Al-Baqarah: (156-157) Those who, when afflicted...

Know that when the Almighty said, {And give good tidings to the patient} (Al-Baqarah: 155), He clarified in this verse how a person should be patient and what that good tidings entails. There are several issues in this verse:

Issue 1: Types of Afflictions

Know that these afflictions may be from Allah's action or from the servant's action.

1. Afflictions from Allah: Such as fear of drowning, burning, lightning, and the like.
2. Afflictions from the Servant: For example, the Arabs' enmity towards the Prophet (peace be upon him).
3. Hunger: This may be due to poverty. Poverty itself can be from Allah (e.g., destruction of wealth) or from the servant (e.g., being overpowered and having wealth destroyed).
4. Decrease in Wealth: When it is from Allah, it is through calamities affecting wealth and crops. When it is from the enemy, it is because people, due to their preoccupation, do not attend to cultivating the land.
5. Decrease in Souls (Lives): This is from Allah through causing death, and from people through killing.

Issue 2: The Scope of the Affliction

The Qadi (Judge) stated that Allah did not attribute this affliction to Himself specifically but generalized it by saying, {Those who, when afflicted with a calamity...}.

The apparent meaning is that this covers every harm that befalls a person, whether from Allah or from people, because in both cases, the person is subject to religious obligation (taklīf). If they deviate from fulfilling this obligation, they are abandoning adherence to its performance.

1. Calamity from Allah: The person must believe that it is based on wisdom, correctness, justice, goodness, and benefit. The obligation upon them is to accept it and refrain from lamentation. All of this is encompassed in {Indeed, we belong to Allah}. By affirming their servitude, they delegate matters to Him and accept His decree in what He tests them with, as He only decrees what is true, {And Allah judges with truth, while those they invoke besides Him judge nothing} (Ghafir: 20).
2. Calamity from Others: The obligation is to turn to Allah for redress and to suppress anger and rage, so as not to transgress into what is unlawful in seeking vengeance. This is also included under {Indeed, we belong to Allah}, because it is He who obligated them to follow this path so as not to exceed His command. It is as if in the first case (calamity from Allah), the meaning is: "We belong to Allah, and He manages us as He wills." In the second case (calamity from others), it means: "We belong to Allah, and He seeks retribution for us as He wills."

Issue 3: Pronunciation of Inna

Al-Kisa'i, in some narrations, used Imālah (a slight lowering of the vowel sound) for the Alif in Anā (I) and the Lām in Allāh (God). The rest of the reciters used the emphatic pronunciation (Tafkhīm).

Imālah is permissible in this Alif due to the preceding Kasrah and frequent usage, to the extent that it has become like a single word. Al-Farra' and Al-Kisa'i said that Imālah is not permissible for Anā when not followed by the Name of Allah. This necessity arises because the fundamental rule for letters and what resembles them is the prohibition of Imālah, just as Imālah is not permitted for Hattā (until) or Lākin (but).

Regarding the saying: {Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return}

This phrase contains several issues:

Abu Bakr al-Warrāq said: {Indeed, we belong to Allah} is an affirmation of our ownership by Him. {And indeed to Him we will return} is an affirmation of our perishing.

Know that the return to Him is not a transition to a place or direction, as that is impossible for Allah. Rather, it means returning to where no one but He holds dominion—that is the Hereafter. In the Hereafter, no one can benefit or harm them. While they are in this world, others may apparently possess the power to benefit or harm them. Allah made this a return to Him, just as it is said that kingship and dominion "return" to the sovereign, not by physical movement, but by the cessation of contestation over power.

This indicates an affirmation of the Resurrection and the acknowledgment that the Almighty will recompense the patient according to their merit, and He does not let the reward of the doers of good go to waste.

The saying {Indeed, we belong to Allah} indicates contentment with everything that has befallen them in the present moment, of all types of affliction. The saying {And indeed to Him we will return} indicates contentment in the present moment with everything that will befall them later: the reward promised by Allah for what has passed, the delegation of affairs to Him regarding what is currently happening, and the seeking of justice against the oppressor. Thus, the person humbles themselves, content with the reward Allah has promised them in the Hereafter.

There are many narrations on this topic:

1. From the Prophet (peace be upon him): "Whoever says Istirjā' (Inna lillahi...) upon affliction, Allah will mend his affliction, make his outcome good, and grant him a righteous successor whom He is pleased with."
2. It is narrated that the lamp of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) went out, and he said: {Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return}. When asked if it was an affliction, he replied: "Yes, everything that harms a believer is an affliction for him."
3. Umm Salamah narrated that Abu Salamah said the Prophet (PBUH) said: "No Muslim is afflicted with a calamity and turns to what Allah has commanded him—His saying: {Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return}—saying: 'O Allah, I seek reward for this affliction with You, so reward me in it and compensate me with something better than it,' except that Allah will reward him for it and compensate him with something better than it." Umm Salamah said that when Abu Salamah died, she recalled this Hadith and said these words, and Allah compensated her with Muhammad (peace be upon him).
4. Ibn Abbas said: Allah informed that when the believer submits to Allah's command, seeks refuge, and says Istirjā' upon affliction, Allah records three things for him: blessings from the Lord, mercy, and the realization of the path of guidance.
5. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "What excellent two compensations: {Those upon them are blessings from their Lord and mercy} and what excellent addition: {And those are the guided ones}." Ibn Mas'ud said: "It is dearer to me to fall from the sky than to say concerning something Allah has decreed: 'I wish it had not happened.'"

Regarding the saying: {Those upon them are blessings from their Lord and mercy}

Know that the Salawāt (blessings/prayers) from Allah means praise, commendation, and glorification. As for His Rahmah (mercy), it refers to the favors He sends down upon them, both immediately and in the Hereafter.

Regarding the saying: {And those are the guided ones}

There are several interpretations:

1. They are the guided ones to this path that leads its follower to all good.
2. They are the guided ones to Paradise, the winners of reward.
3. They are guided to fulfill all their obligations. The closest interpretation is what falls under the promise, so that its conjunction with the previously mentioned blessings and mercy is sound. This only happens if it means they are the winners of reward and Paradise, and the path leading to it, as all of that is included in guidance. However, it is not impossible that it means they are those who adhere to His etiquette and hold fast to what is obligatory and commanded.

Abu Bakr al-Razi said: This verse encompasses two rulings: obligatory (Fard) and supererogatory (Nawfil).

• The Obligatory: Submission to Allah's command, acceptance of His decree, and patience in fulfilling obligations, such that the afflictions of the world do not divert them from them.
• The Supererogatory: Manifesting the saying {Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return}. Manifesting it has great benefits, including that others are guided by hearing it, and it angers the disbelievers and informs them of the believer's seriousness and diligence in Allah's religion and steadfastness upon obedience.

It is narrated that Dawud al-Ta'i said: Asceticism in the world is not loving to remain in it, and the best of deeds is contentment with Allah. A Muslim should not grieve, for he knows that every affliction has a reward.

We conclude the exegesis of this verse by explaining contentment with the decree. The servant only exercises patience while content with Allah's decree through two paths: the path of Discipline/Management (Taṣarruf) or the path of Attraction (Jadhb).

This path has several aspects:

1. Whenever the heart inclines toward something, making that thing the source of affliction, the focus of the heart turns away from the realm of contingency towards the realm of holiness. For example, when Adam's (AS) heart became attached to Paradise, it became a trial for him until Paradise was removed, leaving Adam with the remembrance of Allah. When Jacob (AS) found solace in Joseph (AS), separation occurred between them until Jacob remained with the remembrance of the Truth. When the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) hoped for support from the people of Mecca, they became the most severe against him, leading him to say: "No prophet was harmed as much as I was harmed."
2. Not to consider that thing as a trial, but rather to remove it entirely so that neither the trial nor the mercy remains. Then the servant returns to Allah.
3. Whenever the servant expects something from a certain direction, Allah grants him something better than what he expected without intermediary, causing the servant to feel shy and return to the door of Allah's mercy.

This is as the Prophet (PBUH) said: "One attraction from the attractions of the Truth is equivalent to the deeds of both worlds (Jinn and Mankind)."

Whoever is drawn by the Truth to Himself becomes overcome, because the Truth is dominant, not overcome. The attribute of the Lord is Lordship (Rubūbiyyah), and the attribute of the servant is servitude ('Ubūdiyyah). Lordship dominates servitude, not by opposition. The attribute of the Truth is reality (Ḥaqīqah), and the attribute of the servant is metaphor (Majāz). Reality dominates metaphor, not by opposition. The dominant one transforms the overcome one from one attribute to an attribute befitting him.

When a servant enters the presence of an awe-inspiring sovereign, he forgets himself and becomes entirely focused with his heart, thought, and sense upon the sovereign, heedless of anything else. How much more so for one who witnesses the presence of the Sovereign whose opposition was insignificant compared to Him! There, the servant becomes as if annihilated from himself and his own desires, thus becoming content with the decrees and judgments of the Truth, the Glorified, without any trace of contention remaining in his obedience.

7 < { Indeed, As-Safā and Al-Marwah are among the symbols of Allah. So whoever performs Hajj to the House or performs 'Umrah - there is no blame upon him for circumambulating them both. And whoever volunteers good - then indeed, Allah is All-Appreciative and All-Knowing. } > 7 !