31:25 Luqman (Luqman)

أي: ولئن سألت هؤلاء المشركين المكذبين بالحق { مَنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ } لعلموا أن أصنامهم، ما خلقت شيئا من ذلك ولبادروا بقولهم الله الذي خلقهما وحده.فـ { قُلِ } لهم ملزما لهم، ومحتجا عليهم بما أقروا به، على ما أنكروا: { الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ } الذي بيَّن النور، وأظهر الاستدلال عليكم من أنفسكم، فلو كانوا يعلمون، لجزموا أن المنفرد بالخلق والتدبير، هو الذي يفرد بالعبادة والتوحيد.ولكن { أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ } فلذلك أشركوا به غيره، ورضوا بتناقض ما ذهبوا إليه، على وجه الحيرة والشك، لا على وجه البصيرة، ثم ذكر في هاتين الآيتين نموذجا من سعة أوصافه، ليدعو عباده إلى معرفته، ومحبته، وإخلاص الدين له.

يقول تعالى مخبرا عن هؤلاء المشركين به أنهم يعرفون أن الله خالق السماوات والأرض وحده لا شريك له ومع هذا يعبدون معه شركاء يعترفون أنها خلق له وملك له ولهذا قال تعالى "ولئن سألتهم من خلق السماوات والأرض ليقولن الله قل الحمد لله" أي إذا قامت عليكم الحجة باعترافكم "بل أكثرهم لا يعلمون".

The Idolators admitted that Allah is the Creator

Allah tells us that these idolators who associated others with Him admitted that Allah Alone, with no partner or associate, is the Creator of heaven and earth yet they still worshipped others besides Him who they recognized were created by Him and subjugated to Him. Allah says:

وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُمْ مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّهُ قُلِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ

(And if you ask them: "Who has created the heavens and the earth," they will certainly say: "Allah." Say: "All the praises and thanks be to Allah!") By their admitting that, proof is established against them,

بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(But most of them know not.) Then Allah says:

للَّهِ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ

(To Allah belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth.) meaning, He created it and has dominion over it.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْغَنِىُّ الْحَمِيدُ

(Verily, Allah, He is Al-Ghani, Worthy of all praise.) means, He has no need of anyone or anything besides Himself, and everything else is in need of Him. He is Worthy of praise for all that He has created, so praise be to Him in the heavens and on earth for all that He has created and decreed, and He is worthy of praise in all affairs.

And if wa-la-in the lām is for oaths you were to ask them ‘Who created the heavens and the earth?’ they will surely say ‘God’ la-yaqūlunna ‘they will surely say’ the indicative nūn has been omitted because of the like sc. the nūn coming after it and likewise the wāw of the plural person because of two unvocalised consonants coming together. Say ‘Praise be to God’ for the manifestation of the definitive argument against them by the affirmation of the Oneness of God. Nay but most of them do not realise that this affirmation is an obligation upon them.

Commentary

At the beginning of the Surah, the Kafirs and the Mushriks were admonished for still persisting with their Kufr and Shirk despite that they had seen the manifestations of the all-encompassing knowledge and the most perfect power of Allah Ta’ ala. And in contrast to their condition, obedient believers were praised and mention was made of their good end. In between, the description of the bequests (wasaya of Luqman, peace on him, was in a way a complement of the same subject. In the verses cited above, the text reverts to the subjects of Allah Ta’ ala's all-encompassing knowledge and power, His bounties and favors showered on the creations with an exhortation to believe in the principle of His Oneness.

The expression: سَخَّرَ‌ لَكُم (sakhkhara lakum: translated as 'subjugated for you' ) in verse 20: سَخَّرَ‌ لَكُم مَّا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (Allah has subjugated for you what is in the heavens and what is on the earth) is well known and means to make something subservient to someone. This raises a question at this place. Is it not that, first of all, not even everything on the earth is subservient to human will and command? In fact, there are many things that act counter to human choice. As for things of the heavens particularly, there exists just about no probability of their being subservient to human beings. The answer is that 'subjugation' really means to force something into doing a particular job in a state of virtual compulsion. So, subjugating the entire creation of the heavens and the earth for human beings means that the whole range of such creations was yoked in their service to bring all sorts of benefits to them. Out of these things, many were put in their service by subjecting them to their command as well, in that they could use them as and when they wished. But, there are other things that have been, of course, commissioned to serve them - which they are doing all right - but, such was the dictate of Divine wisdom, that they were not made subject to the command of human beings, for example, the heavenly creations, planets, stars, lighting, rains and similar others. Had they been subjugated to follow human orders, these elements of creation would have been affected by human temperaments, tastes and varying conditions. One human being would have wanted the sun to rise early while the need of the other would have it rise later. Someone would have asked for rains while the other, being in travel through an open field, would have opted for no rains. So, these divergent demands would have triggered operational malfunction in the workings of the universal heavenly system. Therefore, Allah Ta` a1a did put all these things into the service of human beings but did not make them subject to their will and command. This too is, in a way, subjugation. Allah knows best.

The word: اسباغ (isbagh) in the next sentence of verse 20: وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ ظَاهِرَ‌ةً وَبَاطِنَةً (and has perfected His blessings on you, both outward and inward) means to perfect, make complete, provide in great abundance to the last fill. The Arabic word: نِعَم (ni'am) means 'blessings' which human beings recognize through their senses, for instance, the beauty of shape and the symmetry of human limbs made into such proportion as would allow maximum functional movement causing no disfigurement of one's shape and looks. Similarly, provisions, property; wealth, avenues of economic opportunity, health and well being arh also outward and perceived blessings. In the same way, making the religion of Islam easy to follow, being enabled to obey Allah and His Rasul ﷺ ، the ascendancy of Islam over other faiths and the support given to Muslims encountering enemies also come under the same outward blessings. As for inward blessings, they relate to the human heart, such as, 'Iman (faith), knowing Allah (ma'rifah), intellect, reason, good morals, the good fortune of having one's sins left unexposed and of one's crimes not punished instantly and many others.

The manifestations of Allah's knowledge, power and blessings are endless. These cannot by encompassed by anyone through speech, nor can any pen write them comprehensively.