29:67

أَوَلَمۡ يَرَوۡاْ أَنَّا جَعَلۡنَا حَرَمًا ءَامِنٗا وَيُتَخَطَّفُ ٱلنَّاسُ مِنۡ حَوۡلِهِمۡۚ أَفَبِٱلۡبَٰطِلِ يُؤۡمِنُونَ وَبِنِعۡمَةِ ٱللَّهِ يَكۡفُرُونَ

Awalam yaraw anna jaAAalna haraman aminan wayutakhattafu alnnasu min hawlihim afabialbatili yuminoona wabiniAAmati Allahi yakfuroona

Have they not seen that We made [Makkah] a safe sanctuary, while people are being taken away all around them? Then in falsehood do they believe, and in the favor of Allah they disbelieve?

Word by word
  1. أَوَلَمۡDo not
  2. يَرَوۡاْthey see
  3. أَنَّاthat We
  4. جَعَلۡنَاhave made
  5. حَرَمًاa Sanctuary
  6. ءَامِنٗاsecure
  7. وَيُتَخَطَّفُwhile are being taken away
  8. ٱلنَّاسُthe people
  9. مِنۡaround them
  10. حَوۡلِهِمۡۚaround them
  11. أَفَبِٱلۡبَٰطِلِThen do in (the) falsehood
  12. يُؤۡمِنُونَthey believe
  13. وَبِنِعۡمَةِand in (the) Favor
  14. ٱللَّهِ(of) Allah
  15. يَكۡفُرُونَthey disbelieve
Al-'Ankabut · 29:67Makkah

Safe in the sanctuary while others were snatched away.

A blessing so constant they stopped seeing it


Makkah and around it
the sanctuarywhoever enters is safe
the desert aroundraids and ambushes
repaid with
idolsthanks turned to denial
What they did with the gift
the favor of Allahdisbelieved in
falsehoodbelieved in

Ibn Kathir reminds that Allah made the sanctuary of Makkah a place where anyone who entered was safe, while desert tribes around raided and killed one another. He links it to Surah Quraysh: fed against hunger, safe from fear. Yet Quraysh answered that blessing with idols and rejected the Prophet ﷺ.

Your home has a lock that works. Your street is quiet at night. You open the news and see people elsewhere losing everything. Safety is a blessing you can stop noticing. Then it becomes a background you take for granted.

Being safe is just normal.

My safety is a favor from Allah, and it asks for thanks.

Try this

Tonight when you lock your door, thank Allah by name for keeping your home safe.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Have they not seen that We have made a secure sanctuary, while men are being snatched away from all around them? Then do they believe in falsehood, and deny the graces of Allah (67)And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or denies the truth, when it comes to him? Is there not a dwelling in Hell for the disbelievers (68)As for those who strive hard for Us, We will surely guide them to Our paths. And verily, Allah is with the doers of good (69)

The Blessing of the Sanctuary

Here Allah reminds Quraysh how He blessed them by granting them access to His sanctuary which He has made (open) to (all) men, the dweller in it and the visitor from the country are equal there, and whoever enters it is safe, because he is in a place of great security, although the Arabs of the desert round about used to ambush and raid one another and kill one another. As Allah says:

لِإِيلَافِ قُرَيْشٍ - إِيلَافِهِمْ رِحْلَةَ الشِّتَاءِ وَالصَّيْفِ - فَلْيَعْبُدُوا رَبَّ هَٰذَا الْبَيْتِ - الَّذِي أَطْعَمَهُمْ مِنْ جُوعٍ وَآمَنَهُمْ مِنْ خَوْفٍ

(For the protection of the Quraysh. The caravans to set forth safe in winter and in summer. So let them worship the Lord of this House. Who has fed them against hunger, and has made them safe from fear.)(106:1-4)

أَفَبِالْبَاطِلِ يُؤْمِنُونَ وَبِنِعْمَةِ اللَّهِ يَكْفُرُونَ 

(Then do they believe in falsehood, and deny the graces of Allah?) means, is the thanks that they give for this immense blessing to associate others with Him and worship others besides Him, idols and rivals?

 بَدَّلُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ كُفْرًا وَأَحَلُّوا قَوْمَهُمْ دَارَ الْبَوَارِ

(Have you not seen those who have changed the blessings of Allah into disbelief, and caused their people to dwell in the house of destruction?)(14:28) They disbelieved in the Prophet, servant and Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when what they should have done was to worship Allah Alone and not associate anything with Him, and to believe in, honor and respect the Messenger, but they rejected him and fought him, and expelled him from their midst. So, Allah took His blessing away from them, and killed those of them whom He killed at Badr, then His Messenger ﷺ and the believers gained the upper hand, and Allah enabled His Messenger ﷺ to conquer Makkah, and He disgraced them and humiliated them (the disbelievers). Then Allah says:

وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَىٰ عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ كَذَّبَ بِالْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَاءَهُ ۚ 

(And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or denies the truth, when it comes to him?) There is no one who will be more severely punished than one who tells lies about Allah and says that Allah revealed something to him at the time when Allah did not reveal anything to him, or says, 'I shall reveal something like that which Allah revealed.' And there is no one who will be more severely punished than one who denies the truth when it comes to him, for the former is a fabricator and the latter is a disbeliever. Allah says:

أَلَيْسَ فِي جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوًى لِلْكَافِرِينَ

(Is there not a dwelling in Hell for the disbelievers?) Then Allah says:

وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا

(As for those who strive hard for Us,) meaning the Messenger ﷺ and his Companions and those who follow him, until the Day of Resurrection,

لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا

(We will surely guide them to Our paths.) means, 'We will help them to follow Our path in this world and the Hereafter.'

Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that 'Abbas Al-Hamdani Abu Ahmad – one of the people of 'Akka (Palestine) – said, concerning the Ayah:

وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا ۚ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ

(As for those who strive hard for Us (in Our cause), We will surely guide them to Our paths. And verily, Allah is with the doers of good.) "Those who act upon what they know, Allah will guide them to that which they do not know." Ahmad bin Abu Al-Hawari said, "I told this to Abu Sulayman Ad-Darani, and he liked it and said: 'No one who is inspired to do something good should do it until he hears a report concerning that; if he hears a report then he should go ahead and do it, and praise Allah because it was in accordance with what he himself felt.'"

وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ

(And verily, Allah is with the doers of good.) Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ash-Sha'bi said; "Isa bin Maryam, peace be upon him, said: 'Righteousness means doing good to those who ill-treat you, it does not mean doing good to those who do good to you.'" And Allah knows best.

This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Al-'Ankabut. All praise and thanks are due to Allah.