Memorize Surah al-Mulk Ramadan 2021 | Verse 13

Verse 13

وَأَسِرُّوا۟قَوْلَكُمْ أَوِٱجْهَرُوا۟بِهِ ۦٓۖإِنَّهُۥ عَلِيمٌۢ بِذَاتِ ٱلصُّدُورِ 

Allāh says:
Whether you speak secretly or openly, surely He is All-Knowing of what is in the chests

The previous verse talked about fearing Allāh in private, in secrecy, when no one else can see.
Some commentators mention that perhaps the connection between this verse and the verse preceding it, is that the previous verse mentioned human beings worshipping Allāh in “private,” and someone might read that and misunderstand that, oh, so some things are private, hidden, and unknown to Allāh does not know? This verse declares — clearly not. There is no such thing as keeping something private, hidden, or a secret from Allāh .

This verse was revealed in regards the polytheists, the mushrikūn, as they would slander, malign, and just talk badly about the Prophet as a whole, and then Jibrīl would come to the Prophet informing him of what the polytheists are saying about him. Muhammad would then approach the polytheists regarding what they said about him, and he would correct them and prove that what they are saying is not true.
The polytheists then said to each other: ﺪٍ ﻤﱠ ﺤَ ﻣُ بﱡ رَ ﻊَ ﻤ َﺴ َْﯾ ﻻَ ﻲ ْﻛَ ﻢْ ﻜُ َﻟﻮْ َﻗ واﺮﱡ ﺳِ َأ
Speak secretly, hide your speech, so that the Lord of Muḥammad does not hear, so that the Lord of Muḥammad cannot listen.And then verse was revealed, correcting their perverted understanding of who Allāh truly is

The polytheists were engaging in blameworthy behavior and were later confronted about it by the Prophet himself.
They wanted to continue engaging in this type of act on, slandering and backbiting about Muhammad , but they did not want to have to deal with the consequences. They did not want to have to deal with the Prophet -saw] confronting them about it and correcting their misunderstandings. So, they said — hey, clearly we are speaking way too openly, way too publicly. That’s why the Lord of Muḥammad can hear, and tell inform him about what we are saying.
Look at how crooked their understanding of Allāh was. Comparing Allāh to other creations. Thinking that the only reason Allāh can hear them is because they are speaking loudly. So, thinking that the only reason Allāh can hear them is that they speak too loudly, they tell each other — let’s start doing this in secret. Let’s start talking badly about Muḥammad in private, quietly, secretly, so no one, not even the Lord of Muḥammad, can hear us.

This one verse, in literally just less than 10 words, immediately, definitively, corrects that corrupted understanding.
Allāh tells them — it does not matter, whether you speak openly or privately. Whether you are using a megaphone shouting out the world, or whether you thinking to yourself, in your own head, without even uttering a word, Allāh knows what is in the chests. What is in the chests, meaning, the hearts. Allāh knows what is in our hearts. We do not even have to verbalize what we are feeling, what we are thinking. Allāh is the closest possible being to us, He knows us more than we know ourselves.

This verse especially drives the point home to rectify the polytheists’ thought process in the most explicit and clear manner possible, because the first part of the verse is talking about speech. Whether you speak privately or publicly, secretly or openly. But the end of the verse mentions بِذَاتِ ٱلصُّدُورِ
That which is in the chests, our hearts, our souls, our spirits. Meaning — feelings, thoughts, emotions, consciences, the little voice in the back of our heads. We do not even need to say it.
The polytheists are worrying about Allāh hearing their speech, and Allāh is telling them — forget speech, I know what is in your hearts. You’re worried about something so simple and basic, without even realizing that the knowledge of Allāh that you are so afraid of is even deeper and more intense than you could have ever imagined. How can Allāh not know that which is said privately, when He already knew what was going to be said before it was even said — when it was still a thought, an idea, a feeling.

And this concept is one that we see a few other times in the Quran.
In Sūrah al-Raʿd verse #10, Allāh says:ۦ
Among you, the one who hides their speech and the one who openly proclaims it are absolutely the same
In Sūrah ṬāHā verse #7, Allāh says:
If you speak openly, then remember that surely He knows what is secret and what is even more hidden and concealed
These verses drive home the point that there are absolutely no obstacles or barriers to the knowledge of Allāh . Allāh has complete knowledge of it. And not only does Allāh know about all the things in our lives that we may think are secret, but He knows it with the same exact level of ease and precision. Meaning, His knowledge of public and private is exactly the same. His knowledge of secret, private matters is not any more difficult, His knowledge of open, public matters is not any more easy. It is all the same. The barriers that we have when it comes to knowledge does not apply to Allāh in the slightest bit.

So, how should this verse practically affect our actions and behavior? How should we practically apply this verse into our daily lives?
As with the rest of the Quran, the best way to understand the practical implementation of this verse is to look at the example and teachings of our Prophet .
In a much longer ḥadīth that is famously known as Ḥadīth Jibrīl and Umm al-Sunnah, the Prophet taught us that true excellence, iḥsān is:
That you worship Allāh as if you see Him, and although you cannot actually see Him, you know that He sees you.

When Allāh tells us that, regardless of whether our speech is public or private, He has full knowledge of it, this should have an impact on the way we carry ourselves. Not only in regards to our speech, but in regards to our behaviors and actions as a whole. And what impact should that have?
It should inspire us and motivate us to carry ourselves and live our lives as if we can see Allāh . And even though we cannot see Him, we should still behave in a manner that we know and are fully aware and are completely conscious of the fact that He sees us.

So before we do something, before we say something, before we even think or feel something, we should try our best to regularly remind ourselves that Allāh is watching, listening, and is completely aware and knowledgeable of everything that is going on with us. We can never think that we can hide anything from Allāh . Such a thing is impossible, such a thing is inconceivable.

May Allāh help us to live lives conscious of the fact that He is always watching and listening, and may He allow us to use that as inspiration and motivation to live our lives in the best manner possible.

So again our verse for today is:
وَأَسِرُّوا۟قَوْلَكُمْ أَوِٱجْهَرُوا۟بِهِ ۦٓۖإِنَّهُۥ عَلِيمٌۢ بِذَاتِ ٱلصُّدُورِ 
Whether you speak secretly or openly, surely He is All-Knowing of what is in the chests