Spacious Earth

Al-Ankabut (The Spider)
Chapter 29: Verse 56

"You servants of Mine who have believed! Spacious is My earth; worship Me alone, then."

This verse is addressing the believers who suffer persecution at the hand of the unbelievers, who aim to prevent them from worshipping God. It tells them to try to flee from persecution so that they can truly practise their faith. This is given in the form of a loving address that touches one's heart.

The Creator of these hearts who knows all their feelings, fleeting thoughts, perceptions and ideas address them with love, inviting them to emigrate for the sake of their faith. These words, right from the onset give them a feeling of their true status, linking them to their Lord: 'Servants of Mine!'

This is the first caring touch, while the second is felt in what comes next: 'Spacious is My earth." You are My servants, and this is My earth, which is spacious and can comfortably accommodate you. What keeps you, then, in a hostile place where you are oppressed and persecuted on account of your faith, and where you cannot worship God in freedom? Leave this narrow and restricted place and find somewhere else in My spacious earth, to enjoy freedom of worship.

Sorrow at leaving one's own homeland is the first feeling which stirs in the mind of one who is invited to leave his home. Hence, these words stress closeness to God and the earth's spaciousness. Since it is all God's earth, then the place to be loved most is that where one enjoys freedom to worship God alone.

Compiled From:
"In The Shade of the Quran" - Sayyid Qutb, Vol. 13, pp. 340, 341