Luqman · Makki · ayah 13 of 34

Luqman 31:13

وَإِذْ قَالَ لُقْمَـٰنُ لِٱبْنِهِۦ وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُۥ يَـٰبُنَىَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِٱللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّ ٱلشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ

“And [mention, O Muḥammad], when Luqmān said to his son while he was instructing him, "O my son, do not associate [anything] with Allāh. Indeed, association [with Him] is great injustice."”

Saheeh International

Essence

A wise father's first word to the son he loves most is tenderness, his second is a warning, and his third is the reason.

A reflection

Not a children's lesson

For most Muslims this ayah belongs to childhood. It is learned at seven, at weekend school, with a worksheet: Luqman told his son not to worship idols. Idols are statues; we do not have statues; lesson complete. The adult mind files it with the alphabet.

Sahih al-Bukhari records a scene that should unsettle that filing. An ayah came down saying that those who believe and do not mix their faith with ẓulm will be safe (6:82). The Companions were distressed. These were adults, the generation that knew the Prophet ﷺ. Which of us, they asked, has not wronged himself? The Prophet ﷺ answered by quoting this ayah. It is not what you think, he told them. Have you not heard what Luqman said to his son: shirk is a great ẓulm.

So the line that children memorise was the answer to the anxious question of the best of generations. They needed it explained. That alone should send an adult back to it.

One commentary explains why the wrong is called great. Shirk puts on the same level the One from whom every blessing comes and something from which no blessing comes, or ever could. The enormity of that, it says, cannot be fathomed.

A woman learned this ayah at seven and could recite it in her sleep. At forty-two she reads that explanation and realises she has never once thought about what she relies on when things go wrong. Her savings? Her doctor? Her own competence? The ayah she 'knew' turns out to be a question she had never been asked.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.