Surah Fussilat (41) — Ayah 10

(Ayah 10) ➊ For the explanation of { وَ جَعَلَ فِيْهَا رَوَاسِيَ: ’’ رَوَاسِيَ ‘‘ }, see Surah Al-Hijr (19) and Surah Al-Anbiya (31).
➋ { مِنْ فَوْقِهَا:} Allah Almighty, instead of embedding the entire mountain inside the earth, placed a part of it above the earth. There are countless wisdoms and benefits for humans in this, because if the mountains were entirely inside the earth, humans could not benefit from the reserves of snow that the mountains preserve, nor would there be these chains of forests and rivers. In addition, they would be deprived of countless gold, silver, and other metals, gases, and precious stones that are extracted because the mountains are above the ground.
➌ { وَ بٰرَكَ فِيْهَا:} That is, He placed treasures of countless things of goodness in it, which include trees and plants. Soil, stones, metals, gases, and those countless other elements that are present in the earth. Animals, birds, and beasts of prey, aquatic creatures, the air that surrounds the entire earth, and the water that comprises about seventy (70) percent of its surface, upon which life depends and which, despite thousands and millions of years passing, has never diminished; rather, every day new blessings appear. Tell me, besides Allah, who is there that has created even a single one of these things, because of which you have made him your fulfiller of needs and god?
➍ {وَ قَدَّرَ فِيْهَاۤ اَقْوَاتَهَا: ’’أَقْوَاتٌ‘‘ ’’قُوْتٌ‘‘} is the plural, meaning food, nourishment, and sustenance. The foods of the earth refer to the sustenance of all the creatures living in it, which Allah Almighty has placed for each according to its needs and requirements, in perfect measure; there is no question of any creature’s food being insufficient. See Surah Al-Hijr (19 to 21).
➎ { فِيْۤ اَرْبَعَةِ اَيَّامٍ:} Here is a question: In several places in the Quran, it is mentioned that the creation of the heavens and the earth took place in six days. (See Al-A'raf: 54, Yunus: 3, Hud: 7, Al-Furqan: 59, As-Sajda: 4, Qaf: 38, Al-Hadid: 4) Whereas from these verses, their creation appears to have taken eight days, because first, the creation of the earth in two days is mentioned, then the placing of mountains and the provision of food in four days, and then in the following verses, the completion of the heavens in two days is mentioned, making a total of eight days. The answer is that in the verse under explanation, the {’’ اَرْبَعَةِ اَيَّامٍ ‘‘} (four days) mentioned includes the first two days as well, meaning the creation of the earth, the placing of mountains, and the provision of food all took place in a total of four days. After that, the creation of the heavens was completed in two days, making a total of six days. The commentator Shanqiti said: “The explanation of this verse that we have given, no other explanation is correct in any way.”
➏ { سَوَآءً لِّلسَّآىِٕلِيْنَ:} That is, Allah Almighty has placed the sustenance for those who ask for provision, whether they ask by their state or by their words, in the earth in perfect measure, and this measure can never be wrong. See also Surah Ibrahim, verse (34): the explanation of « وَ اٰتٰىكُمْ مِّنْ كُلِّ مَا سَاَلْتُمُوْهُ ». All the creatures of the heavens and the earth ask Allah Almighty for every need, and He fulfills it every moment, as He said: « يَسْـَٔلُهٗ مَنْ فِي السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِيْ شَاْنٍ» [ الرحمن : ۲۹ ] “Whoever is in the heavens and the earth asks Him; every day He is in (new) splendor.”

10. 1. That is, the mountains were created from the earth itself and then fixed upon it so that the earth would not sway here or there.

10. 2. This is an indication towards the abundance of water, various kinds of sustenance, minerals, and other such things; this is the blessing of the earth. The abundance of goodness itself is called blessing.

10. 3. Aqwat is the plural of quwat ghiza, meaning nourishment or food; that is, the sustenance of all creatures living on the earth has been decreed or arranged in it. And the extent of this decree or arrangement by the Lord is so vast that no tongue can describe it, no pen can record it, and no calculator can count it. Some have explained its meaning as that the produce of every land cannot be produced in other lands, so that the specific produce of each region becomes the foundation of the trade and economy of those regions. Thus, this meaning is also correct and absolutely true.

10. 4. That is, the first two days of creation and the two days of spreading it out, all these days together make a total of four days, in which this entire process was completed.

10. 5. The meaning of sawa is: exactly in four days. That is, tell those who ask that this process was completed exactly in four days, or it is a complete or equal answer for the questioners.

10. And He placed firm mountains upon the earth, and blessed it, and determined its sustenance in four days, equally for all who ask [8].

[8]
The Equal Right to Benefit from the Things of the Earth and the Right of Ownership:

Some scholars have translated ﴿سَوَاءً لِّلسَّايِٕلِيْنَ﴾ as “It is equal for those who ask” (Shah Rafiuddin), “A correct answer for those who ask” (Ahmed Raza Khan). One of the fundamental and important questions in human history has also been: how was this universe created? In these verses, by answering this fundamental question, it is stated that for the satisfaction of those who ask such a question, this much answer is sufficient. And the second translation of this phrase, which has been mentioned above, is also supported by many scholars and commentators. And in this regard, its meaning would be that the right to benefit from the produce of the earth is equal for all those in need, whether these needy are humans, animals, or birds. And to understand the equality of the right to benefit, consider this example: as if there is fuel lying in the forest. Now, whoever picks it up and takes it into his possession, his right over that fuel is established. And as long as it was lying in the forest, everyone had an equal right to pick it up from there. Another example is that of the water of a spring or river. Everyone has an equal right to fetch water from there. But when someone takes water from there and takes it into his possession, then that water belongs to him, and others no longer have a right to it. Similarly, the right to cultivate barren land and to benefit from it is equal for all, but when someone works hard and cultivates it, his right is established and the right of others ceases. This is the Islamic principle of the right of ownership, and for this reason, we have adopted this translation. But since the establishment of the communist system in Russia (which has now also failed), and since it left its agents in other countries to create a favorable atmosphere for establishing this system, and because this system does not recognize individual ownership of land and other things, therefore, these people started searching in the Quran for the non-permissibility of land ownership. Whereas this issue is related to human livelihood and is of fundamental importance. It should have been that if Allah intended to declare personal ownership of land as impermissible or unlawful, then such clear commands would have been revealed in the Quran that would have refuted the previously established right of ownership. But there is no such command in the Quran. Like some other ambiguous verses, these people have also tried to extract their theory from this verse. And we have mentioned the same translation which is preferred by these gentlemen. They state the meaning of this verse as that all humans have an equal and identical right to the produce of the earth. The form of which is that the government takes the land into its possession and then distributes its produce among the people.

The Argument of the Communists Regarding the Right of Ownership and Its Answer:

The first objection to this interpretation of these people is that the needy, the seekers, or the destitute are not only humans, but animals, birds, insects—all are in need of food, and all obtain this food from the earth. So, will all these creatures be equal partners in the earth or its produce? If the land is removed from individual ownership and its produce is distributed equally only among humans, then what is the argument for excluding the rest of the creatures from the category of ﴿سَوَاءً لِّلسَّايِٕلِيْنَ﴾? And the second question that arises is: will the land be distributed equally among all creatures, or its produce? And the third question is: is this even practically possible? If the government removes the land from individual ownership and takes it into its possession, then how is this ﴿سَوَاءً لِّلسَّايِٕلِيْنَ﴾? And if the government gives or distributes the produce of the land to individuals according to its own will, then even practically, it is impossible to fulfill the requirements of ﴿سَوَاءً لِّلسَّايِٕلِيْنَ﴾. Therefore, this interpretation of these gentlemen is not only invalid but also impracticable. And its real meaning is that all of Allah’s creation has an equal right to benefit from the produce of the earth, as has already been clarified with one or two examples. And besides humans, other living creatures are also benefiting from the things of the earth and also have the right to do so.