Surah Fatir ayat 22 Tafsir Quran 35:22

﴿وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الْأَحْيَاءُ وَلَا الْأَمْوَاتُ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَن يَشَاءُ ۖ وَمَا أَنتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَّن فِي الْقُبُورِ﴾
[ فاطر: 22]

35:22 And not equal are the living and the dead. Indeed, Allah causes to hear whom He wills, but you cannot make hear those in the graves.

nor are the living equal to the dead the believers and the disbelievers respectively the addition of the particle lā ‘nor’ in all three instances is for emphasis. Indeed God makes to hear whomever He will to be guided so that such a person then responds to Him by embracing faith. But you cannot make those who are in the graves to hear namely the disbelievers — whom He has likened to the dead — to hear and so respond.

Nor do the living -a life deserving the name- and the dead physically or spiritually compare. Allahs voice reaches whom He will but your voice O Muhammad shall never reach those deposited in the graves

The Believer and the Disbeliever are not equal Allah says that these antonyms are clearly not equal, the blind and the seeing are not equal, there is a difference and a huge gap between them.
Darkness and light are not equal, neither are shade and the sun's heat.
By the same token, the living and the dead are not equal.
This is the parable Allah makes of the believers who are the living, and the disbelievers who are the dead.
This is like the Ayat: أَوَمَن كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَـهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُورًا يَمْشِي بِهِ فِى النَّاسِ كَمَن مَّثَلُهُ فِي الظُّلُمَـتِ لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِّنْهَا كَذَلِكَ ( Is he who was dead and We gave him life and set for him a light (of belief ) whereby he can walk amongst men -- like him who is in the ( depths of ) darkness from which he can never come out) ( 6:122 ), مَثَلُ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ كَالاٌّعْمَى وَالاٌّصَمِّ وَالْبَصِيرِ وَالسَّمِيعِ هَلْ يَسْتَوِيَانِ مَثَلاً ( The parable of the two parties is as that of the blind and the deaf and the seer and the hearer.
Are they equal when compared ) ( 11:24 ) The believer sees and hears, and walks in the light upon a straight path in this world and the Hereafter, until he comes to settle in Gardens ( Paradise ) wherein is shade and springs.
The disbeliever is blind and deaf, walking in darkness from which he cannot escape, he is lost in his misguidance in this world and the Hereafter, until he ends up in fierce hot wind and boiling water, and shadow of black smoke, neither cool nor good. إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَن يَشَآءُ ( Verily, Allah makes whom He wills to hear, ) means.
He guides them to listen to the proof and accept it and adhere it. وَمَآ أَنتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَّن فِى الْقُبُورِ ( but you cannot make hear those who are in graves. ) means, `just as the dead cannot benefit from guidance and the call to truth after they have died as disbelievers and ended up in the graves, so too you cannot help these idolators who are decreed to be doomed, and you cannot guide them.' إِنْ أَنتَ إِلاَّ نَذِيرٌ You are only a warner means, all you have to do is to convey the Message and warn them, and Allah leaves astray whomsoever He wills and guides whomsoever He wills. إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَـكَ بِالْحَقِّ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا ( Verily, We have sent you with the truth, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. ) means, a bearer of glad tidings to the believers and a warner to the disbelievers. وَإِن مِّنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلاَّ خَلاَ فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ ( And there never was a nation but a warner had passed among them. ) means, there was never any nation among the sons of Adam but Allah sent warners to them, and left them with no excuse.
This is like the Ayat: إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُنذِرٌ وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ ( You are only a warner, and to every people there is a guide ) ( 13:7 ). وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُواْ الْطَّـغُوتَ فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ هَدَى اللَّهُ وَمِنْهُمْ مَّنْ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِ الضَّلَـلَةُ ( And verily, We have sent among every Ummah a Messenger (proclaiming ): "Worship Allah, and avoid all false deities." Then of them were some whom Allah guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified) ( 16:36 ).
And there are many similar Ayat. وَإِن يُكَذِّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ جَآءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِالْبَيِّنَـتِ ( And if they deny you, those before them also denied.
Their Messengers came to them with clear signs, ) means, clear miracles and definitive proofs. وَبِالزُّبُرِ ( and with the Scriptures, ) means, the Books. وَبِالْكِتَـبِ الْمُنِيرِ ( and with the Book giving light. ) means, clear and obvious. ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ ( Then I took hold of those who disbelieved, ) means, `despite all of this, they denied the Messengers and the Message they brought, so I seized them, i.e., with My punishment.' فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ and how terrible was My denial! means, how great and intense and terrible do you think My punishment was؟ And Allah knows best.

(35:22) nor are the living and the dead alike. *42 Allah makes to hear whomsoever He wishes, but you, (O Prophet), cannot cause to hear those who are in their graves. *43

And not equal are the living and meaning

*42) In these comparisons the present and the future of a believer and a disbeliever have been contrasted.
There is a person who has closed his eyes to the realities and does not care to see as to what truth the whole system of the universe and his own existence itself are pointing.
There is the other person, whose eyes are open and who clearly sees that everything outside and inside himself bears evidence to the Unity of God and to man's answerability before him.
There is a person, who is wandering blindly in the superstitions of ignorance and the darknesses of presumptions and speculations, and is not inclined to benefit by the light of the candle lit by the Prophet.
There is the other person, whose eyes are open and who, as soon as the light spread by the Prophet appears before him, comes to realize that All the ways being followed by the polytheists and the disbelievers and the atheists lead to destruction, and the way to success is only that which has been shown by the Messenger of God.
Now how can it be possible that the attitude of the two persons be the same in the world and the two may follow one and the same path together ? And how can this also be possible either that the two should meet the same end and should both end up in the dust after death ? Neither should one be punished for his wrongdoings, nor the other be rewarded for his righteous conduct.
The sentence, " the cool shade and the heat of the sun are not alike ", points to the same fate.
The one will be provided shelter tinder the shade of Allah's mercy and the other will bum in the fire of Hell.
Thus, the notions that the two will ultimately meet the same end is utterly false.
In the end, the believer has been likened to the living and the stubborn disbeliever to the dead.
That is, the believer is he whose feeling, understanding and perception are alive and whose conscience is making him aware of the distinction between the good and the evil every moment.
Contrary to this, the person who has been, wholly lost in the prejudices of disbelief is even worse than the blind person who is wandering about in darkness.
Nay, he is like a dead person who has no sense or feeling left in him.

*43) That is, " As for the powers of Allah, they are unlimited.
He can even make the stones to hear.
But it is not within the power of the Messenger to make those people to listen to him whose consciences have become dead and whose ears deaf to every call to the truth.
He can only make those people to hear him, who are inclined to listen to every reasonable thing.
"
 

The Believer and the Disbeliever are not equal Allah says that these antonyms are clearly not equal, the blind and the seeing are not equal, there is a difference and a huge gap between them.
Darkness and light are not equal, neither are shade and the sun's heat.
By the same token, the living and the dead are not equal.
This is the parable Allah makes of the believers who are the living, and the disbelievers who are the dead.
This is like the Ayat: أَوَمَن كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَـهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُورًا يَمْشِي بِهِ فِى النَّاسِ كَمَن مَّثَلُهُ فِي الظُّلُمَـتِ لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِّنْهَا كَذَلِكَ ( Is he who was dead and We gave him life and set for him a light (of belief ) whereby he can walk amongst men -- like him who is in the ( depths of ) darkness from which he can never come out) ( 6:122 ), مَثَلُ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ كَالاٌّعْمَى وَالاٌّصَمِّ وَالْبَصِيرِ وَالسَّمِيعِ هَلْ يَسْتَوِيَانِ مَثَلاً ( The parable of the two parties is as that of the blind and the deaf and the seer and the hearer.
Are they equal when compared ) ( 11:24 ) The believer sees and hears, and walks in the light upon a straight path in this world and the Hereafter, until he comes to settle in Gardens ( Paradise ) wherein is shade and springs.
The disbeliever is blind and deaf, walking in darkness from which he cannot escape, he is lost in his misguidance in this world and the Hereafter, until he ends up in fierce hot wind and boiling water, and shadow of black smoke, neither cool nor good. إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَن يَشَآءُ ( Verily, Allah makes whom He wills to hear, ) means.
He guides them to listen to the proof and accept it and adhere it. وَمَآ أَنتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَّن فِى الْقُبُورِ ( but you cannot make hear those who are in graves. ) means, `just as the dead cannot benefit from guidance and the call to truth after they have died as disbelievers and ended up in the graves, so too you cannot help these idolators who are decreed to be doomed, and you cannot guide them.' إِنْ أَنتَ إِلاَّ نَذِيرٌ You are only a warner means, all you have to do is to convey the Message and warn them, and Allah leaves astray whomsoever He wills and guides whomsoever He wills. إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَـكَ بِالْحَقِّ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا ( Verily, We have sent you with the truth, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. ) means, a bearer of glad tidings to the believers and a warner to the disbelievers. وَإِن مِّنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلاَّ خَلاَ فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ ( And there never was a nation but a warner had passed among them. ) means, there was never any nation among the sons of Adam but Allah sent warners to them, and left them with no excuse.
This is like the Ayat: إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُنذِرٌ وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ ( You are only a warner, and to every people there is a guide ) ( 13:7 ). وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُواْ الْطَّـغُوتَ فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ هَدَى اللَّهُ وَمِنْهُمْ مَّنْ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِ الضَّلَـلَةُ ( And verily, We have sent among every Ummah a Messenger (proclaiming ): "Worship Allah, and avoid all false deities." Then of them were some whom Allah guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified) ( 16:36 ).
And there are many similar Ayat. وَإِن يُكَذِّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ جَآءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِالْبَيِّنَـتِ ( And if they deny you, those before them also denied.
Their Messengers came to them with clear signs, ) means, clear miracles and definitive proofs. وَبِالزُّبُرِ ( and with the Scriptures, ) means, the Books. وَبِالْكِتَـبِ الْمُنِيرِ ( and with the Book giving light. ) means, clear and obvious. ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ ( Then I took hold of those who disbelieved, ) means, `despite all of this, they denied the Messengers and the Message they brought, so I seized them, i.e., with My punishment.' فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ and how terrible was My denial! means, how great and intense and terrible do you think My punishment was؟ And Allah knows best.

( Nor are the living equal with the dead ) nor are the believers equal with the disbelievers in relation to obedience and honour. ( Lo! Allah maketh whom He will ) whoever deserves it ( to hear ) to understand. ( Thou canst not reach ) you cannot make understand ( those who are in the graves ) those who are as if dead and buried in the graves.

Nor are (alike) the living (believers) and the dead (disbelievers). Verily, Allah makes whom He will hear, but you cannot make hear those who are in graves.

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