Surah Al-Israa (17): Read Online and Download - English Translation

Commentary

According to the proof of Tauhid (the Oneness of Allah) given in the verse: إِذًا لَّابْتَغَوْا إِلَىٰ ذِي الْعَرْ‌شِ سَبِيلًا (then they would have found out a way to the Lord of the Throne - 42), Allah alone is the creator, owner and master of the entire universe. The argument is if it was not so and He had other partners in this godhead, differences would have necessarily emerged among them. And, in the eventuality of a difference, the whole universal system would have gone to ruins - because, ever abiding peace among them is habitually impossible. Though, this argument has been enunciated here in a prohibitive manner, but there are books of Scholastic Theology (` Ilm al-Kalam) where the logical rationale behind this argument has also been described in great details. The learned may consult these at their discretion.

The meaning of Tasbih (glorification of Allah) said by the heavens and the earth and everything present therein

Among these, the Tasbih of Allah said by all angels and believing jinn and human beings is self-evident. Everyone knows that. As for disbelieving human beings and the jinn, they obviously do not say it. Similarly, there are other things in this universe about which it is said that they are insensate, devoid of reason and intelligence. How do we rationalize their act of saying Tasbih? Some ` Ulama' say that their Tasbih is circumstantial, state-articulated, the testimony of their state of being - because, the collective condition of everything other than Allah Ta’ ala is telling us that it is neither permanent existence-wise nor survival-wise. This whole ongoing condition has been activated under the power and control of some supreme power - this testimony is its Tasbih.

But, other investigative scholars say that volitional Tasbih of Allah is particular with angels and believing jinns and human beings. But, in terms of the state of His orientation towards what He has created, Allah Ta` ala has cast every particle of this universe into the mould of a chanter of His glory. As regards those who do not believe, or do not believe in in-stitutional religion, they too generally subscribe to God and His greatness. Then, there are materialists, atheists, and modern-day communists who do not obviously subscribe to the existence of God. But, the truth of the matter is that the very existence of theirs, inclusive of all that constitutes it, is compulsively busy glorifying Allah - just as trees, rocks and dust and a zillion other things are busy recounting the glory of the most true Allah. But, this act of glorification, this Tasbih they are all engaged in, is built-in, compulsively ingrained and is responding to the call of the creational imperative. Common people do not hear it. The statement of the Qur'an: وَلَـٰكِن لَّا تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ , (but you do not understand their extolling [ the act of glorifying Allah ] - 17:44) proves that this originally and elementally ingrained act of extolling Allah performed by everything en masse is something common people cannot understand. As far as circumstantially discernible act of extolling is concerned, intelligent people can identify it readily. This tells us that the act of extolling we are talking about is not simply a testimony of the incumbent's state of existence in the universe. It is real - though, beyond our comprehension. (As mentioned by al-Qurtubi)

As for the phenomenon of pebbles saying tasbih (glory be to Allah) in the blessed hand of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and which was clearly heard by the noble Sahabah, it is obviously a miracle. But, Shaykh Jalaluddin as-Suyuti while explaining this Hadith in al-Khasais al-Kubra has said that pebbles saying tasbih is not the miracle of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . As regards pebbles, they say tasbih wherever they are. In fact, what is his miracle is that once the pebbles were in his blessed hand that tasbih said by them became audible.

Imam al-Qurtubi has declared this refinement as weightier and has supported it with many proofs from the Qur'an, and Sunnah. For example, it was said about Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) in Surah Sad: إِنَّا سَخَّرْ‌نَا الْجِبَالَ مَعَهُ يُسَبِّحْنَ بِالْعَشِيِّ وَالْإِشْرَ‌اقِ (We subjugated the mountains with him which used to glorify Allah, evening and morning - 48:18). And it was said about rocks in a verse of Surah al-Baqarah: وَإِنَّ مِنْهَا لَمَا يَهْبِطُ مِنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّـهِ (and there are still others [ rocks ] which fall down in fear of Allah - 2:74). This proves that rocks have consciousness, sense and the fear of Allah. Then, refuting Christians calling Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) Son of God, it was said in a verse of Surah Maryam: وَتَخِرُّ‌ الْجِبَالُ هَدًّا أَن دَعَوْا لِلرَّ‌حْمَـٰنِ وَلَدًا (and the mountains fall down crumbling that they attribute to the Rahman [ Most-Merciful Allah ] a son - 19:90, 91). Again, it is evident that mountains crumbling in fear are indicative of their consciousness and sense. And once it is conceded that they have sense and consciousness, the saying of tasbih by them should not be considered something improbable.

Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Mas’ ud ؓ said, "a mountain says to the other mountain, 'say, 0 brother, has a man ever gone across you, someone who was good at remembering Allah?' If it says, 'yes,' this mountain is pleased with him." For his proof, Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn 'Mas` ud ؓ recited the verse: وَقَالُوا اتَّخَذَ الرَّ‌حْمَـٰنُ وَلَدًا (And they say, "the Rahman [ Most-Merciful Allah ] has taken a son" - 19:88). After that, he said, "this verse proves it that mountains are affected by listening to words of blasphemy (kufr) and are, thereupon, seized by fear. This being the truth, do you think that they listen to what is false and do not listen to what is true (haqq), do not hear Allah being remembered (dhikr) and are not affected by it?" (Qurtubi with reference to Raqa'iq ibn Mubarak) And the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "there is no jinn, man, tree, rock and common clod of earth that hears the call of the Muezzin (mu'adhdhin), and does not bear witness to his faith and righteousness on the day of Qiyamah." (Mu'atta Imam Malik and Sunan Ibn Majah on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Said al-Khudri ؓ .

Imam al-Bukhari (رح) has reported on the authority of Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Mas’ ud ؓ ، who said, "we used to hear the sound of tasbih (glory to Allah) said by the food when it was being eaten." And a variant appears in another report where it is said, "when we ate with the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، we used to hear the sound of tasbih said by the food." And as narrated by Sayyidna Jabir ibn Samurah ؓ ، it appears in Sahih Muslim that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "I know the rock of Makkah al-Mukarramah that used to say 'salam' to me before the call of prophet-hood - and I know it even now." Some say, 'the reference is to al-Hajar al-Aswad.' Allah knows best.

Imam al-Qurtubi (رح) has said that Hadith reports relating to such matters abound. As for the story of Ustuwanah Hannanah (the dried tree serving as a column for support when the Holy Prophet ﷺ gave his Khutbah in the Masjid), it is common knowledge among Muslims all over the world. When the Holy Prophet ﷺ bypassed it while starting to deliver his Khutbah from a regular mimbar (stepped-platform), the noble Sahabah heard the sound of wailing coming from it.

After all these reports, why should it remain so far out to realize that everything in the heavens and the earth has consciousness and sense and that everything really glorifies Allah. Ibrahim (رح) says that this tasbih is universal. It includes the animate and the inanimate both. So much so that the least sound made by the panels of doors are not devoid of tasbih. Imam al-Qurtubi has said, 'If this glorification of Allah was a state-articulated tasbih, why was it made so particular to Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) in the verse referred to a little earlier? A state-articulated tasbih is something every discerning human being can sense out from everything. This makes it obvious that this tasbih was spoken, verbally and audibly.

Commentary

Can Magic affect a Prophet?

A prophet being affected by magic is as possible as being affected by sickness. Therefore, blessed prophets are not devoid of or detached from human characteristics. For instance, they could be wounded, run temperature or feel pain. Similarly, they could also be affected by magic because, that too, is triggered by the influence of physical causes, such as those of the Jinn. And it also stands proved from Hadith that there was an occasion when the Holy Prophet ﷺ was affected by magic. As for the disbelievers calling him 'bewitched' ('mashur' ) in verse 47 which the Qur'an has refuted for the reason that they really meant to call him 'insane.' (Bayan al-Qur'an) Therefore, the Hadith of magic is not contradictory.1

1. Moreover, the magic or sorcery can affect a prophet only to cause a physical illness. It can never have an adverse effect on performing their functions as prophets. The disbelievers used to call the Holy Prophet ﷺ t 'bewitched person' in this later sense which was totally impossible in his case, while the hadith refers to the physical illness suffered by the Holy Prophet ﷺ which was caused by an act of magic. (Muhammad Taqi Usmani)

The subject taken up in the first two verses (45, 46) has a particular event as a background. According to al-Qurtubi reporting on the authority of Sayyidna Said ibn Jubayr ؓ ، when Surah al-Masad/al-Lahab (iii) beginning with: تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ was revealed in the Qur'an, it also condemned the wife of Abu Lahab. She went to the place where the Holy Prophet ﷺ used to sit with his Companions. At that time, Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ was present there. Noticing her coming well ahead of her arrival, he said to the Holy Prophet ﷺ "if you move away from here, it will be better. This woman has a sharp tongue. She will say things which may cause you pain." He said, "no, Allah Ta` ala will put a curtain between me and her." So, she reached there but when she could not see the Holy Prophet ﷺ anywhere around, she turned towards Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ and said, your companion has satirized us in poetry." Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ said, "By Allah, he is no composer of poetry, much less that of the kind in which people are satirized (hajw)." Thereupon, she left in a huff saying, "you are no more than a verifier for him." After she was gone, Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ submitted, "didn't she see you?" He said, "as long as she was here, an angel kept obstructing the view between me and her."

A Qur'anic formula of remaining hidden from enemy sight

'On occasions when the Holy Prophet ﷺ wished to remain hidden from the sight of the Mushriks,' says Sayyidna Ka` b ؓ ، 'he would recite three verses of the Holy Qur’ an. Such was its effect that the disbelievers were unable to see him.' Those three verses are:

1. إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِي آذَانِهِمْ وَقْرً‌ا (Surely, We have put covers on their hearts, so that they do not understand it, and deafness in their ears - Surah al-Kahf, 18:57).

2. أُولَـٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ طَبَعَ اللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَسَمْعِهِمْ وَأَبْصَارِ‌هِمْ (Those are the ones Allah has put a seal on whose hearts and hearing and vision - Surah an-Nahl, 16:108).

3. أَفَرَ‌أَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَـٰهَهُ هَوَاهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ اللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ وَخَتَمَ عَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَجَعَلَ عَلَىٰ بَصَرِ‌هِ غِشَاوَةً (Have you seen the one who has taken his own desire as god while Allah has let him go astray because of knowledge [ his or His ] and has set a seal upon his hearing and his heart and placed over his vision a veil - Surah al-Jathiyah, 45:23).

Sayyidna Ka'b ؓ says that he related this thing about the Holy Prophet ﷺ to a Syrian who had to go to adjoining Byzantium on a certain business. He went there and stayed for a long time until the local disbelievers started harassing him. When he escaped from there, they pursued him. At that time, he remembered that narrative and recited the three verses identified there. It so happened as if a screen was placed on their eyes why they could not see this person who was walking on the same pathway the enemies were passing by.

Imam Tha` labi says that he related this narrative of Sayyidna Ka` b ؓ to a resident of the town of R'ay. It so happened that he was put under arrest by the disbelievers of Dailam. For some time he remained under detention with them. One day he got his chance to escape. They pursued him, but this person also recited those three verses. The effect was immediate. Allah Ta’ ala screened their eyes in a manner that they were unable to see him - though, they were walking side by side with their clothes touching his clothes.

Imam al-Qurtubi (رح) says that the verses from Surah Ya Sin which were recited by the Holy Prophet ﷺ at the time of Hijrah may also be added to the three verses cited above. This was when the Mushsriks of Makkah had besieged his house. He recited those verses and went right through them. In fact, he went by throwing dust on their heads and none of them knew anything about it. Those verses of Surah Ya Seen are:

بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّ‌حْمَـٰنِ الرَّ‌حِيمِ

يس ﴿1﴾ وَالْقُرْ‌آنِ الْحَكِيمِ ﴿2﴾ إِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْ‌سَلِينَ ﴿3﴾ عَلَىٰ صِرَ‌اطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ ﴿4﴾ تَنزِيلَ الْعَزِيزِ الرَّ‌حِيمِ ﴿5﴾ لِتُنذِرَ‌ قَوْمًا مَّا أُنذِرَ‌ آبَاؤُهُمْ فَهُمْ غَافِلُونَ ﴿6﴾ لَقَدْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ عَلَىٰ أَكْثَرِ‌هِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿7﴾ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا فِي أَعْنَاقِهِمْ أَغْلَالًا فَهِيَ إِلَى الْأَذْقَانِ فَهُم مُّقْمَحُونَ ﴿8﴾ وَجَعَلْنَا مِن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُبْصِرُ‌ونَ ﴿9﴾

With the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the Very-Merciful

Ya Seen. By the wise Qur'an, surely you [ 0 Muhammad ] are from among the messengers, on a straight path. [ This is ] a revelation of the Mighty, the Very Merciful, that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, so they are unaware. The word has already taken effect against most of them, so they do not believe. Surely, We have placed shackles on their necks reaching down to their chins, so they are with heads forced high up. And We have placed before them an obstruction and behind them an obstruction and covered them, so they do not see - Surah Ya Seen, 36: 1-9)

Imam al-Qurtubi (رح) says that he himself went through an incident in the Manthur Castle of al-Qartubah in his own country of al-Andalus (Spain). I ran in front of the enemy and sat in a corner. The enemy sent two horsemen after me. I was on open grounds. There was nothing to obstruct the view between us. But, I was reciting these verses of Surah Ya Sin. Both these horsemen passed by me. Then they went back towards where they had come from, saying, 'this person must be some devil,' because they could not see me. Allah Ta’ ala had turned them blind as far as I was concerned. (Qurtubi)