Safinah

Sailing Ships in the Qur'an

With pictures of our own hand-built boat on Lake Matano.

Sailing ships possess a special status in the Qur'an that is rarely noticed, probably because only a few Muslims sail nowadays. They are considered signs for mankind; as a sign of God's mercy for the steadfast and grateful; and as a means to make faith sincere.

Water is an element in which we are quite helpless, since we no longer have solid ground under our feet. In a sailing ship on the ocean, we therefore experience things that we experience only far less intensely on land. When we have favourable winds, a feeling of happiness and freedom arises, floating over the vastness of the ocean. We become aware of the grandeur of creation and our humble place within it. But when there is a calm, or the wind blows from an unfavourable direction, the feeling of happiness quickly disappears. And if the wind should develop into a hurricane and waves as high as houses pile up before us, we lose every feeling of pride, are fully aware of our human fragility, and turn sincerely to God. In hardly any other situation do we feel so at the mercy of God's grace as in a sailing ship on the open sea during a storm.

(I may note here that I myself became a Muslim while sailing a small dugout canoe on the Indian Ocean.)

On a sailing ship, fixed planning is no longer possible. We never know when we will arrive somewhere, or if we will even be driven somewhere else entirely. We become more Ibn al-Waqt, the son of the moment; live more in the here and now; and realize more that Allah ultimately creates everything and that we must submit to Him and accept our fate. Abu Ali al-Rudhbari said that the old Sufis never met at an agreed appointment, for they had never planned anything in advance, which allowed God to guide them in their movements.

In times of global lockdowns, a sailing ship may be one of the few means to preserve one's freedom...

And He it is Who has made the sea serviceable to you,
and you see the ships ploughing through it, that you may seek of His bounty
and that you may be grateful!
an-Nahl 14

And He has made the ships serviceable to you, that they may sail through the sea by His command.
Ibrahim 32

It is your Lord who drives the ships for you on the sea,
that you may seek of His bounty. Indeed, He is Merciful to you.
Al-Isra 66

Do you not see that Allah has made serviceable to you all that is on the earth,
and [also] the ships that sail through the sea by His command?
Al-Hajj 65

And when they board a ship, they call upon Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion.
Al-Ankabut 65

And among His signs is that He sends the winds as bringers of good tidings,
and to let you taste of His mercy
and that the ships may sail by His command
and that you may seek of His bounty,
and that you may be grateful.
Ar-Rum 46

Do you not see that the ships sail through the sea by the favour of Allah,
that He may show you of His signs?
Indeed in that are signs for every steadfast and grateful person.
Luqman 31

And among His signs are the ships that sail on the sea, like mountains.
If He wills, He stills the wind, and they remain motionless on its surface.
Indeed in that are signs for every steadfast and grateful person;
or He causes them to sink for what they have earned. And He is forgiving of much.
As-Sura 32-34

And We carried him on a ship made of planks and nails, which sailed before Our eyes.
(This) as a reward for one who had always been denied. And We left it as a sign.
Is there anyone who will remember?
Al-Qamar 13-15

In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of night and day;
in the ships that sail the sea with what benefits mankind;
... indeed in that are signs for people who understand.
al-Baqarah 164

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