Аз-Зухруф 43:13–25

ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُ‌وا نِعْمَةَ رَ‌بِّكُمْ (then recall the favour of your Lord - 13). This tells us that a sensible and alert person should not display negligence, carelessness or his need-free of the divine help while enjoying the blessings of the Actual Benefactor, rather he should acknowledge that it is a reward from Allah Almighty, obliging him to be grateful and to display his impotence and humility. Actually this is the difference between an infidel and a Mu'min that an infidel uses the good things of this world carelessly and negligently, while the Mu'min congnizant of the blessings of Allah bows his head to Allah Almighty in humility. It is for this reason that the Qur'an and hadith have taught supplications for patience, steadfastness and gratefulness, and if anyone makes a habit of supplicating those prayers in his daily life while getting up, sitting down, walking about, etc., then all his (or hers) permissible activities turn into acts of worship. These supplications are collected by ` Allamah Ibn-ul-Jazri in his book Al-Hisn-ul-Hasin, and Maulana Thanawi in Munajat-e-Maqbul.

Supplications of a traveler

سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ‌ لَنَا هَٰذَا (Pure is the One who has subjugated this for us - 13). These words of supplication are to be said when mounting a transport. This was the practice of the Holy Prophet ﷺ according to many narrations. The mustahab (preferable) way to ride a transport, as stated by Sayyidna ` Ali ؓ ، is to say بِسْمِ اللَّهِ :'Bismillah' (With the name of Allah) when one is putting the first foot on the animal or the vehicle, and after one has set himself or herself on the transport, one should say الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ Alhamdulillah' (All praise belongs to Allah), and then one should say the words mentioned in this verse from سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ‌ لَنَا هَٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِ‌نِينَ وَإِنَّا إِلَىٰ رَ‌بِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ (Qurtubi). Moreover according to some reports, the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، after saying these words, used to supplicate in the following words also:

اَللَّھُمَّ اَنتَ الصَّاحِبُ فِی السَّفَرِ وَ الخلِیفَۃُ فِی الاَھلِ وَالمالِ اَللَّھُمَّ اِنِّی اَعُوذُبِکَ مَن وَّعثَآءِ السَّفَرِ وَ کَآا ؓ بَۃِ المُنقَلَبِ ، وَالحَورِ بعدَ الکَورِ وَ سُوءِ المَنظَر فِی الاَھلِ وَالمَالِ ۔

"0 Allah, you are my companion in the journey, and my substitute for my family. 0 Allah, I seek your refuge from the sufferings of the journey, and from coming back in a sad situation, and from a bad state of being after a good one, and from a bad scenario appearing to me about my family and my belongings."

According to one narration, the following words are added to the above supplication,

اللَّھُمَّ لَٓا اِلٰہَ اِلَّا اَنتِ ، ظَلَمتُ نَفسِی فاغفِر لِی اِنَّہُ لَا یَغفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ اِلَّا اَنتَ

0 Allah, there is no god but You. I have done wrong to myself; so forgive me. Surely, no one can forgive the sins, but You alone. (Qurtubi)

وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِ‌نِينَ (and we were not able to have control over it - 13). This statement is as true for mechanical means of transport as for cattle and animals, because if Allah Ta’ ala had not created their raw materials, or had not endowed them with their particular properties, or had not endowed the human intellect with capability to discover those properties, even the whole universe, acting together in unison, could not have produced these vehicles.

وَإِنَّا إِلَىٰ رَ‌بِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ (and of course, towards our Lord we have to return - 14). These words teach us that every time a man embarks on a journey, he should think of his last arduous journey to the Hereafter also, which one has to undertake in all circumstances; - and the only way to make it easy is to have a vehicle of good deeds.

وَجَعَلُوا لَهُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ جُزْءًا (And they have attributed to Him [ that He is composed on parts [ and that too ] out of His slaves...43:15) 'parts' in this verse means 'offspring', because the polytheists used to say that angels are daughters of Allah, and by using the word 'parts' instead of 'offspring' the fallacy of their claim has been pointed out on pure logical ground. The gist of the argument is that had Allah any offspring, that offspring will have been His part, because a son is a part of his father, and it is a rule of logic that an entity that consists of parts is dependent upon its parts for its full existence. This will then necessarily mean that Allah Ta’ ala is also dependent on His offspring, which is obviously impossible, because dependence of any kind, being a negation of the Divine Majesty, is out of question in Allah's case.

أَوَمَن يُنَشَّأُ فِي الْحِلْيَةِ (Is it that (Allah has chosen) those (as His offspring) who are grown up in ornaments,... 43:18). This tells us that use of ornaments and adornment in accordance with 'Shari'ah is permissible for women. As such, there is consensus on this issue, but at the same time the manner of speech indicates that getting so much involved in adornment that one is busy in it the whole day long, is not proper; it is not only a symptom of one's being short-sighted, but also a cause of it.

وَهُوَ فِي الْخِصَامِ غَيْرُ‌ مُبِينٍ (and who cannot express themselves in debate clearly - 18). This reflects the reality that a great majority of women do not have the same ability as men to express their feelings clearly. Therefore, if it comes to argumentation, it is difficult for them to prove their own contention and to refute the other's arguments in a clear manner. But this applies to the majority. If some women are eloquent in their speech and excel even men in this regard, it does not go against this verse, because the rule applies to the majority, and not to every single individual.