Surah Al-A'raaf (7) — Ayah 131

(Ayah 131) ➊ { فَاِذَا جَآءَتْهُمُ الْحَسَنَةُ … :} As mentioned in verses (94, 95), every nation was tested not only with hardship and difficulty but also with prosperity and ease. Accordingly, when after hardship and affliction, comfort and prosperity would come to the people of Pharaoh, instead of considering it a favor from Allah and being grateful, they would say {’’ لَنَا هٰذِهٖ ‘‘}, meaning this is the result of our good management and our right.

➋ {وَ اِنْ تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَّطَّيَّرُوْا بِمُوْسٰى … : ’’ يَطَّيَّرُوْا ‘‘ ’’تَطَيَّرَ يَتَطَيَّرُ‘‘} is from the form tafa‘‘ul whose root is { ’’ طَيْرٌ ‘‘} (bird). Originally it was { ’’يَتَطَيَّرُوْا ‘‘ }, the tā’ was assimilated into the ṭā’. The practice of the polytheists was that to take an omen, they would make a bird fly; if it flew to the right, they considered it a good omen and a source of blessing, and if it flew to the left, they considered it a bad omen and a source of misfortune. Here, according to all commentators, the meaning of {’’ تَطَيَّرَ‘‘} is bad omen and misfortune, that is, they considered the cause of their misfortunes to be the misfortune of Musa (peace be upon him) and his companions.

➌ {اَلَاۤ اِنَّمَا طٰٓىِٕرُهُمْ عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ … :} That is, the real cause of this misfortune is in the knowledge of Allah, and all good and evil that reaches them is entirely by the decree and destiny of Allah, which has been written for them because of their deeds. It is sheer ignorance to attribute good to one's own merit and evil to the misfortune of someone else. Shah Abdul Qadir (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "That is, the badness of fate is bad, so it is from Allah's decree; the effect of evil and good will be in the Hereafter. The answer here is not given that the misfortune was due to their disbelief, because disbelievers also live luxuriously in the world. The real truth (which) was, so it was said that the conditions of the world depend on destiny." (Mawdhih)

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Bad omen is shirk, bad omen is shirk," he said it three times, "and each of us (sometimes has some suspicion), but Allah removes it through the blessing of trust in Him." [ أبوداؤد، الطب، باب فی الطیرۃ : ۳۹۱۰۔ ترمذی : ۱۶۱۴ ]

131. 1. By ḥasanah (goodness) is meant abundance of grain and fruits; by sayyi’ah (evil), its opposite, i.e., famine and decrease in produce. They would take all the credit for prosperity themselves, saying it is the result of their own hard work, and would blame hardship on Musa (Moses) ﷺ and those who believed in him, claiming that the misfortune affecting their land was due to the bad omen of these people.

131. 2. The meaning of ṭā’ir is “one who flies,” i.e., a bird. Since people used to take good or bad omens from the direction in which a bird flew, this word began to be used for omens in general, and it is in this sense here. Allah Almighty said that all good or bad, whether prosperity or famine, that befalls them, its causes are from Allah Almighty; Musa ﷺ and his followers are not the cause. The meaning of (ۭاَلَآ اِنَّمَا طٰۗىِٕرُهُمْ عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ) 7. Al-A‘raf:131) will be that the cause of their bad omen is in Allah’s knowledge, and it is their disbelief and denial, not anything else. Or, it is from Allah, and its reason is their disbelief.

131. Then, whenever good came to them, they said, "This is our due [127]," but if any harm befell them, they blamed it on the evil omen of Moses and those with him. Surely, their evil omen from Allah was due to themselves, but most of them did not understand.

[127] These are the same warnings through which Allah sends minor punishments to test people, to see whether they turn towards Allah or not. Even these warnings had no effect on them. When good days came, they would say that this is the result of our wisdom and good planning, and that we truly deserve this goodness. But when bad days came, they would start blaming Sayyiduna Musa ؑ and his companions, saying that it is due to the misfortune of these people that we are experiencing these bad days. They never looked towards their own sins. Whereas, it is Allah alone who knows what the real causes of their misfortune were.