Surah Hud
Chapter 11 · Verse 123 · Revealed in Makkah
“And to Allah belong the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth and to Him will be returned the matter, all of it, so worship Him and rely upon Him. And your Lord is not unaware of that which you do.”
Translation: Saheeh International
Listen to recitation
Mishary Rashid Alafasy
Reflection — Ibn Kathir
Allah, the Exalted, informs that He is the All-Knower of the unseenof the heavens and the earth and that unto Him is the final return.
He explains that everyone who does a deed, He will give them their deed (reward for it) on the Day of Reckoning. Unto Him belongs the creation and the command. Then He, the Exalted, commands that He should be worshipped and relied upon, for verily, He is sufficient for whoever trusts and turns to Him. Concerning His statement,
وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَـفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
Reflection — Maarif ul Quran
Difference: Blameworthy and Praiseworthy
When it was said in the fifth verse (118) - ` had your Lord willed, He would have made all the people a single community' - the sense is that had it been the will of Allah, He would have made all human beings accept Islam by force. All of them would have then become nothing but Muslims without any difference remaining between them. But, such are the dictates of His wisdom that, in this world, Allah Ta` ala does not compel anyone to do something. Instead, He has entrusted man with a kind of choice under which he could do whatever good or bad he wishes to do. Then, human temperaments differ, ways differ and deeds differ. The outcome is that there always will be some people who would keep at loggerheads against the true faith - of course, with the exception of those whom Allah Ta` ala has blessed with His mercy, that is, those who have been following the noble prophets.
What does this verse bring up for you today?