An-Nahl 16:76–128

Allah, may He be glorified, strikes another example to refute them, which is the example of two men: One of them is mute and cannot hear, speak or understand due to his deafness and muteness. He is unable to benefit himself or others. He is a heavy burden on the one who is in charge of and looks after him. Whichever direction he sends him, he brings no good and does not attain the objective. Can the person whose condition is like this be equal to one who is sound of hearing and speech, and who is of benefit to others. He instructs people to be just and he himself is upright. He is on a clear path that has no confusion or crookedness. How then do you - O idolater- equate Allah Who possesses the attributes of majesty and perfection with your idols who cannot hear or speak and who cannot bring any benefit or remove any harm?!

To Allah alone belongs the knowledge of the unseen of the heavens and knowledge of the unseen of the earth. He has the exclusive knowledge of that as opposed to anyone of His creation. The coming of the Hour is only known to Allah, and the speed of its coming is only like the closing and opening of the eyelid or closer then that. Allah has power over everything. Nothing can overpower Him. When He intends something He says, “Be” and it is.

Allah brought you - O people - out of your mothers’ wombs after the completion of the term of pregnancy, as babies not realising anything; and He gave you hearing to hear with, eyesight to see with, and hearts to reason; in the hope that you may give thanks to Him for these favours that He has given you.

Have the idolaters not seen the birds that are subdued and designed to fly in the air because of the wings that Allah granted them along with the lighteness and delicate nature of the air? He inspired them to close and open their wings. No one keeps them from falling in the air except Allah, the Powerful. In this subjugation and holding them from falling there are signs for people who have faith in Allah, because they are the ones who benefit from such signs and lessons.

Allah, may He be glorified, has made for you the homes that you build out of stone and other items to settle and rest therein. He has made for you, from the skins of camels, cows and goats, tents and canopies in the desert that are similar to urban homes. These are light for you to carry when you travel from one place to another and are easy to erect when you stop. He has made for you, from the wool of sheep and the hair of camels and goats, furnishings for your homes and garments and coverings that you can enjoy the use of until a specified time.

Allah has made for you trees and buildings that you use as shade from the heat. He has made for you tunnels, caverns and caves in the mountains that you use as a cover from the cold, heat and from enemies. He has made for you shirts and clothing of cotton that protect you from the heat and cold. He has made for you armour that protect you from the violence of others in war so that the weapons do not penetrate and reach your bodies. Just as Allah has given you the above favours He completes His favours to you in the hope that you will submit to Allah alone and not associate anything as partner to Him.

If they turn away from faith and acceptance of what you have brought, then your duty, O Messenger, is only to convey what you have been instructed to in a clear manner. It is not your duty to make them accept guidance.

The idolaters recognise the favours that Allah has given them, such as the sending of the prophet (peace be upon him), but then they deny His favours by not giving thanks and by rejecting His Messenger. Most of them reject His favours, may He be glorified.

Remember, O Messenger, the Day when Allah will raise up from every nation their Messenger who was sent to them to give testimony of the faith of those who believed and the rejection of those who disbelieved. Thereafter those who disbelieved will not be allowed to present an excuse for their rejection and they will not be returned to the world to do actions pleasing to their Lord, as the afterlife is the place of reckoning and not the place of action.

When the wrongdoers and idolaters will see the punishment, it will not be lightened for them and they will not be given respite by it being delayed from them. Instead, they will enter it to live in it forever.

When the idolaters in the afterlife will see the false deities that they used to worship besides Allah, they will say: “O our Lord! These are our partners that we used to worship besides You.” They will say this to make them carry their burdens. Allah will cause their deities to speak and they will respond to them saying: You - O idolaters - were false in your worship of a partner with Allah, for He has no partner deserving of worship.

The idolaters will surrender and submit to Allah alone and all their fabricated claims that their idols will intercede for them before Allah will disappear.

Those who disbelieved and turned others away from the Religion of Allah will have their punishment increased above and beyond what was due to them from their own disbelief, but because they misguiding others also.

Remember, O Messenger, the day when we will raise in every nation a Messenger who will testify against them about their denial or their acceptance of faith. This Messenger will be from their ownselves and will speak their language. We have brought you, O Messenger, as a witness against all communities. We revealed the Qur’ān to you to clarify everything that requires clarification such as the lawful and unlawful, reward and punishment etc. We also revealed it as a guidance for people to the truth, as a mercy to those who have faith in it and practice what it contains, and as good news for those who have faith in Allah of the everlasting bliss that awaits them.

Allah instructs His servants to be just, by discharging Allah’s rights and the rights of fellow human beings and by not giving preference in judgement to anyone unless with a right that demands such preference. He instructs them to be good, by doing more than what is mandatory such as spending voluntarily and forgiving the oppressor. He instructs them to see to the needs of their relatives. He forbids everything that is vile, in words, such as obscene speech, or in deeds, such as fornication. He forbids oppression and arrogance over people. Allah advises you with the instructions and prohibitions in this verse in the hope that you will take heed of His advice.

Fulfil every pledge that you made to Allah or that you made to people. Do not break oaths after making them binding by swearing by Allah, when you have made Allah a witness to the oath that you swore. Allah knows what you do. Nothing is hidden from Him and He will recompense you for that.

Do not be, by breaking your oaths, foolish and dim-witted like a woman who tired herself by spinning her wool and after it was firmly spun she broke it open and unravelled it!. She tired herself by spinning it and then breaking it and she didnt obtain the desired result. You make your oaths as a means of deception to deceive one another, so that your nation can be more in number and stronger than the nation of your enemies. Allah only tests you by the fulfilment of your oaths - will you fulfil them or break them? Allah will make clear to you on the Day of Judgement those things you differed about in the world and He will distinguish those who were on truth from those who were on falsehood and the truthful from the liars.

Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation in agreement on the truth, but He, may He be glorified, misguides whom He wills from the truth and from fulfilling their oaths by His justice, and He guides whom He wills to do so by His grace. You will surely be questioned on the Day of Judgement about what you used to do in the world.

Do not make your oaths a means of deception thereby allowing you to trick and deceive one another, following your desires - breaking them whenever you wish and fulfilling them when you wish. If you do so your feet will slip from the straight path after being firm on it. You will taste the punishment on account of your deviation from Allah’s path and your misleading others from it and you will receive multiplied punishment.

Do not exchange the oath you took in Allah’s name for a small amount, not fulfilling the pledge or not being sincere in it. The victory and booty that Allah has in the world and the perpetual bliss that He has in the afterlife is better for you than the small amount that you take for breaking the pledge, if only you knew that.

The wealth, pleasures and luxuries that you have - O people - will come to an end no matter how much it may be, but the reward that is with Allah will remain. How then do you give preference to that which is perishable over that which is lasting? We will certainly reward those who remain steadfast on their oaths and who do not break them according to the best of their good deeds by multiplying its reward by ten times up to seven hundred times or even more.

Whoever does good deeds in accordance with the sacred law, whether male or female, while having faith in Allah, We will grant them in this world a good life, by their being pleased with Allah’s decree, content and guided towards righteous actions, and We will reward them in the afterlife in accordance with the best good deeds that they used to do in the world.

When you intend to recite the Qur’ān - O believer - then ask Allah to protect you from the whispering of the Satan, who is rejected from Allah’s mercy.

Satan has no authority over those who have faith in Allah and who rely only on their Lord in all their affairs.

He only has authority by means of His whispering over those who take him as an ally and follow him in his luring and those who because of such luring associate partners with Allah whom they worship along with Him.

When We abrogate the ruling of one verse of the Qur’ān with another verse - and Allah knows well about the part of the Qur’ān that is abrogated for a reason and the part that is not abrogated - they say: You, O Muhammad, are only a liar making up things about Allah. Rather, most of them do not know that abrogation occurs for a divine reason with far-reaching wisdom.

Say to them, O Messenger, This Qur’ān has been brought down by Gabriel (peace be with him) from Allah, may He be glorified, with the truth that contains no error, alteration or distortion, to keep those who have faith in Allah firm on their faith, whether a new part is revealed or a part is abrogated, and to be a guidance for them to the truth and good news for the Muslims about the generous reward that they will obtain.

I know very well that the idolaters say: It is a human being who is teaching Muhammad (peace be upon him). They are lying in this claim of theirs. The language of the person whom they assume is teaching him is non-Arabic, whereas this Qur’ān has been revealed in the clear and highly eloquent Arabic language. How then do they claim that he received it from a non-Arab?!

Those who do not believe that the verses of the Qur’ān are in fact from Allah, may He be glorified, Allah does not bless them with guidance as long as they persist in that. They will receive a painful punishment on account of their rejection of Allah and denial of His verses.

Muhammad (peace be upon him) is not lying about what he brought from His Lord. Lies are only being invented by those who do not accept Allah’s words, because they do not fear any punishment nor have hope of any reward. Those described with the attribute of disbelief are the liars as lying is a habit that they are accustomed to.

Whoever denies Allah after having faith in Him is in one of two situations: His denial is by means of a statement or action that he was coerced to make or do, whilst his heart is firm on his faith. This person is a believer. The second situation is when the person is content with and comfortable with such denial. Such a person and others like him are apostates from Islam, the anger of Allah is on them and in the afterlife they will receive a great punishment.

Such apostasy from Islam is because they gave preference to the trivial things of this world as a benefit for their disbelief in the Hearafter and because Allah does not guide to faith people who disbelieve, but He abandons them.

Those described as being apostates after having faith are the ones whose hearts Allah has sealed, so they do not understand the admonition, He has sealed their hearing, so that they do not hear anything that benefits them, and He has sealed their sight, so that they do not see the signs indicating faith. It is they who are unaware of the causes of happiness and wretchedness and of the punishment that Allah has prepared for them.

Truly it is they who will be the losers on the Day of Judgement, for they have lost their own souls on account of their disbelief after faith. Had they held onto their faith they would have entered paradise.

Then your Lord - O Messenger - is Forgiving and Merciful towards those oppressed believers who migrated from Makkah to Madina after being persecuted by the idolaters to the extent that they uttered words of disbelief whilst their hearts were at peace with faith. Then they strove in Allah’s path to make the Word of Allah supreme, and the word of the disbelievers lowest and they were patient over its difficulties. Your Lord, after the persecution that they underwent, is Forgiving and Merciful towards them because they only uttered words of disbelief under duress.

Remember - O Messenger - the Day when every person will come arguing for himself. He will not argue for anyone else due to the magnitude of the situation. Every soul will be given in full the recompense for what it had done, whether good or bad, and they will not be wronged by any subtraction from their good actions or addition to their evil actions.

Allah cites the example of a town - which is Makkah - that was secure and stable with its people having no fear, whilst people around it lived in fear. Its sustenance comes to it abundantly and easily from every direction. But then its people became unappreciative of Allah's blessings to them and they did not thank Him, so Allah recompensed them with hunger and intense fear that was visible in the panic on their faces and emaciation in their bodies to the extent that this became like a garment for them on account of the disbelief and denial that they used to do.

And a Messenger from among them, whose honesty and truthfulness they knew - who was Muhammad (peace be upon him) - had come to the people of Makka, but they denounced him along with what Allah had revealed to him. As a result, Allah’s punishment of hunger and fear came on them whilst they were wronging their own souls by associating partners with Allah and rejecting His Messenger.

So eat - O people - of the lawful and wholesome things that Allah, may He be glorified, has provided for you, and be thankful for the blessings Allah has given you by acknowledging these blessings of His and using them to seek His pleasure, if it is Him that you worship alone without associating partners with Him.

Allah has made unlawful for you to consume that which died without being slaughtered according to the sacred law, blood that spills forth from an animal at the time of slaughter, all parts of the pig, and what was slaughtered by a person as an offering to other than Allah. This prohibition applies at the time when a person has a choice.If someone is compelled to eat any of these forbidden types, and does so without desiring the forbidden thing itself and without going beyond the limit of what is necessary, then they have done no wrong. Allah is Forgiving and will forgive them for what they consume. He is Merciful in that He permitted that when it is necessary.

Do not say - O idolaters - about the lies that you say about Allah's laws: This thing is lawful and this thing is unlawful, in order to invent lies and attribute them to Allah with respect to making unlawful what He did not make unlawful, or making lawful what He did not make lawful. Those who invent lies about Allah will not succeed in attaining their objective and they will not be saved from what they fear.

They will have a brief and insignificant enjoyment by following their desires in the world and on the Day of Judgment they will receive a painful punishment.

I had made unlawful for the Jews in particular what I had told you about (in verse146 of Sūrah Al-An’am). I did not wrong them by making that unlawful, but they wronged themselves when they committed the causes for retribution. I thus recompensed them for their transgression and I made that unlawful for them as a punishment.

Then your Lord - O Messenger - towards those who do evil deeds out of ignorance of the consequences, even though they do so deliberately, and then they repent to Allah after having done those evil deeds and they make amends to their actions in which there was corruption, your Lord, after repentance, forgives their sins and is merciful to them.

Indeed, Abraham (peace be upon him) possessed all the attributes of goodness and always obeyed His Lord turning away from all other religions to the religion of Submission (Islam). He was never an idolater.

He was thankful for the favours that Allah had given him. Allah had selected Him to be a prophet and had guided him to the true religion of Islam.

I gave him in this world prophethood, praiseworthy mention and pious children. In the afterlife he will be from the righteous for whom Allah has prepared the highest ranks in paradise.

Then we revealed to you - O Messenger - “Follow the creed of Abraham in terms of monotheism, freedom from the idolaters, calling towards Allah and practicing His sacred law, turning away from all other religions to the religion of Islam. He was never an idolater as the idolaters claim but he was a man of pure monotheism.”

Reverence of the Sabbath was only made obligatory on the Jews who differed about it, so that they could free themselves on that day from their occupations for the sake of worship. This was after they had strayed from the day of Friday in which they were instructed to free themselves. Your Lord - O Messenger - will judge between these people who differ on the Day of Judgment about what they used to differ in and He will recompense each person with what they deserve.

Invite - O Messenger - to the religion of Islam, you and the believers who follow you, in a manner that is appropriate for the condition, understanding and mindset of the person who you are inviting and with admonition that contains encouragement and caution. Argue with them in the manner that is best in terms of speech, thought and politeness, for it is not your duty to guide people. You are only required to convey the message to them. Your Lord knows best who has strayed from the religion of Islam and He knows best those who are rightly guided to it, so do not lose yourself in grief over them.

If you want to retaliate against your enemy then retaliate to the same degree that they harmed you and not more. But if you are patient and do not retaliate despite having the ability to do so, then that is better for the patient amongst you than taking revenge by retaliating against them.

So be patient - O Messenger - over the harm that they afflict on you. You are only granted the ability to be patient by Allah’s granting it to you. Do not grieve over the disbelievers’ turning away from you, and do not let your heart be constrained by the schemes and plots they carry out.

Allah is with those who are mindful of Him by leaving out sin and those who are good by doings acts of obedience and by fulfilling what they have been instructed to do. Allah’s help and support is with them.