أَيَحسَبُ الإِنسانُ أَن يُترَكَ سُدًى
Does man suppose that he would be abandoned to futility?
EXEGESIS
Sudā (futility) means to be left disregarded and abandoned, without any divine command and instruction. The camel that is sudā is the one that is left to graze where it wants, with no herdsman to mind it.
Muṣṭafawī has argued that the word originally means movement in a given direction without proper thought, or sound planning, regardless of whether that movement is inherently frivolous, like fidgeting, or frivolous due to the absence of a sound purpose, as in useless, vain, and futile actions. Based on this analysis, the core semantic essence of the word is defined as purposeless or unconsidered action.
EXPOSITION
These closing verses of the surah aim to highlight its main theme by reminding that resurrection and judgement are an integral part of human existence and without them it has no purpose. The same God that has created man and carefully planned all the various delicate stages of his origin and nurtured him and guided him through those precarious phases, did not do that simply as an exercise in futility.
The rhetorical question here serves the purpose of negation, intending that man indeed has not been abandoned without instruction and guidance. It also echoes the question at the beginning of the surah, Does man suppose that We shall not put together his bones? (verse 3). The link is clear: without resurrection there would be no purpose to man’s creation. If God created man only for a temporary existence followed by annihilation, that would be a futile and pointless existence. The Quran repeatedly denies the ascription of such senseless actions to God and emphasises His divine wisdom and purpose in creation, We did not create the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them for play. We did not create them except with reason; but most of them do not know (44:38-39). Similarly, as verse 5 explicitly stated, this verse is reminding again that man’s denial of resurrection is intimately linked to his desire to free himself from any responsibility and accountability.
This verse is a reminder that God did not create us without any plan or purpose. He did not simply create us and forget us, like many seem to assume. Often, we hear that when asked, individuals will profess that they believe in God or ‘a creator’, yet their notion of Him stops there and they think He has no further bearing on their lives. When asked if their creator has a purpose for them or has commanded them or prohibited them, they will reply: ‘He doesn’t care about what I do.’ This belief, rooted in the false notion of deism, essentially ascribes foolishness and irresponsibility to God. What would we say of a parent that abandons their children without instruction or care? That is not good parenting, nor granting them ‘freedom’. Any such ‘freedom’ is only freedom to destroy themselves.
The purpose of the divine instruction then is to guide man towards felicity.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- From Muhammad ibn ʿUmārah, from his father, that he asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a): ‘Why did God create creation?’ The Imam replied: ‘Indeed, God – blessed and exalted – did not create His creation in vain, nor did He abandon them to futility. Rather, He created them as a manifestation of His power and to obligate them with obedience, so that thereby they might merit His pleasure. He did not create them to gain benefit from them, nor to ward off harm by them. Rather, He created them to benefit them and to bring them to bliss.’
- From Masʿadah ibn Ziyād, that a man came to Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) and told him: ‘We were created for a most astounding reason!’ The Imam replied: ‘And what is that, may God keep you safe?’ The man said: ‘We were created only to face annihilation (fanāʾ).’ The Imam said: ‘O son of my brother, we were created for permanence (baqāʾ)! How could a paradise that never perishes, and a hellfire that never dies out, cease to exist? Rather, we only move from one abode to another.’
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- ‘I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.’
[1] See Tibyan, 10/202; Tabari, 29/124-125; Tabrisi, 10/606; Thalabi, 10/92; Baghawi, 5/187; Razi, 30/737; Qurtubi, 19/116; Alusi, 15/165; Mizan, 20/115; Nemuneh, 25/318; Tantawi, 15/208; Munyah, 29/153.
[2] Thalabi, 10/92; Baghawi, 5/187; Alusi, 15/165.
[3] Tahqiq, 5/106-108.
[4] See the Introduction.
[5] Tabrisi, 10/606.
[6] Mizan, 20/115.
[7] See also 38:28-29.
[8] Tibyan, 10/202.
[9] Ilal, 1/9; Nur, 5/466.
[10] Ilal, 1/11; Nur, 5/466-467.
[11] Ecclesiastes 3:14.