Al-A'la: (15) And remembers the Name of his Lord...

There are several issues concerning this verse:

Issue 1: Interpretations of "And remembers the Name of his Lord"

The commentators have offered several interpretations:

First View: Ibn Abbas said that it refers to remembering his standing before his Lord and then praying to Him. I argue that this interpretation is definitive because the stages of a responsible person's actions are three:

1. Removing corrupt beliefs from the heart.
2. Recalling the knowledge of God, His Attributes, and His Names.
3. Engaging in His service.

The first stage is intended by purification in the verse: {He has succeeded who purifies himself} (Al-A'la: 14).

The second stage is intended by the statement: {And remembers the Name of his Lord}, because remembrance by the heart is nothing but knowledge (Ma'rifah).

The third stage is service, which is intended by {Then he prays}. Prayer (Salat) is an expression of humility and reverence. Whoever has his heart illuminated by the knowledge of God's Majesty and Greatness, the effect of submission and reverence must necessarily appear in his limbs and organs.

Second View: A group of commentators said that {He has succeeded who purifies himself} means whoever gives charity before going to the Eid prayer, and {And remembers the Name of his Lord, then he prays} means he then performs the Eid prayer with the Imam. This is the view of 'Ikrimah, Abu al-'Aliyah, Ibn Sirin, and Ibn 'Umar, and it is narrated as being attributed to the Prophet (peace be upon him).

This interpretation faces two problems:

1. God's usual practice in the Qur'an is to mention prayer before mentioning Zakah (charity), not the reverse.
2. Al-Tha'labi stated that this Surah is unanimously Meccan, and there was neither Eid nor Zakat al-Fitr in Mecca.

Al-Wahidi answered this by saying it is not impossible that God praised those who would do this, knowing that it would happen later.

Third View: Muqatil said: {He has succeeded who purifies himself} (Al-A'la: 14) means he gives charity from his wealth and remembers his Lord with Tawhid (monotheism) in the prayer, then prays to Him. The difference between this view and the previous one is that this one encompasses both obligatory Zakah and obligatory prayer, whereas the first view does not necessarily do so.

Fourth View: {He has succeeded who purifies himself} does not refer to the Zakah of wealth, but rather the purification of deeds—meaning whoever purifies his actions from showing off (Riya') and negligence. This is because the usual expression is to say "Zakka" concerning wealth, not "Tazakka." God Almighty says: {And whoever purifies himself, he purifies himself for his own soul} (Fatir: 18).

Fifth View: Ibn Abbas said: {And remembers the Name of his Lord} means he says Allahu Akbar (Takbir) when leaving for the Eid prayer, and then performs the Eid prayer.

Sixth View: The meaning is that he remembers the Name of his Lord in his prayer, so that his prayer is not like the prayer of the hypocrites, who show off to people and remember Allah only a little.

Issue 2: Juristic Arguments based on the Verse

The jurists used this verse to argue for the obligation of the opening Takbir (Takbirat al-Ihram).

Abu Hanifa, may God have mercy on him, used this verse to argue that the opening Takbir is not part of the prayer itself, because the prayer is connected to it by conjunction ('atf), and conjunction implies difference (i.e., they are two distinct actions). He also used this verse to argue that the opening invocation is permissible with any of His Names.

Our companions (Shafi'is/Malikis/Hanbalis) replied that the implied structure of the verse is: "And he prays, and remembers the Name of his Lord." There is no difference between saying, "You honored me, so I visited you," and saying, "You visited me, so you honored me."

Abu Hanifa can counter by saying that abandoning the implication of immediate sequence (fa' al-ta'qib) without evidence is not permissible.

The better response is to say that the verse indicates the praise of everyone who remembers God and then immediately performs prayer following that remembrance. However, the verse does not specify that this remembrance is the opening Takbir. Perhaps the meaning is that whoever remembers God in his heart, and remembers His reward and punishment, this remembrance prompts him to perform the prayer. Then, he comes with the prayer, one part of which is the Takbir. In this case, the argument is deflected.

Then the Almighty said: