Tafsir of Ar-Rum 30:33

Surah Ar-Rum (The Romans): Verse 33

(33) And when adversity touches the people...

After establishing the Oneness of God through proof and analogy, [the text] clarifies that they have a state they recognize, even if they deny it at times: the state of distress. For when their hope in all else is cut off, they turn back to God and find themselves needing something unlike these [worldly] things, seeking salvation through Him.

{Then, when He lets them taste a mercy from Us, behold, a party of them associates partners with their Lord.}

Meaning, when We save them, a party of them associates partners with their Lord, saying, "I was saved because of the conjunction of such-and-such a star, or because of such-and-such an idol." No! They should not believe they were saved because of such a thing. If this is an outward belief, it is hidden Shirk (polytheism).

Example: A man is drowning in the sea, and a plank comes to him, driven by the wind, which he clings to and is saved. He then says, "I was saved by the plank." Or, a man is approached by a lion, and God sends a man to help him, so he says, "Zayd saved me." If this is based on the belief that Zayd himself was the agent, it is hidden Shirk. If it means, "God saved me through the agency of Zayd," it is even more subtle.

There are several related issues here:

There is a subtlety in the use of the word dhawq (tasting). Dhawq is typically used for a small amount. The custom is that if someone eats a large quantity of food, one does not say, "I tasted it." It is also used in the negative: "I did not taste any food in his house," implying that if they didn't taste a little, they certainly didn't taste a lot.

Furthermore, since that mercy was brief and transient, not continuous like the reward in the Hereafter (for they have torment in the Hereafter), God said {أذاقهم} (let them taste). This is why, regarding torment, He says: {ذوقوا مس سقر} (Taste the scorching fire) (Al-Qamar: 48), {ذوقوا ما كنتم تعملون} (Taste what you used to do) (Al-Ankabut: 55), and {ذق إنك أنت العزيز الكريم} (Taste, indeed you are the mighty, the noble!) (Ad-Dukhan: 49). This is because the torment of God reaching a servant, compared to the mercy reaching other servants, is very little in measure.

The specificity in saying {منه} (from Us) carries the benefit we mentioned: the mercy is not absolute for them; it is only concerning that specific adversity. As for the subsequent adversity, they will not taste mercy from it.

Here, He says {إذا فريق منهم} (behold, a party of them), whereas in Al-Ankabut, He says: {فلما نجاهم إلى البر إذا هم يشركون} (But when He delivered them safe to the land, behold, they associated partners [with Him]) (Al-Ankabut: 65), and did not say fariq (a party).

This difference is because the adversity mentioned in Al-Ankabut is a specific type: the terror of the sea. The number of those saved from it, relative to the total creation, is small. And the number of those who do not associate partners after being saved is an extremely small group. Therefore, He did not describe the polytheists as a fariq (party) because the number of those who escaped polytheism was so small.

However, the adversity mentioned here is general, encompassing the adversity of the land, the sea, illnesses, and lesser troubles. The number saved from all types of adversity is many—indeed, all people have experienced some adversity and been saved from it. The number who remain free from all types of Shirk after salvation, when gathered together, is a great multitude—it is all Muslims. They were saved from an adversity and did not remain polytheists.

But not all Muslims were saved from the adversity of the sea. Since the number saved from adversity among the believers is a large gathering, the remaining ones (who revert to Shirk) are described as a {فريق} (party).

(34) That they may disbelieve in what We have given them. Then enjoy yourselves, for soon you will know. * Or have We sent down to them an authority, and it speaks of what they used to associate [with Us]?