“I am convinced about the veracity of my opinions, but I do consider it likely that they may turn out to be incorrect. Likewise, I am convinced about the incorrectness of the views different from mine, but I do concede the possibility that they may turn out to be correct.” — Imam Shafa’i

 

The Holy Quran, as all of us are sure about is a very wide and equally deep ocean. There is something in it for all levels of knowledge and scholarship. There are more than one way to approach it. There are different kinds of gems to look for. It also reflects the growth of the fledgling and nascent Ummah from the abyss of Kufr to the  highly successful and respectable first batch of Ummat-e-Muslimah. Accordingly the tone, language and message of the Holy Text keeps on changing to reflect this growth. Hence the Makki surahs have an entirely different taste and fragrance that those of Madni Surahs. As a PPK Muslims our first and foremost duty is to learn to live by our religion in our homes, and offices, our schools and colleges and universities, in the bazaar, parties and festivities and also in our religious and political debates and discussions. The ayahs 19 to 35 of Surah Al Isra (no. 17) provide us ample guidance just to do all this. I intend to discuss them in our future sessions. The index ayah is the first of these.

 

The ayah can be labelled as the Unit of the Quran and is very frequently quoted as such. It conveys a strong message by itself. However it is not always so. Frequently other ayahs following or preceding have to be added to bring out the full meaning. The index ayah is a good example. The next ayah can actually be considered a part of it as far as the contents are concerned:^[3]

 

“All [of them] – these as well as those – do We freely endow with some of thy Sustainer’s gifts, since thy Sustainer’s giving is never confined [to one kind of man]”.

 

To make sense of this ayah, we need to include the ayah preceding the index ayah in our discussions^[4]:

 

“Unto him who cares for [no more than the enjoyment of] this fleeting life We readily grant thereof as much as We please, [giving] to whomever it is Our will [to give]; but in the end We consign him to [the suffering of] hell;1 which he will have to endure disgraced and disowned!”.

 

Now the sense is complete. We need the preceding and the following ayah of the index ayah to understand the theme. The three ayahs together convey the purport of the Quran. This is a good example of the intricacies of correctly understanding our Holy Text. A single ayah, a group of consecutive ayahs, a group of ayah spread in different surahs, the cause for the revelation (shane nuzool), the context and back ground of the ayah etc. may all be needed to appreciate the Devine message. Let me hasten to add that more often than not a single ayah conveys not one but multiple ideas and commands.

 

The ayah is referring to those who long and wish for the Hereafter. It is stressed that merely desiring it is not going to be fruitful. There are two prerequisites to “earn”  happiness in the hereafter:

1) “Wa sa’aa lahaa sa’yohaa” i.e strive for it as it ought to be striven for.

Strive we have to; this is just common sense. But note what our Creator has conditioned our effort with. Our efforts have to measure up to “saa’yahaa”. Literally this word means “the effort”. As part of this ayah its meaning has been stated by various scholars as “as it ought to be striven for” or “with the necessary effort due for it” or “with all due striving” or “as he ought to strive” or “exerts the effort due to it” or “with the effort necessary” or “as he should (endeavor)”. In short our struggle  for the Hereafter should match the status and significance of our target. We should try to observe all the commandments of Allah Ta’aala Subhaanahoo.  Mufti Mohammed Shafi elaborates thus: “In this verse  by adding the word: sa’yohaa (as due), it has been made explicit that every deed and every effort is not necessarily beneficial or acceptable with Allah. Instead, the only deed or effort credible is that which is appropriate to the essential objective (of the Hereafter). And whether or not it is appropriate can only be found out from the statement of Allah and His Messenger . Therefore, even well meaning efforts made by insisting on bland personal opinion and self-invented ways – which includes common customs of Bid’ah (innovations in established religion) – no matter how good and beneficial they may appear at their face, but are not appropriate to the effort made for the Hereafter. Consequently, they are neither acceptable with Allah nor are they of any use in the Hereafter”. For further elaboration let me quote Tafsir Ruh al-Maani which says, while explaining this term: “……the ‘effort’ should be in accordance with ‘sunnah.’ Along with it this effort or deed should also have uprightness and firmness. In other words, this deed should be beneficial in accordance with the Sunnah as well as it should be upright and constant. Doing it haphazardly or doing it in a cycle of doing and not doing is not good. It never yields the maximum benefit”.

2) The second condition which Bari Ta’aala has added is that the aspirer for the Hereafter should be a believer. What does this mean? A person who is seeking the Hereafter is taken for granted that he must have faith in his Lord Creator. True, but this has to be reinforced, declaring  faith in eternal and all powerful being and complete subservience to HIS commands. Additionally, the faith should be free of any tinge of Shirk, as pointed out by Amin Ahsan Islahi in his tafseer. “Since caring and striving for the good of the hereafter presupposes belief in God and in man’s responsibility before Him, it is obvious that the term “believer” relates, in this context, to a cognition of God’s absolute oneness and uniqueness as well as to a willing acceptance of the guidance offered to man through prophetic revelation” elaborates Dr. Mohammed Asad.

 

Yousuf Ali summarises eloquently the message of this ayah “A mere wish for moral and spiritual good is not enough. It must be backed up by hard endeavour and supported by a lively Faith”.  If these two conditions are fulfilled Allah Ta’aala Subhaanahoo promises at the end of ayah that these efforts will be duly appreciated by HIM.

 

The ayah following the index ayah declares one of the universal Divine principles. But to understand this ayah one has to refer to the ayah preceding the index ayah (which we will discuss next) wherein folks longing only for the mundane are discussed. Allah Ta’aala Subhaanahoo declares here that he extends his reward and generosity to both the groups —those lost in this world and those who are aspiring for the Hereafter; the just and the unjust; the deserving and the undeserving — as he pleases. Those heedless of the akhirah will not be punished for it in this world; they will get due return here for their labour.

It is to be regarded as a gift (at’aa) from him totally at HIS discretion. No one group has a say in what they or the other group gets.

 

And finally the preceding ayah. Allah Ta’aala Subhaanahoo is addressing those who wish for the “aa’jilaa”. Lexically it means “immediate”. Its antonym is “Akhiraa” (Hereafter).  In the context of this ayah it is variously translated as “quick-passing”, “transitory”, “the immediate” and “the hasty world”. By consensus, the word refers to this world and for obvious reasons. Our Parwardigaar  declares that even to those desirous  of this world only, HE will reward them for their efforts; but HE will give what ever HE wants and to whomever HE desires. Amin Ahsan Islahi and Javed Ahmed Ghamdi highlight this in their respective exegesis as a part of Sunnat-e-Ilahi. The aspirants of this world will be rewarded but only what Allah wants and for whom he wants. The aspirants themselves will have no say in who and how much is rewarded. This explains why one can see prosperity and abundance among the obvious sinners and even the wicked. But Allah Ta’aala Subhaanahoo predicts for them dire consequences in the Hereafter. They will be disgraced and rejected, left burning in Hellfire.

 

 

May Allah Ta’aala bless us with true understanding–“fahm”–of our Deen, Aameen.

 

Dr. Khalid Mitha