Ma'arif al-Qur'an
Mufti Muhammad ShafiCommentaryاللَّـهُ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَكُمُ الْبَحْرَ لِتَجْرِيَ الْفُلْكُ فِيهِ بِأَمْرِهِ وَلِتَبْتَغُوا مِن فَضْلِهِ ("Allah is the One who has subjugated for you the sea, so that you may seek His grace, ... 45:12) ". Generally, when Qur'an uses the expression ` to seek His grace' it refers to exerting oneself in seeking one's livelihood. Another meaning of the phrase could be that man has been given the skill to move the boats or pilot the ships on the surface of the waters so that he may carry out his commercial activities across the globe. It is possible that ` seeking grace' does not have anything to do with the sailing of the boats or the ships. Therefore, a third meaning is possible. ` Subjugating the sea' has a special meaning, that is, Allah has created many useful things in the sea and subjugated the sea for the benefit of mankind so that they may exploit the minerals and other wealth. Contemporary science confirms that the oceans and seas have much more minerals and much more wealth hidden in them than in the dry land.