Surah Az-Zumar (39) — Ayah 29

29. Allah sets forth a parable: a man belonging to several partners who are at odds with each other [44], and another man belonging entirely to one master—are their conditions equal? Praise [45] be to Allah! But most of them do not know.

Who Are the Various and Conflicting Masters of a Human Being?

The meaning of tashākus is to pull and struggle against each other for one’s own right due to miserliness, harshness, and ill-temper. The example is that a slave does not have just one, but several masters. And each one desires that the slave remains engaged only in his own work and extracts more labor from him than his due right. Whether or not he can serve the others. Moreover, they are harsh and ill-natured; each of them scolds and mistreats the slave. So, tell me, what will be the condition of such a slave, and in what difficulty and distress will he be? And another slave has only one master—so tell me, can the condition of these two slaves be the same? Another aspect is that such ill-natured people, who quarrel among themselves to extract as much right as possible from their shared slave, are extremely miserly in giving the slave his due. No one considers such a slave as solely his own, nor does anyone care for him or consider his rights. Whereas the other slave, who belongs to only one person, is considered his own slave, and his rights are also taken care of. In this respect too, the slave who has only one master is better. This example is, in fact, the example of a polytheist and a monotheist. A polytheist is a slave to many deities. He is always worried that if he tries to please one by presenting himself and offering gifts, the others might get upset and harm him. In this tug of war, he remains anxious and disturbed. In contrast, a monotheist seeks only the pleasure of the One Allah. Since the monotheist belongs solely to Allah, Allah also helps him in every difficult time, saves him from troubles, and bestows favors upon him. Obviously, the condition of these two cannot be the same. And to understand this, there is no need for lengthy contemplation. Now, it is clear that in this example, the deities cannot refer to stone idols, because miserliness, harshness, and ill-temper have nothing to do with them, nor can they quarrel for their rights. Inevitably, these must refer to living masters who practically give a person conflicting commands and actually pull him towards themselves. Among them, the first master is a person’s own self, which presents various desires before him and compels him to fulfill them. Other countless masters present everywhere: in the home, family, community, nation, and society of the country, among religious leaders, rulers and lawmakers, in the spheres of business and economy, and among the powers dominating the civilization of the world. Their conflicting demands and various requirements constantly pull a person towards themselves, and whichever demand he fails to fulfill, that master does not leave him unpunished within his domain. However, each one’s weapon of punishment is different: some cause heartache, some become estranged, some boycott, some bankrupt, some attack with religion, and some strike with the law. There is only one way to escape this distress and hardship: that a person becomes a servant of only Allah and pays no heed whatsoever to anyone else regarding Allah's commands. This alone is the path to safety, peace, and salvation for him.

The Special Occasion for the Use of ﴿الحمد لله﴾:

Here, the use of ﴿الحمد لله﴾ is in the sense that the worshippers of many masters are doomed whether they answer this question or not; and if they do not answer, then this becomes a conclusive argument against them. And if they do answer, they cannot say that the condition of both slaves is equal, nor can they say that the slave with more masters is better. Therefore, thanks be to Allah that they too admit that a slave with only one master is better. But when it comes to practical life, they forget all these things and act ignorantly.