Tafsir of Ar-Rum 30:30

Al-Allamah al-Tayyibi said: After the Almighty enumerated the clear signs and proofs that indicate Oneness, negate polytheism, affirm the doctrine of the Resurrection, and provided an allegory—saying, "Thus do We explain the signs for a people who understand"—He, Exalted be His Majesty, intended to console His Beloved, upon him be the peace and blessings of Allah, and prepare him for despair regarding their faith. He turned away from that, saying: "Rather, those who do wrong follow their own desires." He established the cause for this as the fact that He, the Almighty, did not intend their guidance and that their hearts have been sealed. Therefore, He followed it with His saying: "So who can guide whom Allah has sent astray?" as a form of rebuke and denial. Then, the Almighty concluded it all with: "And they have no helpers," meaning: if Allah has willed this of them, there is no escape for them from it, nor is there anyone who can save them—neither you nor anyone else. Therefore, do not let your soul waste away in regret for them. Focus on your own soul and those who follow you, and "set your face," etc. From this, the nature of the fa (the 'so') in His saying, "So who can guide..." and likewise in His saying, "So set your face," is understood. An-Naysaburi interpreted the second fa as: "When the truth becomes clear and Oneness manifests, then set your face..." Perhaps what Al-Tayyibi pointed to is better. Furthermore, his words hint at the possibility that the relative pronoun (alladhina) stands in place of the pronoun in "those who do wrong"—so reflect upon this.

(And set...) from aqama (to straighten) the stick. It is also said qawwama the stick when one straightens it. The intent is a command to turn towards the religion of Islam, to remain upright and steadfast in it, and to be concerned with ordering its causes. This is a metaphorical representation, for one who is concerned with something perceived by the sight fixes his gaze upon it, directs his vision towards it, and turns his face to it without turning away. It is as if it were said: "Straighten your face towards the religion and turn to it completely, without looking to the right or left." Some dignitaries said: "Straightening the face towards a thing is a metonym for complete concern for it." Perhaps by metonymy, he meant the figure of speech derived from metonymy, for it is not required in that figure that the literal meaning be intended.

(Hanifan) is in the accusative case as a state (hal) of the pronoun in "set," or from the "religion." Abu Hayyan permitted it to be a state of "face." The origin of hanaf is the inclination from misguidance towards uprightness, the opposite of which is janaf (with a 'j').

(The innate nature of Allah...) is in the accusative case as an incitement (ighra'), meaning: "Adhere to the innate nature of Allah, the Almighty." Those who permit the elision of verbal nouns (asma' al-af'al) permit the estimation here of alaykum (upon you—i.e., take up). Makki said: "It is in the accusative by the elision of a verb, meaning 'Follow the innate nature of Allah,' indicated by His saying, 'So set your face towards the religion,' because its meaning is 'Follow the religion.'" Al-Tayyibi chose this and said: "It is closer in the composition of the structure because it is consistent with His saying, 'Rather, those who do wrong follow their own desires,' and with the arrangement of His saying, 'So set your face' following it with the fa."

It is also permitted that it be in the accusative by the elision of a'ni (I mean), or as an absolute object (maf'ul mutlaq) for a deleted verb indicated by what follows, meaning: "He originated you with the innate nature of Allah." The fatara mentioned after it cannot act upon it because it is an attribute of it. It may also be an accusative by something indicated in the previous sentence, serving as an emphatic source (masdar mu'akkid li-nafsihi). It may also be a substitute (badal) for Hanifan. What immediately comes to mind is the accusative by incitement and the elision of a verb addressing the collective, even though the preceding "so set your face" (singular) is what Az-Zamakhshari chose to match His saying: "Turning in repentance to Him," making it a state of the collective pronoun to which the verb is attributed, and considering His saying "And fear Him, and establish prayer, and do not be" as conjoined to that verb.

Al-Tayyibi said, after choosing the estimation of "follow" and preferring it with what you have heard: "As for His saying, 'Turning in repentance,' it is a state of the pronoun in 'set.' It is pluralized because it is reflected upon the meaning, for the address is to the Prophet, upon him be the peace and blessings of Allah, yet it is an address to his nation; thus it is as if it were said: 'Establish your faces, turning in repentance.'"

Al-Farra said: "Meaning, set your face and those who follow you, like His saying: 'So remain on a right course as you have been commanded, [you] and those who have turned back with you.' Therefore, He said, 'turning in repentance.'" In Al-Murshid, it says that "turning in repentance" is related to an elided term, meaning: "Be repentant," due to His saying after: "And do not be of the polytheists." It is not hidden from the fair-minded how excellent Az-Zamakhshari's speech is, and what was mentioned—that the address to him, upon him be the peace and blessings of Allah, is an address to the nation—reinforces the implication. On that elided term, it is not permissible for munibin (turning in repentance) to be a state of the pronoun in "set." The outward appearance of Al-Farra's speech requires the state to be from an explicit and a deleted noun, which is rare in speech. Eliding "be" along with the elision of a verb governing "the innate nature of Allah" necessitates excessive elision, and its elision is not like the elision of what precedes it; it necessitates committing something contrary to what is readily apparent there.

Fitrah (innate nature), according to Ibn al-Athir, is a state, like jilsah (manner of sitting) or rakbah (manner of riding), from fatar (to split) in the sense of initiation and invention. Many here have interpreted it as the capacity for truth and the readiness to perceive it. They said: "The meaning of adhering to it is to act according to its requirements and not to breach it by following desires or the promptings of the devils of mankind and jinn." Describing it with His saying, "upon which He has created mankind," is to emphasize the necessity of complying with the command. From Ikrimah, it is interpreted as the religion of Islam.

In the report, there is evidence for this. Ibn Marduyah recorded from Hammad bin Umar al-Saffar, who said: "I asked Qatadah about His saying: 'The innate nature of Allah upon which He has created mankind,' and he said: 'Anas bin Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, told me that the Messenger of Allah, upon him be the peace and blessings of Allah, said: "The innate nature of Allah upon which He has created mankind is the religion of Allah, the Almighty."'" The intent by their being created upon it is that He created them capable of the religion of Islam, neither recoiling from it nor denying it, because it is responsive to the intellect and consistent with sound reasoning, to the point that if they were left alone, they would not choose any other religion over it. In the Sahihayn, from Abu Hurayrah, he said: The Messenger of Allah, upon him be the peace and blessings of Allah, said: "No child is born but upon the fitrah, then his parents turn him into a Jew, a Christian, or a Magian; just as an animal produces a whole young—do you see any mutilation in it?" The intent by "mankind" in both interpretations is all of them.

Some have claimed that the intent by the second interpretation is the believers, but this is nothing. The generalization was challenged by the case of the boy whom Al-Khidr, peace be upon him, killed, for he was imprinted for disbelief. It was answered that the meaning is that it was decreed that if he were to live, he would become a disbeliever through others leading him astray or through some human affliction. This, as they say, is the intent of his saying, upon him be peace: "The wretched is wretched in his mother's womb," and this does not contradict the fitrah for the religion of Islam in the sense of being created prepared for it and ready to accept it. So reflect. The situation still requires further investigation.

It is said: The fitrah of Allah is the covenant taken from the Children of Adam. The meaning of creating them upon that, as they say, is that He created them with the knowledge of the Almighty firmly embedded in them, as indicated by His saying: "And if you asked them, 'Who created the heavens and the earth?' they would surely say, 'Allah.'" And His saying, "No change should there be in the creation of Allah," is a justification for the command to adhere to His, the Almighty's, innate nature, or for the necessity of compliance. Thus, the intent by "creation of Allah" is the aforementioned innate nature; it is the replacement of the manifest noun for the pronominal without the preceding term. The meaning is: There is no validity or uprightness in changing the innate nature of Allah by breaching its requirements and not ordering its consequences upon it through following desires and accepting the whispering of devils.

It is also said: The meaning is that no one is capable of changing the creation of Allah, the Almighty, and His innate nature; thus, the "change" must be carried as the changing of the innate nature itself by removing it entirely and placing another innate nature in its place that is not conducive to accepting the truth and capable of perceiving it—necessarily, for the change in the first sense is possible, indeed, it definitely occurs. The justification in that case is that the soundness of the fitrah is realized in everyone; therefore, one must adhere to it by ordering its requirements upon it and not breaching it by the aforementioned following of desires and the whispering of devils.

The Imam said: "It is possible to say: Allah, the Almighty, created His creation for worship, and they are all His servants. 'No change should there be in the creation of Allah'—meaning, their state as servants is not like a slave's state of being a servant to a human, for he may transfer from him to another and exit his ownership through emancipation; rather, there is no exit for creation from worship and servitude. This is to clarify the corruption of those who say: 'Worship is for the sake of attaining perfection, and when the servant is perfected by it, no obligation remains upon him.'"

And the saying of the polytheists: "The created being is not fit for the worship of Allah; rather, they worship things like the stars, and they are servants of Allah, the Almighty." And the saying of the Christians: "Jesus, peace be upon him, was perfected by Allah indwelling in him and became a god," and in this is what is in it. Among the strange things is what is narrated from Ibn Abbas: that the meaning of "No change should there be in the creation of Allah" is the prohibition of castrating male animals. It is also said: The speech is related to the disbelievers, as if it were said: "Set your face towards the religion, inclining to truth, and adhere to the innate nature of Allah upon which He created mankind; for these disbelievers, Allah created disbelief for them, and 'no change should there be in the creation of Allah'—meaning, they will not succeed." You know that it is not appropriate to carry the speech of Allah, the Almighty, in such a manner.

(That) is a reference to the religion commanded to be turned towards, or to the adherence to the innate nature of Allah derived from the incitement, or to the fitrah—the masculine being used by consideration of the predicate or by interpreting the referent as masculine.

(Is the upright religion)—the balanced one, in which there is no crookedness or deviation from the truth in any way, as indicated by the hyperbolic form. Its origin is qayyum, on the measure of fay'il; the waw and the ya' met, and one of them preceded with a sukun, so the waw was changed to a ya' and the ya' was assimilated into it.

(But most of the people do not know) that, so they turn away from it in aversion. It is also said: Meaning, they have no knowledge at all, and if they knew, they would have known that—on the condition that the verb is treated as an intransitive one.