Surah Al-Mulk
This is one of the most important Surahs of the Quran; So much so that our beloved Prophet (s.a.w) used to recite it every night before going to sleep. So obviously there must be some very important things in Surah Al-Mulk which we need to remind ourselves every night... a time when we are about to enter into a state of unconsciousness and we don’t know whether we will come out of it or not. The very basic fact of our life is that Allah has ALL the goodness and He has ALL the control over everything whether big or small:
{1} !" # %$ & ' $ !( $ ( ) *+, - . /01 Blessed be He in Whose hands is the Kingdom of the universe and has power over all things. For me this is a most powerful Ayah because it liberates me from the worship and fear of others. When every night I will remind myself that the ultimate goodness is only in Allah then I will naturally love Him instead of others and also when I remind myself that He is in control of all big and small things of my life and my world then I will fear only Him and no one else. I will not be so much bothered about people’s expectations or standards but my worry will get diverted into one question only: what does Allah want me to do? How does He want me to live? Why did He give me this cycle of life and death? Allah answers this question in the following Ayah:
{2} .$ # 56 ( 7$ 78 ( # %$ & /9! " $ : ; <: # ! 0 = /> ( & ? # ( @ !A *+, The One Who created death and life, so that He may put you to test, to find out which of you is best in deeds: He is the All-Mighty, the All-Forgiving. If my life is a test and my result depends on beautiful deeds, then I must constantly remind myself that any action becomes beautiful in Allah’s eyes when it is done purely for the sake of Allah, and done according to the way of our Prophet (s.a.w). Only in obedience can we find peace and tranquillity. Just look at the skies and see how they are in complete submission to their Creator and Master...
C D1 ( % E 0( F G . /H ? I &$ /51 C @ !( A H D1 /C /9/0J ? I &/ K F 0 K @ !A *+, {3} .L # MH The One Who created the seven heavens, one above another; you will not see any flaw in the creation of the Compassionate. Look once again, do you see any flaw? The signs of Allah are spread everywhere but we are too much involved in our own affairs. No one has time or concern to seriously think about the hereafter. Allah says that when the disbelievers will be thrown into fire the guardians of hell will ask them... did the warners not come to them?
{8} +O ; 1P( : /QR$O7 A Q$ PK S# H /QH T (: / !, U 6 ( C 7$ 1 V$ /;1 (The fire will be) As though bursting with rage. Every time a group is plunged therein, its guards will ask: “Did not a Warner come to you?” They will confess their biggest error that instead of taking advice, they used to prove the warners as the misguided ones:
{9} ^L 0 XL /!Y H /,Z R$O: [( Z C \$ !, X 7 O /C /]!( & /] +, ; H +O /O/G ! # / They will answer: “Yes indeed, a Warner did come to us, but we rejected him and said, Allah has revealed nothing - you are merely in gross error." The fact is that when you don’t want to face the reality then even your senses stop working. The ears don’t hear and the hearts don’t think...
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O /] # # /& They will further say: “Had we only listened or used our intelligence, we would have not been among the inmates of the blazing fire." In this world we never want to admit our faults. But in the hereafter everyone will recognize their sins. The problem is that it will be of no use then:
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$ H Q 0O+ # H R" /H Thus shall they confess their sin; so away from the mercy of Allah will be the dwellers of hell. Faith is valuable only when you believe with your heart, even when you cannot see:
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As for those who fear their Rabb, although they have not seen Him, shall have forgiveness and a great reward. But Allah is warning us here that if you just make claims of faith and your heart does not believe then remember that He knows everything:
{13} . &$E < ? + !" \$ OZ \ &$Q G & : ; # &<K :& Whether you speak in secret or aloud, surely He is aware of all that is in the breasts. We make claims that we have surrendered our lives for Allah. But do we even realize what it is to surrender? Look at the earth... and its submission:
{15} .$ #$e]< \ Z& \ g .h C # ! & /Q0 /]C H #$eC /H /9# i j . P( $ ; 8 G *+, # %$ It is He Who has made the earth subservient to you, to walk through its tracts and eat of His provided sustenance. To Him is the return at resurrection. In this earth we will be buried and from the same earth we will be raised again. But most of us forget death and resurrection and then go about the earth living in a fool’s paradise. Allah wants us to come out of our arrogance and realize that the same earth which Allah has made so subservient for us can be the means of our punishment:
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[: / H C $R]C:: Do you feel secure that He Who is in heaven, will not cause the earth to cave in beneath you and start shaking suddenly? And as we look at the peaceful sky we should remember that disobeying Allah, who created this magnificent sky, is not a casual thing as we think. If He orders the sky it can send a rain of stones on us; then where will we find shelter?
{17} +O o [ #$ !8 R H /q0a / ; !" K $ [: / H C $R]C: r : Or do you feel secure that He Who is in heaven will not send against you a violent tornado, then you shall know how was My warning! If today we think that it is so unlikely to happen then we can look into the history of the previous nations and see how they were rooted out of this world due to their misdeeds;
{18} ^ ; O [ / o ; H Q !0 C +, ` +, T & Those who have gone before them likewise disbelieved, then see how terrible was the way I rejected them?
And if we don’t have time or concern to go into the details of the past then even looking at the birds in the sky can be a means of awareness for us. Have you ever noticed how they open and spread their wings and fly so effortlessly in the air? Who is holding them against the gravity of the earth?
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0T( & ? I /,H/a Q$ # H M, Z & & : Do they not observe the birds above them spreading their wings and folding them? None could hold them except the Compassionate (Allah); surely it is He Who watches over all things. And just as the birds are being held in the air by the Compassionate Allah, similarly we are being held tightly to this earth by the same Allah. Otherwise if he wills he can stop giving the earth its gravity and we would all be scattered into this endless atmosphere. Do we think anyone other than Allah can save us?
{20} .L &$u H /,Z [ &$H/;( [ Z [ &$V hC $ E $ ] ; , ]$G # %$ *+, +% C : What force is there that can help you besides the Compassionate? In fact, the unbelievers are suffering from delusion. Or if he stops giving us food, who will nourish us?
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C< x I a !" /y# K e C: D% : \ Q G & !" /y0; C$ e H: Just think, who is rightly guided: he who walks with his face bent down, or he who walks properly on an even path? Allah gave us all the senses, all the faculties with which we should have recognized him and He gave us such sensitive hearts but what have we done?
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Say: “It is He Who has brought you into being, gave you the faculties of hearing, seeing, feeling and understanding: yet you are seldom thankful." Allah gave us an appointed time in this world and we have free choice what we want to do. Whether we believe in Him or not, whether we obey Him or not... one day all of us are to be gathered in front of him:
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1$ \ Z& j . P( H :. i *+, # %$ ( Say: “It is He Who has multiplied you in the earth, and before Him you shall all be assembled." This whole surah is about changing our thoughts. Mostly we live in an automatic way. We move around our things, we do our work, even acts of worship... and we hardly think of Allah. We forget that each breath that comes, it is with His permission. Each drop of water that we drink is from his mercy... do we give thanks?
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: [( Z R$ :. : ( Say: “Have you ever considered that if all the water you have, sink down in the ground, who is it, that will bring you the clear-flowing water?” So let Surah Al-Mulk be a regular part of your life so that daily it should strike your heart in such a way that you start looking at life with the eyes of the heart. And love Allah more than any other thing and fear Him more than all other things. This feeling will InshaAllah lead to the most beautiful deeds which will make us beautiful in the eyes of Allah... InshaAllah.
