Our Lord! let not our hearts deviate after Thou hast guided us

Leaving one's faith of birth and entering into the fold of Islam is one's very difficult and ultimate decision, for it entails leaving one's family and friends besides age old habits and inclinations. But equally difficult is to maintain the faith once adopted and cling to it for it entails a lot of rebuttal and isolation. Such are the difficult times for the reverts as are experienced and expressed in many revert experiences that I have shared or are available on the social media.

For such reverts and even believers with weak faith, Allah has given them a supplication in the 8th verse of Surah 3. Al-i'Imran:

رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغۡ قُلُوۡبَنَا بَعۡدَ اِذۡ هَدَيۡتَنَا وَهَبۡ لَنَا مِنۡ لَّدُنۡكَ رَحۡمَةً ​ ۚ اِنَّكَ اَنۡتَ الۡوَهَّابُ‏ 

They pray to Allah: "Our Lord!" (they say) "let not our hearts deviate now after Thou hast guided us but grant us mercy from Thine own Presence; for Thou art the Grantor of bounties without measure.

Ibn Kathir explains that the above said verse means meaning, "Do not deviate our hearts from the guidance after You allowed them to acquire it. Do not make us like those who have wickedness in their hearts, those who follow the Mutashabih in the Qur'an. Rather, make us remain firmly on Your straight path and true religion.'' And make our hearts firm, and increase in our Faith and certainty. Truly, You are the Bestower.

Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Jarir recorded that Umm Salamah said that the Prophet used to supplicate:

يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِي عَلَى دِينِك

(O You Who changes the hearts, make my heart firm on Your religion.)

He then recited, the above said ayat: ("Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower.'')

At the end of the verse, a powerful attribute of Allah, Al-Wahhab (الوهاب) - The Liberal Bestower, The Giver of Gifts, has been mentioned. When Allah's blessings are asked for, it is this attribute of Allah which answer back and tell the believers not to be unhappy for He is a Liberal Bestower, never turns back any supplication made to him. 

Thus all Muslims who feel weak and reverts who come under immense pressure from those they have left, should more often than not supplicate to Allah reciting the above said ayat for help and satisfaction of the heart. May Allah help us understand Qur'ān and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. Aameen.

For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Invocations / Dua " دُعا " from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.

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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.

An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs / verses (ayat) of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:

• The plain translation has been taken from the Qur'ān officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [1]
• 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. [2]  

In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources: 

• Towards Understanding the Quran
• Tafsir Ibn Khatir
• Muhammad Asad Translation
• Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
• Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
• Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle

In addition the 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.

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99 Attributes of Allah: Al-Wahhab - The Great Bestower, The Most Liberal Giver

We humans are always looking for more bounties and blessings from Allah. Some of us are already blessed with every need duly satisfied and fulfilled. But most of the mankind is always deficient of something, money, children, home, transport, honour, exalted positions despite working very hard, despite being very honest and believers. And we keep praying to Allah to bestow upon us His countless blessings and bounties.

Sometimes we have our prayers answered very quickly but sometimes it really takes very long. And then one day, when we are least expecting some miracle to happen, and out from nowhere and no hope, suddenly a Divine window opens and we are blessed with much more than what were expecting. This is the charisma of attribute of Allah: Al Wahhab. 

Al-Wahhab (الوهاب) - The Liberal Bestower, The Great Giver, The Giver of Gifts is one of the very elite attributes of Allah. 

In Surat 'Āli `Imrān [Chapter 3], verse 8, Allah mentions this attribute of His as:

رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ ۝

Our Lord! make not our hearts to deviate after Thou hast guided us aright, and grant us from Thee mercy; surely Thou art the most liberal Giver .


This attribute may also be interpreted as "You are the Grantor of bounties without measure." 

In Surah S'ad [Chapter 38:9] this attribute has been used along with another attribute of Allah: Al Aziz (meaning the Most Mighty):

اَمۡ عِنۡدَهُمۡ خَزَآئِنُ رَحۡمَةِ رَبِّكَ الۡعَزِيۡزِ الۡوَهَّابِ​ۚ‏ 

Do they possess the treasures of your Lord, the Most Mighty, the Great Bestower?

Later in the same chapter verse 35, the attribute Al Wahaab has again be used:

قَالَ رَبِّ اغۡفِرۡ لِىۡ وَهَبۡ لِىۡ مُلۡكًا لَّا يَنۡۢبَغِىۡ لِاَحَدٍ مِّنۡۢ بَعۡدِىۡ​ۚ اِنَّكَ اَنۡتَ الۡوَهَّابُ‏ 

He said: “My Lord, forgive me and bestow upon me a kingdom such as none other after me will deserve. Surely You are the Bounteous Giver.”

"Al-Wahhab" is derived from the proper noun wahiba tand hiba means: to make give away something to someone with no intention of reward and return as giving away something. that means the first party (the doer), rightfully owns without asking the second party for any compensation in return.

Thus, has the following classical Arabic connotations:

• to give for no compensation, to give as a gift
• to donate, to offer as a present, bestow
• to give liberally and freely
• to grant, endow
• to cause something to be

When we get rewarded or get a gift when were least expecting it, we must take it as a gift of Allah. Now we have two ways of cherishing this unexpected reward or gift: (1) Boast around telling people that we were rewarded because of our own hard work, or (2) We bow our head in front of the Almighty Allah and thank Him for bestowing upon us His blessings and bounties, and we certainly were not the deserving candidates, for there there are many who are deprived of heavenly blessing. And we should try to share the blessing and bounties with those who are less gifted for whatever has been given to us is a test that we will be held accountable for.

Remember, Allah says in Surah Ash-Shuraa (42:49)

"To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He creates what he wills. He gives to whom He wills female [children], and He gives to whom He wills males."

Thus Al-Wahhab is the One Who gives away without compensation, without seeing the colour, caste,creed or status of a person with complete disregard to the gender. He bestows His favors upon His servants even without being asked; He is the One Who initiates giving, and He is the oft-Giver. Allah is surely al-Wahhab because He is the Most Munificent, the Most Giving, the One Who ever tries to get closer to His servants, Who graciously bestows His favors upon them, Who gives them even before they ask Him, the ever-Giver Who gives everyone what he needs. 

We must live our lives, if we are true believers, as per the essence of meaning of Al Wahhab. When we are given plentiful, instead of stuffing the extra in our bank accounts or coffers, we must seek out those less gifted and given them from what is not our, but is given to us as a test, to surprise the have nots - but without boasting ourselves, raher in complete humbleness and humility so that the receiver does not feel burdened under our favour. And we must ask them to thank Allah for it is He Who has sent this gift to them and made us the courier.

Please listen to enlightening commentary and explanation of attribute Al Wahhab:

You may refer to our post "99 Attributes of Allah" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.

Author's Note: The data for this post has been collected from the references as given below. If any one 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.

Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 |

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Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

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