Surah Rum ayat 31 Tafsir Quran 30:31

﴿۞ مُنِيبِينَ إِلَيْهِ وَاتَّقُوهُ وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَلَا تَكُونُوا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ﴾
[ الروم: 31]

30:31 [Adhere to it], turning in repentance to Him, and fear Him and establish prayer and do not be of those who associate others with Allah

turning referring to Him exalted be He concerning what He has commanded and what He has forbidden munībīna ‘turning’ is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of the verb aqim ‘set up’ in other words addressing the third plural person aqīmū ‘set up’ and fear Him and establish prayer and do not be among the idolaters

Turn to Allah and have recourse to Him for guidance and entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him and engage in the act of worship and never be among those who incorporate with Him other deities

The Command to adhere to Tawhid Allah says: `so set your face and persevere in the religion which Allah has prescribed for you, the worship of Allah Alone, the religion of Ibrahim, to which Allah has guided you and which He has perfected for you with the utmost perfection.
In this manner, you will also adhere to the sound Fitrah with which He created His creation.' Allah created His creation to recognize Him and know His Tawhid, and that there is no God except Him, as we have already seen when discussing the Ayah, وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتَ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُواْ بَلَى ( and made them testify as to themselves (saying ): "Am I not your Lord" They said: "Yes!...") ( 7:172 ).
And according to a Hadith, Allah said,
«إِنِّي خَلَقْتُ عِبَادِي حُنَفَاءَ، فَاجْتَالَتْهُمُ الشَّيَاطِينُ عَنْ دِينِهِم»
( "I created my servants Hunafa (i.e., monotheists ), then the Shayatin misled them from their religion.") We will see in the Hadiths that Allah created His creation with the Fitrah of Islam, then among some of them there emerged corrupt religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ( No change let there be in Allah's Khalq, ) Some of them said that this means, `do not change the creation of Allah, for if you do, you will divert the people away from the Fitrah with which He created them.' So it is instructive; just as His saying: وَمَن دَخَلَهُ كَانَ ءَامِناً ( And whoever enters it, he is safe ) This is a good and correct interpretation.
Others said that this means, Allah made all of His creation equal, all of them have the same sound Fitrah and are by nature upright; they are all born with this nature and there is no disparity among people in this regard.
Ibn `Abbas, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak and Ibn Zayd said that the Ayah: لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ( No change let there be in Allah's Khalq ) means, the religion of Allah.
Al-Bukhari said: لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ( No change let there be in Allah's Khalq, ) "It means, the religion of Allah, and the religion, and the Fitrah is Islam." Then he reported that Abu Hurayrah said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«مَا مِنْ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ إِلَّا عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ أَوْ يُنَصِّرَانِهِ أَوْ يُمَجِّسَانِهِ،كَمَا تُنْتَجُ الْبَهِيمَةُ بَهِيمَةً جَمْعَاءَ، هَلْ تُحِسُّونَ فِيهَا مِنْ جَدْعَاءَ؟»
( No child is born except in a state of Fitrah, then his parents make him a Jew or a Christian or a Zoroastrian, just as each animal produces a perfect animal like itself -- do you see any among them that are born mutilated ) then the narrator ( Abu Hurayrah ) said ( recite this Ayah ), فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِى فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ ( Allah's Fitrah with which He has created mankind.
No change let there be in Allah's Khalq, that is the straight religion. )" This was also recorded by Muslim. ذلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ ( that is the straight religion, ) means, adherence to the Shari`ah and the sound Fitrah is the true, straight religion. وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ ( but most men know not. ) means, most people do not know this and they deviate far astray from it, as Allah says: وَمَآ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ ( And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly. ) ( 12:103 ) وَإِن تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَن فِى الاٌّرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ( And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far away from Allah's path ) ( 6:116 ). مُّنِيبِينَ إِلَيْهِ ( turning in repentance to Him ) Ibn Zayd and Ibn Jurayj said, "This means, returning to Him." وَاتَّقُوهُ ( and have Taqwa of Him; ) means, fear Him and remember that He is always watching. وَأَقِيمُواْ الصَّلَوةَ ( and perform the Salah ), which is the greatest act of worship.) وَلاَ تَكُونُواْ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ ( and be not of the idolators. ) Be of those who single out Allah, devoting their worship sincerely for Him alone, not anyone or anything other than Him.
Ibn Jarir recorded that Yazid bin Abi Maryam said: "`Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, passed by Mu`adh bin Jabal and asked, `What is the foundation of this Ummah' Mu`adh said, `Three things, and they are the things that will bring salvation: Al-Ikhlas ( doing a deed for Allah alone ), which is the Fitrah with which Allah created mankind; Salah, which is the thing that tells a believer apart from a disbeliever; and obedience, which is protection.' `Umar said: `You have spoken the truth. Splitting into Sects and the Saved Sect His saying: مِنَ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُواْ دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُواْ شِيَعاً كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِحُونَ ( Of those who Farraqu Dinahum (split up their religion ), and became sects, each sect rejoicing in that which is with it.) means, do not be of the idolators who split up their religion, i.e., changed it by believing in parts of it and rejecting other parts.
Some scholars read this as Faraqu Dinahum, meaning "neglected their religion and left it behind them." These are like the Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, idol worshippers and all the followers of false religions, besides the followers of Islam, as Allah says: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُواْ دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُواْ شِيَعًا لَّسْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِى شَىْءٍ إِنَّمَآ أَمْرُهُمْ إِلَى اللَّهِ ( Verily, those who divide their religion and break up into sects, you have no concern in them in the least.
Their affair is only with Allah ) ( 6:159 ).
The followers of the religions before us had differences of opinions and split into false sects, each group claiming to be following the truth.
This Ummah too has split into sects, all of which are misguided apart from one, which is Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jama`ah, those who adhere to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and what was followed by the first generations, the Companions, their followers, and the Imams of the Muslims of earlier and later times.
In his Mustadrak, Al-Hakim recorded that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked which of the sects was the saved sect and he said:
«مَا أَنَا عَلَيْهِ وَأَصْحَابِي»
( What I and my Companions are upon. )

(30:31) (Adhere to the True Faith and) turn to Him, *48 and hold Him in awe, *49 and establish Prayer, *50 and do not be of those who associate others with Allah in His Divinity,

[Adhere to it], turning in repentance to meaning

*48) That is, " Whoever has adopted an attitude of independence and freedom and turned away from his we Lord, and whoever has adopted service of another than Allah and proved to be disloyal to his real and we Lord, should desist from this, and return to the service of the One God.
Whose real servant he is by birth. "
*49) That is, " You should have the fear that if in spite of being a servant of Allah by birth, you adopted the way of living independently of Him, or served another beside Him, you will have to suffer a severe punishment for rebellion and ingratitude.
Therefore, you should avoid every such way of life which earns you the wrath of God. "
*50) Both turning to AIlah and having fear of His wrath are the acts of the heart.
This state of the heart, for its manifestation and stability, inevitably needs a physical act, which thay make it known to others in society that so-and-so has really returned to the service of One Allah alone, and which, at the same time, may go on nourishing and developing the state of piety and devotion in one's own self al :o by means of practical experience and discipline.
That i why immediately after giving the Command for a mental change Allah has given the Command for this physical act, i,e.
establishment of the Salat.
As long as an idea is only an idea in the mind of man, it can neither be stable nor enduring.
It may fade away or even change.
But when he starts practising it, the idea takes root in him and goes on increasing in stability and strength with more and more practice; so much so that when it has become a belief it can neither change nor fade away easily.
Considered from this viewpoint, no act can be more effective than the offering of the Prayer regularly five times a day for strengthening piety and fear of God in oneself.
The other act, whatever it be, is carried out at intervals, or in different forms on different occasions, but the Prayer is an act, which is performed every few hours in one and the same specific form permanently, in which man has to rehearse over and over again the whole lesson taught him by the Qur'an about Islam, so that he dces not forget it.
Furthermore, both the believers and the disbelievers have to know who among the people has given up the way of rebellion and adopted the way of obedience to the Lord.
The believers have to know this so that they can form into a community and society and can cooperate with one another in the way of Allah; then as soon as the relationship of any one of them starts showing signs of laxity with respect to the Faith and Islam, this should become known to all of them at once.
The disbelievers have to know this so that the dorment nature in them wakens up when they see the people from their own kith and kin turning humbly to their real God over and over again, and till their nature wakes up they continue to be awe-stricken when they see the practical enthusiasm of the obedient servants of God.
For these two objectives also the establishment of the Prayer is the most effective means.

Here, it should be noted that the Command for the establishment of the Prayer was given at Makkah at a time when a handful of the Muslims were being severely persecuted by the disbelieving Quraish, and went on being persecuted for another nine years after this.
At that time there was 'no sign of the lslamic government yet in sight.
If the offering of the Prayer was meaningless without the Islamic government, as some ignorant people think, or if the establishment of the Salat did not mean the offering of the Prayer at all but the establishment of Nizami-Rububiyat ( order of Providence ), as the deniers of Hadith claim, the Qur'anic injunction at that stage would have been meaningless.
The question is: How did the Holy Prophet and the Muslims carry out this Command for nine years after it had been enjoined ?
 

The Command to adhere to Tawhid Allah says: `so set your face and persevere in the religion which Allah has prescribed for you, the worship of Allah Alone, the religion of Ibrahim, to which Allah has guided you and which He has perfected for you with the utmost perfection.
In this manner, you will also adhere to the sound Fitrah with which He created His creation.' Allah created His creation to recognize Him and know His Tawhid, and that there is no God except Him, as we have already seen when discussing the Ayah, وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتَ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُواْ بَلَى ( and made them testify as to themselves (saying ): "Am I not your Lord" They said: "Yes!...") ( 7:172 ).
And according to a Hadith, Allah said, «إِنِّي خَلَقْتُ عِبَادِي حُنَفَاءَ، فَاجْتَالَتْهُمُ الشَّيَاطِينُ عَنْ دِينِهِم» ( "I created my servants Hunafa (i.e., monotheists ), then the Shayatin misled them from their religion.") We will see in the Hadiths that Allah created His creation with the Fitrah of Islam, then among some of them there emerged corrupt religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ( No change let there be in Allah's Khalq, ) Some of them said that this means, `do not change the creation of Allah, for if you do, you will divert the people away from the Fitrah with which He created them.' So it is instructive; just as His saying: وَمَن دَخَلَهُ كَانَ ءَامِناً ( And whoever enters it, he is safe ) This is a good and correct interpretation.
Others said that this means, Allah made all of His creation equal, all of them have the same sound Fitrah and are by nature upright; they are all born with this nature and there is no disparity among people in this regard.
Ibn `Abbas, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak and Ibn Zayd said that the Ayah: لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ( No change let there be in Allah's Khalq ) means, the religion of Allah.
Al-Bukhari said: لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ( No change let there be in Allah's Khalq, ) "It means, the religion of Allah, and the religion, and the Fitrah is Islam." Then he reported that Abu Hurayrah said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «مَا مِنْ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ إِلَّا عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ أَوْ يُنَصِّرَانِهِ أَوْ يُمَجِّسَانِهِ،كَمَا تُنْتَجُ الْبَهِيمَةُ بَهِيمَةً جَمْعَاءَ، هَلْ تُحِسُّونَ فِيهَا مِنْ جَدْعَاءَ؟» ( No child is born except in a state of Fitrah, then his parents make him a Jew or a Christian or a Zoroastrian, just as each animal produces a perfect animal like itself -- do you see any among them that are born mutilated ) then the narrator ( Abu Hurayrah ) said ( recite this Ayah ), فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِى فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ ( Allah's Fitrah with which He has created mankind.
No change let there be in Allah's Khalq, that is the straight religion. )" This was also recorded by Muslim. ذلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ ( that is the straight religion, ) means, adherence to the Shari`ah and the sound Fitrah is the true, straight religion. وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ ( but most men know not. ) means, most people do not know this and they deviate far astray from it, as Allah says: وَمَآ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ ( And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly. ) ( 12:103 ) وَإِن تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَن فِى الاٌّرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ( And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far away from Allah's path ) ( 6:116 ). مُّنِيبِينَ إِلَيْهِ ( turning in repentance to Him ) Ibn Zayd and Ibn Jurayj said, "This means, returning to Him." وَاتَّقُوهُ ( and have Taqwa of Him; ) means, fear Him and remember that He is always watching. وَأَقِيمُواْ الصَّلَوةَ ( and perform the Salah ), which is the greatest act of worship.) وَلاَ تَكُونُواْ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ ( and be not of the idolators. ) Be of those who single out Allah, devoting their worship sincerely for Him alone, not anyone or anything other than Him.
Ibn Jarir recorded that Yazid bin Abi Maryam said: "`Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, passed by Mu`adh bin Jabal and asked, `What is the foundation of this Ummah' Mu`adh said, `Three things, and they are the things that will bring salvation: Al-Ikhlas ( doing a deed for Allah alone ), which is the Fitrah with which Allah created mankind; Salah, which is the thing that tells a believer apart from a disbeliever; and obedience, which is protection.' `Umar said: `You have spoken the truth. Splitting into Sects and the Saved Sect His saying: مِنَ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُواْ دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُواْ شِيَعاً كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِحُونَ ( Of those who Farraqu Dinahum (split up their religion ), and became sects, each sect rejoicing in that which is with it.) means, do not be of the idolators who split up their religion, i.e., changed it by believing in parts of it and rejecting other parts.
Some scholars read this as Faraqu Dinahum, meaning "neglected their religion and left it behind them." These are like the Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, idol worshippers and all the followers of false religions, besides the followers of Islam, as Allah says: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُواْ دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُواْ شِيَعًا لَّسْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِى شَىْءٍ إِنَّمَآ أَمْرُهُمْ إِلَى اللَّهِ ( Verily, those who divide their religion and break up into sects, you have no concern in them in the least.
Their affair is only with Allah ) ( 6:159 ).
The followers of the religions before us had differences of opinions and split into false sects, each group claiming to be following the truth.
This Ummah too has split into sects, all of which are misguided apart from one, which is Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jama`ah, those who adhere to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and what was followed by the first generations, the Companions, their followers, and the Imams of the Muslims of earlier and later times.
In his Mustadrak, Al-Hakim recorded that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked which of the sects was the saved sect and he said: «مَا أَنَا عَلَيْهِ وَأَصْحَابِي» ( What I and my Companions are upon. )

( Turning unto Him (only )) be believers in Him, i.e. turning towards Him with acts of obedience; ( and be careful of your duty unto Him ) and obey Him in that which He commanded you, ( and establish worship ) perform the five daily prayers, ( and be not of those who ascribe partners (unto Him )) do not be with the idolaters in their religion;

(Always) Turning in repentance to Him (only), and be afraid and dutiful to Him; and perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and be not of Al-Mushrikun (the disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah, polytheists, idolaters, etc.).

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