Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:45-46

Al-Baqarah: (45-46) "And seek help through patience and prayer..."

There are differing opinions on the addressees of this verse:

1. The Believers in the Prophet (PBUH): Some argue that the command is directed towards those who believed in the Messenger. This is because one who fundamentally denies prayer and patience upon the religion of Muhammad (PBUH) would hardly be told to seek help through them. Therefore, the address must be turned toward those who affirmed Muhammad (PBUH). It is not impossible for the initial address to be to the Children of Israel, followed by an address to the believers in Muhammad (PBUH).

2. The Children of Israel: The more probable view is that the addressees are the Children of Israel. Diverting the address to others would disrupt the coherence of the text.

• Objection: How can they be commanded with patience and prayer when they were deniers of them?
  • Response: We do not concede that they denied them entirely. Every person knows that patience in what requires patience is good, and that prayer—which is humility before the Creator and engagement in the remembrance of God—soothes the hardships and afflictions of the world. The difference lies only in the manner (kayfiyyah). The prayer of the Jews was according to one manner, and the prayer of the Muslims is according to another. Since the object of the command is the essence (māhiyyah), which is the common denominator, the difficulty is removed.

Based on this, when God commanded them to believe, abandon misguidance, and adhere to the religious laws (like prayer and charity), which was difficult for them due to the abandonment of leadership and worldly status, God addressed this malady by saying: "And seek help through patience and prayer."

Several interpretations are mentioned regarding patience and prayer:

1. Patience as Restraint from Desires: It is as if the verse means: Seek help, through patience (restraining the soul from worldly pleasures), to abandon what you love in this world and embrace what your nature finds difficult—accepting the religion of Muhammad (PBUH). If you train yourselves to do this, it becomes easier. Then, when you add prayer to it, the matter is perfected. This is because one engaged in prayer must be engaged in the remembrance of God Almighty, His majesty, His power, His mercy, and His grace. When one remembers His mercy, they incline toward obedience; when one remembers His punishment, they abandon sin. Thus, engaging in obedience and abandoning sin becomes easy.

2. Patience as Fasting (Sawm): The intended meaning of patience here is fasting, as the fasting person is patient regarding food and drink. When one restrains the self from fulfilling the desires of the belly and the private parts, the cycles of love for the world are removed. When prayer is added to this, the heart becomes illuminated by the lights of God's knowledge.

• Fasting is mentioned before prayer because fasting's effect is in removing what is inappropriate, while prayer's effect is in achieving what is appropriate. Negation precedes affirmation.
  • The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Fasting is a shield from the Fire." God Almighty said, "Indeed, prayer restrains from immorality and wrongdoing" (Al-Ankabut: 45). Prayer prevents preoccupation with the world and brings humility to the heart. Through it, one recites the Book, understands its promises, threats, admonitions, and beautiful manners, and remembers the destination of creation—the abode of reward or the abode of punishment. This fosters a desire for the Hereafter and aversion to the world, making it easy for a person to abandon leadership and sever ties with creation in favor of devotion to the Creator.
  • A similar verse is: "O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, God is with the patient" (Al-Baqarah: 153).

Regarding the statement "And indeed, it [the matter] is difficult..." (wa-innahā la-kabīratun):

There are several interpretations concerning the pronoun hā (it):

1. The pronoun refers to prayer (Salat); i.e., prayer is heavy except for the humble.
2. The pronoun refers to the seeking of help implied by the command "And seek help..."
3. The pronoun refers to all the matters commanded and forbidden to the Children of Israel, from "Remember My favor upon you" up to "And seek help." Arabs sometimes omit a word for brevity or rely on implication when they are certain of the listener's knowledge. For example, one might say, "There is nothing better upon it [the earth] than so-and-so," meaning the earth, without explicitly mentioning the earth. Similarly, God said, "And if Allah were to impose punishment upon the people for their wrongdoing, He would not have left upon it any creature" (An-Nahl: 61), though the earth was not explicitly mentioned.

Regarding the phrase "difficult" (la-kabīratun): It means arduous and heavy for those who do not humble themselves, but easy for the humble.

• Objection: If it is easy for the humble, their reward should be less than those who find it difficult, which is a reprehensible notion.
• Response: The meaning is not that the toil experienced by the non-humble is greater than that experienced by the humble. How could it be, when the humble person engages their limbs, heart, hearing, and sight during prayer, never neglecting to contemplate what they recite, showing humility, and feeling sorrow when remembering threats, and similar feeling when remembering promises? If this is the action of the humble, the difficulty of performing the prayer is greater for them.

The intended meaning of "it is difficult for those who do not humble themselves" is that they do not believe in a reward for performing it or a punishment for abandoning it. Therefore, performing it becomes hard for them.

In summary: If an atheist does not believe in any benefit from performing the prayer, its performance is burdensome to their nature because engaging in something useless is difficult. However, for the monotheist, because they believe in the greatest benefits in performing it and the greatest harms in abandoning it, it is not difficult, due to the reward and great success they anticipate in eternal bliss and deliverance from painful punishment.

Do you not see His saying: "who are certain that they will meet their Lord"? This means they expect to attain His reward and be saved from painful punishment.

This is analogous to telling a sick person to drink something bitter: if they believe it contains healing, the matter becomes easy; if they do not believe that, the matter becomes difficult. This is also how the Prophet (PBUH) said, "And prayer has been made the coolness of my eye," describing prayer this way due to the reasons mentioned, not because it was difficult for him—how could it be, when he prayed until his feet swelled?

Humility (Khushu') means submission and prostration.

The commentators have two main views on the meaning of ẓann (ظن, often translated as 'supposition' or 'belief'):

View 1: Ẓann means Knowledge (‘Ilm)

They argue that ẓann, when it implies the possibility of the opposite being true, suggests the person is not certain about the Day of Resurrection, which constitutes disbelief (kufr). Since God praised this belief, praising disbelief is impermissible. Therefore, ẓann here must mean knowledge.

• Justification for the Metaphor: Knowledge and ẓann share the characteristic of being a preponderant belief. However, knowledge is preponderant to the extent that it prevents the opposite, while ẓann is preponderant but does not prevent the opposite. Because they share this aspect, it is permissible to use the name of one for the other.
• Evidence from Poetry/Scripture:
  • A'ws ibn Hujr said:

    And I sent him, certain of his belief, that he was Mixing with the fear between the lower ribs.

  • God Almighty said: "Indeed, I thought that I would meet my account" (Al-Haqqah: 20).
  • God said, expressing disapproval: "Do those who commit evil deeds not think that they will be resurrected?" (Al-Mutaffifin: 4). God mentions this to rebuke them and urge them toward ẓann. It is not permissible to urge them toward a belief that allows for the opposite. Thus, it is established that ẓann here means knowledge.

View 2: The word is taken at its apparent meaning (Ẓāhir), which is True Supposition.

Here, there are several sub-views:

1. Meeting the Lord is a Metaphor for Death: Meeting the Lord is the consequence of death; thus, the consequence is used to mean the cause. This is a common metaphor, as it is said of someone who dies that he "met his Lord." If this is established, then the verse means: "Indeed, it is difficult except for the humble who expect death at every moment." Anyone who anticipates death at every moment will never let go of humility. They hasten to repentance because the fear of death strengthens the drive toward repentance. Furthermore, in every situation, they must not feel secure about any lapse they committed, compelling them to rectify it. This state leads them to hasten repentance.
2. Meeting the Reward of the Lord: What they expect to meet is the reward of the Lord, which is something expected (maẓnūn), not definitively known (ma‘lūm). The ascetic worshipper does not cut off certainty that they will meet God's reward; rather, they suppose it, but this supposition drives them to complete humility.
3. Meeting the Lord with Sins: The meaning is: "who suppose that they will meet their Lord with their sins." The humble person often has a poor opinion of themselves and their deeds, so the dominant supposition is that they will meet God burdened by their sins. This prompts them to hasten to repentance, which is a praiseworthy characteristic.

Issue 1: The Legality of Seeing God (Ru'yah)

Some scholars used the phrase "who will meet their Lord" as evidence for the permissibility of seeing God Almighty. The Mu'tazila argue that the word liqā’ (meeting) does not imply sight, citing the Qur'an, Hadith, and common usage:

• Qur'anic Evidence:
  • "So He punished them with hypocrisy in their hearts until the Day they meet Him" (At-Tawbah: 68). The hypocrite does not see his Lord.
  • "And whoever does that will meet sins [i.e., punishment]" (Al-Furqan: 68).
  • "And fear Allah and know that you will meet Him" (Al-Baqarah: 223). This addresses both disbelievers and believers, and sight is not established for the disbeliever. Thus, meeting is not sight.
• Hadith Evidence: The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Whoever swears a false oath to unjustly take the property of a Muslim will meet Allah while He is angry with him." This does not mean he saw Allah, as that is a description of the inhabitants of the Fire.
• Common Usage ('Urf): Muslims say of the deceased, "He met Allah," without meaning he saw God Almighty. Furthermore, liqā’ implies proximity where the veil between the two is removed. If a man is barred from the presence of a ruler, he says, "I have not met him yet," even if he saw him previously. If he is granted entry, he says, "I met him," even if he is blind. One also says, "So-and-so met severe hardship," or "I met severe calamity from so-and-so," or "So-and-so met his doom." All this indicates that liqā’ is not merely sight.
  • Also, "until the water rose up and the matter was accomplished" (Al-Qamar: 12). This applies to bodies, not to God.

The Ash'ari Response:

In its linguistic root, liqā’ means one body reaching another such that they touch surfaces. When this physical contact between two perceptible entities causes perception, and when applying the word to physical touching is impossible (as with God), it must be interpreted as perception/knowledge, because applying the word for the cause (touching) to the effect (perception) is a strong form of metaphor.

Therefore, the word liqā’ must be applied to perception in most cases. The instances where this meaning is abandoned are due to specific textual evidence. Based on this, the objections are resolved.

• Regarding "So He punished them with hypocrisy in their hearts until the Day they meet Him" (At-Tawbah: 68), where the hypocrite does not see his Lord: We say that this is due to necessity (ḍarūrah). In this context, because necessity compels us, we consider it. However, in "that they will meet their Lord," there is no necessity to divert the word from its apparent meaning, nor is there a need to assume an omitted addition. Therefore, the meeting with God Almighty must be linked to the state of meeting, not the act of seeing. If they bring forth rational arguments preventing the possibility of sight, we will demonstrate their weakness, and then relying on the apparent meaning in this context becomes sound.

Issue 2: The Meaning of Returning to God

The meaning of "returning to God" is returning to the state where He alone is the Master, and no one else can benefit or harm them, just as they were at the beginning of creation. Their final destination becomes like their initial state, in the sense that during their lives, others could rule over them, harm them, or benefit them, even though God was their Master in all circumstances.

Two groups of falsehood-speakers have used this verse as proof:

1. The Corporealists (Mujassimah): They argue that returning to a non-corporeal entity is impossible; since returning to God is established, God must be a body.
2. The Transmigrationists (Tanasukhīyah): They argue that returning to a thing requires prior existence with it, thus proving that souls are eternal and existed in the spiritual realm.

The refutation of both these claims has already been established based on previous discussions.

"O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I conferred upon you and that I preferred you over the worlds [of your time]."