8. PIOUS PEOPLE’S DU‘Ā (SUPPLICATION) IN THE QUR’ĀN (7)

  8. PIOUS PEOPLE’S DU‘Ā (SUPPLICATION) IN THE QUR’ĀN (7)

Among the pious people’s du’a (supplication) mentioned in the Qur’ān are the believers in general, seven of them are in sūrat Āl ‘Imrān (Q. 3:8, 9, 16 , 191, 192, 193, and 194).  We shall deal here the verses mentioned above as follows:

رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِنْ لَدُنْكَ

رَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ (آل عمران:8)

Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the

 truth) after You have guided us (Q. 3:8)

          In a tradition narrated by Shahr ibn Ḥawshab he asked the Prophet’s wife r.a., Umm Salamah, what was the du’a he said most when he was with her, she said that he asked Allah to strengthen his heart in Islam. When she asked him why he did so, he said that it was because Allah had power to make the heart straight in the right path, or make it deviate (Reported by TirmidhĪ)

          The verse above continues with the following verse: 

رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ جَامِعُ النَّاسِ لِيَوْمٍ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ

 لَا يُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَادَ (آل عمران :9)

Our Lord! Verily it is You Who will gather mankind together

 on the Day about which there is no doubt.(Q. 3:9)

          When it was revealed that Allah beautified for men the love of things they covet: women, children, and wealth which are among the pleasure of this life, and that He had the excellent return (Q. 3:14), ‘Umar r.a. said, “O Lord! It is now the time we wish that You beautified these things for us!” Then Allah revealed that He would give better things for pious people, Paradise underneath which rivers flow, where they would have eternal home and wives… (Q. 3:15).

          The next verse explains who these pious people are. Allah said:

الَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا إِنَّنَا آمَنَّا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَقِنَا

عَذَابَ النَّارِ (آل عمران:16)

Those who say: “Our Lord! We have indeed

believed, so forgive us our sins and save us from

 the punishment of the Fire.” (Q. 3:16)

It was narrated by ‘Aishah r.a. that while the Prophet s.a.w.  was standing to pray Bilal r.a. came to perform ādhān (to call to prayer) and saw him weeping. So he asked him, “O Messenger of Allah, do you [still] weep, while Allah has forgiven your previous and past sins (misdeeds)?” He said, “O Bilal, am I not a grateful servant [of Allah]? He has revealed to me last night the verse “Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth…” then he said, “Woe to whom who reads it and does not think deeply about it.” The verse runs as follows:

 إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافِ اللَّيْلِ

وَالنَّهَارِ لَآيَاتٍ لِأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ (آل عمران:190)

Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth,

 and in the alternation of night and day, there are

 indeed signs for men of understanding (Q. 3:190).

 The verse continues with:

الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَى جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ

فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذَا بَاطِلًا

 سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ(آل عمران:191)

 Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers)

 standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and

think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the

earth, (saying): “Our Lord! You have not created (all) this

without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted are You above

all that they associate with You as partners). Give us

 salvation from the torment of the Fire.(Q. 3:191)

يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ “Remembering Allah”, means according to the Qur’ān commentators “establishing the prayer” which is not to be neglected, and if necessary, one prays sitting or on one’s side. The other interpretation is that remembering Allah is not only in prayer, but also outside prayer, while one is lying down, and reading the Qur’ān. This is also the view of Shaykh Abū Zahrah.

Shaykh Abū Zahrah’s commentary regarding remembering Allah he says that if the believer remembered Allah in all aspects of his life the whole human community would live in harmony, quarrels would become less, swords would not be unsheathed, and even two people would not dispute each another. Above all, whoever remembers Allah he would overcome the suffering of  life and its troubles, and people would not be inconvenient with him and would not become confused with him, and therefore, Allah said,

 الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكرِ اللَّهِ أَلا بِذِكْرِ اللهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقلُوبُ (الرعد:28)

Those who believed, and in whose hearts find rest in

  the remembrance of Allah: verily, in  the remembrance

of Allah do hearts find rest.(Q. 13:28)    

يَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ  “Think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth” means being conscious of the existence of the Creator Who created and designed everything, Who is the Supreme, the Almighty. Abū Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah talked about a man lying down, look up to the sky and the stars, and said to them, “I bear witness that you have a lord and a creator”. Then the man prayed, “O Allah, forgive me.”  Then Allah forgave him.

مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذَا بَاطِلًا “You have not created (all) this without purpose”, means not in vain, not uselessly, not for fun, but Your creation indicates Your power and wisdom. You created this creature for something important; there will be reward, punishment, accounting, Heaven and Hell.

سُبْحَانَكَ “Glory to You!” means that Allah is free from any defect. When the Prophet was asked the meaning of سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ (“Glory to Allah!” he said, “Purifying Allah from any defect” (تَنْزِيهُ اللَّهِ عَنِ السُّوءِ)

Shaykh Abu Zahrah says that there are three levels in thinking deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth. The first and the lowest level is looking at the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars and others, and this is the common sight among common people and people of understanding. The second level which is higher than the first, is thinking deeply their creation, the secrets and the rules of their creation, and this is what astronomers and other scholars in their fields do. The third and the highest level is thinking deeply beyond the creature, namely, the Creator. He thinks deeply the universe and its contents to realize the majesty of the Creator, so that he would know the mighty of the Creator through the beauty of the creature. This highest level of thinking deeply is the one intended in the above verse. The heart becomes submitted, and the tongue becomes humiliated, and said, “Glory to You. Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire.”

Then the pious people continued their du’a in the following verse:

رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ مَنْ تُدْخِلِ النَّارَ فَقَدْ أَخْزَيْتَهُ وَمَا

لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنْصَارٍ (آل عمران :192)

“Our Lord! Verily, whom You admit to the Fire,

 indeed, You have disgraced him;’ and never will be

 Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers)

 find any helpers.(Q. 3:192)

          Then their du’a continued with the following verse:

رَبَّنَا إِنَّنَا سَمِعْنَا مُنَادِيًا يُنَادِي لِلْإِيمَانِ أَنْ آمِنُوا بِرَبِّكُمْ فَآمَنَّا رَبَّنَا فَاغْفِرْ

 لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَكَفِّرْعَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الْأَبْرَارِ (آل عمران :193)

“Our Lord! Verily, we have heard the call of one

  calling to Faith: ‘Believe in your  Lord,’ and we have

 believed. Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and expiate

 from us evil deeds, and make us die (in the state

 of righteousness) along with al-Abrar

 (the pious believers) (Q. 3:193)

          مُنَادِيًا يُنَادِي لِلْإِيمَانِ “… the one calling to Faith”  was Muhammad s.a.w., and this was the view of Ibn Mas‘ūd, Ibn Zayd and the majority of mufassirīn. Another view was that of Qatādah, Muhammad ibn Ka‘b al-Quraẓī, that it was the Qur’ān, as not everybody had heard the Prophet calling people to Islam. Moreover, it was the Qur’ān which the jinn heard, and which guided to the right path, as mentioned in the Qur’ān, when they said:

 ) إِنَّا سَمِعْنا قُرْآناً عَجَباً يَهْدِي إِلَى الرُّشْدِ" (الجن: 2 – 1

They said: “We have heard a wonderful

Recitation (this Qur’ān). It guides to

the Right Path…”(Q. 72:1-2)

Here as mentioned in this verse, it was the Qur’ān which called to the Faith, not the Prophet. However, the argument of the first view is that whoever heard the Qur’ān it was as if he met the Prophet. Al-Ṭabarī said that the right view was the second one. It is because many people whom Allah described in this verse were not those who had seen the Prophet with their own eyes, so that they heard his call, but it was the Qur’ān.

The expression لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا فَاغْفِرْ “forgive us our sins” and كَفِّرْعَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا  “expiate from us evil deeds” are the same to emphasize the du’a in asking Allah’s forgiveness. The word kaffir means “cover”, and “covering evil deeds” means “expiate them” which also means “forgive”.  The term kafir literally means “coverer”, i.e., a person who “covers” the truth (Islam), a disbeliever.

Shaykh Abu Zahrah makes distinction between forgiveness of dhunūb (sins), which is being neglectful or being slow in performing one’s religious obligation, and expiation of sayyi’āt (evil deeds), which is disobedience by doing what is prohibited. Forgiveness of sins means deliverance from Hellfire, whereas expiation from evil deeds means the removal of the trace of misdeed. The third contents of the du ‘a is their request that Allah would make them die among pious people.

Then these people continue their du’a as follows:

رَبَّنَا وَآتِنَا مَا وَعَدْتَنَا عَلَى رُسُلِكَ وَلَا تُخْزِنَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ

 إِنَّكَ لَا تُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَادَ (آل عمران: 194)

“Our Lord! Grant us what You promised to us

 through Your Messengers and disgrace us not on

 the Day of Resurrection, for You never

 break (Your) Promise.”(Q. 3:194)

          They ask Allah to grant them what He has promised them through prophets sent to them. Prophets, even angels, pray to believers among their respective followers. They ask Allah not to disgrace them with punishment in the Hereafter

          Allah accepted their supplication when He said:

 فَاسْتَجَابَ لَهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ أَنِّي لَا أُضِيعُ عَمَلَ عَامِلٍ مِنْكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ أَوْ

 أُنْثَى بَعْضُكُمْ مِنْ بَعْضٍ فَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا وَأُخْرِجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ وَأُوذُوا

فِي سَبِيلِي وَقَاتَلُوا وَقُتِلُوا لَأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنْهُمْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَلَأُدْخِلَنَّهُمْ

جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ ثَوَابًا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ

عِنْدَهُ حُسْنُ الثَّوَابِ (آل عمران: 195)

So their Lord accepted of them (their supplication and

answered them), “Never will allow to be lost the work of

 you, be he male or female. You are (members) of one

 another, so those who emigrated and were driven out

 from their homes, and suffered harm in My Cause,

 verily, I will expiate from them their evil deeds and

 admit them into Gardens under which rivers flow

 (in Paradise); a reward from Allah, and with

 Allah is the best of rewards.” (Q. 3:195)

          Allah accepted their prayer, and mentioned the emigrants, either male or female, He would forgive them, and admit them to Paradise. He mentioned that He would reward the good deeds of the believers, male and female, as the Prophet’s wife Ummu Salamah had asked him why Allah did not mention the female gender in His revelation.

          As the merit of the above verses the Imam Ja‘far al-Ṣādiq said that whoever had a serious problem let him make the du’a (supplication) by reciting surat Āl ‘Imrān (chapter 3) verse 191 till 194 above where رَبَّنَا (“Our Lord!”) are mentioned five times, and Allah would accept his supplication.                  (Civic, 6 March, 2015)

المراجع:

المكتبة الشاملة

تفسير الطبري (ت. 310 هـ(

تفسير القرطبى (ت. 671 هـ(

تفسير ابن كثير (ت. 774 هـ(

زهرة التفاسير

Ali, A.Yusuf. The Meanings of the Holy Qur’ān. Kuala Lumpur: Percetakan Zafar Sdn Bhd, 2005  Asad,

Muhammad. The Message of the Qur’ān. Gibraltar: Dar al-Andalus, 1984.