What is the meaning of the first in which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “So flee to Allaah. Verily, I (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) am a plain warner to you from Him” [al-Dhaariyaat 51:50]? Why does the verse not start with the word Qul (“Say”) as many verses do?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
This verse is
one of the greatest verses in the Holy Qur’aan. It combines meanings of both
fear and hope: fear of Allah and turning to Him, for there is no refuge from
Him except in Him. The fact that no one offers refuge from Him except Him
serves to tell His slaves that He is More Merciful than anyone else, and He
wants to show mercy and forgive.
In Madaarij
al-Saalikeen (1/469-481), al-‘Allaamah ibn al-Qayyim spoke at length
explaining that the level of “ fleeing to Allah” is one of the levels of
those who are striving to reach Allah.
Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning): “So flee to Allaah. Verily, I (Muhammad
صلى الله عليه وسلم) am a plain warner to
you from Him” [al-Dhaariyaat 51:50].
Imam al-Tabari
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Allah says:
Flee, O people, from the punishment of Allah to His Mercy by believing in
Him, following His commands and striving to obey Him. “Verily, I
(Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) am a plain
warner to you from Him” means: I am a warner to you from Allah, sent to
warn you of His punishment and make you fear the punishment that Allah sent
against those nations He has told you about, and which He will cause them to
taste in the Hereafter. The word “plain” (mubeen) means: to explain
to you His warning. End quote.
Jaami‘
al-Bayaan,
22/440
Al-Qurtubi
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Because of
what is mentioned in the verses about how the nations disbelieved and
rejected their Prophets and Allah brought about their destruction because of
that, Allah says to His Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him):
Tell them, O Muhammad, i.e., tell your people: “Verily, I (Muhammad
صلى الله عليه وسلم) am a plain warner to
you from Him” i.e., flee from disobedience of Him to obedience to Him.
Ibn ‘Abbaas
said: Flee to Allah by repenting from your sins. And it was narrated that he
said: Flee from Him to Him, and strive to obey Him.
Muhammad ibn
‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan said: “Flee to Allah” means, Go
to Makkah.
Al-Husayn ibn
al-Fadl said: Flee from everything except Allah. The one who flees to
anything else will not escape His punishment.
Abu Bakr
al-Warraaq said: Flee from obeying the Shaytaan to obeying al-Rahmaan (the
Most Merciful).
Al-Junayd
said: The Shaytaan calls to falsehood, so flee to Allah and He will protect
you from him.
Dhu’l-Noon
al-Masri said: Flee from ignorance to knowledge, and from disbelief (kufr)
to gratitude (shukr).
‘Amr ibn
‘Uthmaan said: Flee from yourself to your Lord.
He also said:
Flee to (and be content with) that which Allah has already decreed for you,
and do not rely on your own efforts.
Sahl ibn
‘Abd-Allah said: Flee from everything except Allah to Allah.
“Verily, I
(Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) am a plain
warner to you from Him”
means: I am warning you of His punishment for disbelief and sin. End quote.
Al-Jaami‘
li Ahkaam al-Qur’aan,
17/53-54
Al-‘Allaamah
‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
When Allah
called people to look at His signs which prompt one to fear Him and turn to
Him, He enjoined that which is the aim behind that, which is to flee to Him,
i.e., flee from that whichAllah hates, both visible and hidden, to that
which He loves, both visible and hidden; flee from ignorance to knowledge,
from kufr to faith, from disobedience to obedience, from heedlessness to
remembrance (dhikr)of Allah. The one who achieves all of that has fulfilled
all the commitments enjoined by Islam, and will no longer have any fears; he
will have achieved his ultimate goal.
Allah called
turning back to Him fleeing, because turning to anyone or anything other
than Him involves a great deal of fear and negative consequences. In turning
to Him there are all the things that one likes, security, happiness and
victory. So the individual flees from His will and decree to His will and
decree. Everyone you fear you can flee from, except Allah, may He be
exalted; the more you fear Him, the more you flee to Him. “Verily, I
(Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) am a plain
warner to you from Him” means: a warner to you of the punishment of
Allah with a clear message. End quote.
Tayseer
al-Kareen al-Rahmaan,
p. 811
Secondly:
With regard to
the word Qul (“say”), it appears in many verses of the Holy Qur’aan,
in almost three hundred and ten verses, in various contexts and places, with
a variety of meanings. But that does not mean that every command that Allah
enjoins His Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to convey to
the people must begin with the word “Qul”. The Qur’aan has a
well-known style and the Arabic language encompasses many styles of eloquent
expression, and this is part of the beauty and distinct quality of the
language.
With regard to
this word in particular, Dr. Fadl Hasan ‘Abbaas says:
With regard to
the word “Qul”, the one who ponders the verses of the Qur’aan and its
style will find that this word appears whenever there is a need for it,
which is when the style is one of prompting, whether the prompting is to
teach or to refute specious arguments. That may be seen in the last three
soorahs, and also in the following verses (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say (O
Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم): ‘Shall I
take as a Wali (Helper, Protector, Lord or God) any other than Allaah, the
Creator of the heavens and the earth? And it is He Who feeds but is not
fed.’ Say: ‘Verily, I am commanded to be the first of those who submit
themselves to Allaah (as Muslims).’ And be not you (O Muhammad
صلى الله عليه وسلم) of the Mushrikoon
(polytheists, pagans, idolaters and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allaah).
15. Say: ‘I
fear, if I disobey my Lord, the torment of a Mighty Day.’
16. Who is
averted from (such a torment) on that Day, (Allaah) has surely, been
Merciful to him. And that would be the obvious success”
[al-An‘aam
6:14-16]
“Say (to
the disbelievers): ‘Tell me, if Allaah took away your hearing and your
sight, and sealed up your hearts, who is there — an Ilaah (a god) other than
Allaah who could restore them to you?” See how variously We explain the
Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), yet
they turn aside’”
[al-An‘aam
6:46]
“Say (O
Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم): ‘Truly, my
Lord has guided me to a Straight Path, a right religion, the religion of
Ibraaheem (Abraham), Haneefa [i.e. the true Islamic Monotheism — to believe
in One God (Allaah, i.e. to worship none but Allaah, Alone)] and he was not
of Al-Mushrikoon.’
162. Say (O
Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم): ‘Verily,
my Salaah (prayer), my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allaah,
the Lord of the ‘Aalameen (mankind, jinn and all that exists)’”
[al-An‘aam
6:161-162]
The one who
ponders these verses will have no doubt that their context is one of
prompting and teaching. End quote.
Qadaaya
Qur’aaniyyah fi’l-Mawsoo‘ah al-Breetaaniyyah (p. 57)
It is
important for us to know that reaching these eloquent meanings from these
verses is a matter of personal understanding; another researcher may come
with a different eloquent meaning alongside the first one, or one that is
more likely to be correct. With regard to such matters we should study the
style of the Qur’aan in expression and see the different contexts in which a
particular word was mentioned, in order to understand the role it is playing
in expressing the eloquent meaning and see the reason why it was mentioned.
And Allah knows best.
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