Surah At-Tin: A Commentary
“In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The
Most Merciful; By the Fig and the Olive, And the Mount of Sinai, And this City
of security; We have indeed created man in the best of moulds, Then do We
reduce him to the lowest of the low, Except for those who believe and do
righteous deeds, for they shall have a reward uninterrupted; Then what can, after
this, contradict thee, as to the judgment (to come)? Is not Allah the Best of
judges?” (At the end, we reply: Bala! Wa
ana ala Zaaleka minash Shahideen - “Indeed, I am among those who witness
to this (truthful reality)). (At-Tin 95: 1-9).
In the light of these verses, we see that all
that which exists in nature has been created for the fulfilment of man in all
aspects. Through divine revelations, we have learnt that Allah has created man
in the best of moulds. And we have learnt also that man can also become worst
than an animal, or he can perfect himself morally and spiritually in such a way
that he reaches a high station and accedes to the presence of Allah. When he
succeeds in perfecting himself, he reaches such a state where he is absolutely
convinced of the unicity of God (Allah) and he realises that all that this
world and the universe contain, and even himself, all belong to Allah. He thus makes
much effort to please Allah and come near to Him. When he makes such efforts to
accede to Allah, he cultivates love, respect and the fear of Allah (Taqwa)
- in his heart; and all this helps him to come out of his animalistic state and
become moral and spiritual.
When he finds himself in the state where he
develops and maintains morality, he develops an excellent character where he acts
with goodness and wisdom and he accomplishes such actions as to help him attain
his goal. Nobody besides Allah knows his heart and he cannot hide anything from
Allah, and on the Day of Judgement, it is Allah, The Most Wise, and the most
Just of all judges - the best Judge - Who shall judge him. If he had no
sincerity in his heart and used to do (good) deeds only for the eyes of people,
then his punishment shall be grievous and painful for him. But if he was
sincere towards Allah and had a pure and clean heart, then his value before the
eyes of Allah shall increase and his reward shall be good and eternal (for him
to enjoy).
'Freewill' and the Diverging Paths
Allah has given us - mankind - the freedom to
choose our paths, i.e., freewill. We can either choose to attach ourselves to
this temporal world and become worse than an animal, or we have the choice to
forego the attractions of this world and attach ourselves firmly to Allah,
whereby we choose to go forward for the moral and spiritual progress of our
souls so as to reap Allah (as reward). We shall attain to such high degree of
morality and spirituality only by obeying Allah completely and when Allah shall
manifest Himself at any time, any hour, we need to grip firm to the rope of
Allah and follow His instructions and His guide (and/ or guidance) so that
Allah may be pleased with us and we also be pleased with Him (Allah).
Exalted status of the Humans
Man has been bestowed superiority to an animal.
Man has the power of reasoning and he has the capacity to take a decision
whereas an animal relies only on its (basic) instincts. Therefore, man should
use that (God-given) capacity - i.e. his reasoning power/ his intelligence - to
take the decision to leave his animalistic state and progress further to reach
the stage of purity, morality and spirituality.
This process cannot be
accomplished in one second or one minute or even one day. This process is a
gradual one (little by little when he takes conscience of the divine presence
and he acquires absolute certitude, without the least doubt to cloud his (faith
and) judgement that Allah is indeed One, Unique.
Reasoning power, intelligence is a gift of
Allah which allows us to differentiate between good and evil. And it helps us
to understand the commandments which Allah has placed in the Quran and Allah makes
us understand through the same Quran, that if we use our reasoning power (intelligence)
and knowledge, these can help us to understand the commandments of Allah and also,
to behave ourselves well, in line with these perfect teachings.
The essence of this Surah (Quranic
Chapter) is found in its verses 5-9 and it puts forward (an oath) which contains
4 sacred symbols, i.e., Fig, Olive, Mount Sinai and the City Sacred of Mecca. The
interpretation of the first symbol, i.e., Fig is as thus:
1. Wat-Tiini waz-Zaytuuni (By the Fig and the Olive)
(a) Fig.
If we consider the word Fig literally as being the fruit, or the tree
which bears its fruit, the same symbol (i.e., Fig) can represent the
destiny of man in many aspects. If it is well cared for, it will grow properly,
and bear the best of fruits, much more delicious and nourishing than the other
fruits.
When its fruit (the Fig) is in the wild or
uncared for, its seed is very small, and can attract many pests. Likewise, man can
build for himself a good destiny if he knows how to make shine all that is good
in him. But if he follows all the bad found in him, he becomes such an abased
and disgusting creature and his state deteriorates to such an extent that he
becomes worst than an animal (whereby we can say that an animal is much better
than him!).
It has been reported that to make the people
understand this lesson, Jesus (as) had cursed a Fig tree which only had leaves
and did not bear any fruit. (Matthew 21: 18-20).
(b) And by the Olive.
The olive is a sacred symbol and we find that in chapter 23, Al-Muminuun, Verse
21 in the Quran, Allah has enabled the growth of such fruit (i.e. the Olive) on
Mount Sinai which produces the best oil and which has an exceptional taste and
perfume.
In Surah An-Nur also (Chapter 24, Verse 36),
Allah gives a parable, whereby the divine light is linked with the Olive, and the
Olive tree has been mentioned as being a sacred tree, the fruit thereof, its
oil is enlightened as a bright star and which shall never stop shining, for it
belongs neither to the East nor to the West (countries wise and direction wise).
That light may refer to the light of the Quran which has come down as the
revelation par excellence to the Holy Prophet (saws) and it is that same Book which
is a guide, not just for a single era, but for all times to come till the Day
of Judgment and its teachings are universal teachings which are applicable for all
that is found on earth and everywhere where its light reaches.
As the explanation of this Surah is
really long, Insha-Allah, I shall continue to expound on its
commentaries next Friday. May Allah help us all to understand well these
explanations so that the essence of the parables of Allah as He taught to us in
the Quran, and especially in this Surah, helps us to perfect ourselves
morally and spiritually so that we succeed in coming out from the animal state
and progress more and more towards perfecting our souls, and in this way we
come nearer to Allah, more than before. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 14
July 2017(19 Shawwal 1438 AH) delivered by Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.