Al-Ma'idah (The Table Spread): (35) O you who have believed...

Issues Discussed:

There are two perspectives on the structure of this verse following the preceding context:

First View: We have previously explained that when Allah informed His Messenger that a group of Jews intended to harm the Messenger and his believing companions through treachery and deceit, and Allah prevented them from their goal, the discourse then elaborated on the extreme obstinacy of the Jews regarding sin and their persistent refusal of acts of obedience (which are the means of approach to the Lord). The speech continued to this point. At this juncture, the discourse returns to the primary objective, saying: {O you who have believed, fear Allah and seek the means [Wasilah] to Him}.

It is as if the meaning is: You have recognized the extent of the Jews' audacity in sin and their distance from the acts of obedience that serve as means for the servant to reach the Lord. Therefore, O believers, be the opposite of them: be fearful of disobeying Allah, and seek closeness to Allah through obedience to Allah.

Second View: Allah recounted that they (the Jews) said: {We are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones} (Al-Ma'idah: 18). This means they claimed to be the sons of the Prophets of Allah, boasting based on the deeds of their forefathers. Therefore, Allah says: O you who have believed, let your boasting be based on your own deeds, not on the nobility of your fathers and ancestors. So, fear Allah and seek the means (Wasilah) to Him. And Allah knows best.

Know that the totality of religious obligations (Taklīf) is confined to two types, with no third:

1. Abandoning Prohibitions: Indicated by the statement {Fear Allah}.
2. Performing Commands: Indicated by the statement {and seek the means (Wasilah) to Him}.

Since abandoning prohibitions is intrinsically prior to performing commands, Allah mentioned it first in the text. We assert that abandonment precedes action because abandonment signifies the persistence of a thing in its original state of non-existence, whereas action signifies bringing something into existence. Undeniably, the non-existence of all created things precedes their existence; thus, abandonment must precede action.

Objection: Why is the Wasilah (means) specified only for action, when we know that abandoning sins can also be a means to approach Allah?

Response: Abandonment is maintaining a thing in its original state of non-existence. This continuous non-existence cannot be a means to anything whatsoever. Therefore, abandonment cannot be a Wasilah. However, if someone is tempted by notoriety to commit an ugly deed, but then abandons it seeking Allah's pleasure, then this refraining becomes a means of approach to Allah. This refraining, however, is considered an act in itself. This is why the scholars state: Abandoning a thing is equivalent to performing its opposite.

Once this is established, we note that abandonment and action are considered in the realm of outward deeds:

• What must be abandoned are the forbidden things (Muḥarramāt).
• What must be performed are the obligatory things (Wājibāt).

They are also considered in the realm of character (Akhlāq):

• What must be acquired are praiseworthy characteristics (Akhlāq al-Fāḍilah).
• What must be abandoned are blameworthy characteristics (Akhlāq al-Dhamīmah).

They are also considered in the realm of thoughts (Afkār):

• What must be performed is reflection upon the proofs indicating Monotheism (Tawḥīd), Prophethood, and the Hereafter.
• What must be abandoned is turning attention toward doubts (Shubuhāt).

They are also considered in the station of Divine Manifestation (Tajallī):

• Action (Fi'l) here is complete absorption in Allah (Istighrāq).
• Abandonment (Tark) is turning attention away from Allah.

The practitioners of spiritual discipline (Ahl al-Riyāḍah) call action and abandonment by various names: Adornment (Taḥliyah) and Stripping (Takhliyah), Effacement (Maḥw) and Sobriety (Ṣaḥw), Negation (Nafy) and Affirmation (Ithbāt), Annihilation (Fanā') and Subsistence (Baqā'). In all these stations, negation precedes affirmation. This is why in our declaration, {Lā ilāha illā Allāh} (There is no god but Allah), the negation precedes the affirmation.

Wasilah is an active concept; one seeks Wasilah to Him when one draws near to Him. The poet Labīd said:

I see people do not know the measure of their affair; Is every possessor of intellect seeking means to Allah? (i.e., seeking closeness)

Thus, the Wasilah is that by which one seeks the intended goal.

The Instructionalists (Taʿlīmiyyah) argue: This verse indicates that there is no path to Allah except through a teacher who instructs us in His knowledge and a guide who directs us to know Him. This is because Allah commanded the seeking of the Wasilah to Him absolutely, and belief in Him is one of the greatest objectives and noblest aims; therefore, a means must be necessary for it.

Our Response: Allah commanded the seeking of the Wasilah to Him after commanding belief in Him. Belief in Him is synonymous with knowing Him. Therefore, this command is to seek the means after belief and after knowing Him. It is thus impossible for this command to mean seeking the means to attain knowledge of Him. Rather, it means seeking the means to attain His pleasure, which is achieved through acts of worship and obedience.

Then Allah Almighty says: {And strive in His cause so that you may succeed}.

Know that when Allah commanded abandoning what is improper through {Fear Allah} and performing what is proper through {and seek the means to Him}, both of these are difficult and burdensome for the soul and desire. The soul only calls toward the world and sensory pleasures, while the intellect calls toward serving Allah, obeying Him, and turning away from sensory things. There is opposition and conflict between these two states.

Therefore, scholars likened the pursuit of the world and the Hereafter to two co-wives, to opposites, to the East and the West, and to night and day. Since this is the case, submitting to the command {Fear Allah and seek the means to Him} is one of the most difficult things for the soul and the heaviest burden on nature. For this reason, Allah followed this obligation with the statement: {And strive in His cause so that you may succeed}.

This verse is noble and contains spiritual secrets. We will point out one of them here: There are two groups of those who worship Allah:

1. Those who worship Allah for no purpose other than Allah Himself.
2. Those who worship Him for another purpose.

The First Station is the noble, high station, indicated by {And strive in His cause}, meaning in the path of His servitude and the way of sincerity in knowing and serving Him.

The Second Station is lower than the first, indicated by {so that you may succeed}. Success (Falāḥ) is a comprehensive term for deliverance from what is disliked and attainment of what is beloved.

When Allah guided the believers in this verse to the foundations of all good and the keys to all felicity, He followed it by describing the state of the disbelievers and the consequence for those who know no life or happiness except in this world. Among the terrible matters He mentioned are two types: