Surah Luqman (31) — Ayah 32

(Ayah 32) ➊ { وَ اِذَا غَشِيَهُمْ مَّوْجٌ كَالظُّلَلِ …:} In the previous verse, after mentioning Allah’s favor, the state of the believers was described when they see the ships and vessels sailing in the sea; they are very patient and grateful, for in these ships there are many signs of Allah’s oneness and His being All-Powerful and All-Controlling. Now it is explained that the state of the polytheists is the opposite: so when a storm comes at sea and suddenly the waves cover them like canopies and they realize that the matter is finished, they abandon all gods, intercessors, and helpers, and call upon Him alone, making their worship purely for Allah.
➋ { فَلَمَّا نَجّٰىهُمْ اِلَى الْبَرِّ فَمِنْهُمْ مُّقْتَصِدٌ … : ’’ خَتَّارٍ ‘‘ ’’خَتْرٌ‘‘} is from 'khatr', which refers to the worst kind of breaking of promises and betrayal. The literal meaning of {’’ مُقْتَصِدٌ ‘‘} is one who walks on the straight path, and also one who adopts moderation. There can be three interpretations of this sentence, and all three are correct. One is that {’’ مُقْتَصِدٌ ‘‘} means one who walks on the straight path, because among all paths, the middle path is the straight and correct one. In {’’ فَمِنْهُمْ ‘‘}, the {’’مِنْ‘‘} is partitive (denoting a part), meaning that when Allah saves them from those waves like canopies and brings them to dry land, only some of them remain on the straight path, who remain firm on the promise they made to their Lord during the storm, as was the case with Ikrimah, the son of Abu Jahl (may Allah be pleased with him). Most of them, however, openly deny the signs of Allah that they witnessed at sea and break the promise they made to their Lord during the storm. Then, those who are atheists go around attributing their survival to material causes, saying, “We survived because of such and such reason,” and those who are polytheists attribute their survival to the favor of some patron or helper. The reality is that only a person who is the worst breaker of promises and extremely ungrateful can so openly deny Allah’s signs and His favors. {’’ خَتَّارٍ ‘‘} and {’’ كَفُوْرٍ ‘‘} are attributes of the polytheist, which have come in contrast to the attributes of the believer, {’’ صَبَّارٍ ‘‘} and {’’ شَكُوْرٍ ‘‘}.
The second interpretation is that {’’ مُقْتَصِدٌ ‘‘} refers to those who adopt moderation in disbelief. The meaning is that when Allah saves them and brings them to dry land, some of them are such that they are not as extreme in their disbelief, but rather adopt moderation, while most openly deny their Lord’s favor and display the worst kind of breaking of promises and ingratitude. In this case, {’’ مُقْتَصِدٌ ‘‘} would refer to {’’ مُقْتَصِدٌ فِي الْكُفْرِ‘‘}. The third interpretation is that {’’ اِقْتِصَادٌ ‘‘} refers to moderation in faith, sincerity, and action: {’’أَيْ فَمِنْهُمْ مُقْتَصِدٌ فِي الْإِيْمَانِ وَالْعَمَلِ‘‘} meaning that after some time has passed since being saved from the storm, the state of sincerity and faith that existed during the storm does not remain for anyone. Then there are some people who, from the highest level of sincerity, faith, and action, come down to moderation, but most of them break all their promises, openly deny Allah’s favor, and then return to their polytheism. Shah Abdul Qadir writes: “That is, the state that existed at the time of fear is not found in anyone, but there are few who do not forget it completely. Otherwise, most deny the power (of Allah), attributing their escape to their own planning or to the help of spirits, etc.” The miracle of Allah’s speech is that the words of the verse accommodate all three meanings, and it is not unlikely that all three are intended. See also Surah Bani Isra’il (67), Ankabut (65), and Yunus (21–23).