Surah Luqman 31:3

Which was revealed in Makkah

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

The Doomed are preoccupied with Idle Talk and They turn away from the Ayat of Allah

When Allah mentions the blessed -- who are those who are guided by the Book of Allah and benefit from hearing it, as He says:

(Allah has sent down the Best Statement, a Book, its parts resembling each other (and) oft-repeated. The skins of those who fear their Lord shiver from it. Then their skin and their heart soften to the remembrance of Allah) (39:23). He connect that with mention of the doomed, those who turn away from the Qur'an and do not benefit from hearing the Words of Allah. Instead, they turn to listening to flutes and singing accompanied by musical instruments. As Ibn Mas`ud commented about the Ayah:

(And of mankind is he who purchases Lahu Al-Hadith to mislead (men) from the path of Allah), he said, "This -- by Allah -- refers to singing."

(And of mankind is he who purchases Lahw Al-Hadith to mislead (men) from the path of Allah without knowledge, ) Qatadah said: "By Allah, he may not spend money on it, but his purchasing it means he likes it, and the more misguided he is, the more he likes it and the more he prefers falsehood to the truth and harmful things over beneficial things." It was said that what is meant by the words

(purchases idle talks) is buying singing servant girls. Ibn Jarir said that it means all speech that hinders people from seeing the signs of Allah and following His path. His saying:

(to mislead (men) from the path of Allah) means, he does this to oppose Islam and its followers.

(and takes it by way of mockery.) Mujahid said, "This means mocking the path of Allah and making fun of it."

(For such there will be a humiliating torment.) Just as they showed no respect to the signs and path of Allah, so they will be shown no respect on the Day of Resurrection, and they will be subjected to a painful, ongoing torment. Then Allah says:

(And when Our Ayat are recited to such a one, he turns away in pride, as if he heard them not -- as if there were deafness in his ear.) means, when these Qur'anic verses are recited to one who is fond of idleness and play, he turns away from them and does not want to hear them. He turns a deaf ear to them as if he can hear nothing, because it annoys him to hear them since he gains no benefit from them and has no interest in them.

(So announce to him a painful torment.) i.e., on the Day of Resurrection, which will hurt him just as much as listening to the Book of Allah and its verses hurt him.

Ayat-ayat ini menegaskan bahwa ayat-ayat Al-Qur'an berisi petunjuk-petunjuk bagi manusia dalam mengarungi semua sisi kehidupan di dunia yang mengantar dan memimpinnya mencapai kebahagiaan hidup di akhirat kelak.

Jika manusia membuka lembaran-lembaran sejarah dari zaman dahulu sampai sekarang, ia akan berkesimpulan bahwa dengan diutusnya Nabi Muhammad oleh Allah dengan membawa Al-Qur'an yang berisi pokok-pokok risalah yang dibawanya, maka terbukalah pintu-pintu kebajikan bagi semesta alam. Dengan hal itu, bertambah pulalah perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan dengan segala macam cabangnya.

Sekalipun telah ada kebudayaan yang tinggi sebagai hasil pemikiran manusia pada periode sebelum ini, seperti kebudayaan Mesir kuno, Babilonia, Yunani, dan sebagainya, namun semua itu belum mempunyai dasar-dasar yang kuat dan kukuh untuk mencapai perkembangan manusia lebih lanjut dan sempurna di kemudian hari.

Dalam bidang hidup dan kehidupan manusia, Al-Qur'an memberi petunjuk agar manusia menjaga keseimbangan antara kehidupan jasmani dan rohani, serta keseimbangan dalam mencapai kehidupan duniawi dan ukhrawi. Demikian pula dalam hidup bermasyarakat dan bernegara, apa yang halal dan baik untuk dimakan boleh dimakan dan apa yang tidak baik jangan dimakan. Juga terdapat tuntunan cara berbicara dan bergaul yang baik dan sebagainya. Al-Qur'an memberi petunjuk dan aturannya, kemudian manusia mengolah dan menyesuaikan dirinya dengan alam sekelilingnya berdasarkan petunjuk dan aturan itu, mana yang paling baik dan tepat untuk dilaksanakan, dan mana yang harus dijauhi dan ditinggalkan. Orang-orang yang memikirkan, merenungkan, mengolah, dan mengamalkan petunjuk-petunjuk Al-Qur'an dengan sebaik-baiknya adalah "orang-orang yang muhsin".