So, Allah jalla wa’ala say in al-Ma’idah, 118
إِن تُعَذِّبۡہُمۡ فَإِنَّہُمۡ عِبَادُكَۖ وَإِن تَغۡفِرۡ لَهُمۡ فَإِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡحَكِيمُ
If You punish them, they are Your servants; if You forgive them, You are the Almighty, the Wise.
This verse in my top five favourite verses of the Qur’an, and that was the case even before I found out that the Prophet (s) once repeated this verse all night due to the impact it had on him. When I was younger and my heart was purer, I’d sometimes struggle to breathe when I would recite this verse, it was the weirdest thing ever. Now it just makes me immensely sad. Happy sad though. Because when I get too sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. Ya’ni.
There’s much to unpack from the verse and also the context itself – this will be the statement of ‘Eesa (a) on the Day of Judgement as he addresses Allah ‘azza wa jall on behalf of all creation.
I don’t even want to talk about the tafsir therein, although I can’t resist pointing out how important it is to note the dualism at the end of this verse: “You are the Almighty, the Wise”
This combination الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ is a common one in the Qur’an but always fits a specific context of the verse it ends. However it would be fair to think why this particular dualism was chosen when surely الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ the Forgiving, the Merciful – would fit more with the last mentioned subject in the sentence which is “if You forgive them”.
But what this choice of dualism to end the verse with shows is that the Prophets not only know their boundaries when it comes to Allah, but also recognise the mood of the situation. If Allah punishes someone then that is because He has the right, might and ability to do so, and it is for a good reason that the All-Wise does that. Our Lord knows what we do not. He knows who is worthy of punishment and who isn’t. Our own limited minds our dominated by our emotions. He is not. He will not be questioned about what He does, rather they will be questioned.
But also look at the context: just because “forgive them” is the last subject in the verse, doesn’t negate that this verse is part of a passage where there’s a wider theme of warning and anger. That’s why we never read any verse in isolation. Look at how severe the warning of Allah is just two verses before this:
“But anyone who disbelieves after this will be punished with a punishment that I will not inflict on anyone else in the world.” (5:115)
This is arguably an unprecedented level of seriousness and threat in the Qur’an, and thus it would not be becoming or indeed compatible to mention Allah’s name of al-Rahim in this moment, but rather to affirm Allah’s power and wisdom, as indeed ‘Eesa (a) does. This is something that you will find many times in the Qur’an if you reflect on it properly, this pattern of suitability and compatibility within a verse.
Ironically, I didn’t even want to talk about any of the above.
What I really wanted to focus on was the Prophet (s) stopping at this verse and feeling the need to repeat it again, and again, and again, and again. All because of how much it meant to him sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. He saw in this verse his own role, his own responsibility, his own desire even to be there for his people. It him so hard personally, that as narrated in Sahih Muslim, when he recited this verse he lifted his hands to the sky beseeching Allah saying, “my Ummah, my Ummah!” weeping so much that Allah decided to make this a learning point for that same Ummah. He said ‘azza wa jall, “O Jibreel, go to Muhammad and ask what is making him cry,” and so he did go, ask, return, informed Allah – who of course knew already – and Allah then replied to Jibreel,
“Go back to Muhammad and say to him “We will certainly please you concerning your Ummah, and We will not let you down.”
Mindblowing frankly. How fortunate we are to have such a leader who loves us so much, and a Lord who loves us even more who won’t let us down despite our constant turning away from Him. Allahumma lakal hamd.
See, what we have to understand is that the Qur’an has a purpose and that purpose is to reflect on it deeply, and let that tadabbur resonate within you and strike that relevant personal chord at that relevant moment that has an intense, iman-boosting experience, again for you. This is why tadabbur – deep personal reflection – is different to tafsir – the actual technical meaning of the verse. That is why the Prophet (s) didn’t care that he didn’t recite 100 pages that night, but rather this one verse was enough that would made him closer to Allah. And we should have that same attitude.
Let me therefore say that…actually if I was to write this closing paragraph from myself then I’d be ridiculed. It’s a good thing then that Ibn al-Qayyim said the exact same thing in his lovely book Miftah Dar al-Sa’dah, 1/187, so take it away Imam Saab:
“If the people only realised what they would find if they recited the Qur’an with deep reflection, they would do nothing else. If they recited it whilst thinking about it, and they came by a verse that they needed to heal their hearts, they would repeat it again, indeed a hundred times, indeed even the whole night! *Because reciting a single verse whilst pondering over it and understanding it is better than completing the entire Qur’an without reflection and understanding.* It will be more beneficial for his heart, and give him a better chance to attain iman and actually taste the real sweetness of the Qur’an.”
Amen to that.
Sheikh Abu Eesa