Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi

Ayah by Ayah

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Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi translation for Surah Ar-Rum — Ayah 30

30:30
فَأَقِمۡ وَجۡهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفٗاۚ فِطۡرَتَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّتِي فَطَرَ ٱلنَّاسَ عَلَيۡهَاۚ لَا تَبۡدِيلَ لِخَلۡقِ ٱللَّهِۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلدِّينُ ٱلۡقَيِّمُ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكۡثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ ٣٠
(O Prophet and his followers),1 turn your face singlemindedly2 to the true Faith3 and adhere to the true nature on which Allah has created human beings.4 The mould fashioned by Allah cannot be altered.5 That is the True, Straight Faith,6 although most people do not know.
Footnotes
  • [1] This “so” implies that when the reality has become clear to you, and you have come to know that none but Allah is the Creator and Master and Sovereign of this universe and of man himself, then inevitably your conduct should be such as indicated in this verse.
  • [2] “Set your face...truth”: Do not turn your face to any other direction after you have adopted this way of life. Then you should think like a Muslim and your likes and dislikes should be of a Muslim. Your values and standards should be the ones set by Islam and your character and conduct should bear the stamp of Islam, and the affairs of your individual and collective life should be ordered according to the way taught by Islam.
  • [3] “This faith”: The faith that the Quran presents, in which none but Allah is worthy of worship and obedience, in which none can be held as an associate of Allah in His Divinity, in His attributes and His powers and rights, in which man by his own free will chooses to order his life in accordance with the guidance and law of Allah.
  • [4] That is, all human beings have been created on the nature that none but One Allah is their Creator and Lord and Deity. You should be steadfast on this nature. If you adopt the attitude of independence, you will be following a way opposed to your nature, and if you serve and worship another besides Allah, then you will be working against your nature.”
  • [5] This subject has been explained by the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a number of Ahadith. According to Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Every child who is born, is born on the human nature; it is his parents who make him a Jew or a Christian or a Magian, etc. afterwards. Its example is that of an animal which gives birth to complete and sound young ones, none is born with torn and cut off ears, but the mushriks tear their ears afterwards on account of their superstitions of ignorance.”
  • [6] According to another Hadith reported in Musnad Ahmad and Nasai, the Muslims in a war killed the children of the enemy. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) came to know of it, he became very angry, and said: “What has happened to the people that they have transgressed the limits and killed even the children?” A man said, “Were they not the children of the Mushriks?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: “Even the best of your people are the children of the mushriks!” Then he said: “Every living being is born on the nature: then when he becomes able to speak, his parents turn him into a Jew or a Christian.”
  • [7] Qira’at: Rouh read it as: “. . . what they scheme .”
  • [8] Qira’at: Ibn ʻAmer and Abu Jaʻfar read it as: “It is He Who scatters you pl . . .”
  • [9] A grammatical shift in from 2nd person to 3rd person.
  • [10] Qira’at: All except Hafs read it as: “O mankind, your oppressionagainst yourselves is (only) the enjoyment of the Earlier Life . . .”
  • [11] Qira’at: Ibn Kathir, Al-Kesa’i and Yaʻqub read it as: “. . . covered by the dark phase of the night.”
  • [12] Frequently the Qur’an addresses the events of the hereafter in pasttense; this grammatical shift should be pondered by the reader.