In fact, Surah al-Hashr 59:19 is one of the Qur’an’s most penetrating statements about spiritual psychology. It describes a paradox: a person may spend enormous energy pursuing his own interests, pleasures, status and comfort, yet by forgetting Allah he can eventually lose sight of what is truly good for his own soul.
THE QUR'AN SAYS
Verse 59:19
وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ نَسُوا اللَّهَ فَأَنسَاهُمْ أَنفُسَهُمْ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ
“And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient.”
Context
The preceding parts of Surah al-Hashr discuss the expulsion of Banū al-Naḍīr, the behaviour of the hypocrites, broken promises and the deception of Shayṭān. Then, in 59:18, Allah suddenly turns directly to believers:
“O you who believe! Fear Allah, and let every soul look to what it has sent ahead for tomorrow.”
Then comes 59:19: Do not become like those who forgot Allah and consequently forgot themselves.
And 59:20 immediately contrasts the people of Paradise with the people of the Fire. So verses 18–20 form a connected argument:
- Remember Allah → examine yourself → prepare for the Hereafter.
- versus:
- Forget Allah → lose awareness of yourself → lose your ultimate future.
Maududi therefore regards 59:18 as a command for continuous self-examination: a person should ask where his time, wealth, abilities and energies are actually taking him.
What does “forget Allah” mean?
It does not simply mean that someone momentarily fails to think of Allah.
- Al-Tabari explains it primarily as neglecting Allah's rights and obligations. Such people abandon what Allah required of them; consequently they become oblivious to their own true share of goodness and salvation.
- Al-Qurtubi records several closely related explanations: they neglected Allah's commands, neglected gratitude and reverence toward Him, and consequently failed to do what was beneficial for their own souls. One early explanation summarized it beautifully: they forgot Allah's right, so they forgot their own right.
So “forgetting Allah” is better understood as: living as though Allah no longer governs one's priorities.
A person may still verbally believe in Allah while practically structuring his entire day around everything except Him.
“So He made them forget themselves” — what an extraordinary expression
Ibn Kathir explains this as Allah allowing them to forget the deeds that would actually benefit them in the Hereafter. They become so occupied elsewhere that they neglect their own ultimate welfare.
This means self-forgetfulness is not forgetting one's name, career or worldly interests. A person might actually become intensely self-absorbed:
“My money.”
“My appearance.”
“My success.”
“My followers.”
“My pleasure.”
“My reputation.”
Yet according to 59:19, that person may simultaneously have forgotten his real self:
Why was I created?
Where am I going?
What condition is my heart in?
What have I prepared for death?
What am I becoming before Allah?
That is the paradox of the verse: A person can think about himself constantly—and still forget himself completely.
Maududi notes: forgetting God distorts human identity. Maududi takes this concept particularly deep. He argues that when a human being forgets Allah, he forgets his true position in existence. He no longer understands himself primarily as Allah's servant. Once this fundamental identity is lost, the rest of life begins to be built on a false foundation.
A person who should serve Allah begins serving other masters like wealth, social approval, desire, fashion, power, ideology, career—or simply the demands of his own ego.
Thus, according to Maududi, remembering Allah is not merely one religious activity among many. It is what keeps our understanding of ourselves correctly oriented.
This gives 59:19 a remarkably profound meaning: When we lose God from the centre, we also lose the correct answer to “Who am I?”
Muhammad Asad notes forgetting Allah leads to losing one's spiritual potential, He renders the consequence as becoming oblivious of what is good for one's own self. He explains it as wasting the moral and spiritual potential Allah placed within human beings through misuse of reason and continued obliviousness to Him.
This makes the verse particularly relevant to modern life. One can be: highly educated, financially comfortable, technologically connected, socially visible— and nevertheless neglect the development of the soul. Material progress and spiritual progress are not automatically the same thing.
How 59:19 links with the other verses
Herein under are four verses almost form a progression:
- 18:28 The core message of Surah Al-Kahf 18:28 is to remain firmly attached to people who sincerely remember and worship Allah, even if they lack worldly status, and not be dazzled by wealth, prestige, or outward attraction. Allah warns against following those whose hearts have become heedless through neglect of His remembrance and whose lives are ruled by desires. The verse therefore teaches that the true worth of companionship is measured by faith, sincerity, and remembrance of Allah—not by social position or material success—and that a distracted heart can gradually lead a person away from a meaningful and rightly ordered life.
- 63:9 The core message of Surah Al-Munāfiqūn 63:9 is a warning not to let wealth, children, business, or worldly preoccupations distract us from remembering Allah and fulfilling our obligations to Him. These blessings are not condemned in themselves; the danger begins when they occupy the heart so completely that prayer, gratitude, obedience, and awareness of the Hereafter are neglected. The verse teaches that true loss is not having less of the world, but gaining the world while losing one’s relationship with Allah.
- 20:124 The core message of Surah Ṭā Hā 20:124 is that turning away from Allah’s guidance leads to a constricted, troubled life, even when outward comforts are present. The “narrow life” is not limited to poverty; it can include spiritual emptiness, anxiety, restlessness, loss of purpose, and dissatisfaction caused by living without remembrance of Allah and divine direction. The verse teaches that real peace comes not merely from possessing more, but from living with faith, guidance, and conscious connection with Allah.
Mobile phones and 59:19
Obviously, the Qur’an is not speaking specifically about smartphones. A phone is a tool and can be used for tremendous good: Qur’an, Islamic learning, family communication, education, work, charity and maintaining relationships. The problem begins when the tool becomes the master of our attention.
Consider the first moments after waking. How mon=bile phone has become a part of our lives at every step during the day. The phone takes precedence:
- Before remembering Allah
- While eating
- During conversation
- Waiting thirty seconds
- Immediately after ṣalāh
- Before sleeping
The modern danger is not necessarily that a person consciously rejects Allah. It may simply be that there is never enough silence left to remember Him deeply. Notifications, messages, reels, videos, news, arguments, advertisements and entertainment fill every empty moment.
Eventually we may lose the capacity for: dhikr, reflection, contemplation, self-examination and quiet awareness of Allah.
And then the warning of 59:19 becomes striking: We may become so occupied with everything around us that we forget what is happening within us.
20:124 — the consequence of turning away: Allah says:
وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْ ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنكًا “Whoever turns away from My remembrance will certainly have a constricted life…”
Ibn Kathir explains that such a person can possess outward comforts—food, clothing and accommodation—yet lack inward tranquility and certainty, remaining troubled, doubtful or inwardly constricted.
This is extremely important. The verse does not mean every anxious or distressed person has forgotten Allah; psychological suffering has many causes, and such a conclusion would be unfair.
Rather, the Qur’anic point is spiritual: Paterial abundance by itself cannot guarantee inner spaciousness.
A person can have:
- hundreds of contacts but profound loneliness,
- continuous entertainment but little contentment,
- constant information but little wisdom,
- constant stimulation but little peace.
Thus 59:19 and 20:124 complement each other:
- Forget Allah → lose the true self.
- Turn away from Allah's remembrance → life can become inwardly constricted.
A Qur’anic anatomy of distraction
Put the four verses together and an extraordinary picture emerges:
- 18:28: Heart becomes heedless → desire takes command.
- 63:9: Worldly attachments distract from remembrance.
- 59:19: Allah is forgotten → true self is forgotten.
- 20:124 Life becomes spiritually constricted.
And the reverse journey is equally possible: Remember Allah, recover awareness of purpose, discipline desires, regain control of attention, recognize yourself as Allah's servant - so prepare consciously for the Hereafter.
REFLECTION FOR TODAY
Although, in our times today, we have many a distraction that aid in forgetting Allah and His worship. Here for example, let us take the unusual dependence of mobile phones that have robbed us our time to remember Allah. The Qur’anic answer is not necessarily “throw the phone away.” It is:
- restore the correct hierarchy.
- Allah should command our attention; technology should serve our purposes.
A useful personal discipline could therefore be:
- begin the day with dhikr/prayer/Qur’an before the phone;
- keep the phone away during ṣalāh and Qur’an reflection;
- disable unnecessary notifications;
- establish some screen-free periods every day;
- ask whether endless scrolling is benefiting your dunya or ākhirah;
- occasionally examine your screen-time report as seriously as you examine your bank statement;
- replace some passive scrolling with Qur’an, family conversation, walking, reading and contemplation;
- before sleeping, give the final moments of consciousness to Allah rather than to the feed.
Here one particularly useful question might be: “Did I use my phone today—or did my phone use my attention?”
The deepest lesson of 59:19
There is an irony in modern culture. We are encouraged constantly to “find yourself.” But 59:19 suggests that the deepest way to lose yourself is to forget the One who created you.
From a Qur’anic perspective, knowing yourself cannot ultimately be separated from knowing:
- who created you,
- why you exist,
- what you are responsible for,
- and where you are returning.
That is why forgetting Allah produces self-forgetfulness. Not because the person ceases looking after worldly interests—but because he forgets his ultimate interest.
A concluding reflection
Surah al-Hashr 59:19 could therefore be paraphrased as a warning to our age:
Do not become so occupied with the world that you lose awareness of the One who gave you life—and, in doing so, lose awareness of what your own life is actually for.
With 18:28, 63:9 and 20:124, it forms a remarkably coherent Qur’anic philosophy of distraction:
Guard your attention, because attention shapes remembrance; remembrance shapes desire; desire shapes character; and character shapes destiny.
For today's smartphone generation, perhaps the practical message is simply: Stay connected to the world—but never at the cost of becoming disconnected from Allah, and therefore from your own soul.
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.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
You may refer to more Selected Verses from Sürah 59 Al Al-Ḥashr (The Gathering), already published.
You may also refer to our exclusive reference pages:
- Selected verses from selected Surahs of Al-Qurʾān for compiled verses from other surahs.
- Selected Verses from Al Qur'an about a Specific Subject (Reference Page) to know more about what Qur'an says about specific subjects
- 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.
Sources & Further Reading
Ibn Kathir: Tafsir
Maududi: Tafhim al-Qur'an
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