The Spider
Al-'Ankabût
العَنکبوت
Surah Al-'Ankabût for kids content
LEARNING POINTS
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This surah teaches us that life is full of tests and that we should be patient in difficult times.
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Tests show us who is truly strong or weak in faith.
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Nuh (A.S.), Ibrahim (A.S.), Lut (A.S.), and Shu'aib (A.S.) are mentioned as role models because of their patience.
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The idol-worshippers are criticized for their lies against the truth.
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Stories of destroyed peoples are mentioned as a warning to the idol-worshippers.
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Allah does not wrong people; they wrong themselves.
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Some people remember Allah only in difficult times, but they quickly turn their backs on Him as soon as He makes things easy for them.
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The believers are praised for putting their trust in Allah and supporting His cause.
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If you are not able to practice Islam in one place, you can always move to another place. Remember: you are not a tree!
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The earth is large with many resources.
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Allah promises to continue to provide for the believers, just like He provides for the rest of His creation.
SIDE STORY
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Enterprise is a town in Coffee County, Alabama, in the Southern part of the U.S. Historically, the town was known for growing cotton. However, the cotton beetle moved from Mexico to the Southern U.S. in the early 1900s, destroying most cotton plants and causing billions of dollars in loss. Enterprise suffered like many other towns in the South. Farmers couldn't fight this horrible insect that took over their cotton fields. They tried everything, but nothing seemed to work. In one season, a female beetle can easily produce 2 million babies.
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Instead of planting cotton and continuing to lose the fight against the beetle, the farmers decided to plant other things like peanuts. Coffee County soon became the largest producer of peanuts in America, and the farmers made much more money from peanuts than they did from cotton. To thank this insect for changing their economy, the people of Enterprise made a statue of a person holding up a beetle in 1919. The lesson here is: if something doesn't work out even though you have done your best, maybe try something else. It might be better for you.
WORDS OF WISDOM
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This surah was revealed when the early Muslims were going through a very difficult time in Makkah. The Prophet (ﷺ) tried every possible way to win the Makkans over to Islam, but nothing seemed to work. Long before the people of Enterprise, the Prophet (ﷺ) realized that if Makkah wasn't a good land for Islam, the Muslims should try another land. Later when the Muslims moved to Madinah, Islam became very strong and soon spread to many other places. This move from Makkah to Madinah changed the history of the world.
BACKGROUND STORY
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At the beginning, some of the companions didn't want to move to Madinah. They were not sure why Allah would allow bad things to happen to them in Makkah. How could the idol-worshippers abuse them, even though they did nothing wrong? They only worshipped Allah and tried to live a decent life as Muslims. So Allah sent down this surah to teach them to be patient and to trust that Allah will do what is best for them. Everyone is tested in this life in different ways. Some are tested with their health (physical, mental, emotional, etc.), some are tested with their wealth, some are tested with their family, and some are tested with their faith.
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These tests are meant to show if the person is a true believer or not. The believers are asked to learn a lesson from the patience of Nuh, Ibrahim, Lut, and Musa (A.S.), who are mentioned in this surah. All of these prophets had to move from one place to another for their faith. Allah promises to take care of the believers, and asks them to move to another place if they cannot practice their faith freely. In the end, the believers always win, and the wicked are punished. {Recorded by Imam Al-Qurtubi}
WORDS OF WISDOM
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As we mentioned in Surah Qaf (50), the Arabic alphabet has 29 letters; 14 of them appear as individual letters or in groups at the beginning of 29 surahs, like Alif-Lam-Mim, Ha-Mim, Ya-Sin, Sad, and Nun. Imam Ibn Kathir says in his explanation of Surah 2:1, these 14 letters can be arranged into an Arabic sentence that translates to: "A wise text with authority, full of wonders." Although Muslim scholars have tried to explain these 14 letters, no one knows their true meaning except Allah.
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The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A strong believer is better and more loved by Allah than a weak believer, even though there is goodness in both. Seek what is good for you. Put your trust in Allah. And never give up. If something bad happens to you, do not say, 'If I did this, that could have happened.' Instead, say, 'This is what Allah has decided, and Allah does what He wants,' because the word 'if' opens the door for Satan (Shaytan) to whisper." {Recorded by Imam Muslim}
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This hadith teaches us that Allah loves the Muslim who is strong in their faith, education, fitness, wealth, and social life. We should do what is good for us and others, and not waste our time and energy on harmful or meaningless activities and discussions. We should always put our trust in Allah and never lose hope. We should be patient in difficult times. We should always trust that Allah does what is best for us, even if we don't understand the wisdom behind it. Regret will not change the past, but will ruin the present and the future. We shouldn't allow Shaytan to trick us.
THE TEST
WORDS OF WISDOM
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This life is full of tests. Everyone is tested, no matter how good they are. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that no one is tested more than prophets. {Recorded by Imam Ahmad} If you think you shouldn't be tested because you are a good person, you will be like the guy who stands in front of a bull, thinking that the bull will not attack him because he's a vegetarian!
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Many people think that a 'test' is with something bad (death, sickness, poverty, and so on). But a test can be with either good or bad things—like health and sickness, richness and poverty, strength and weakness, and so on. Allah says in the Quran (21:35), "We put you through good and bad as a test." For example, both Dawud (A.S.) and Pharaoh were tested with authority. Dawud (A.S.) passed and Pharaoh failed. Both Sulaiman (A.S.) and Qarun were tested with wealth. Sulaiman (A.S.) passed and Qarun failed. Ayyub (A.S.) was tested in his health, wealth, and family. Muhammad (ﷺ) was tested in many different ways, including the death of his children and other family members as well as attacks by his enemies.
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The word 'test' (fitnah in Arabic), comes from 'fatana', which means to melt gold in the fire so we can get pure gold and remove the junk. As Allah says in verses 2-3, the main purpose of tests is to show those who are true in faith (like pure gold) and those with weak faith.
BACKGROUND STORY
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Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (R.A.) accepted Islam around the age of 17, and he was one of the 10 companions who were told by the Prophet (ﷺ) that they were going to Jannah. Sa'd (R.A.) said that he was always good to his mother, but when he accepted Islam she got very mad at him. She threatened, "If you don't leave this new religion, I will not eat or drink until I die and people will say, 'Shame on you for killing your mother!'" He begged her: "Please, don't do that because I'll never leave Islam." However, she didn't listen to him and starved herself for 3 days, until she became very weak. He complained to the Prophet (ﷺ) about his mother, so verse 8 of this surah was revealed.
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Sa'd (R.A.) said to his mother, "My dear mom! Even if you had 100 souls and they left your body one by one, I'd never give up my faith. So, it's up to you if you want to eat or not." Eventually, when she felt he was very serious about Islam, she started to eat and drink again. {Recorded by Imam Muslim and Imam At-Tirmidhi}
WORDS OF WISDOM
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Like Sa'd (R.A.), even prophets had to deal with family members who were disbelievers. That was probably one of the biggest challenges that prophets had to go through. The reason is that people would say, "If this man was really a prophet, his family would be the first to believe in his message." Other people would use this as an excuse for not believing. Most of the prophets mentioned in this surah had some close relatives who rejected them: the father of Ibrahim (A.S.) was a disbeliever; the son and wife of Nuh (A.S.) were disbelievers; the wife of Lut (A.S.) was a disbeliever; and Abu Lahab, the uncle of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), was a disbeliever.
SIDE STORY
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In Islam, it's important to have faith in Allah and do good. This is why the Quran mentions "those who have faith and do good" in many places, including verses 7 and 9 below. It's not enough to just say you are a good Muslim; people have to see Islam in your actions as well. There was a man who was walking back with his 2 kids from the hifz school (where they were memorizing the Quran). They passed by an old farmer who was praying 2 rak'ahs after Zuhr salah in his little farm. The kids noticed the farmer's old, torn shoes which were behind him. They started to make fun of his shoes. One of them said, "Let's prank the farmer by burning his shoes and enjoy watching him from behind this big tree." The other kid said, "No! Have rahmah (mercy). We can just throw his shoes in the river, and run away before he catches us."
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The father didn't like their evil plan and said to both of them, "Guys! What is the point of making this poor man suffer? If you go to hifz school, let people see the Quran in your actions. How about we put 3 golden dinars inside his shoes and watch him from behind that big tree?" They agreed to the idea.
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When the old man finished salah, he went to get his shoes and was surprised to find the gold in his shoes. The farmer started to cry. He said, "Alhamdu-lillah for answering my du'a. My wife has been sick, and I couldn't afford to buy her medicine." Seeing this, the father and his kids got very emotional. The father said, "Isn't this much better than pranking him and making him miserable just for fun?"
THE TRUE BELIEVERS
THE HYPOCRITES
BACKGROUND STORY
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The Makkan idol-worshippers told some new Muslims, "Leave this faith. And in case there is actually life after death, we promise to take responsibility for your sins and get punished on your behalf." Later, verses 12-13 were revealed, telling them that everyone will be accountable only for themselves. Those idol-worshippers will pay the price for misleading others. {Recorded by Imam Ibn Kathir & Imam Al-Qurtubi}
FALSE PROMISE
BACKGROUND STORY
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Nuh (A.S.) invited his people to Islam for 950 years, but they refused to believe in his message. They even made fun of him when he was building the Ark before the Flood. Some told him, "What crazy person would build a ship in the desert?" Others said, "Nuh has failed as a prophet, so let's see if he will succeed as a carpenter!" When the Flood finally came, the wicked were destroyed and Allah saved Nuh (A.S.) and his followers.
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In the same way, the people of Ibrahim (A.S.) worshipped idols for generations. They just followed their parents blindly. When Ibrahim (A.S.) tried to correct them, they refused to change, because they were comfortable doing what their friends and parents were doing. Eventually, Ibrahim (A.S.) destroyed their powerless idols. His angry people wanted to take revenge by burning him, but Allah saved him from the fire (21:51-71).
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Allah also saved Lut (A.S.), Shu'aib (A.S.), Musa (A.S.), as well as other prophets, and He destroyed their enemies. This is a message to the abused Muslims that Allah is always there to protect them if they put their trust in Him. {Recorded by Imam Ibn Kathir & Imam Al-Qurtubi}
WORDS OF WISDOM
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The Prophet (ﷺ) told his little cousin, 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (R.A.), "O young man! Let me teach you some words (of advice). Keep Allah in mind, and He will protect you. Keep Allah in mind, and He will always be there for you. If you ask for something, ask from Allah. And if you seek help, seek help from Allah. You should know that if the people of the world came together to benefit you, they can't benefit you unless Allah has written so. And if they came together to harm you, they can't harm you unless Allah has written so. The pens have been lifted, and the pages have dried." {Recorded by Imam At-Tirmidhi}
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In another version, he said, "Keep Allah in mind, and He will always be there for you. Get to know Allah in good times, and He will take care of you in difficult times. Know that what missed you couldn't have happened to you, and what happened to you couldn't have missed you. Know that with patience comes victory, and with difficulty comes relief, and with hardship comes ease." {Recorded by Imam Ahmad}