The 12th Juz – Surat Hud

Surat Hud, like Surat Yunus before it, is a Makki Surah that deals with a number of themes, including the story of Prophet Hud. However, the scope of the surah is much broader and these are some of the major concepts presented:

• Allah is the Sustainer of everyone and everything in the heavens and earth
• The Quran is the message of Allah to His Creation
• Stories of Prophets Hud, Nuh, Salih, Lut, and Shuayb and the consequences the people who rejected faced.
• Virtues of removing evil
• The freedom to believe or disbelieve

The first ayah in the surah reminds us of the fact that Allah is indeed the One who sustains the entire universe.

وَمَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ فِي الاٌّرْضِ إِلاَّ عَلَى اللَّهِ رِزْقُهَا وَيَعْلَمُ مُسْتَقَرَّهَا وَمُسْتَوْدَعَهَا كُلٌّ فِى كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ

There is no creature in the world except that Allah provides its sustenance and He knows its whereabouts and where it resides. Everything is available in an easy to understand book.

This ayah is a reminder to all of us about the power and infinite abilities of Allah, including his comprehensive knowledge, ability to sustain, and awareness of what everyone does and where they go. It’s amazing to think about the fact that Allah is the One who knows where everyone is, and how He sustains every creature. Think about how Allah knows where the ants, snakes, lizards, fish deep in the ocean, and lions all reside and how He places food for them in the appropriate places. Think how He knows where the sea anemone live and how He makes small fish and organisms flow right by them so they can grab them with their tentacles. Think how He knows where you are every moment of your life, and exactly what you are up to. We should internalize this ayah and remind ourselves of it anytime we consider doing something that Allah would not be pleased with. We should also think about how Allah says that providing for the creation is His task, so we should not seek forbidden ways to gain wealth, knowing that Allah will provide Halal means if we seek it.
Allah moves on after discussing how mankind reacts to His blessings or tests, and poses a challenge to mankind.

أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَاهُ قُلْ فَأْتُواْ بِعَشْرِ سُوَرٍ مِّثْلِهِ مُفْتَرَيَاتٍ وَادْعُواْ مَنِ اسْتَطَعْتُمْ مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَ - فَإِلَّمْ يَسْتَجِيبُواْ لَكُمْ فَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّمَآ أُنزِلِ بِعِلْمِ اللَّهِ وَأَن لاَّ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ فَهَلْ أَنتُمْ مُّسْلِمُونَ

They say “He has fabricated it.” Say: "Produce ten Surahs similar to it, and then call upon whomever you want besides Allah, if you are speaking the truth. If they are not able to respond to the challenge, know then that it is sent down with the knowledge of Allah and that there is no god besides Him! Will you then be Muslims?"(11:13-14)

This ayah is one of many which challenge anyone who disbelieves in the Quran to produce just 10 surahs like it. SubhanAllah, there have been people who tried before and failed miserably. The story of Musaylima is well known in which he tried to make a sura like Surat Al Feel.

He wrote, “The elephant. What is the elephant? And what will make you aware of what is the elephant? A long tail, and huge body…”

Just to give an idea of how ridiculous it sounds, as he was trying to imitate the Quranic style.

Al Feel. Mal feel? Wa ma adraaka mal feel? Dhaylon taweel. Wa jasadun kabeer…

Allah humiliated and exposed everyone who tried to fabricate a similar scripture and claim prophethood or revelation. The point is, Allah challenges anyone to either put up or shut up. If you cannot produce 10 surahs like the Quran, then you have no excuse for disobeying its commands. The Muslim should be heedfull of this ayah because how sad is it if he knows the Quran is the word of Allah and then refuses to obey it.

After the Muslim is fully aware of whom Allah is and understands His attributes and knows the Quran is His words, Allah makes it clear how the Muslim should think.

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَاتِ وَأَخْبَتُواْ إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ أُوْلَـئِكَ أَصْحَـبُ الجَنَّةِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَـلِدُونَ - مَثَلُ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ كَالاٌّعْمَى وَالاٌّصَمِّ وَالْبَصِيرِ وَالسَّمِيعِ هَلْ يَسْتَوِيَانِ مَثَلاً أَفَلاَ تَذَكَّرُونَ

Verily, those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and humble themselves before their Lord, they will be the dwellers of Paradise to dwell therein forever. The likeness of the two parties is as the blind and the deaf are to the one who sees and hears. Are the two equal? Do you not then take heed? (11:24)

The Muslim should be confident about his belief and not be apologetic and weak before a disbeliever. If the Muslim knows he is following divine guidance, then why would he feel weak before the ideas of men who are blind and deaf to divine revelation. The example is rather profound. If you can see and hear clearly, would you listen to a blind and deaf man explain to you how a picture looks or how a song sounds? Obviously not. Then how would the Muslim obey and follow the way of the disbeliever when he is oblivious to the reality of life and the best way to live? It does not make sense. This ayah should be a boost of confidence and optimism for the believer that he is on the truth and his reward will be jannah.

The surah then proceeds and discusses the story of various Prophets, and the conversations between Nuh and his people are highlighted. One ayah that sticks out, related to the previous ayah discussed about the confidence of a Muslim.

وَيَصْنَعُ الْفُلْكَ وَكُلَّمَا مَرَّ عَلَيْهِ مَلأٌ مِّن قَوْمِهِ سَخِرُواْ مِنْهُ قَالَ إِن تَسْخَرُواْ مِنَّا فَإِنَّا نَسْخَرُ مِنكُمْ كَمَا تَسْخَرُونَ

And he began to make the ark; and whenever the chiefs from among his people passed by him they laughed at him. They said: "If you ridicule us now, we can now look down on you with ridicule likewise!(11:37)

As Nuh made the arc, the big shots and leaders of the community would mock him and ridicule him. In their mind they felt Nuh had no right to advise them to believe in Allah and worship him, as the felt he was insane for building an arc in the middle of nowhere. However, Nuh was steadfast and ignored the jokes and ridicule of the arrogant disbelievers. This ayah has a ton of application in our life today. One cool thing about the story of the past Prophets is that their lives were similar to ours as they were also minorities who had the masses believing in a different way of life. One thing is different of course: the Prophets could care less what the others said and did their job how they were commanded. How do the Muslims act today as minorities who are mocked and ridiculed for doing things Allah has commanded such as praying, not intermingling and dating, and other acts of worship? Do we feel embarrassed and shy away and ignore what Allah has told us? Or do we ignore what the blind and deaf to the revelation say? This ayah is a reminder for all of us to focus on what Allah has told us, and not to be influenced and feel weak by any criticism or jokes from others.

All the stories of Prophets in this surah remind us of this point. The circumstances, names, and details change, but the lessons learned are similar. Bottom line: Be like the Prophets by staying true to the commitment we have made to follow Islam.

The surah has plenty of more profound accounts of the experiences and ordeals of various Prophets, and we should all look deeply into them so we can relate to them and learn the solutions to the problems we face in our lives.

Insha Allah we will cover the story of Yusuf in the next post, although part of it is part of the 12th juz.

May Allah make us amongst those who learn from the lives of all our Prophets.