Surat al-Mulk (The Kingdom)

67. Surat al-Mulk (The Kingdom)

Tafsir




The tafsir of this sura is a compilation derived from the sources mentioned in Surat at-Tawba and Surat an-Nur, as well as a few additions.




This is a Makkan sura which was sent down after at-Tur (52) and before al-Haqqa ( 69). It has various names. As well being called al-Mulk, it is also called al-Waqiya (the Protector), al-Munjiyya (the Rescuer), and al-Mâni'a (the Defender) because it protects the one who knows it and rescues him from the punishment and defends him during the Rising. It is also called al-Mujadila (the Arguer) because it argues on behalf of the one who knows it when he is the grave. Numerous hadiths have mentioned its excellence.

It is related in a hadith from Jabir that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to recite this sura every night when he went to bed and he said, "It rescues people from the punishment of the grave."

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "There is a sura of the Book which only has thirty ayats which will intercede for a man on the Day of Rising and will bring him out of the Fire and make him enter the Garden. It is Surat Tabarak (meaning al-Mulk)."

Ibn 'Abbas said, "One of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah pitched his tent on a grave without knowing that it was a grave, and it contained a man who was reciting 'Blessed is He who has the Kingdom in His hand.' He went and told the Prophet who said, 'It is the defender. It is the protector which is protecting him from Allah's punishment.' The Messenger of Allah further said, "I wish that 'Tabarak' could be in the heart of every believer."

It is related that if someone recites it every night, he will not be harmed by the tempter (fattân). "Fattân" is used for various things. It means Shaytans who tempts people and makes disobeying Allah attractive. It is used for the dirham and the dinar, meaning money, which tempts people. It is used for the angels Munkar and Nakir who question the dead in the graves. It is also used for a highwayman who attacks travellers on the road.




1 Blessed be He who has the Kingdom in His Hand!
     He has power over all things.



"Blessed" (tabaraka) is a verbal form derived from a word meaning blessing (baraka). It is said that it means something which is exalted, holy or lasting. Allah is the Lasting (dâ'im) whose existence has no beginning and whose everlastingness has no end. This expression, "tabaraka" is particular to Allah Almighty and it is not used in the present tense, but only in the past. Allah is exalted above all the attributes of creatures who are located in time and exalted above all else in His Essence, Attributes and Actions. As He says, "There is nothing like Him." Some commentators say that this means that He is beyond annihilation or alteration. The form "tabaraka" indicates His perfection and immensity. Another example of this verb form which is only used for Allah is ta'ala, "Exalted is..."

We can look at the root of this verb and its meaning in two ways. There is the root burûk which means continuance or remaining. It is used to refer to birds remaining at water, to someone being firm and ready for fighting, and to someone who does not move where he is. This quality of being permanent reflects Allah's everlastingness. The other root is blessing or baraka. It is a blessing, either physical or spiritual, which continues, increases and abounds. So there is blessing which abides and ever increases. So Allah is abundant in good and exceeds everything in His continual goodness . As He says elsewhere: "All favour is in the Hand of Allah. He gives it to anyone He wills. Allah 's favour is indeed immense." (57:28)

"He who has the Kigndom in His hand" means the sovereignty or kingdom of the heavens and the earth, this world and the Next. It is said that it means the King of kings in this world, as you say, "the master of the kingdom." The first is more general and encompassing. He abases or exalts whomever He wills, He gives life and makes die, enriches and makes poor, gives and withholds. It is also said by some that He has the dominion of prophethood by which He exalts those who follow it and abases those who oppose it. He has the control of affairs. As He says elsewhere: "They do not measure Allah with His true measure. The whole earth will be a mere handful for Him on the Day of Rising, the heavens folded up in His right hand." (39:64)

In Arabic "hand" (yad) designates authority and power. Allah has the power to bless and take revenge. Commentators say that yad refers to Allah's power (qudra) which is His attribute without interpretation or qualification. His power is beyond description or limitation. In this context, Abu Hurayra reported in a sound hadith that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Allah's hand is full, undiminished by any expenditure since He created the heaven and the earth, for what His hand holds has not decreased. His Throne was upon the water, and in His hand the scale which He lowers and raises."

Mulk means sovereignty, kingship, dominion, and it is means ownership. It usually refers to this world, the physical world of bodies, whereas Malakut refers to the dominion of the unseen as He says, "Glory be to Him who has the Dominion (malakût) of all things in His Hand." (36:83)

"He has power over all things" defines His power - it extends to all things without limit. It reinforces the first sentence.


2 He who created death and life
      to test which of you is best in action.

He is the Almighty, the Ever-Forgiving.



Then Allah begins to go into the details of some aspects of His power and dominion over His subjects. "He who created death and life" can be taken to refer to the death and life of creatures. It is also said that it refers to the death of this world because its people will die while the life of the Next World will endure, as Allah says, "The Abode of the Next World is the Living." Death is lifelessness.

Allah begins by detailing some of the judgements of the kingdom and the consequences of power. Death and life are also part of His creation. There is an indication of the disparity between His everlastingness and creature's in-timeness. The use of "tabaraka" in the previous ayat indicates Allah's abiding and everlasting life whereas here He says, "He created life" which is the life of the creatures, which is temporal and dependent on Him. His life is not subject to end. The life and death of creatures is an event located in time.

Death is mentioned before life because death is older. In their beginnings things were under the jurisdiction of death, as sperm or the earth is initially lifeless. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Allah Almighty abased the sons of Adam by death and made this world an abode of life and then an abode of death. He made the Next World an abode of repayment and then an abode of abiding."

Abu'-d-Darda' said, "If it had not been for three things, the sons of Adam would not have bowed their heads: poverty, illness and death. But in spite of that, he leaps up." Or it can refer to death in this world and eternal life in the Next.

It is also said that death precedes life because the strongest of people in seeking action is the one who keeps death before his eyes. He concentrates on immediate action because he knows that the domain of action will soon end and the Reckoning will take place. Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet said, "Remember the c