Surah Luqman 31:1-11 - Quran Translation Commentary

(31:6) And, of the people is one⁴ who purchases idle discourse⁵ to lead astray from the path of Allah⁶ – without knowledge⁷ – and to treat it in mockery. They, for them is a humiliating chastisement.⁸

(31:7) When Our verses are recited to such a one, he turns away in arrogance, as though he did not hear them: as though there is heaviness in his ears. So, give him the glad tiding of a painful chastisement.⁹

(31:8) Surely, those who believed and did righteous works, for them are gardens of bliss.

(31:9) Abiding therein forever. Allah’s promise is true; and He is the Al-mighty, the All-wise.¹⁰

(31:10) He created the heavens without any pillars that you can see;¹¹ and cast into the earth pegs¹² lest it should quake with you.¹³ And He scattered therein all kinds of animals. And We¹⁴ sent down out of sky water and made grow therein every noble species.¹⁵

(31:11) This is the creation of Allah. So, show me what those other than Him have created. Nay, but the transgressors are in manifest error.

Commentary

2. The “muhsinin” of the text has been explained in the verse itself with words that follow: “those who offer the Prayers (assiduously), give the zakah” (Zamakhshari).

3. That is, on a path that is plain, clear, unambiguous and entirely satisfying to the mind, heart and soul (Au.).

4. It is reported by most classical commentators that the allusion is to Nadr b. al-Harith who, in the words of Majid, “brought from abroad the romance of Persian heroes, allured to them the crowds of the Quraish and persuaded them to think that his stories were preferable to the word of God.” But, Asad warns, the allusion is not to a specific person but rather “describes a type of mentality and has, therefore, a general import.”

5. The textual “shira`” (purchase) is not in its literal sense but rather its preference over the truth; as for example, Allah (swt) said about those who preferred error over guidance, as those who purchased error. He said (2: 16),

أُوْلَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ اشْتَرُوُاْ الضَّلاَلَةَ بِالْهُدَى (البقرة – 16)

“They are the ones who purchased error in exchange of guidance” (Qurtubi). “Idle discourse” is not a very accurate rendition of the textual phrase “lahwatu ‘l hadith.” It has been widely reported of Ibn Mas`ud that he emphatically explained it as alluding to songs and music. Ibn `Abbas and his students agreed with Ibn Mas` ud’s interpretation but added that all such instruments are included that cause distraction to the soul (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir). Hasan al-Busri specifically mentioned music as covered in the disapproval (Ibn Kathir). A narrative in this connection however, of `Abdullah ibn `Umar does not reach trustworthy status. It reports Nafi` as saying, “I was with `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud when he passed by someone playing on a flute. He cut across the path, pressed his fingers against his ears and kept asking me, ‘Nafi`. Do you still hear?’ When I said no, he removed his fingers and said, ‘This is how I saw the Prophet do.’” Abu Da’ud and `Iraqi have both distrusted the report (Shawk ani: S.Ibrahim). There is another report however which comes down on the authority of `Abdul Rahman ibn `Awf. It is of Hasan status. (It is in Tirmidhi: S. Ibrahim) the Prophet (saws) said,

"نُهيْتُ عن صَوْتَيْنِ أَحْمَقَيْنِ فَاجِرَيْنِ: صَوْتٍ عِنْدَ مُصِيبَةٍ خَمْشِ وُجُوهٍ وشَقّ جُيُوبٍ ورَنّةِ شيطانٍ" (الترمذي)

“I have forbidden the voice of two idiotic perverts: A senseless voice accompanied by music, and the mourning-voice at a misfortune accompanied by scratching of the face, tearing of the clothes and devilish screams” (Shawkani). A shorter version of this hadith has been declared by Haythami in his Zawa’id as having a reliable chain (Au.). In general, all that diverts one’s attention from the useful to the useless such as: nightly-gossips, flying anecdotes, talks centered around imaginary incidents or fictitious legends, jokes, songs and music, is covered in the term “lahwatu ‘l hadith” (Zamakhshari); unless, of course, they remain within tolerable limits of occasional indulgence (Au.). In this connection there is a report coming through Abu Umamah al-Bahili. The Prophet said,

لا تَبِيعُوا الْقَيْنَاتِ وَلَا تَشْتَرُوهُنَّ وَلَا تُعَلِّمُوهُنَّ وَلا خَيْرَ فِي تِجَارَةٍ فِيهِنَّ وَثَمَنُهُنَّ حَرَامٌ فِي مِثْلِ هَذَا أُنْزِلَتْ هَذِهِ الآيَةُ وَمِنْ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ إِلَى آخِرِ الآيَةِ

“Do not buy or sell (female) singers nor teach them (music), there is no good in trading them, and the profit thereof is unlawful. It is about them that Allah revealed, “Of the people is one who purchases idle tales to lead astray from the path of Allah” (Ibn Jarir). The report as in Tirmidhi, was declared weak by him (Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir). Bukhari, Nasa’i, Daraqutni and Abu Zur`ah have distrusted one of its narrators (Tuhfah) – Au. Qurtubi lists down opinions of the past scholars about such songs as which included light music (in contrast to the kind of music in today’s songs, which can be described as heavy music, which are totally unacceptable: Au.). Ibn Mas`ud swore three times that the allusion in this verse is to songs (that include such music: Au.). So thought Ibn `Umar, `Ikrimah, Maymun b. Mahran, Mak-hul, Mujahid, Hasan, Qasim b. Muhammad, Malik, and others. But according to Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Shafe`i, Imam Malik, Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Ibrahim (Nakha`i), Sha`bi, Hammad, Thawri, and many others it is makruh. Ibn Hanbal was asked about a singer slave-girl left to a boy in inheritance, whether she could be sold off to meet the child’s expenses. He replied that she could be sold, but not as a singer, even if that fetched a higher price. Qaffal has said that the testimony of a person given to songs and music may not be accepted. That applies to singers and musicians. Imam Malik in fact had learnt to play music in his younger days. But when he grew up his mother admonished him against it and so he gave up and took to studying Islamic disciplines. In sum, writes Qurtubi, the kind of song that motivates to what has been declared unlawful in Islam, is unlawful by consensus. However, that which does not, is lawful in small measures, on occasions, to effect a change in mood or remove boredom. We have examples of simple songs to the accompaniment of a drum sung before the Prophet: (a) when he allowed `A’isha to watch a group of dancers perform in the yard of his mosque, (b) when some girls sang on the occasion of `Eid, [when Abu Bakr reproached them, the Prophet interrupted to say, “Let them alone, Abu Bakr. This is our `Eid”], (c) when the Companions sang at the time of the mosque construction, or (d) when the Trench was being dug. So also, simple kind of musical instruments such as a tablah or drum are allowable if played once in a while. It is engrossment in these pastimes that is disapproved of. Also disallowed to males are songs sung by ghayr mahram women. This was the opinion of Imam Shafe`i. Mufti Shafi` adds a hadith which comes from Abu Da’ud, Ibn Majah (whose commentators declared it weak), as well as from Ibn Hibban’s Sahih (which makes it trustworthy). The Prophet said,

عَنْ أَبِي مَالِكٍ الأَشْعَرِيِّ؛ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: "لَيَشَرَبَنَّ نَاسٌ مِنْ أُمَّتِي الْخَمْرَ. يُسَمُّونَهَا بِغَيْرِ اسْمِهَا. يُعْزَفُ عَلَى رُءُوِسِهِمْ بِالْمَعَازِفِ وَالْمُغَنّيَاتِ، يَخْسِفُ اللهُ بِهِمُ الأَرْضَ. وَيَجْعَلُ مِنْهُمُ الْقِرَدَةَ وَالْخَنَازِيِرَ" – (ابن ماجة)

“Surely some of my followers will give wine a different name and drink it; and female singers will sing for them to the tunes of music. Allah will sink them into the earth and transform some of them into monkeys and pigs.”

6. According to Ibn `Abbas, recitation of the Qur’an and similar other devotional activities constitute the path of Allah.

7. That is, in his extreme ignorance he does not realize that his indulgence in songs, music, and other such activities divert him off Allah’s path (Ibn Jarir).

8. “Humiliating chastisement,” because he did not treat Allah’s revelations with the care and respect that was due to them (Ibn Kathir).

9. “Painful punishment,” because he used to be pained at hearing the revelations of Allah (Ibn Kathir).

10. Asad paraphrases Imam Razi’s comments: “Commenting on the above three verses, Razi points out, firstly, that the deliberate contrast between the plural in the promise of ‘gardens (jannat) of bliss’ and the singular in that of ‘suffering’ (`adhab) is meant to show that God’s grace surpasses His wrath .. and, secondly, that the use of the expression ‘to abide therein’ in connection with the mention of paradise only, and not with that of otherworldly suffering (or hell), is an indication that whereas the enjoyment of the former will be unlimited in duration, suffering in what is described as ‘hell’ will be limited.”

11. That is, there are pillars but you cannot see them: Ibn `Abbas, `Ikrimah, Mujahid, Qatadah and others (Ibn Jarir). See Surah al-Ra`d, note 4 for further explanation.

12. That is, mountains that have been rooted into the earth, just like pegs - a geological fact unknown until some fifty years ago (Au.).

13. They help avoid convulsions in the outer crust (what is known as the Lithosphere) surrounding the inner layers of the earth (Au.).

14. The change from singular to plural is striking. Asad comments: “This is another of the Qur’anic instances where the personal pronoun relating to God is suddenly changed – in this instance from ‘He’ to ‘We’ – in order to indicate that God, being infinite, cannot be circumscribed by any pronoun applicable to created, finite beings, and that the use of such pronouns with reference to Him is no more than a concession to the limited nature of every human language.”

15. Yusuf Ali thinks that the words could be referring to the sex life in plants.