Some of Allah’s Bounties on His Slaves
The earth is divided into two parts, land and water. Allah puts abundant bounties on both of them. On the land, there are minerals, plants, animals, etc. In water, there are fish, corals, pearls, etc. Allah has facilitated sailing on the sea for man so that he may travel to different places, and move people and goods by ships. These bounties necessitate worshipping Allah alone and thanking Him for all His bounties.
(Your Lord is He Who makes the ships go smoothly for you on the sea that you may seek His bounty. Indeed, He is ever Merciful to you.
When affliction befalls you on the sea, those whom you worship will be forgotten except Allah. And when He brings you to the land safely, you turn away. Man is ever ungrateful.
Do you feel secure that He will not make a part of the land collapse beneath you, or make a sandstorm blow over you? Then you will find none to protect you.
Or do you feel secure that He will not take you back to the sea once again, and send a strong wind against you, causing you to drown because of your ingratitude? Then you will find no claimant against Us.) [Quran Surah al-Isra: 66-69]
Relationship with Previous Part
The ayat returns to mention some proofs denoting Allah’s Omnipotence, Wisdom, and Mercy. One of the great goals of the Quran is conforming proofs of the Oneness of Allah. If the ayat discuss lengthily other issues, then the ayat return to mention evidence of the Oneness of Allah.
Tafsir
(Your Lord is He Who makes the ships go smoothly for you on the sea that you may seek His bounty. Indeed, He is ever Merciful to you. [66]
The ayah mentions an aspect of the bounty and mercy of Allah on His slaves. Allah, out of His mercy on His slaves, causes the ships to sail smoothly on the sea.
O people! Remember that your Lord, Allah, is the One who makes the ships go smoothly for you on the sea, by means of His mercy and ability. He does so in order that you seek sustenance through trading, which is also another bounty on you. Thus, you must worship Him alone and thank Him for His blessings.
When affliction befalls you on the sea, those whom you worship will be forgotten except Allah. And when He brings you to the land safely, you turn away. Man is ever ungrateful. [67]
O people! When waves surround you when you are on board, and you are about to drown, you will forget every gods worshipped besides Allah, Exalted is He, and remember and invoke Allah alone to save you, and remove the affliction.
The ayah eloquently describes the condition of man at times of adversities. In such times, he only invokes Allah for help.
In the Arabic version the word ‘dalla,’ translated as ‘forgotten’ is used to describe the condition of man at times of affliction. ‘Dalal’, literally, means to be spoiled, and lost. This shows belittlement and lowness of whatever thing worshipped besides Allah. The disbelievers think that their gods can benefit and help them. However, every one of them instinctively knows that the idols cannot help when afflictions befall.
The state mentioned in the ayah happened to Ikrima bin Jahal, may Allah be pleased with him, when he fled from the Messenger of Allah when the Muslims liberated Mecca from the disbelievers.
Ikrima boarded a ship to go to Abyssinia. Then a strong wind blew. The people on the ship said, ‘No one will avail you but Allah alone.’ Ikrima said to himself, ‘By Allah! If no one can avail on the sea but Allah, then no one can avail on the land but Allah. O Allah! I vow that if You save me from this affliction, I will go to Muhammadﷺ, put my hand on his hand, and find him compassionate and merciful.’ Allah saved them from the danger of the sea. Then Ikrima returned to the Messengerﷺ, embraced Islam, and became a good Muslim, may Allah have mercy on him.
(And when He brings you to the land safely, you turn away. Man is ever ungrateful.)
This statement shows the usual reaction of people, except those whom Allah protects from misguidance.
O people! When Allah, out of His bounty and mercy, save you from drowning, you turn away from worshipping Him alone, and worship other gods besides Him. Indeed, man is ever ungrateful to His Creator, Allah.
Then Allah mentions that nothing stands before His ability.
(Do you feel secure that He will not make a part of the land collapse beneath you, or make a sandstorm blow over you? Then you will find none to protect you.) [68]
(Do you…), the interrogation is for condemnation.
O people! Now after you were saved from drowning in the sea, and became happy, you have forgotten Allah, who has saved you from the danger. You should remember that Allah is able to make a part of the land devastatingly collapse beneath you. He is also able to make a sandstorm blow over you, which will destroy you. Then you will find no one who can protect you from the torment of Allah.
O people! If you feel secure and safe from the torment of Allah after being delivered from drowning, then you are ignorant. Verily, nothing can stand before the ability of Allah. He is able to destroy you whether you are on the land, the sea, or in other places. The entire universe is under the control of Allah, Exalted is He. You can find no protector nor helper but Allah.
Then the ayat mentions another example, denoting Allah’s Omnipotence.
Or do you feel secure that He will not take you back to the sea once again, and send a strong wind against you, causing you to drown because of your ingratitude? Then you will find no claimant against Us.) [69]
(Or do you feel secure that…), the interrogation is for condemnation.
O people! Do you feel secure that Allah will not take you back to the sea once again, and then He will send a strong storm against you that will destroy your ship? Thereafter, you will drown because of your disbelief in Allah and denial of His blessings. Then you will find no claimant who will claim your right, or make you prevail over Allah. Verily, no one can ask Allah why He does something, while people will be called to account for what they do.
(… causing you to drown because of your ingratitude), Allah is never unjust to people. Rather, they harm themselves by disbelieving in, and disobeying Allah.
Learned Lessons
• Allah’s bounties on people are countless. They must worship Allah alone and thank Him for the bounty of subjugating the sea for them so they can use it for travel and seeking sustenance through trading.
• Saving people from the sea’s danger and drowning is another bounty of Allah on people.
• When affliction befalls man on the sea, he instinctively knows that no one can save him but Allah, Exalted is He. However, man is ungrateful to Allah.
• Allah accepts the invocation of whoever prays to Him while being certain that He is alone the One who can accept his invocation and grant his request even if the invoker is a disbeliever.
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