Tafsir

Turning away from Allah at Times of Ease and despairing at Times of Calamity

Allah tells us about the weakness that is inherent in man, except for those whom He protects at both times of ease and calamity. If Allah blesses a man with wealth, good health, ease, provision and help, and he gets what he wants, he turns away from the obedience and worship of Allah, and becomes arrogant. Mujahid said, "(It means) he goes away from Us." I say, this is like the Ayah:فَلَمَّا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُ ضُرَّهُ مَرَّ كَأَن لَّمْ يَدْعُنَآ إِلَى ضُرٍّ مَّسَّهُ(But when We have removed his harm from him, he passes on as if he had never invoked Us for a harm that touched him!) 10:12 and;فَلَمَّا نَجَّـكُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ أَعْرَضْتُمْ(But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away.) When man is stricken with evil, which means disasters, accidents and calamities,كَانَ يَئُوساً(he is in great despair.), meaning that he thinks he will never have anything good again.

As Allah says,وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَا الإِنْسَـنَ مِنَّا رَحْمَةً ثُمَّ نَزَعْنَاهَا مِنْهُ إِنَّهُ لَيَئُوسٌ كَفُورٌ - وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَاهُ نَعْمَآءَ بَعْدَ ضَرَّآءَ مَسَّتْهُ لَيَقُولَنَّ ذَهَبَ السَّيِّئَاتُ عَنِّي إِنَّهُ لَفَرِحٌ فَخُورٌ - إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ صَبَرُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَاتِ أُوْلَـئِكَ لَهُمْ مَّغْفِرَةٌ وَأَجْرٌ كَبِيرٌ (And if We give man a taste of mercy from Us, and remove it from him, verily, He is despairing, ungrateful. But if We let him taste good after evil has touched him, he is sure to say: "Ills have departed from me." Surely, he is exultant, and boastful. Except those who show patience and do righteous good deeds: those, theirs will be forgiveness and a great reward.) (11:9-11)قُلْ كُلٌّ يَعْمَلُ عَلَى شَاكِلَتِهِ(Say: "Each one does according to Shakilatihi...") Ibn `Abbas said, "According to his inclinations." Mujahid said, "According to his inclinations and his nature." Qatadah said, "According to his intentions." Ibn Zayd said, "According to his religion." All these suggestions are close in meaning.

This Ayah - and Allah knows best - is a threat and a warning to the idolators, like the Ayah:وَقُل لِّلَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ اعْمَلُواْ عَلَى مَكَانَتِكُمْ(And say to those who do not believe: "Act according to your ability and way") (11:121) So Allah says:قُلْ كُلٌّ يَعْمَلُ عَلَى شَاكِلَتِهِ فَرَبُّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنْ هُوَ أَهْدَى سَبِيلاً (Say: "Each one does according to Shakilatihi, and your Lord knows best of him whose path is right.") meaning either us or you. Everyone will be rewarded in accordance with his deeds, for nothing whatsoever is hidden from Allah.

We can now move to the last verse (82) cited above: وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْ‌آنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاءٌ (And We reveal the Qur'an which is a cure). That the Holy Qur'an cures hearts and delivers people from shirk and kufr, low morals and spiritual ailments is no secret. The entire Muslim ummah agrees with it. And according to some ` Ulama', the way the Qur’ an is a cure for spiritual ailments, it is also a cure for physical diseases. The sense is that reciting the verses of the Qur'an and blowing the breath on the body of the sick person or to write its words on an amulet and putting it around the neck is also expected to be a cure for physical diseases. Hadith narratives bear testimony to it. The Hadith of Sayyidna Abu Said al-Khudri ؓ can be seen in all books of Ahadith. It says that a party of the noble Companions ؓ was in travel. In a village on their way, a scorpion had bitten the chief. The village people asked the Companions if they could suggest some treatment for it. They recited the Surah al-Fatihah seven times, blew their breath on him and the ailing patient stood cured.

Later, when this incident was mentioned before the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، he declared this action of the Companions to be permissible.

Similarly, there are several other Hadith reports which prove that the Holy Prophet ﷺ has done it himself. After having recited the last two verses of the Qur'an, he would blow his breath on the sick person. It is also proved that the Sahabah and the Tabi` in used to treat sick people with the recital of the last two verses of the Qur’ an as well as with the recital of other verses from it. That it was written and placed around the neck as an amulet also stands proved. Al-Qurtubi has given details about it under his commentary on this verse.

The last sentence of the verse: (And it adds nothing to the unjust but loss - 82) tells us that the Holy Qur'an - when recited with faith and reverence - is certainly a cure. It is open. It is proven. Conversely, any denial of the Qur’ an, or irreverence to it, could also become a source of loss and misfortunes.

وإذا أنعمنا على الإنسان من حيث هو بمال وعافية ونحوهما، تولَّى وتباعد عن طاعة ربه، وإذا أصابته شدة مِن فقر أو مرض كان قنوطًا؛ لأنه لا يثق بفضل الله تعالى، إلا من عصم الله في حالتي سرَّائه وضرَّائه.

يخبر تعالى عن نقص الإنسان من حيث هو ، إلا من عصم الله تعالى في حالتي سرائه وضرائه ، بأنه إذا أنعم الله عليه بمال وعافية ، وفتح ورزق ونصر ، ونال ما يريد ، أعرض عن طاعة الله وعبادته ونأى بجانبه .قال مجاهد : بعد عنا .قلت : وهذا كقوله تعالى : ( فلما كشفنا عنه ضره مر كأن لم يدعنا إلى ضر مسه ) [ يونس : 12 ] ، وقوله ) فلما نجاكم إلى البر أعرضتم ) [ الإسراء : 67 ] .وبأنه إذا مسه الشر - وهو المصائب والحوادث والنوائب - ( كان يئوسا ) أي : قنط أن يعود يحصل له بعد ذلك خير ، كما قال تعالى : ( ولئن أذقناه نعماء بعد ضراء مسته ليقولن ذهب السيئات عني إنه لفرح فخور إلا الذين صبروا وعملوا الصالحات أولئك لهم مغفرة وأجر كبير ) [ هود : 10 ، 11 ] .