Surah Hud (11) — Ayah 6

(Ayah 6) ➊ {وَ مَا مِنْ دَآبَّةٍ فِي الْاَرْضِ …:’’ دَآبَّةٍ ‘‘ ’’ دَبَّ يَدِبُّ دَبِيْبًا ‘‘} is an active participle, which means to walk slowly. The word {’’ دَآبَّةٍ ‘‘ } is used for every living being, whether male or female, rational or irrational, as He said: «{ وَ اللّٰهُ خَلَقَ كُلَّ دَآبَّةٍ مِّنْ مَّآءٍ فَمِنْهُمْ مَّنْ يَّمْشِيْ عَلٰى بَطْنِهٖ وَ مِنْهُمْ مَّنْ يَّمْشِيْ عَلٰى رِجْلَيْنِ وَ مِنْهُمْ مَّنْ يَّمْشِيْ عَلٰۤى اَرْبَعٍ }» [ النور:۴۵] “And Allah has created every moving creature from water; then among them are those that move on their bellies, and among them are those that walk on two legs, and among them are those that walk on four.” Allah Almighty has called all living beings that walk on their bellies, or on two or four legs, {’’ دَآبَّةٍ ‘‘}.

➋ In the previous verse, the vastness and comprehensiveness of Allah’s knowledge was mentioned, that not only the apparent and hidden states of man, but He is even aware of the thoughts in the hearts. In this verse, evidence is presented for this, that every living being receives its sustenance from Allah Almighty, so if Allah’s knowledge were not vast, how would this arrangement of sustenance be possible? But this verse does not mean that since sustenance is Allah’s responsibility, man should not strive and work to earn and seek it. Rather, although all the treasures of sustenance are in Allah’s hand, man is commanded to work and it is obligatory for him to adopt those means by which sustenance is obtained. However, reliance on this effort and these means is not permissible; even after arranging all the means, reliance and trust must be only on Allah, because if He does not will, then despite all the means, a servant remains deprived of sustenance, and if He wills, even if a servant cannot arrange any means, He can provide sustenance without means. But the command is to go out in search of sustenance. It is narrated from Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ لَوْ اَنَّكُمْ كُنْتُمْ تَوَكَّلُوْنَ عَلَی اللّٰهِ حَقَّ تَوَكُّلِهٖ لَرُزِقْتُمْ كَمَا تُرْزَقُ الطَّيْرُ تَغْدُوْ خِمَاصًا وَتَرُوْحُ بِطَانًا ] [ ترمذی، الزہد، باب فی التوکل علی اللّٰہ : ۲۳۴۴ ] “If you trust in Allah as He deserves to be trusted, He will surely provide for you as He provides for the birds: they go out in the morning hungry and return in the evening with full bellies.” In this hadith, going out in the morning is earning, and not worrying about what to eat tomorrow is trust. In any case, adopting means is not contrary to trust. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ اِعْقِلْهَا وَ تَوَكَّلْ ] [ ترمذی، صفۃ القیامۃ، باب حدیث اعقلھا و توکل…: ۲۵۱۷، عن أنس رضی اللہ عنہ ] “Tie your camel and trust (in Allah).” Abu Umamah Bahili (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ إِنَّ رُوْحَ الْقُدْسِ نَفَثَ فِيْ رَوْعِيْ أَنَّ نَفْسًا لَنْ تَمُوْتَ حَتَّى تَسْتَكْمِلَ أَجَلَهَا وَتَسْتَوْعِبَ رِزْقَهَا فَاتَّقُوا اللّٰهَ وَأَجْمِلُوْا فِي الطَّلَبِ وَلَا يَحْمِلَنَّ أَحَدَكُمُ اسْتِبْطَاءُ الرِّزْقِ أَنْ يَّطْلُبَهُ بِمَعْصِيَةِ اللّٰهِ فَإِنَّ اللّٰهَ تَعَالٰی لَا يُنَالُ مَا عِنْدَهٗ إِلاَّ بِطَاعَتِهٖ ] [ صحیح الجامع : ۲۰۸۵ ] “Indeed, the Holy Spirit (Jibril, peace be upon him) inspired in my heart that no soul will die until it completes its appointed term and receives its full sustenance. So fear Allah and seek (sustenance) in a good way, and the delay in sustenance should not lead any of you to seek it through disobedience to Allah, for what is with Allah (blessings and Paradise) cannot be obtained except through His obedience.” It is also incorrect to think that sustenance cannot be obtained without effort and striving, because there are many creatures of Allah who receive sustenance without adopting any means. See Surah Al-Ankabut (60).

(3) {وَ يَعْلَمُ مُسْتَقَرَّهَا وَ مُسْتَوْدَعَهَا:} This is also a further explanation of Allah Almighty’s knowledge. Although the interpretations of {’’ مُسْتَقَرٌّ ‘‘} and {’’ مُسْتَوْدَعٌ ‘‘ } have been stated differently by people, in view of the words, the clear meaning seems to be that Allah Almighty knows all the places where a human has to stay for some time, whether it is the father’s loins or the mother’s womb, or any part of the earth where he has to stay during his life, and Allah Almighty also knows the places to which a human is assigned after death, whether it is a dug-out place in the earth, or the belly of an animal, or whatever place Allah has written for him to be assigned to until the Day of Resurrection, and all of this is his grave, because Allah Almighty has mentioned death and the grave for every human: « { ثُمَّ اَمَاتَهٗ فَاَقْبَرَهٗ }» [ عبس : ۲۱ ] “Then He caused him to die, then He made him to be buried in a grave.” Then on the Day of Resurrection, after being resurrected, he will be assigned to Hell or Paradise; all these are for him {’’مُسْتَوْدَعٌ ‘‘ } (places of assignment). In summary, Allah Almighty knows every state of every living being’s life and all the conditions after death as well. {’’ كِتٰبٍ مُّبِيْنٍ ‘‘} refers to the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz).

6. 1. That is, He is the guarantor and responsible. Every creature that walks on the earth, whether human or jinn, beast or bird, small or large, aquatic or terrestrial. He provides food to each according to its needs.

6. 2. There is a difference of opinion regarding the definition of مستقر and مستودع. According to some, منتہائے سیر (that is, wherever one stops after moving about on the earth) is مستقر, and the place one makes a dwelling is مستودع. According to others, the mother's womb is مستقر and the father's loins are مستودع. And according to some, wherever a human or animal resides during life is its مستقر, and where it is buried after death is مستودع. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir) Imam Shawkani says that مستقر refers to the mother's womb and مستودع to that part of the earth in which one is buried, and based on a narration of Imam Hakim, he has given preference to this view. In any case, whichever meaning is taken, the meaning of the verse is clear: since Allah has knowledge of every one's مستقر and مستودع, He is capable of providing sustenance to each and is responsible for it, and He fulfills His responsibility.

6. There is no creature that moves on the earth whose provision is not upon Allah [8]. He knows its dwelling place and its resting place [9]. All is recorded in a clear Book [10] (the Preserved Tablet).

[8]
Allah’s Attribute of Providing Sustenance:

That is, not only the sustenance of humans, but also the sustenance of the animals that walk upon the earth, even insects and ants, is the responsibility of Allah, and it is Allah’s responsibility to deliver sustenance to every living being at its place. From this verse, not only is Allah’s perfect attribute of providing sustenance evident, but also the vastness of His knowledge. The means by which Allah provides sustenance is that He sends down rain from the sky, from which all kinds of vegetation grow from the earth. Then, from these plants, crops, fruits, etc., every living being is provided with sustenance, either directly or indirectly, and all the necessities of life for every living being are being provided from this earth. And as much creation as Allah creates, the earth continues to bring forth new treasures accordingly, and will continue to do so in the future as well. However, for the attainment of this sustenance, He has also commanded the adoption of means and resources, and when any human or living being is unable to adopt means, Allah Himself provides the means.

The Failure of the Department of Family Planning and the Causes of Famine:

Here, the question arises that if the provision of sustenance is Allah’s responsibility, then why do thousands of people die due to famine or for some other reasons? The answer is that famine is a punishment from Allah, which is imposed upon people due to their disobedience, and other reasons are due to some people’s oppression and injustice towards others and the unequal distribution of economic resources, which result in such incidents, and all of this is the consequence of people’s own actions. Otherwise, the idea of any deficiency or shortcoming in the sustenance provided by Allah for living beings is not even conceivable.

The Short-Sightedness of Economists:

Today, it is being propagated at the global level that the population is increasing rapidly and the resources of sustenance are not keeping pace, therefore family planning and control over offspring are necessary. In this regard, what greater proof can there be of the short-sightedness of today’s economists and their failure as a result of waging war against nature than the fact that wherever such departments are established, the birth rate is relatively increasing, and it is a strange coincidence that people are also more prosperous and content than before, which every person can observe by comparing with life fifty years ago. The real reason for the thinking of these materialist experts is merely the lack of trust in Allah’s attribute of providing sustenance; otherwise, Allah is increasing the treasures of the earth along with the increase in population. Lands that had been barren for centuries are being cultivated, the earth is yielding four crops a year instead of two, oil is being discovered in some places, in others, fuel gases and other minerals, and humans are also discovering new means of sustenance. All these things are a living example of this verse. Materialist economists can estimate that after so many years, according to the current birth rate, the world’s population will be such and such, but they cannot estimate the new means of sustenance that Allah will provide during that period, so most of their estimates turn out to be wrong. The greatest harm of this materialism and focus only on material resources is that trust in Allah is lost, which is the real purpose of this verse.

The Virtue of Trust in Allah:

Thus, Sayyiduna Umar ؓ says that the Prophet ﷺ said: “If you trust in Allah as He deserves to be trusted, you would be provided with sustenance as the birds are provided; they go out hungry in the morning and return with their bellies full in the evening.” [ترمذي، ابواب الزهد۔ باب ماجاء فى قلة الطعام]

[9] The words of the Quran are “mustaqarr” (abode) and “mustauda‘” (place of deposit), and “mustauda‘” also refers to a storehouse where something is stored or deposits are kept for safekeeping. There is considerable difference among the commentators in the interpretation of these two words. Among them, we adopt the statement of Ibn Abbas ؓ. According to him, “mustaqarr” refers to the place where one has spent (most of) his life in this world, and “mustauda‘” refers to the place where he is buried, and Allah has complete knowledge of both these places for every living being.

[10]
﴿لوح محفوظ﴾ is the Clear Book:

By “the Clear Book” is meant ﴿لوح محفوظ﴾, as is evident from the following hadith. Imran bin Husain says that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah was, and there was nothing before Him. His Throne was upon water. Then He created the heavens and the earth, and in ﴿لوح محفوظ﴾ He wrote everything.” [بخاري، كتاب التوحيد۔ باب قوله وكان عرشه على الماء]