Lessons from Surah Mulk (The Kingdom) - 67

In the Name of Allah The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

This Surah could be divided into 6 sections:

1-5 Verses: Kingdom of Allah

Allah says..."Blessed is He (Allah) in Whose Hand is The Kingdom, and He is Able to do all things. And He is the All Might (Al Aziz), the Oft Forgiving (Al Gafoor). He is The One Who created seven heavens one above another". Allah [SWT] questions us: "You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful (Ar Rahman) any fault. Then look again to the sky; do you see any breaks (krack or blemish in the sky)?".

Allah also says that He has beautified the nearest or the first sky (out of 7 skies) with stars which are also used as missiles to drive away the shayateen when they try to reach near it. Allah had prepared a blazing fire for those shayateen.

Lesson: We humans could be exhausted by seeing the kingdom of our creator. But it still extends to infinity. And mankind has been sent for a purpose, i.e. to be tested by Allah. We can only succeed by our righteous deeds and conduct.

6-11 Verses: Consequences of disbelief

Allah says... "who ever doesn't obey according to Him, there is a torment of Hell. When the disbelievers are thrown into it, they will hear the Hell fire exploding. Every time a huge group of people are thrown into it, its guardians ask them, "Did there not come to you a warner/Prophet?" The disbeliever will say "Yes, indeed a Warner did come to us, but we denied him. And will say, Had we but used our intelligence or listened to the Warner, we would not have been among the dwellers of the Hell fire"".

Lesson: To avoid the Hell fire, We need to fulfill the Fardh, the obligations from Allah, whether we like them or not. When we do voluntary (optional) deeds, our intention must be correct. Allah sees the Quality of our deeds. Whenever we have faulted due to our human nature, we could repent. He guarantees forgiveness for a true repenter. When we admit our sin, we do Tawba, eventually we get closer to Allah [SWT] again.

12-14 Verses: Three Attributes of Allah [SWT]

Allah says... "Indeed, those who fear their Lord (who is unseen) will have forgiveness and great reward (i.e. Paradise). Whether we keep our talk secret or open, verily He is All-Knower (Al-Aleem) of what is in the breasts of mankind. He is Al Lateef (The Kind), Al Khabeer (The All Aware)."

Lesson: Allah is aware of each open and hidden secret of ours, even of the innermost ideas of our hearts. Hence, the right basis of morality is that man should avoid evil, fearing the accountability of the unseen God and we get to know three names of Allah here.

15-24 Verses: Allah's questions to disbelievers

Allah says..."It is He who made the earth tame (easy for us to walk, to live and to do agriculture on it) for us - so walk among its slopes and eat of His provision - and to Him is the resurrection."

Allah asks disbelievers "how secure they feel on this earth if they deny Him?"

Allah asks..."Could He not cause the Earth to sink, and then it should quake? Or could He not send against them a storm of stones? Only then the disbelievers would know His power. Indeed there were sent prophets for previous Nations and the disbelievers were punished for disobeying Him."

Allah asks them again....."Do they not see the birds above them with wings outspread and sometimes folded in? None holds them [aloft] except the Most Merciful. Indeed He is The All Seeing (Al-Baseer). Who is there besides Allah to help us? Who is he that provide us if He withhold His provision?"

Then again Allah asks...."Then is one who walks fallen on his face better guided or one who walks erect on a straight path (ie on Islamic Monotheism)?"

Lesson: The disbelievers are nothing but in great error. They run away from the truth.

It is only Allah who has produced us and made for us hearing and vision and hearts; little are we grateful to our master. And to Him we all shall be gathered in the Hereafter. We need to pay attention to all the things around us to submit ourselves to Allah. All our means and resources are from Allah. We are not animals, which are unable to draw conclusions from observations.

25-29 Verses: Ignorance of disbelievers

The Disbelievers will say..."When will this promise (i.e. The Day of Resurrection) will come if the believers are telling the truth". Allah says...."Say O Muhammad [SWS], The knowledge (of its exact time) is only with Allah, and I am only a clear warner". Allah then says..."When the torment of the Day of Resurrection approaches, the faces of those who disbelieve will change and turn black with sadness and in grief and it will be said to them: "This is the promise which you were calling for! Who can save the disbelievers from this painful torment?

Lesson: To destroy or to show Mercy is only in the Hands of Allah (SWT). He is the Most Merciful (Ar- Rahman); we should believe in Him, and upon Him we have to rely. And we will come to know who it is that is in clear error.

30 Verse: Water - one of Allah's many mercies

Allah says..."Say O Muhammad [SWS], Have you considered: if your water was to become sunken [into the earth], then who could bring you flowing (spring) water?"

In conclusion of this Surah, the people have been asked this question and left to ponder over it.

If the water which has come out from the earth at some place for example in a desert or hill country of Arabia; upon which depends people's whole life activity. If this water should sink and vanish underground, who beside Allah can restore this life giving water to the people?

People usually settle in places where there is water. For example, Quraysh lived in Makkah due to Zam Zam water well there.

How important is reciting Surah Mulk every night?

Hadith:

1. Narrated by Abu Hurairah [R.A]: The Prophet ﷺ said: "Indeed there is a Surah in the Qur'an of thirty Ayat, which intercedes for a man until he is forgiven. It is [Surah] Tabarak Alladhi Biyadihil-Mulk." ~ al-Tirmidhi, 2891, Abu Dawood 1400, Ibn Maajah, 3786.

2. It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood (companion of Prophet Mohammed (PBHU)) said: "Whoever reads Tabaarak allaahi bi yadihi’l-mulk [i.e., Soorat al-Mulk] every night, Allah will protect him from the torment of the grave. At the time of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) we used to call it al-maani’ah (that which protects). In the Book of Allah it is a surah which, whoever recites it every night has done very well."

Narrated by al-Nasaa’i, 6/179; classed as hasan (sahih) by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, 1475.