Believing in Allah is not easy. When a believer tries to follow the true path shown by Allah, he is too cautious not to step out of the straight path for evil forces are too tempting and provocation. and even if a digressive thought comes into their mind for a moment, his heart trembles of the wrath of Allah that may befall on them. Hearts of believers are always fearful whenever name of Allah is mentioned for this instantly remind them that if they take a wrong step, Allah will be watching. That is why they take solace in listening to the verses of Qur'an for it reassures them of mercy of Allah and their trust grows:
اِنَّمَا الۡمُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ الَّذِيۡنَ اِذَا ذُكِرَ اللّٰهُ وَجِلَتۡ قُلُوۡبُهُمۡ وَاِذَا تُلِيَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمۡ اٰيٰتُهٗ زَادَتۡهُمۡ اِيۡمَانًا وَّعَلٰى رَبِّهِمۡ يَتَوَكَّلُوۡنَ ۖ ۚ
The true believers are those who, when Allah's name is mentioned, their hearts quake, and when His verses are recited to them their faith grows, and who put their trust in their Lord; (Surah 8 Anfal:2)
The believers, those whose faith is complete, are only those who, when God is mentioned, that is, when His threat of punishment [is mentioned], their hearts tremble, fear, and when His verses are recited to them, they increase their faith, their acceptance of the truth, and who rely upon their Lord, [who] put their trust in Him [alone], and not in any other.
A man's faith grows as he is able to confirm and submit to the command of God which he comes across. This is especially so where he submits to commands which go against his own personal predilections. A man's faith attains great heights if instead of trying to twist and distort the commands of God and the Prophet (peace he on him), he develops the habit of accepting and submitting to all the commands of God and the Prophet (peace be on him); if he strives to shape his conduct to the teachings which go against his personal opinions and conceptions, which are contrary to his habits, interests and convenience, which are not in consonance with his loyalties and friendships. For if he hesitates to respond positively to God's command, his faith is diminished. One thus learns that faith is not a static, immobile object. Nor is every, act of belief, or unbelief, of the same quality. An act of belief may be better or worse than another act of belief. Likewise, an act of unbelief may differ in quality from another act of unbelief. For both belief and unbelief, are capable of growth and decline.
All this concerns the essence of belief and unbelief. However, when belief and unbelief are mentioned as a basis for membership of the Muslim community or in connection with legal rights and responsibilities as necessary corollaries of that membership, a clear line of demarcation has to be drawn between those who believe and those who do not. In this respect the determination of who is a believer and who is not will depend on the basic minimum of belief regardless of quality of belief. In an Islamic society all those who believe will be entitled to the same legal rights and will be required to fulfil the same duties regardless of the differences in the quality of their faith. Likewise, all unbelievers - regardless of the differences in the quality of their unbelief - will be placed in the category of unbelievers disregarding the question whether their unbelief is of an ordinary quality or an extremely serious one.
Tafsir Ibn-Kathir:
"None of Allah's remembrance enters the hearts of the hypocrites upon performing what He has ordained. They neither believe in any of Allah's Ayat nor trust (in Allah) nor pray if they are alone nor pay the Zakah due on their wealth. Allah stated that they are not believers. He then described the believers by saying,
( " إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ " The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts)
(" وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَـناً " and when His Ayat are recited unto them, they increase their faith)
( وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ and they put their trust in their Lord), having hope in none except Him. ''
Mujahid commented on: ( وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ their hearts Wajilat), "Their hearts become afraid and fearful.'' Similar was said by As-Suddi and several others. The quality of a true believer is that when Allah is mentioned, he feels a fear in his heart, and thus implements His orders and abstains from His prohibitions.
Allah said in a similar Ayah:
(And those who, when they have committed Fahishah (immoral sin) or wronged themselves with evil, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins; -- and none can forgive sins but Allah -- and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know) [3:135], and,
But as for him who feared standing before his Lord, and restrained himself from vain desires. Verily, Paradise will be his abode.) [79:40-41]
Sufyan Ath-Thawri narrated that As-Suddi commented: "A man might be thinking of committing injustice or a sin. But he abstains when he is told, `Have Taqwa of Allah', and his heart becomes fearful.'''
To summaries, it can be said: The true believers are those who are in owe of Allah (s.w.t) because of His glorification and veneration. That is, when the speech is delivered upon Allah's justice, retribution, and power, they dread, and when the speech is about His bounties, kindnesses, graces, and rewards, they feel peace in themselves; as the Qur'an says:
“... now surely by Allah's remembrance are the hearts set at rest.” (Surah Ar-Ra'd, No. 13, verse 28).
Thus, there is no contrast between these two verses, because fear relates to the remembrance of Allah's retribution and peace, but peace and rest relates to the remembrance of Allah's forgiveness and kindness.
Moreover, whenever a believer remembers the Divine bounties and forgiveness of Allah, he obtains a favorable opinion and he rests, but when he remembers his own sins, he becomes inconvenient and anxious. The verse says:
“Verily believers are only those who, when Allah is mention, their hearts quake...”
The Arabic term /wajila/ means ‘to fear, apprehend’ which is accompanied with sadness. Then the verse continues saying: “...and when His Signs are recited to them, it increases them in faith...” In that circumstance, their faith and their certainty will be increased. “...and in their Lord (alone) do they trust.”
Such people trust in Allah in any conditions and they rely on Him for the affairs of their lives.
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 Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages 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 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
- Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
- Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
- 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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