Surah Al-'Ankabut 29:23-30 - Quran Translation Commentary

23. And those who disbelieve in the revelations of Allah and in (their) Meeting with Him, they will have no hope of My mercy,⁴² and they are those for whom is painful punishment.

24. The reply of Ibrahim’s people was nothing except that they said: “Kill him or burn him.”⁴³ ' But Allah rescued him from the fire.⁴⁴ Verily there are signs in it for those who believe.⁴⁵

25. He said: “You have chosen idols instead of Allah (to promote) mutual affection among you in this world. Then, on the Day of Resurrection, you will disown one another, and curse one another, your home will be Hellfire, and you will have no helpers.”⁴⁶

26. And Loot believed in him.⁴⁷ And Ibrahim said: “I will migrate towards my Lord.⁴⁸ Verily, He is the Mighty One, the Wise.”⁴⁹

27. And We bestowed on him Ishaq and Yaqub.⁵⁰ and caused the prophethood and the Book to be given to his descendents,⁵¹ and We gave him his reward in this world,⁵² and verily in the Hereafter he will be among the righteous.⁵³

28. And (We sent) Loot,⁵⁴ when he said to his people: “Verily you commit indecent acts such as no creature did before you.⁵⁵

29. ”Do you lust after men, and commit robberies on the highways,⁵⁶ and perform indecent acts in your meetings?”⁵⁷ But the answer of his people was nothing except this: “Bring down Allah’s punishment on us, if you are truthful.”⁵⁸

30. He prayed: “My Lord! help me against the degenerate people.”⁵⁹

Commentary

42. In this ayah an important reality has been stated concerning deniers, and it is that if they nursed any hope in their hearts of receiving reward from Him and partaking of His mercy, they would not have rejected His revelations nor would have they denied the Hereafter; but when they have denied it they have done so believing that the Hereafter will never occur, nor would there be an occasion for them to receive Allah’s mercy and any reward from Him; the life is restricted to this world only, after this it is all over, where will they be for receiving Allah’s mercy. And when they have adopted the negative stance in connection with Allah’s mercy then there is no reason that they should partake of it in the Hereafter. Therefore they will be thrown away from the mercy and they will have to suffer painful punishment.

Those who have a soft corner for the infidels in their hearts, they interpret strangely the everlasting punishment which the infidels are to get and want that they should also get some part of Allah’s mercy, but they forget that the disbelievers themselves are pessimistic about Allah’s mercy. Had they been candidates for Allah’s mercy, they would have believed in the Hereafter.

43. That is: The reply Prophet Ibrahim’s community gave to the message which he presented to them was that he should be finished so that these unpleasant talks might not be heard by them.

44. Finally they threw Prophet Ibrahim into the fire, but Allah saved him miraculously, as is narrated in Surah Anbiya, ayah No.69, clearly.

45. In this event concerning Ibrahim (Alaihis Salam) there exist signs of monotheism being the right faith, Ibrahim being the true prophet of Allah, his being persecuted at the hands of the disbelievers and the miraculous manifestation of Allah’s help.

46. This statement of Prophet Ibrahim, as is clear from the style of the wording of the Qur’an, pertains to the time after his safely coming out of the fire, and this statement means that these idols are for them the means of national unity and mutual affection, and they feel that giving them up would be instrumental in disrupting their unity. Under this wrong impression they have over looked the adverse consequences of idolatry which they will have to face in the Hereafter. On the Day of Resurrection when the reality of polytheism being false and a serious crime will become manifest to them, then where this national unity and affection of theirs will be. At that time they will be accusing one another of misleading and will be cursing one another. Ultimately all of them will be thrown in Hell. Then of what use are such national unity and mutual affection.

Even today quite a number of idolaters. knowing fully well that idolatry is nonsensical are not willing to give it up because it will affect their social relationships and their relation with their community will be cut off. What kind of sensible people are they that they are not prepared to face this worldly danger and are willing to undergo the permanent punishment in the Hereafter.

47.In the whole nation there was only one person who agreed with Prophet Ibrahim and believed in what he said, and that person was Prophet Loot, he believed in his prophethood. According to Bible’s clarification Prophet Loot was Prophet Ibrahim’s nephew. He was blessed with prophethood after migration. A person who is to become prophet acts righteously, is of rightful nature, from the very first day of his life. Therefore, the message of Prophet Ibrahim was not a novel thing for him. Therefore he came forward to accept his dawah and believed in his prophethood.

48.That is: I migrate for the sake of my Lord, by His command and under His guidance. I will go wherever He will take me, for in reality my Lord only is my destination.

After conveying to the community Allah’s message convincingly Prophet Ibrahim left his native place by Allah’s command, so that the work of religion may be carried on in another country, if it was finished in his country. He was a citizen of Ur (Iraq), then he lived in Haran, and from there he migrated to Canaan (Syria). In this migration, Prophet Loot was also with him, and according to Bible his wife Sarah was also with him. This small caravan of people of faith comprising of three persons, changed the history of the world.

49. At the time of migration, Prophet Ibrahim referred to these two attributes of Allah in consideration of the fact that Allah’s decision is inevitably enforced, and He is Wise, therefore, every plan of His must be perfect and wise one. After the migration the grand acts which were performed by Prophet Ibrahim fully manifested the wise planning of Allah. And We bestowed on him Ishaq and Yaqub, and caused the prophethood and the Book to be given to his descendents, and We gave him his reward in this world, and verily in the Hereafter he will be among the righteous. (Al-Quran)

50. Ishaq (Isaac) was Ibrahim’s son and Yaqub (Jacob) his grandson. Both of them were blessed by Allah with His prophethood.

51. The chain of prophethood and Scriptures continued in the descendents of Prophet Ibrahim only, and the leadership of mankind remained with this very family. In view of this reality, we cannot imagine anyone who is not a descendent of Prophet Ibrahim to be a divine prophet, e.g. there cannot be any question of Gautam Buddha being a prophet, as he was not a descendent of Prophet Ibrahim. Similarly any book after the time of Prophet Ibrahim which is related to a person who is not a descendent of Prophet Ibrahim cannot be considered a divine scripture. Various religious books of India which are considered holy come under this category.

The interpretation of the ayah presented by us is supported by this explanation of Allama Ibn Katheer:

“After Prophet Ibrahim there was no prophet who was not his descendent.” -(Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Vol.3,p.411) And Allama Shaukani states:

“Allah did not send a prophet after Ibrahim except he was from his descendents.” -(Fathul Qadeer, Vol. 4 page. 199).

52. After causing Prophet Ibrahim to pass through various trials and tribulations, these are the rewards which Allah bestowed on him in this world, including blessings like true honour and success, leadership, a son blessed with prophethood, chain of prophethood and scriptures in his descendents, his remembrance with praises, and heartfelt prayers of people of faith for peace and mercy for him. Compared to all these blessings the wealth of this world is insignificant.

53. In the Hereafter he will be with virtuous people, and will be blessed with rewards and mercy.

54. After migration Prophet Loot was sent to the townships of Siddom and Ammura, which are on the shores of the Dead Sea. For further explanation, please see Surah A’raf Note No.127.

55. This has been explained in Surah A’raf Note No.129

56. It seems they also indulged in highway robberies and kidnappings, that is why Prophet Loot asked them to stop their nefarious activities.

57. They had become so shameless that they used to commit indecent acts openly in their gatherings.

In present times for social commitment of evils and indecent acts night clubs and other such institutions have been opened, which are the great means of corruption in the society.

58. On the one side was Prophet Loot who was striving with full ardour for the reform of his community and on the other side was his community which was inviting Allah’s punishment on itself with full audacity.

59. When Prophet Loot was disappointed with his community, he prayed to Allah in this way.