QN
029 Al Ankabut The Spider 18122021
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العنكبو |
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Classification |
|
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Position |
Juzʼ 20 |
|
Hizb no. |
40, 41 |
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No. of Rukus |
7 |
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No. of verses |
69 |
|
Opening muqaṭṭaʻāt |
ʾAlif Lām Mīm الم |
The Spider[1] (Arabic: العنكبوت, al-‘ankabūt) is the 29th chapter (surah) of the Quran with 69 verses (āyāt).
Early Muslims
were persecuted in
Mecca where Muhammed was not a leader, and not persecuted in Medina, where he
was a protected leader.
This Surah gives comfort to Muslims in a time
of persecution
(Pickthal )
The surah states that Nuh, Ibrahim, Lut, Shuaib, Hud, Saleh, Musa and Muhammad all were prophets of God. All of them
endured hardships. For example, Noah was ridiculed often and Abraham was thrown
into the fire. But God destroyed their people who transgressed. As it says in
verse 40,
So each We punished for
his sin; of them was he on whom We sent down a violent storm, and of them was
he whom the rumbling overtook, and of them was he whom We made to be swallowed
up by the earth, and of them was he whom We drowned; and it did not beseem
Allah that He should be unjust to them, but they were unjust to their own
souls.[2]
Parable of the spider's house[edit]
The
parable of those who take protectors other than God is that of a spider
spinning a shelter. And the flimsiest of all shelters is certainly that of a
spider, if only they knew.
— - Qur'an 29:41[4]
Mustafa Khattab, author of the Clear Quran, notes that
"Externally, the web is too flimsy to protect the spider against rain and
strong wind. Internally, the spider’s family structure is fragile, since some species are
cannibalistic, with the female preying on the male and the young eating their
own mother."[5]
Verse [Section]
Complete [7]
1-13 [1] 1,2
14-22 [2] 3
23-30 [3] 4,5
31-44 [4] 6,7,8
45-51 [5] 9
52-63 [6] 10
64-69 [7] 11
Verse Theme
Surah 29. Al-Ankabut
1..1-7 Allah tests the believers to see who is truthful
and who is a liar 1.1
5--28-30 Lut was appointed as a Rasool towards the
nation of homosexuals
3.2
6--31-35 They rejected Allah's guidance; as a result
Allah destroyed them all
4.1
8--41-44 Parable of those who take protectors other than
Allah
4.3
(29:6) Whosoever strives(in the cause of
Allah) does so to his own good.8 Surely Allah stands in no need of anyone in the
whole Universe.9
8. The word mujahadah means
to struggle and exert one’s utmost against an opponent, and when the particular
opponent force is not pointed out, the word implies an allout, many sided
struggle. The struggle that a believer has to make in the world is of this very
nature. He has to fight against Satan, who frightens him every moment of the
possible losses that they have to incur for the sake of good and allures him
with the benefits and pleasures of the evil. He has to fight his own self also,
which exerts to make him the slave of its lusts. He has also to fight all those
men, from home to the world outside, whose ideology, trends, morality, customs,
way of life and social and economic principles may be in conflict with his
faith. And he has to fight that state too, which enforces its laws independent
of obedience to Allah, and employs its forces to promote evil instead of the
good. This struggle is not of a day or two, but of a lifetime, of every moment
of the day and night. And it is not a struggle in one field only but on every
front of life. It is about this that Hasan Basri has said: “Man exerts in the
way of Allah, even though he may not strike one sword at any time.”
9.
That is, Allah is not asking you to exert your utmost because he stands in need
of any help from you to establish His Godhead and keep it established and
sustained. But He instructs you to enter this conflict because this opens the
way to your own progress. Through this way only, you can get rid of the evil
and follow the way of truth. Through this way alone you can develop the ability
and power to rise as the standard bearers of goodness in the world and become
worthy of Allah’s Paradise in the Hereafter. By waging this war you will not do
any favor to Allah but will only be helping your own selves.
18122021
(29:14) We did indeed send
Noah to his people21 and he lived among them a thousand years save
fifty.22 Eventually the Flood overtook them while they were
engaged in wrongdoing.
22. This does not mean that the Prophet Noah (peace be upon him)
lived for 950 years, but it means that after his appointment to
prophethood till the coming of the flood, he went on making efforts for 950
years for the reformation of his wicked people, and he did not
lose heart even though he suffered persecutions for such a long time. The same
is the aim of the discourse here. The believers are being told: “You have been
suffering persecutions and experiencing stubbornness of your wicked opponents
hardly for six years or so. Just imagine the patience and resolution and
firmness of Our servant who braved such afflictions and hardships continuously
for nine and a half centuries.”
The Quran and the Bible differ about the age of the Prophet Noah
(peace be upon him). The Bible says that he lived for 950 years. He was 600
years old when the flood came, and lived for another 350 years after the flood.
But according to the Quran, he must have lived for at least a
thousand years, because 950 years is the time that he spent in preaching his
mission after his appointment to prophethood till the coming of the flood.
Evidently, he must have been appointed to prophethood after he had attained his
maturity, and must have lived some life after the flood also.
For some people such a long life is inconceivable. But in this world
of God strange happenings are not rare. Wherever one may look
one will see extraordinary manifestations o
f His power. The occurrence of certain events and things in a
usual form and manner is no proof that the event or thing cannot happen in an
unusual and extraordinary way. To break these assumptions there exists a long
list of unusual events and things that have taken place in every kind of
creation in every part of the universe. In particular, the person who has a
clear concept of God’s being All- Powerful, cannot be involved in the
misunderstanding that it is not possible for God, Who is the Creator of life
and death, to grant a life of a thousand years or so to any man. The fact is
that man of his own will and wish cannot live even for a moment, but if Allah
wills, He can make him live for as long as He pleases.
20122021
(29:27) and We bestowed upon him (offspring
like) Isaac and Jacob,47 and bestowed
prophethood and the Book48 on his descendants and granted him his reward in this world; he
will certainly be among the righteous49 in the Hereafter.
47. The Prophet Isaac
(peace be upon him) was his son and the Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him) was
the grandson. The other sons of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) have
not been mentioned here, because from his Midianite descendants only the
Prophet Shuaib (peace be upon him) was appointed a Prophet, and no Prophet was born among his Ishmaelite descendants for 2500 years or
so till our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Contrary to this, the
descendants of the Prophet Isaac (peace be upon him) continued to be blessed
with the prophethood and the Book till the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him).
48.
This covers all the Prophets who were raised from all the branches of the
Prophet Abraham’s (peace be upon him) progeny.
49.
What is meant to be said is this:
The rulers and the learned men and the priests
of Babylon who tried to defeat the mission of the Prophet Abraham (peace be
upon him) and the polytheistic people who had followed their wicked chiefs
blindly, have since been blotted out and no trace of
them is to be found anywhere in the world, but the person whom they had wanted
to annihilate by burning in the fire only because he had proclaimed the word of
Allah, and who eventually had to leave his country empty handed, was so blessed
by Allah that his name has been well known in the world since the past 4,000
years and will remain so till the Last Day. All the Muslims and the Christians
and the Jews unanimously recognize that friend of the Lord of the worlds as
their spiritual leader. Whatever guidance mankind
has received during the past 40 centuries has been received through this one
man and his righteous descendants. The unique reward that he will get in the
Hereafter is assured, but the place of honor that he has gained even in this
world has not been gained so far by any of those who have exerted themselves in
pursuit of the worldly benefits and advantages.
(29:38) And We destroyed Ad and Thamud, whose
dwellings you have observed.65 Satan had embellished their deeds for them
and had turned them away from the Right Path although they were a people of
clear perception.66
65. Every Arab was
acquainted with the lands where these two nations had lived. The whole of
southern Arabia now known as Ahqaf, Yaman and Hadramaut, was the land of Aad in
the ancient times, and the Arabs knew it. The whole area in the north of the
Hijaz, from Rabigh to Aqabah and from Madinah and Khaiber to Taima and Tabuk.
still
abounds with Thamudic monuments, which must have been more prominent than they
are today in the time when the Quran was being revealed.
66.
That is, “They were not ignorant and foolish people, but
were the most civilized people of their own times. They performed and carried
out their worldly duties and chores very carefully and intelligently.
Therefore, it cannot be said that Satan deluded them and pulled them on to his
way by artifice and deception. Nay, they
adopted the way shown by Satan with open eyes and with full understanding
because it promised great pleasures and advantages; and they abandoned the way
presented by the prophets because it appeared to be colorless, tasteless and
troublesome due to moral restrictions.”
(29:40) So We seized each for their sin. We
let loose upon some a violent tornado with showers of stones;68 some were overtaken
by a mighty Cry;69 some
were caused to be swallowed up by the earth,70 and some We drowned.71 Allah would not wrong
them, but it is they who wronged themselves.72
68. That is, Aad who were
subjected to a furious windstorm which blew on them for seven nights and eight
days continuously.
69.
That is, Thamud. --overtaken by a mighty Cry;6
70.
That is, Korah --swallowed up by the earth
71.
That is, Pharaoh and Haman.-- drowned
72.
The stories that have been related in the foregoing verses, have been addressed
and directed both to the believers and to the
disbelievers. To the believers they have been addressed
so that they do not feel discouraged and distressed at heart, and keep aloft
the banner of the truth firmly and patiently even in the face of the severe
persecutions and hardships, and should have full faith in Allah that His succor
shall ultimately come, and He will frustrate the designs of the wicked people
and make the word of the truth to prevail. On the other hand, these have been
addressed to those wicked people also, who in their arrogance were bent upon
exterminating the Islamic movement. They have been warned to the effect: “You
have formed a wrong opinion about Allah’s forbearance and clemency. You think;
that His is a lawless Kingdom. If you have not been seized so far for your
rebellion and your tyrannies and wicked deeds and have been granted a long
respite so that you may reform yourselves, you have inferred that there exists
no power whatsoever which can call you to account, and that one can go on doing
whatever one likes endlessly on this earth. This misconception will ultimately
lead you to the same doom that has already been met by the peoples of Noah and
Lot and Shuaib, (peace be upon them) and experienced by Aad and Thamud, and
seen by Korah and Pharaoh.
24122021
(29:41)
The case of those who took others than Allah as their protectors is that of a
spider who builds a house; but the frailest
of all houses is the
spider's house; if they only knew.
(29:44) Allah has created the heavens and the earth in Truth.75 Certainly there is a Sign in this for those who
believe.76
75. That is, the system of
the universe is based on the truth and not on falsehood. Whoever ponders over
this system with an unbiased mind will realize that the earth and the heavens
owe their existence to reality and fact and not to superstition and fancy. Here
there is no possibility that
whatever a person may conceive in his mind and
whatever philosophy he may invent out of his personal whim and conjecture
should fit in with the system. Here only such a thing can succeed and endure,
which is in harmony with the reality and actual fact. A structure that is
raised on unreal presumptions and hypotheses will ultimately collapse when it
clashes with the reality. The system of the
universe clearly testifies that its Creator is One God, and One God alone is
its Master and Disposer. If a person works against this basic reality on the
presumption that this world has no God, or that it has many gods, who devour
the offerings of their devotees and in return give them a license to do
whatever they please and a guarantee to live in peace and happiness, the
reality will not change due to his presumptions, but, on the contrary, he
himself will some time meet with a grave disaster.
76.
That is, a clear evidence exists in the creation of the earth and the heavens
about the truth of Tauhid and the refutation of polytheism and atheism, but
this evidence is found only by those who accept the teachings of the Prophets
of Allah. Those who deny them do not find it even though they see everything.
04012022
(29:45)
(O Prophet), recite the Book that has been revealed to you and establish
Prayer.77 Surely Prayer forbids indecency and evil.78
And Allah's remembrance
(dhikr) is
of even greater merit.79 Allah knows all that you do.
79.
This can have several meanings: (1) That the remembrance of Allah (i.e. prayer)
is a thing of much higher value: it not only restrains from the evils but, over
and above that, it induces people to act righteously and urges them to excel
one another in good acts. (2) That Allah’s remembrance in itself is a great
thing: it is the best of acts: no act of man is greater in value than this. (3)
That Allah’s remembrance of you is a greater thing than your remembrance of
Him. Allah has said in the Quran:
“So remember Me:
I will remember you.” (Surah Al-Baqarah: Ayat 156). Thus, when the servant remembers Allah in the
prayer, inevitably Allah also will remember him, and the merit of Allah’s
remembering his servant is certainly greater than the servant’s remembering
Allah. Besides these three meanings, there is another subtle meaning also, which
the wife of Abud Darda has explained. She says, “Allah’s remembrance is not restricted to the prayer, but, its
sphere is much vaster. When a man observes a fast, or pays the Zakat or
performs a righteous act, he inevitably remembers Allah. That is why the
righteous act emanates from him. Likewise, when a man refrains from an evil act
when an opportunity exists for it, even this also is the result of Allah’s
remembrance. Thus, the remembrance of Allah pervades the entire life of a
believer.
05012022
(29:56) O My servants who believe, verily My earth is vast; so
serve Me alone.94
94. This is an allusion to
the Hijrah, which implies this: if you feel that it is becoming difficult to
worship God in Makkah, you may leave it and move to another place where you can
live as the true servants of God, for God’s earth is vast. You should serve Allah and not your nation and country. This shows that
the real
thing is not the nation and the home and the country but the worship of Allah. If at any time the demands of the nation and country’s
love clash with the demands of Allah’s worship, it is the time of trial for the
believer’s faith. The true believer will worship Allah and spurn the nation and
the country and home. The false claimant to the faith will abandon the faith
and remain clinging to his nation and his country and home. This verse is
clearly indicative of the fact that
a true
worshiper of God can be a patriot but he cannot be a worshiper of the nation
and the country. For him the worship of God is the dearest thing in life for the sake of which he will sacrifice
everything else, but with never be prepared to sacrifice it for anything else.
(29:57) Every
being shall taste death, then it is to Us that you
shall be sent back.95
95. That is, “Do not be
anxious for your life: one has to die sooner or later. No one has come to live
forever in this world. Therefore,
your
real problem is not how to save life, but your real problem is how to save your
faith, and fulfill the requirements of God worship. You have ultimately to return to Us. If you lost your
faith for the sake of saving your life, the result in the Hereafter will be
different. But if you lost your life for the sake of saving your faith, the
result will be just the opposite. Therefore, you should be anxious only about
what you will bring when you return to Us. Will you come with a faith
sacrificed for the sake of life, or a life sacrificed for the sake of the
faith?”
(29:60) How many an animal there is that does not carry about its sustenance.
Allah provides sustenance to them and to you. He
is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.99
99. That is, “While
migrating you should not be worried about your means of livelihood as you should not worry about your life’s safety. For none of the birds and
the animals of the land and the sea that you find around yourself carries its
provision with it. Allah is providing for all of them; wherever they go they
get their provision through Allah’s bounty.
Therefore, do not be disheartened by the thought that if you left your homes
for the sake of your faith, you would have nothing to eat. Allah will provide
for you as well from the sources from which He is providing for the countless
of His other creatures.”
Precisely
the same thing was taught by the
Prophet Jesus
(peace
be upon him) to his disciples when he had said:
“No
man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other;
or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall
eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is
not the life more than treat, and the body than raiment?
Behold
the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take
ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they
toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all
his glory was
not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the
field, which to day is and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much
more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What
shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father
knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of
God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take
therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the
things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matthew.
6: 2434).
The background of these discourses of the Quran and the Gospel is the same. There always comes a stage in the way of the
propagation of the truth when the follower of the truth is left with no
alternative but to stake his very life only with trust in Allah, regardless of
the support and means of the material world. In these conditions, those who are
too calculating about the possibilities of the future and seeking guarantees of
the safety of life and assurance of provisions cannot do anything. Indeed, such
conditions are changed only by the efforts and power of those who rise fearlessly
in face of every danger and are even prepared to risk their very lives. It is
all due to their sacrifices that ultimately the Word of Allah is raised high
and all other words and creeds stand humbled and subdued before it.
(29:63) If you were to ask them: “Who sent
down water from the sky and therewith revived the earth after its death?” they
will certainly say: “Allah.” Say: “To Allah alone
be praise and thanks.”101 But most people do
not understand.
101. Here the word
al-hamdu-lillah (Praise be to Allah) gives two meanings: (1) “When all this is
done by Allah, then He alone is worthy of all praise, and none else”, and (2)
“Thank God that you yourselves also admit this.”
08022022
(29:64) The
present life is nothing but sport and amusement.102 The true life is in the Abode of the Hereafter; if
only they knew.103
102. That is “The reality
of it is no more than the children’s engaging in a sport and pastime for a
while, and then returning home. The one has become a king here, has not become
a king in reality but is only playing the king. A time comes when his play
ends, and he leaves the royal throne as empty-handed as he was when he had
entered the world. Similarly,
no phase
of life here is enduring and lasting.
Every one is playing his part only temporarily for a limited time. Those who
are charmed by the short-lived triumphs of this life and are able to collect
some means of enjoyment and pleasure and of glory and grandeur by losing their
conscience and faith, are only engaged in a pastime. What will these toys
profit them when after amusing themselves with these for some years in the
world, they will enter through the gate of death empty handed into the next world of eternal life and find their same allurements to have
caused them an everlasting affliction?”
103.
That is, “If these people had known the reality that the life of this world is
only a period of preparation for the test, and the real life for man, which is
everlasting, is the life Hereafter, they would not have wasted this preparatory
period in sport and merry making, but would instead have utilized each moment
of it in works conducive to better results in the eternal life of the
Hereafter.”
(29:67) Do they not see that We have given
them a sanctuary of safety whereas people around them are being snatched
away?105 So,
do they believe in falsehood and ungratefully deny Allah's bounties?
105. That is, if the city
of Makkah, in whose surroundings they enjoy perfect safety and security, had
been made a sacred place by some Lat or Hubal,
was it possible for a god
or goddess to have secured this place against all sorts of mischief and
violence for 2,500 years or so, in a striferidden land like Arabia? Who could then keep and maintain its sacredness and sanctity except Us?
07012022
OOOXXXOOOCCC
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