Commentary on Select Verses of Surah 43 (Part 1)

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

Salutations and peace upon you, my master, Apostle of Allah

Allah جل جلاله says:

اِنَّا جَعَلۡنٰہُ قُرۡءٰنًا عَرَبِیًّا لَّعَلَّکُمۡ تَعۡقِلُوۡنَ

Indeed, We have made it an Arabic Quran that you may comprehend

(Surah 43:3)

Allah never says that He created the Quran. But here He says He made the Quran Arabic. There is the subtle difference between make and create. Hence, Allah says:

وَلَا تَجۡعَلُوا اللّٰہَ عُرۡضَۃً لِّاَیۡمَانِکُمۡ

And make not Allah a target for your oaths

(Surah 2:224)

It is obvious that here the act of making Allah a target of one's oath does not mean creating Allah. So it is correct to say the Quran is مجعول "made" but not مخلوق "created". The Holy Quran is the speech of God, and God's speech is one of his divine attributes that is eternal, uncreated.

Allah says:

وَکَمۡ اَرۡسَلۡنَا مِنۡ نَّبِیٍّ فِی الۡاَوَّلِیۡنَ

وَمَا یَاۡتِیۡہِمۡ مِّنۡ نَّبِیٍّ اِلَّا کَانُوۡا بِہٖ یَسۡتَہۡزِءُوۡنَ

And how many a Prophet We sent among the earlier ones?

And there came not a Prophet to them except that they were to him ridiculing

(Surah 43:6-7)

Allah reveals, in the form of a rhetorical question, that the number of Prophets who preceded our master the Holy Prophet Muhammad صلي الله عليه وسلم is rather large. Some narrations mention that there were around 124 thousand Prophets. Allah and His Apostle know best! The vast majority of Prophets sent by God were to the Children of Israel, and therefore, most of the Prophets mentioned in the Holy Quran were Israelite Prophets (Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Samuel, Elias, Elisha, Job, Jonas, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Jehiah/John the Baptist and Jesus). Only a few non-Israelite Prophets are mentioned, namely, Shu'aib, Salih, Hud and of course the Prophet Muhammad عليهم السلام

But without exception each and every Prophet was mocked and ridiculed. And those who ridicule a Prophet—one who is the most beloved to God Himself—are indeed among the most debased and wretched of creation. Such blasphemy without sincere repentance sends a soul straight to eternal damnation in the lowest and most terrifying depths of the fire of Hell. Till this day, the blasphemers use their blasphemy and mockery of the Prophets as a means to demoralize the Believers and make them doubtful or ashamed of their Faith.

فَاَہۡلَکۡنَاۤ اَشَدَّ مِنۡہُمۡ بَطۡشًا وَّمَضٰی مَثَلُ الۡاَوَّلِیۡنَ

And We destroyed those stronger than them in power, and the example of the earlier ones has already past

(Surah 43:8)

The idol worshiping Quraysh of Mecca, the primary opponents of the Prophet Muhammad صلي الله عليه وسلم were not a great kingdom or regional power unlike the Pharaoh of the Exodus who opposed Moses, or even the warlike people who were wiped out during the Great Flood after having rejected Noah. Consider also the scattering and erasure of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BCE, an obstinate nation that repeatedly and arrogantly belied the warnings delivered to them by ancient Israelite Prophets to repent from idolatry. They too were relatively stronger than the clans of Quraysh and the other Arab tribes in their vicinity—who did not even possess a proper polity—on the eve of the Prophet Muhammad's mission. The purpose of the Ayah is to impress upon them that they should not feel secure in opposing the Prophet Muhammad صلي الله عليه وسلم despite the odds against the latter in terms of raw numbers and influence in the region at the time of the revelation of this Ayah. Allah says:

وَلَئِنۡ سَاَلۡتَہُمۡ مَّنۡ خَلَقَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضَ لَیَقُوۡلُنَّ خَلَقَہُنَّ الۡعَزِیۡزُ الۡعَلِیۡمُ

If you were to ask them who created the Heavens and the Earth they would say, "the Mighty, the Knowing created them both"

(Surah 43:9)

The pagan Arabs affirmed not only the existence of Allah—the invisible God Who had no image or idol to represent Him—but that He alone is the Creator. But confessing belief in a Supreme Deity, Who alone is the Creator, and alone has possession over all things, is not sufficient to save one from Shirk of polytheism if one believes in other deities alongside the One God and worships anything or anyone besides Allah, even if he acknowledges that what he worships is not independent of Allah. This is because it is not only Tawhid to believe in a single Creator, a single Supreme Being, but the Tawhid of Islam requires that we worship nothing but Allah. Allah سبحانه وتعالي says:

وَالَّذِیۡ خَلَقَ الۡاَزۡوَاجَ کُلَّہَا وَجَعَلَ لَکُمۡ مِّنَ الۡفُلۡکِ وَالۡاَنۡعَامِ مَا تَرۡکَبُوۡنَ

لِتَسۡتَوٗا عَلٰی ظُہُوۡرِہٖ ثُمَّ تَذۡکُرُوۡا نِعۡمَۃَ رَبِّکُمۡ اِذَا اسۡتَوَیۡتُمۡ عَلَیۡہِ وَتَقُوۡلُوۡا سُبۡحٰنَ الَّذِیۡ سَخَّرَ لَنَا ہٰذَا وَمَا کُنَّا لَہٗ مُقۡرِنِیۡنَ

وَاِنَّاۤ اِلٰی رَبِّنَا لَمُنۡقَلِبُوۡنَ

And Who has created everything in pairs, and has made vessels and beasts whereon you ride.

That you may settle yourselves firmly on their backs and when you are securely seated thereon you may remember the favor of your Lord and say: Holy is He Who has subjected this to us, while we had not the strength to subdue it by ourselves.

And to our Lord surely shall we return.

(Surah 43:12-14)

Muslims universally recite this Quranic prayer upon seating themselves in any vehicle, including modern cars, trains and planes. Modern vehicles and forms of passenger transportation may all linguistically be named fulk, which literally means a moving vessel. While in premodern times it was primarily used in reference to sea faring vessels, the same word may certainly apply to modern-day vehicles like automobiles, trains and airplanes.

To be continued…