Tafsir of Ar-Rum 30:51-53

Surah Ar-Rum (The Romans): Verses 51–53

When it was established that when good things cease, they become despairing, and when they appear, they become joyful, it is then explained that this state does not last for them either. Rather, if a yellowing wind were to strike their crops, they would disbelieve, for they are inconstant, looking only at the immediate situation, not the final outcome. In these verses, there are several issues:

In the first verse (referring to previous verses about rain/blessings), it is stated: {He sends the winds} (using the indicative form, suggesting a continuous, known action). Here, it is stated: {And if We send a wind...} (using the conditional form, {ولئن أرسلنا}).

The reason for this difference is that the beneficial winds are part of God's mercy and are frequent (mutawatir). The harmful wind (like the scorching wind) is a form of punishment. God, being compassionate to His servants, restrains it. This is why we see beneficial winds blowing day and night, over plains and hills, whereas the scorching wind only blows at specific times and in specific places.

The beneficial winds are called {winds} (plural, riyāḥ), while the harmful one is called {a wind} (singular, rīḥ). There are several reasons for this:

1. Frequency and Variety: Beneficial winds are numerous in type and in individual occurrences; gentle breezes blow every day and night. Harmful winds rarely blow, perhaps not even once in years or decades.
2. Effect: Beneficial winds must blow continuously to be effective—to condition the air, generate clouds, or move ships. A single gust of a harmful wind, like the scorching wind (sumūm), is enough to kill.
3. Nature of Harm: The harmful wind harms either by its quality (e.g., extreme heat) or by its quantity.
   • Quality: If the air is hot or imbued with poison, this usually happens when stagnant air in an area with bad vegetation or a deep, very hot depression is heated. When a wind then moves this stagnant air, it blows out like a flame. Any air moving out afterward will not retain that extreme quality because prolonged stillness is required for such conditioning. If you quickly pull your finger out of fire, it is unaffected, but if iron remains in it, it melts. Once that stagnant air moves and disperses, no other air of the same quality is generated immediately in that spot. If the quality is inherent from its initial formation, such instances are rare and localized.
   • Quantity: Beneficial winds often combine to form large, powerful currents, like rivers formed from many springs, which cannot be dammed. This combination of many into one suggests the plural form (riyāḥ). The harmful wind, being singular in its destructive nature, is referred to in the singular (rīḥ).

Then, when God taught His Messenger various proofs and examples, promised reward, and threatened punishment, yet their response to his call was only flight, disbelief, and harm, God said: {So indeed, you cannot make the dead hear, nor can you make the deaf hear the call when they turn away retreating.} There are several issues here:

Issue 1: The Order of Comparison

Guiding the dead is impossible, which is the furthest extreme from possibility. Guiding the deaf is difficult because they cannot hear speech, relying only on gestures, which is also difficult to convey meaning through. Guiding the blind is also difficult; if you tell them the road is to their right, they might turn right but soon deviate. Guiding the deaf is harder than guiding the blind, as communication with the blind is easier. The ultimate form of conveying meaning is through speech; what cannot be conveyed by gesture can be conveyed by speech, but not everything conveyed by speech can be conveyed by gesture (e.g., the absent or non-existent cannot be gestured toward). Therefore, the order is: first, {you cannot make the dead hear}; then, {nor can you make the deaf hear}; and finally, {nor can you guide the blind}, who are less impaired than the deaf.

Issue 2: The Addition of "When They Turn Away Retreating"

This phrase is added specifically for the deaf ({when they turn away retreating}) to emphasize the impossibility. This is because even if the deaf person could understand through gestures, if they turn away, their gaze is no longer on the person gesturing, meaning they neither hear nor understand.

Issue 3: The Specificity of "Hearing the Call" for the Deaf

For the deaf, it is stated: {you cannot make the deaf hear the call} (al-duʿāʾ). This is not said for the dead. This is because the deaf person might hear a tremendous sound, like loud thunder, but the sound of a specific caller (al-dāʿī) might not reach that intensity. Since the Prophet's role is to call them (not to compel them to faith), the deaf person does not hear that specific call.

Issue 4: The Meaning of "You are not a Guide to the Blind"

{Nor are you a guide to the blind} means that guiding the blind is not your primary function or mission, just as one says, "So-and-so is not a poet," even if he composes one or two verses. The statement {Indeed, you cannot make the dead hear} negates the primary function, and {Nor are you a guide to the blind} means this is not your assigned task or the purpose for which you were sent.

Then God states: {Nor can you guide the blind out of their misguidance. You can only make those hear who believe in Our verses, and thus they become Muslims.} (Qur'an 27:81, referenced here).

After negating the ability to make the dead hear and the deaf hear, and establishing the ability to make the believer hear through the signs, it logically follows that the believer must be alive and possess hearing. This is true, as the rains of proofs descend upon the believer's heart, causing true beliefs to sprout, and they hear the warnings of admonition, leading to good deeds.

This refutes the Mu'tazila doctrine, which claims that God wills faith from everyone, but some defy God's will. The statement {You can only make those hear who believe} proves that the Prophet (PBUH) hears those who already believe and obey, as confirmed by the verse: {They say, "We hear and we obey"} (Al-Baqarah: 285).

{It is Allah who created you from weakness, then made after weakness strength, then made after strength weakness and old age. He creates what He wills, and He is the Knowing, the All-Powerful.}