إِنَّ شَرَّ ٱلدَّوَآبِّ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ٥٥
Humans without a doubt, are the most noble and honored creation of Allah SWT. This was proven the moment Nabi Adam AS was first created, whereby all the angels were commanded to make sujud (as a gesture of honor),
Dan (ingatlah) ketika kami berfirman kepada malaikat: “Tunduklah (beri hormat) kepada Nabi Adam”. Lalu mereka sekaliannya tunduk memberi hormat melainkan Iblis; ia enggan dan takbur, dan menjadilah ia dari golongan yang kafir. (Al-Baqarah;31).
And add to that, Allah SWT even gives this honor as a default state for all children of Adam. In other words, all humans are honored to begin with.
Dan sesungguhnya Kami telah memuliakan anak-anak Adam; dan Kami telah beri mereka menggunakan berbagai-bagai kenderaan di darat dan di laut; dan Kami telah memberikan rezeki kepada mereka dari benda-benda yang baik-baik serta Kami telah lebihkan mereka dengan selebih-lebihnya atas banyak makhluk-makhluk yang telah Kami ciptakan. (17;70)
This clearly shows how we were created unique, different from any other creation of Allah SWT. But the main question is, WHY? What made us (human beings) deserve such a noble status, even in the eyes of Angels? What made us special?
Cuz when we look at other creations, like the chimpanzees for example, we are kinda like the same. Aren’t we? As they eat and drink, we also eat and drink. They have certain needs and desires, we too have certain needs and desire. They experience emotion (get mad, sad, scared), we too experience the same emotion. They have a body, a brain, arms, legs etc. What do we have? Yup. The same. So, kita dan haiwan macam sama je…?
Memang sama pun. Cuz in terms of our physical aspect, save to say, we’re pretty much the same as most creatures. We all have the same basic needs and desires. Heck, some creatures are even stronger than us (in a physical sense).
Dan (ingatkanlah peristiwa) ketika Tuhanmu berfirman kepada malaikat: “Sesungguhnya Aku hendak menciptakan manusia dari tanah liat yang kering, yang berasal dari tanah kental yang berubah warna dan baunya. (Hijr;28)
The physical aspect of our creation is not what made us special. But actually, there’s another component, another secret ingredient involved in the creation of man. On one side we have our physical aspect (same as most creatures) and on the other, we have the spiritual aspect. And this spiritual component is actually what makes us different.
فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُۥ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِى فَقَعُوا۟ لَهُۥ سَـٰجِدِينَ
“Kemudian apabila Aku sempurnakan kejadiannya, serta Aku tiupkan padanya roh dari (ciptaan) ku, maka hendaklah kamu sujud kepadanya. (Hjir;29)
We were given the Roh. (“serta Aku tiupkan padanya roh dari (ciptaan) ku”). A Roh that reflects the divine characteristic of Allah SWT (reference: Tafsir Tahfim). It’s the essence of our creation. This is what made us special. This is what made us into a worthy being that is honored, even by the angels. This is what separates us from any other creature on earth. And the Roh by its nature (fitrah), acknowledges Allah SWT as His creator and submits to His will.
Dan (ingatlah wahai Muhammad) ketika Tuhanmu mengeluarkan zuriat anak-anak Adam (turun-temurun) dari (tulang) belakang mereka, dan Ia jadikan mereka saksi terhadap diri mereka sendiri, (sambil Ia bertanya dengan firmanNya): “Bukankah Aku tuhan kamu?” Mereka semua menjawab: “Benar (Engkaulah Tuhan kami), kami menjadi saksi”. Yang demikian supaya kamu tidak berkata pada hari kiamat kelak: “Sesungguhnya kami adalah lalai (tidak diberi peringatan) tentang (hakikat tauhid) ini”.(7;172)
In short, humans are created from dirt (physical) + Roh (spiritual), thus = Honoured.
Having said that, let’s get back to the ayat;
إِنَّ شَرَّ ٱلدَّوَآبِّ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ
Sesungguhnya sejahat-jahat (makhluk) yang melata di sisi Allah …..
Pause right there. Sejahat-jahat makhluk? Who might that be? Surely it’s not us human right? Kita kan mulia. This must the jins. Mereka kan makhluk yang jahat. Bak kata orang “Seburuk-buruk manusia adalah sebaik-baik jin”. But as the ayat continues,
ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟
ialah orang-orang yang kafir
It actually refers to a group of human beings.
This might be one of the most humiliating gestures in the Quran, where Allah addresses them (the supposedly noble and honored creature) as لدَّوَآبِّ, a living creature which usually refers to an animal or insect. And add to that, He even includes the word شَرَّ (evil).
Manusia yang dipanggil sebagai binatang, tu pun sudah satu penghinaan, tapi di tambah lagi dengan ‘jahat’. شَرَّ ٱلدَّوَآبِّ (Evil creature). Memang teruk lah dorang ini.
What crime did they do to deserve such humiliation by Allah SWT?
ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
ialah orang-orang yang kafir (yang degil dengan kekufurannya). Sebab itu mereka tidak (mahu) beriman.
They refuse to Believe (Beriman).
Allah SWT in this ayat, called upon the kafir as though they are animals. And He has the right to say so. Cuz every human being is blessed and honored for one particular reason, the Roh. And the Roh by its very nature, submits to its Rab. But for the disbeliever (kafir), which comes from the word ‘kafara‘ (meaning to cover@hide), they chose to cover and even bury this truth deep down inside, refusing to acknowledge Allah SWT as his Master and Creator. Opposing the very nature of his Roh.
Thus, if we take the spiritual aspect (roh) out of the equation dan buang nya ke tepi. Then as humans, what are we left with? Dirt (The physical aspect). And guess what? We now become no different than any other animal on this earth. And you could argue, even worse. Cuz at least for animals, at the end of the day, they submit to their Rab, praising Him in their own way. But for a human, a noble creature by its nature, respected and praised even the angels above, yet decided to throw that away and chose his own desire as his Ilah (Lord) instead of his creator.
أَفَرَءَيْتَ مَنِ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَـٰهَهُۥ هَوَىٰهُ
“Dengan yang demikian, bagaimana fikiranmu (wahai Muhammad) terhadap orang yang menjadikan hawa nafsunya: tuhan yang dipatuhinya” (Al-Jathiyah;23)
Then no wonder Allah calls them شَرَّ ٱلدَّوَآبِّ (Evil creature). Cuz they don’t deserve that nobility. Heck, they don’t even want it.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to our IMAN in Allah SWT. It’s (iman) the only thing that matters. Yang menuntukan kemuliaan seseorang bukanlah harta, jawatan, populariti dan pangkatnya. Tapi IMAN.
“Wahai umat manusia! Sesungguhnya Kami telah menciptakan kamu dari lelaki dan perempuan, dan Kami telah menjadikan kamu berbagai bangsa dan bersuku puak, supaya kamu berkenal-kenalan . Sesungguhnya semulia-mulia kamu di sisi Allah ialah orang yang lebih taqwanya di antara kamu. Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mengetahui, lagi Maha Mendalam PengetahuanNya” (Al-Hujarat;13)
Sure, di dunia kita mungkin dipuji, disukai malah disanjung. Tapi tanpa iman, di mata Allah, kita sama seperti lembu dan monyet di hutan, malah lebih teruk.
Mungkin kita hidup seronok, santai dan happy di saat ini, tapi tanpa Iman, maka kita akan sengsara dan diseksa di hari kemudian.
We are honored because of our Iman. Will be saved because of our iman. But if we choose to ignore and deny our fitrah to believe and accept Allah SWT as our Rab, then apa beza kita dengan haiwan?
A final note before we end.
Iman (faith) is not just about believing in Allah SWT as our creator. It’s more than that. It’s also about abiding by His Law and following the teaching of the Prophet SAW, fully and completely. Not pick and choose as we see fit. Cuz you may think this ayat was mainly to address the People of Quraisy (clearly they’re the kuffars). But actually, this ayat was revealed to warn the Jews in Madinah, also known as Ahli Kitab. An important fact that we should all know about the Jews is, they also believe in Allah SWT as their Creator. But why then in this ayat, they were labeled as ‘Kafir’?
Cuz they refuse to accept Muhammad Bin Abdullah SAW as their new Prophet (walaupun mereka tahu itu adalah benar), let alone to abide by his teachings. Thus, as far as Allah is concerned, they’re KAFIR. Meaning, kafir is not just about one’s belief. It’s also about one’s actions.
May Allah protect us from becoming a Muslim that believes in Allah, but acts like a kafir.