The same is true for the presence of Divine Surveillance.
Yes, our Creator, fully cognizant of our inborn habit of cheating, stealing and laziness, has an overwatch over every one of us. Those who please Him by following His path, whether being watched or otherwise, are the ones who will ultimately succeed. But those who disregard the Divine Surveillance and continue to violate Divine as well as man-made laws, should know that their every move is being watch and recorded and they will be asked and punished for the violations they commit.
This has been repeated at many a place in Qur'an and man has been cautioned to take stock of his actions lest his violative attitude makes him liable to be penalized. A violator may escape the justice of the world, but he will be held accountable for every single act of violation of Divine Laws and will be duly persecuted.
Herein under we share the very first verse of Surah 4. An Nisa (The Women) about the Divine Caution to abstain from every wrong and evil thing for they are ever been watched:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَٰحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًا كَثِيرًا وَنِسَآءً ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِى تَسَآءَلُونَ بِهِۦ وَٱلْأَرْحَامَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا
[Surah 4 An Nisa (The Women):1] O mankind, fear your Lord, Who created you of a single soul, and of the same created his mate, and from that pair spread countless men and women over the earth;1 fear that Allah in Whose name you demand your rights from one another, and abstain from violating relations between kinsfolk; note it well that Allah is watching you very closely.
It means that this world has not come into existence of its own accord; it has been created by God Who is the Creator as well as the Lord of all. It is therefore unseemly for a person to regard this world to be a wandering herd which has no shepherd to attend to it and make it a target of his oppression and tyranny; on the contrary, it is his obligation to adhere to justice and clemency in its affairs; for he should know that God is very powerful, mighty and just. Those who oppress His creation will not escape His anger and wrath. He is watching over everything.
Allah calls Himself Ar-Raqeeb (الرقيب) — The Watchful, The All-Observing, The Witness — on three occasions in the Quran. Ar-Raqeeb is the One Who sees what is hidden in the hearts and He is the One Who charges your soul for what it has earned. He is the All-and-Ever-Watchful, observing everyone’s actions, thoughts, and feelings. Ar-Raqeeb is also The Controller; preserving and organizing the affairs of creation with perfect planning!
A beautiful example of belief in Ar-Raqeeb. Narrated `Abdullah ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: When I was accompanying `Umar ibn al-Khattab on his patrol of Madinah at night, he felt tired, so he leant against a wall. It was the middle of the night, and (we heard) a woman say to her daughter, “O my daughter, get up and mix that milk with some water.” The girl said, “O Mother, did you not hear the decree of Amir al-Mu’minin (chief of the believers) today?” The mother said, “What was that?” The girl said, “He ordered someone to announce in a loud voice that milk should not be mixed with water.” The mother said, “Get up and mix the milk with water; you are in a place where `Umar cannot see you.” The girl told her mother, “I cannot obey Him (Allah) in public and disobey him in private.” [Sifat al-Safwah and Wafiyat al-A’yan and cited by Ibn al-Jawzi in Ahkam Al-Nisa’]
Imagine how a poor girl understood the meaning of everyone being watched by Allah, and we continue to commit sins of every nature blatantly, from hurting people, hiding truth so that it does not against our favour and harming others by injustice or supporting those who do injustice.
Now let us take an unbiased personal appraisal and see how many times a day we violate the Divine Commandments and shrug off the consequences. If everyone inculcates just this small part of the complete verse: " إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا note it well that Allah is watching you very closely" how much change can come into our inner and outer behaviour and mindset. For this, always listen to your conscious, if it rings a bell, stop whatever you intend or about to do, for our conscious is part of the mechanism installed in our body to prevent us from doing something not allowed.
So, my brothers and sisters, let us be cognizant of the Divine Eye and let us keep ourselves away from actions and thoughts that may be observed and recorded for which we will be questioned on the Day of Judgement. May Allah forgive us all. Ameen
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
You may read more posts on similar theme in our series of posts related to: Al Qur'an guides and helps those who sincerely seek Divine Guidance and Help.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages and Understanding Al Qur'an for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that the exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from the following sources:
- Tafsir Ibn Khatir
- Muhammad Asad Translation
- Yusuf Ali Translation
- Translation Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
- Qur'an Wiki
- Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
- Towards Understanding the Quran
In addition, references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
Disclaimer: The material for this post has been collected from the references given above. If anyone differs with the material contained in this post, one may consult the references and their authors. If someone has more material about the subject, he/she is most welcome to share in the comments box to make the post all encompassing.
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