Surah Luqman Ayat 18 (31:18 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(31:18) Do not (contemptuously) turn your face away from people,^[31] nor tread haughtily upon earth. Allah does not love the arrogant and the vainglorious.^[32]

31. Mukhtal in the original implies a person who has a very high opinion of himself, and fakhur is the one who boasts of his superiority over others. A man becomes haughty and arrogant and vain in his gait only when he is puffed up with pride, and wants that others should feel his superiority.

32. According to some commentators it means this: “Walk neither fast nor slow but at a moderate pace”, but the context shows that here the pace or the rate of walking is not the question. There is nothing morally wrong with a fast or a slow pace in itself, nor can there be a rule made for it. When a man is in a hurry, he has to walk fast, and there is nothing wrong if one walks slow when walking for pleasure. Even if there is a standard for the moderate pace, it cannot be made a law for every person at all times. What is actually meant by this is to reform the state of the self under which a person walks haughtily. The haughtiness and arrogance of a person inevitably manifests itself in his gait and style of walking, which shows the state of his mind and also the cause of his pride and haughtiness. Wealth, authority, beauty, knowledge, power and such other things cause a man to become proud and vain, and each of these gives him a special style of gait. Contrary to this, manifestation of humility in the gait is also the result of one or the other morbid mental state. Sometimes the hidden conceit of the self of a man takes on the form of ostentatious humility, piety and godliness and this is shown by his gait; and sometimes man really feels so embittered by the frustrations of the world that he adopts a sick man’s gait. What Luqman meant to say is this: “Avoid these states of the mind and self and walk the gait of a simple, honest and noble person, which neither shows any vanity and haughtiness nor weakness nor ostentatious piety and humility.”

The taste of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) great companions in this regard can be judged from a few instances. When Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) once saw a man walking with his head hung down, he shouted out to him, saying, “Walk with your head raised up. Islam is not sick.” He saw another person walking like a weak, sick man, and said, “Wretch! Do not sully our religion” Both these incidents show that in the sight of Umar religious piety did not at all require that one should walk cautiously, like the sick man and show undue humility by one’s gait. Whenever he saw a Muslim walking such a gait, he would have the apprehension that it would misrepresent Islam and would depress the other Muslims. A similar incident was once met with by Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). She saw a person walking as if run down and exhausted. She asked what was the matter with him. It was said, “He is one of the reciters of the Quran (i.e. a person who remains engaged in reciting and teaching the Quran and in worship).” At this she said, “Umar was the chief of the reciters of the Quran, but as it was he would walk with a firm foot, and he would speak with force and strength, and he would give a good beating if he had to.” (Surah Bani Israil, ayat 37) note 43 and (Surah Al-Furqan, ayat 63) note 79.

Ibn-Kathir

The tafsir of Surah Luqman verse 18 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Luqman ayat 16 which provides the complete commentary from verse 16 through 19.