put my hand in the hand of Muhammad and surely, I will find him full of pity, kindness and mercy."' They came out of it safely and were delivered from the sea. Then `Ikrimah went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and declared his Islam, and he became a good Muslim, may Allah be pleased with him.

فَلَمَّا نَجَّـكُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ أَعْرَضْتُمْ

(But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away.) means, you forget what you remembered of Divine Oneness (Tawhid) when you were on the sea, and you turn away from calling on Him Alone with no partner or associate.

وَكَانَ الإِنْسَـنُ كَفُورًا

(And man is ever ungrateful.) means, by nature he forgets and denies His blessings, except for those whom Allah protects.

And when distress difficulty befalls you at sea such as fear of drowning those whom you are wont to invoke are no longer present those whom you are wont to worship of gods are no longer present and so you do not call on them — except Him exalted be He for on Him alone you do call because you are suffering a distress which only He can remove. But when He delivers you from drowning and brings you to land you are rejective of God’s Oneness for man is ever ungrateful ever denying God’s graces.

(2) Secondly, he had said if he was given respite till the day of Qiyamah, he will mislead the entire progeny of 'Adam, except a few of them. That Allah Ta’ ala has elected to answer in the later verses. He said that the Shaitan will have no control over His sincere servants even if he were to rally his entire forces against them and as for the insincere who fall into his trap, they will meet the same fate as his, all consigned to Hell. When this verse (64) mentions the horsemen and footmen of the Shaitanic army, it does not necessarily mean that the Shaitan actually has combat support in that formation. In fact, this is a manner of referring to the full force and power of the Shaitan. And if the Shaitan does have horsemen and footmen actually, even that too cannot be denied. Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ said: Those who come out in support of disbelief and sin, horsemen or footmen, they are nothing but the army of the Shaitan. Now remains the question as to how the Shaitan came to know that he would succeed in enticing and misleading the progeny of 'Adam (علیہ السلام) ، the basis on which he claimed that he will subdue them. There are two possibilities. Perhaps, by looking at the ingredients that went into the making of man, he had gathered that man would be desire-prone and it would not be difficult to entice him successfully. And then, it is also not far out to believe that his very claim was nothing but a bland lie.

As for the sense of: وَشَارِ‌كْهُمْ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ (and share with them in their wealth and their children - 64), Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ said: Wealth and property acquired by false, impermissible and unlawful means or spent on what is haram is the sharing of the Shaitan in it. As for the sharing of the Shaitan in children, it could either be through illegitimacy, or by naming them like disbelievers and polytheists, or by indulging in polytheistic customs to ensure their security, or by taking to Haram sources of income to bring them up. (Qurtubi)