Surah Al-Mulk 67:5

Which was revealed in Makkah

The Virtues of Surat Al-Mulk

Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu Hurayrah that Allah's Messenger ﷺ said,

«إِنَّ سُورَةً فِي الْقُرْآنِ ثَلَاثِينَ آيَةً شَفَعَتْ لِصَاحِبِهَا حَتْى غُفِرَ لَهُ:

تَبَارَكَ الَّذِى بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ»

(Verily, there is a chapter in the Qur'an which contains thirty Ayat that will intercede on behalf of its reciter until he is forgiven. (It is): (Blessed be He in Whose Hand is the dominion.)) This Hadith was collected by At-Tirmidhi and the four Sunan Compilers. At-Tirmidhi said concerning it, "This is a Hasan Hadith." At-Tabarani and Al-Hafiz Ad-Diya' Al-Maqdisi both recorded from Anas that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«سُورَةٌ فِي الْقُرْآنِ خَاصَمَتْ عَنْ صَاحِبِهَا حَتْى أَدْخَلَتْهُ الْجَنَّةَ:

تَبَارَكَ الَّذِى بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ»

(There is a chapter of the Qur'an that will argue on behalf of its reciter until it causes him to enter into Paradise. (It is): (Blessed be He in Whose Hand is the dominion.))

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Glorification of Allah and mentioning the Creation of Death, Life, the Heavens and the Stars

Allah the Exalted glorifies His Noble Self and informs that the dominion is in His Hand. This means that He deals with all of His creatures however He wishes and there is none who can reverse His decree. He is not questioned concerning what He does because of His force, His wisdom and His justice. For this reason Allah says,

وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

(and He is Able to do all things.) Then Allah says,

الَّذِى خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَوةَ

(Who has created death and life) Those who say that death is an existing creation use this Ayah as a proof because it is something that has been created. This Ayah means that He brought creation into existence from nothing in order to test the creatures. He examines them to see which of them will be best in deeds. This is similar to Allah's statement,

كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَتًا فَأَحْيَـكُمْ

(How can you disbelieve in Allah Seeing that you were dead and He gave you life.) (2:28) In this Ayah Allah named the first stage, which is non-existence, "death." Then he named the origin or beginning of existence, "life." This is why Allah says,

ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ

(Then He will give death, then again will bring you to life ( on the Day of Resurrection)) (2:28). Concerning Allah's statement,

لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلاً

(He may test you which of you is best in deed.) it means best in deeds. This is as Muhammad bin `Ajlan said. It should be noted that Allah did not say "which of you does the most deeds." Allah then says,

وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفُورُ

(And He is the Almighty, the Oft-Forgiving.) This means that He is the Almighty, the Most Great, the Most Powerful and the Most Honorable. However, along with this He is Most Forgiving to whoever turns to Him in repentance and seeks His pardon after having disobeyed Him and opposed His commandment. Even though Allah is Almighty, He also forgives, shows mercy, pardons and excuses. Then Allah says,

الَّذِى خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَـوَتٍ طِبَاقًا

(Who has created the seven heavens one above the other;) meaning stacked one on top of the other. Are they connected to each other, meaning that they are in elevated ascension, some of them being stacked above others, or separated with space between them There are two views concerning this, and the most correct opinion seems to be the latter as is proven in the Hadith of Isra' (the Prophet's Night Journey) and other narrations. Concerning Allah's statement,

مَّا تَرَى فِى خَلْقِ الرَّحْمَـنِ مِن تَفَـوُتٍ

(you can see no fault in the creation of the Most Gracious.) means, it (the creation) is done in a flawless manner, and these are connected with each other so as to forms a straight level, having no disunion, conflict, inconsistency, deficiency, flaw or defect. This is the reason that Allah says,

فَارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ هَلْ تَرَى مِن فُطُورٍ

(Then look again. Can you see any rifts) meaning, look at the sky and pay close attention to it. Do you see any flaw, deficiency, defect or rifts in it Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak, Ath-Thawri and others said concerning Allah's statement,

فَارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ هَلْ تَرَى مِن فُطُورٍ

(Then look again. Can you see any rifts) that it means cracks. As-Suddi said that,

هَلْ تَرَى مِن فُطُورٍ

(Can you see any rifts) means any tears. Qatadah said,

هَلْ تَرَى مِن فُطُورٍ

(Can you see any rifts) means, `do you see any defects O Son of Adam (mankind)' In reference to Allah's statement,

ثُمَّ اْرجِعِ البَصَرَ كَرَّتَيْنِ

(Then look again and yet again, ) Qatadah said, "It means (look) twice."

يَنقَلِبْ إِلَيْكَ البَصَرُ خَاسِئًا

(your sight will return to you Khasi',) Ibn `Abbas said that Khasi' means humiliated. Mujahid and Qatadah both said that it means despised.

وَهُوَ حَسِيرٌ

(and worn out.) Ibn `Abbas said that this means it will be exhausted. Mujahid, Qatadah and As-Suddi all said that it means broken down fatigue that comes from weakness. Thus, the Ayah means that if you continuously looked, no matter how much you look, your sight will return to you.

خَاسِئًا

(Khasi') due to the inability to see any flaw or defect (in Allah's creation).

وَهُوَ حَسِيرٌ

(and worn out.) meaning, exhausted and broken down feebleness due to the great amount of repeated looking without being able to detect any deficiency. Then, after Allah negated any deficiency in the creation of the heavens, He explains their perfection and beauty. He says,

وَلَقَدْ زَيَّنَّا السَّمَآءَ الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَـبِيحَ

(And indeed We have adorned the nearest heaven with lamps, ) This refers to the stars which have been placed in the heavens, some moving and some stationary. In Allah's statement,

وَجَعَلْنَـهَا رُجُوماً لِّلشَّيَـطِينِ

(and We have made them (as) missiles to drive away the Shayatin,) The pronoun `them' in His statement, "and We have made them" is the same type of statement as the stars being referred to as lamps. This does not mean that they are actually missiles, because the stars in the sky are not thrown. Rather, it is the meteors beneath them that are thrown and they are taken from the stars. And Allah knows best. Concerning Allah's statement,

وَأَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابَ السَّعِيرِ

(and We have prepared for them the torment of the blazing Fire.) means, `We have made this disgrace for the devils in this life and We have prepared for them the torment of the blazing Fire in the Hereafter.' This is as Allah said in the beginning of Surat As-Saffat,

إِنَّا زَيَّنَّا السَّمَآءَ الدُّنْيَا بِزِينَةٍ الْكَوَكِبِ - وَحِفْظاً مِّن كُلِّ شَيْطَـنٍ مَّارِدٍ - لاَّ يَسَّمَّعُونَ إِلَى الْمَلإِ الاٌّعْلَى وَيُقْذَفُونَ مِن كُلِّ جَانِبٍ - دُحُوراً وَلَهُمْ عَذابٌ وَاصِبٌ - إِلاَّ مَنْ خَطِفَ الْخَطْفَةَ فَأَتْبَعَهُ شِهَابٌ ثَاقِبٌ

(Verily, We have adorned the near heaven with the stars (for beauty). And to guard against every rebellious devil. They cannot listen to the higher group (angels) for they are pelted from every side. Outcast, and theirs is a constant (or painful) torment. Except such as snatch away something by stealing, and they are pursued by a flaming fire of piercing brightness.) 37:6-7 Qatadah said, "These stars were only created for three purposes: Allah created them as adornment for the heaven (sky), as missiles for the devils and as signs for navigation. Therefore, whoever seeks to interpret any other meanings for them other than these, then verily he has spoken with his own opinion, he has lost his portion and burdened himself with that which he has no knowledge of." Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim both recorded this statement.

Setelah menyatakan bahwa tidak terdapat kekurangan sedikit pun dalam ciptaan-Nya, Allah menegaskan bahwa Dialah Tuhan Yang Mahakuasa lagi Mahaagung, dengan mengatakan bahwa Dia telah menghias langit yang terdekat ke bumi dengan matahari yang bercahaya terang pada siang hari, bulan dan bintang-bintang yang bersinar pada malam hari, yang dapat dilihat oleh manusia setiap datangnya siang dan malam. Langit yang berhiaskan matahari, bulan, dan bintang-bintang yang bersinar itu terlihat oleh manusia seakan-akan rumah yang berhiaskan lampu-lampu yang gemerlapan di malam hari, sehingga menyenangkan hati orang yang memandangnya.

Perumpamaan yang dikemukakan ayat di atas merupakan perumpamaan yang indah dan langsung mengenai sasarannya. Yaitu bahwa alam semesta ini diumpamakan seperti rumah. Rumah merupakan tempat tinggal manusia, tempat mereka berlindung dari terik matahari dan tempat berteduh di waktu hujan, tempat mereka bersenang-senang dan beristirahat, tempat mereka membesarkan anak-anak mereka, dan sebagainya. Demikianlah alam ini diciptakan Allah untuk kepentingan manusia seluruhnya.

Bintang-bintang itu di samping menghiasi langit, juga dapat menimbulkan nyala api yang dapat digunakan untuk melempari setan terkutuk yang mencuri dengar pembicaraan penduduk langit.

Sebagian ulama ada yang menafsirkan ayat ini dengan mengatakan bahwa Allah menciptakan bintang-bintang sebagai hiasan dunia dan untuk menimbulkan rezeki bagi manusia, yaitu dengan adanya siang dan malam dengan segala macam manfaatnya yang dapat diperoleh darinya. Rezeki yang diperoleh manusia karena adanya siang dan malam itu, ada yang menjadi sebab timbulnya kebaikan dan ada pula yang menjadi sebab timbulnya kejahatan yang dapat mengobarkan nafsu jahat.

Qatadah mengatakan bahwa Allah menciptakan bintang-bintang itu dengan tiga tujuan, yaitu: pertama, untuk hiasan langit; kedua, untuk melempar setan; dan ketiga, untuk menjadi petunjuk arah dan alamat bagi para musafir yang sedang dalam perjalanan, baik di darat, laut, maupun di ruang angkasa yang sangat luas ini. Barangkali Qatadah menerangkan di antara tujuan Allah menciptakan bintang-bintang sejauh yang ia ketahui, karena masih banyak tujuan yang lain, baik yang telah diketahui maupun yang belum diketahui oleh manusia. Allah Mahaluas ilmu-Nya lagi Mahabijaksana.

Demikianlah Allah menciptakan bintang-bintang yang menghiasi alam raya yang tidak terhitung banyaknya. Semua itu dapat dimanfaatkan manusia sesuai dengan keinginan yang hendak dicapainya. Jika keinginan yang hendak dicapai itu adalah keinginan yang sesuai dengan keridaan Allah, tentu Allah akan melapangkan jalan bagi tercapainya keinginan itu dan memberinya pahala yang berlipat-ganda. Sebaliknya jika keinginan yang hendak dicapai itu adalah keinginan yang berlawanan dengan keridaan Allah, maka bagi mereka disediakan azab yang pedih.