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Tafsir

Scholarly commentary explaining a verse — its context, its meaning and how the scholars have understood it.

Al-'Ankabut 29:67

Word by word

أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ أَنَّا جَعَلْنَا حَرَمًا ءَامِنًا وَيُتَخَطَّفُ ٱلنَّاسُ مِنْ حَوْلِهِمْ ۚ أَفَبِٱلْبَـٰطِلِ يُؤْمِنُونَ وَبِنِعْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ يَكْفُرُونَ

Have they not seen that We made [Makkah] a safe sanctuary, while people are being taken away all around them? Then in falsehood do they believe, and in the favor of Allāh they disbelieve?

Ibn Kathir (Abridged) English Ma'arif al-Qur'an English Tafsir Muyassar Arabic Tafsir Ibn Kathir Arabic All sources

Ibn Kathir (Abridged)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

The Blessing of the Sanctuary Here

Allah reminds Quraysh how He blessed them by granting them access to His sanctuary which He has made (open) to (all) men, the dweller in it and the visitor from the country are equal there, and whoever enters it is safe, because he is in a place of great security, although the Arabs of the desert round about used to ambush and raid one another and kill one another. As Allah says:لإِيلَـفِ قُرَيْشٍ - إِيلَـفِهِمْ رِحْلَةَ الشِّتَآءِ وَالصَّيْفِ - فَلْيَعْبُدُواْ رَبَّ هَـذَا الْبَيْتِ - الَّذِى أَطْعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعٍ وَءَامَنَهُم مِّنْ خوْفٍ(For the protection of the Quraysh. The caravans to set forth safe in winter and in summer. So let them worship the Lord of this House.

Who has fed them against hunger, and has made them safe from fear.) (106:1-4)أَفَبِالْبَـطِلِ يُؤْمِنُونَ وَبِنِعْمَةِ اللَّهِ يَكْفُرُونَ(Then do they believe in falsehood, and deny the graces of Allah) means, is the thanks that they give for this immense blessing to associate others with Him and worship others besides Him, idols and rivalsبَدَّلُواْ نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ كُفْرًا وَأَحَلُّواْ قَوْمَهُمْ دَارَ الْبَوَارِ(Have you not seen those who have changed the blessings of Allah into disbelief, and caused their people to dwell in the house of destruction) (14:28) They disbelieved in the Prophet, servant and Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when what they should have done was to worship Allah Alone and not associate anything with Him, and to believe in, honor and respect the Messenger ﷺ, but they rejected him and fought him, and expelled him from their midst.

So, Allah took His blessing away from them, and killed those of them whom He killed at Badr, then His Messenger and the believers gained the upper hand, and Allah enabled His Messenger to conquer Makkah, and He disgraced them and humiliated them (the disbelievers). Then Allah says:وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِباً أَوْ كَذَّبَ بِالْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَآءَهُ(And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or denies the truth, when it comes to him) There is no one who will be more severely punished than one who tells lies about Allah and says that Allah revealed something to him at the time when Allah did not reveal anything to him, or says, `I shall reveal something like that which Allah revealed.' And there is no one who will be more severely punished than one who denies the truth when it comes to him, for the former is a fabricator and the latter is a disbeliever.

Allah says:أَلَيْسَ فِى جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوًى لِّلْكَـفِرِينَ(Is there not a dwelling in Hell for the disbelievers) Then Allah says:وَالَّذِينَ جَـهَدُواْ فِينَا(As for those who strive hard for Us,) meaning the Messenger and his Companions and those who follow him, until the Day of Resurrection,لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا(We will surely guide them to Our paths. ) means, `We will help them to follow Our path in this world and the Hereafter.' Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that `Abbas Al-Hamdani Abu Ahmad -- one of the people of `Akka (Palestine) -- said, concerning the Ayah:وَالَّذِينَ جَـهَدُواْ فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ(As for those who strive hard for Us (in Our cause), We will surely guide them to Our paths.

And verily, Allah is with the doers of good.) "Those who act upon what they know, Allah will guide them to that which they do not know." Ahmad bin Abu Al-Hawari said, "I told this to Abu Sulayman Ad-Darani, and he liked it and said: `No one who is inspired to do something good should do it until he hears a report concerning that; if he hears a report then he should go ahead and do it, and praise Allah because it was in accordance with what he himself felt."'وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ(And verily, Allah is with the doers of good.) Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ash-Sha`bi said; "Isa bin Maryam, peace be upon him, said: `Righteousness means doing good to those who ill-treat you, it does not mean doing good to those who do good to you."' And Allah knows best. This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Al-`Ankabut. All praise and thanks are due to Allah.

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

أَوَلَمْ يَرَ‌وْا أَنَّا جَعَلْنَا حَرَ‌مًا آمِنًا (Did they not see that We have made a peaceful sanctuary حَرَم[ haram ] - 67). In the preceding verses it was described that the deeds and actions of the infidels were foolish and irrational. On the one hand, they accept Allah as the sole Creator and master of everything, and on the other they associate their self-chiseled idols with Him. Then, it is not that they just believe Him to be the sole Creator of everything, but they know well that it is only He who brings them out safely from all types of calamities. But after achieving deliverance, they get involved again in associating their idols with Him.

Some disbelievers in Makkah used to put forward the plea that although they accepted Islam as the true faith, but if they were converted to it and followed its tenets, they would be risking their lives against the Arab world, who were deadly against Islam. If they became Muslims, the Arabs would pounce upon them and kill them. (Ruh)In reply to this, Allah Ta’ ala said that this was also a bogus excuse, because He had accorded such an honour and eminence to Makkans, that is not available to any people living anywhere in the world. He had made the entire land of Makkah حَرَم haram. All Arabs respected حَرَم haram, whether they were believers or infidels. They all believed that killing was not allowed there. It was not only the killing and fighting that was banned in the حَرَم haram but the hunting and cutting of trees too were not permitted. If any stranger entered the حَرَم haram, his life would be completely secured. Therefore, putting forward the risk of life as justification for non-acceptance of Islam was only a lame excuse.

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

أو لم يشاهد كفار «مكة» أن الله جعل «مكة» لهم حَرَمًا آمنًا يأمن فيه أهله على أنفسهم وأموالهم، والناسُ مِن حولهم خارج الحرم، يُتَخَطَّفون غير آمنين؟ أفبالشرك يؤمنون، وبنعمة الله التي خصَّهم بها يكفرون، فلا يعبدونه وحده دون سواه؟

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

يقول تعالى ممتنا على قريش فيما أحلهم من حرمه ، الذي جعله للناس سواء العاكف فيه والبادي ، ومن دخله كان آمنا ، فهم في أمن عظيم ، والأعراب حوله ينهب بعضهم بعضا ويقتل بعضهم بعضا ، كما قال تعالى : ( لإيلاف قريش إيلافهم رحلة الشتاء والصيف فليعبدوا رب هذا البيت الذي أطعمهم من جوع وآمنهم من خوف ) [ قريش : 1 - 4 ] .وقوله : ( أفبالباطل يؤمنون وبنعمة الله يكفرون ) أي : أفكان شكرهم على هذه النعمة العظيمة أن أشركوا به ، وعبدوا معه [ غيره من ] الأصنام والأنداد ، و ( بدلوا نعمة الله كفرا وأحلوا قومهم دار البوار ) [ إبراهيم : 28 ] ، وكفروا بنبي الله وعبده ورسوله ، فكان اللائق بهم إخلاص العبادة لله ، وألا يشركوا به ، وتصديق الرسول وتعظيمه وتوقيره ، فكذبوه وقاتلوه وأخرجوه من بين ظهرهم ; ولهذا سلبهم الله ما كان أنعم به عليهم ، وقتل من قتل منهم ببدر ، وصارت الدولة لله ولرسوله وللمؤمنين ، ففتح الله على رسوله مكة ، وأرغم آنافهم وأذل رقابهم .

Tafsir is provided for educational reference. Paragraph breaks are added for readability — the wording of each commentary is unchanged. For religious guidance, consult a qualified scholar.