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How should we call on our Lord?0:00

Benedict: One ayah of Surah Al-A'raf says Allah created the heavens and the earth, with the sun, the moon and the stars subjected by His command. The next ayah tells us how to call on Him: “Call upon your Lord in humility and privately; indeed, He does not like transgressors.”

Seven ayat, recited by Mishary Rashid Alafasy: about nineteen minutes.

We are students, not scholars. If a question needs a ruling, take it to a scholar you trust.

Assalamu alaikum, and welcome to the IMATX halaqa.

Joining the call0:37

Salma: Assalamu alaikum, Benedict. Assalamu alaikum, everyone.

Yu: Wa alaikum salam. Alhamdulillah, good to be here.

Viraj: Wa alaikum salam, everyone.

Victor: Wa alaikum salam wa rahmatullah.

Benedict: Wa alaikum salam wa rahmatullah, Salma, Yu, Viraj, Victor. It is good to be together again. Let us open with the du'a Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, tells His Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, to say in Surah Ta Ha: my Lord, increase me in knowledge.

Du'a: Ta Ha 20:114 · Mishary Rashid Alafasy.

Wa qul rabbi zidni 'ilma. — And say, “My Lord, increase me in knowledge.”

Victor: Ameen.

Where we are1:16

Benedict: The previous passage ended at ayah fifty-one, with people who forgot the meeting of their Day. This passage begins with the Book they had been given. Al-Tabari says ayah fifty-two turns back to the second ayah of the surah, where this Book is first mentioned.

Then the passage turns. It leaves the Day of Judgment for Allah, Azza wa Jall, the Lord who created the heavens and the earth, tells us how to call on Him, and comes back to the Hereafter through rain on a dead land.

Ayah fifty-two - a Book, as guidance and mercy1:46

Al-A'raf 7:52 · Recitation: Mishary Rashid Alafasy. Read the verses.

Benedict: Would you read the translation for us, Yu?

Yu: And We had certainly brought them a Book which We detailed by knowledge, as guidance and mercy to a people who believe.

The way I understood it, the Book was sent so that no one could say they were never told.

Benedict: Jazakallahu khayran, Yu. That is very close to Ibn Kathir. He says that by sending prophets and a Book explained in detail, Allah left them no excuse. And al-Qurtubi says the believers are named because they are the ones who benefit from it.

Salma: Rahma, mercy. That word I hear every day at home. And I noticed it comes back more than once in these ayat.

Benedict: Three times. Here the Book is mercy. In ayah fifty-six, His mercy is near to those who do good. In ayah fifty-seven, the winds come before His mercy, and al-Tabari says that mercy is the rain. In Indonesian it is rahmat. By the end of the passage, the mercy that came as a Book is coming down as rain.

Salma: Masha Allah.

Ayah fifty-three - the Day it comes true3:04

Al-A'raf 7:53 · Recitation: Mishary Rashid Alafasy. Read the verses.

Benedict: Viraj, the next one is yours.

Viraj: Do they await except its result? The Day its result comes those who had ignored it before will say, “The messengers of our Lord had come with the truth, so are there now any intercessors to intercede for us or could we be sent back to do other than we used to do?” They will have lost themselves, and lost from them is what they used to invent.

Salma: Ta'wil. When I hear ta'wil, I think of explaining something, like explaining a dream. But that can't be the meaning here, can it?

Benedict: Not here. All four commentators read ta'wil in this ayah as the outcome: what the Book promised, coming true. Ibn Kathir calls it the final fulfilment. Lane takes the root from returning, so ta'wil is where a thing ends up.

And the dream you mentioned, Salma, is the bridge. When Yusuf's dream comes true, he calls it the ta'wil of his dream, and al-Tabari reports Ibn Zayd reading our ayah by that one.

Viraj: Can I ask about the intercessors? Why would they ask for someone to speak for them?

Benedict: Al-Tabari says they ask for intercessors because in this world they always had someone to speak for them in their needs. On that Day there is no friendship and no intercession.

Yu: The part about being sent back stays with me. Astaghfirullah, I say later a lot: later I'll read more Qur'an, once work calms down. This ayah makes later sound different.

Benedict: The Book came while there was still time to act on it. The wish to be sent back is a wish for that same time, and we still have it, alhamdulillah.

Ayah fifty-four - the creation and the command5:31

Al-A'raf 7:54 · Recitation: Mishary Rashid Alafasy. Read the verses.

Benedict: This is where the passage turns, from that Day to the One who made everything. Salma, would you read it?

Salma: Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself above the Throne. He covers the night with the day, another night chasing it rapidly; and He created the sun, the moon, and the stars, subjected by His command. Unquestionably, His is the creation and the command; blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds.

Viraj: Why six days, though? If Allah can do anything, why not all at once?

Benedict: Hold on to that one, Viraj: it is our second question for the discussion. Ibn Kathir does report a difference over the days themselves: whether they were days like ours, or each like a thousand years.

Then He established Himself above the Throne. The commentators affirm it as the ayah says it, without asking how. Al-Qurtubi records Imam Malik's words: the istiwa' is known, and the how is unknown. And Ibn Kathir brings an ayah of Surah Ash-Shura: There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.

Salma: Benedict, near the end of the ayah: al-khalqu wal-amr. I use both words all the time, but never together. Khalq is creation, people; amr is an order, or whatever the matter is.

Benedict: In the ayah they come together: His is the creation and the command. Ibn Kathir explains the pair as the dominion and the decision, and al-Tabari says His command is not opposed or turned back. Everything was made by Him, and everything still runs by His command. In Indonesian, makhluk, a creature, comes from khalq.

Yu: Ala lahul-khalqu wal-amr. Tabarakallahu rabbul-'alamin. Blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds.

Benedict: Ibn Kathir explains why the next ayah is about du'a. After the creation and His command, Allah ordained that He be called on, for He is able to do all things.

Ayah fifty-five - humbly and privately8:15

Al-A'raf 7:55 · Recitation: Mishary Rashid Alafasy. Read the verses.

Benedict: And this is the ayah we began with. Would you read it, Yu?

Yu: Call upon your Lord in humility and privately; indeed, He does not like transgressors.

Salma: Khufyatan. Khafi is something hidden. So a hidden du'a?

Benedict: Hidden, yes: quietly, in secret. Al-Tabari says it means between you and Him, not loudly to be seen. It comes paired with tadarruan, humbling yourself as you ask, and Lane gives that root as being lowly and humble. The ayah's first word, ud'u, call upon, is from the same root as our doa.

Yu: There's a narration about this in Sahih al-Bukhari. On a journey, the Companions said Allahu akbar out loud, and the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, told them: you are not calling one who is deaf or absent.

Benedict: And it goes on: you are calling One who hears, who sees, and who is near: Allah, as-Sami', al-Basir. Ibn Kathir brings it from the Two Sahihs, right at this ayah.

Viraj: I always took transgressors to mean really bad people. But reading the tafsir, I saw all four commentators take it here as those who overstep in du'a.

Benedict: That's right: here it is about du'a, and al-Jalalayn describes them as braggarts and loud-mouthed in their supplications. So al-Khaliq, who created the heavens and the earth, is near, and a du'a does not need to be loud to reach Him.

Ayah fifty-six - in fear and in hope9:58

Al-A'raf 7:56 · Recitation: Mishary Rashid Alafasy. Read the verses.

Benedict: Viraj, would you read the next one?

Viraj: And cause not corruption upon the earth after its reformation. And invoke Him in fear and aspiration. Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good.

Benedict: Al-Tabari and al-Jalalayn read the corruption as associating partners with Allah and disobeying Him, after He set the earth right by sending messengers. Al-Qurtubi says the ban is general: all corruption, little or much.

Salma: Tama'. In everyday Arabic that is not a nice word. Tama' is wanting too much.

Benedict: Lane gives both senses: to desire eagerly, and sometimes to hope. Here it is hope; Saheeh International says aspiration. We met the root in the previous passage, in yatma'un, the men on the heights who hoped, and in the Indonesian tamak, greedy. The noun comes four times in the Qur'an, and every time, fear comes just before it.

Viraj: Subhanallah, every time. Can I ask something basic? How can I be afraid of Allah and hope in Him at the same time?

Benedict: Al-Qurtubi answers with a picture: hope and fear should be like the two wings of a bird, carrying a person on his way; with only one, he falls.

Salma: And the end of the ayah: inna rahmatallahi qaribun minal-muhsinin. The way I understood it, the hope is not wishful thinking. The mercy is near to people who are doing good.

Benedict: Al-Tabari reads it much the same way. He says the reward promised to those who do good is near to them, because nothing stands between them and it except their souls leaving their bodies.

Ayah fifty-seven - rain on a dead land11:54

Al-A'raf 7:57 · Recitation: Mishary Rashid Alafasy. Read the verses.

Benedict: Now the passage turns to the rain. Salma?

Salma: And it is He who sends the winds as good tidings before His mercy until, when they have carried heavy rainclouds, We drive them to a dead land and We send down rain therein and bring forth thereby some of all the fruits. Thus will We bring forth the dead; perhaps you may be reminded.

Bushran. We still say bushra when someone has good news to tell.

Benedict: Good news, before the rain. Lane ties the word to the skin: news that changes a person's complexion. The noun comes only three times in the Qur'an, and each time it is the winds before His mercy. Ibn Kathir says before His mercy means before the rain, and in Indonesian, too, we often call the rain rahmat.

Viraj: Benedict, why does the ayah go from rain to the dead? I thought we had left the Day of Judgment behind.

Benedict: We had, and now it comes back. Kadhalika nukhrijul-mawta: thus will We bring forth the dead. Ibn Kathir says: just as We bring life to dead land, We shall raise up the dead on the Day of Resurrection. Al-Tabari says the parable is for people who denied the resurrection: for One who has this power, raising the dead is easy. So a dry field turning green is a reminder of that Day.

Victor: Subhanallah. I will look at the next rain differently.

Ayah fifty-eight - two kinds of ground13:59

Al-A'raf 7:58 · Recitation: Mishary Rashid Alafasy. Read the verses.

Benedict: The last ayah of the passage. Would you read it, Yu?

Yu: And the good land, its vegetation emerges by permission of its Lord; but that which is bad, nothing emerges except sparsely, with difficulty. Thus do We diversify the signs for a people who are grateful.

Salma: Nakidan. That one is new to me, Benedict. It even sounds hard.

Benedict: It is hard. Nakidan comes only here; it is the only time the root appears in the Qur'an. Lane uses it for a well that has come to have little water, and for a man who gives little, or nothing at all. So it is a word for ground that can also describe a person.

Viraj: Masha Allah. So are the two lands really two kinds of people?

Benedict: The commentators read them in more than one way. Al-Jalalayn reads them as the believer and the disbeliever. Al-Tabari reports al-Suddi reading the two lands as hearts: when the Qur'an came down, the believing heart took it in, and the other kept nothing from it.

And Ibn Kathir brings the Prophet's own parable, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam: guidance is like heavy rain on three kinds of ground. One drinks it in and grows plants, one holds the water for others, and one neither holds it nor grows anything.

Victor: For me, the middle ground is the encouraging one. Even on days I'm slow to grow, I can still hold the water and pass it on to my kids, in sha Allah.

Benedict: We began by asking how we should call on our Lord: in humility and privately. The passage has shown us that this Lord is near, and that His mercy is near to those who do good. That mercy came as a Book and comes as rain, and what it grows depends on the ground it falls on. So the passage asks two things of us: to keep calling on Him quietly, in fear and in hope, and to be good ground for what He sends, like the people this ayah ends with, who are grateful.

Your questions, and two for the discussion16:15

Benedict: Before we finish, any questions?

Viraj: Mine is simple. Do I have to make du'a out loud? Sometimes I just think it.

Benedict: The ayah asks for the quiet one. Ibn Kathir compares ayah two hundred and five of this surah: remember your Lord within yourself in humility and in fear without being apparent in speech. Al-Tabari and al-Qurtubi bring Zakariyya, who called to his Lord a private supplication. How a du'a kept only in the heart compares with one on the lips is a question for a scholar you trust.

Yu: Mine is about what we ask for. Is it wrong to ask for very specific things, like a particular job or house?

Benedict: Al-Qurtubi lists ways of overstepping in du'a: shouting, or asking for the rank of a prophet, for the impossible, or for a sin. And when Abdullah ibn Mughaffal heard his son ask for the white palace on the right side of Paradise, he told him to ask Allah for Paradise and seek refuge with Him from the Fire: he had heard the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, say there would be people who overstep in supplication. For your own du'a, ask a scholar you trust.

Salma, would you read our first question for the discussion?

Salma: Ayah fifty-five says: call on your Lord tadarruan wa khufyatan, humbly and privately. Al-Tabari records al-Hasan al-Basri: the early Muslims worked hard at their du'a, and no voice was heard from them, only a whisper between them and their Lord. Much of the du'a we hear is said out loud, at a gathering or after a talk. What makes a quiet du'a, alone and in your own words, hard to keep up?

Benedict: And the second, Yu?

Yu: Ayah fifty-four says Allah created the heavens and the earth in six days. Al-Jalalayn says He could have created them in an instant, but “He wanted to teach His creatures to be circumspect”: careful, and not in a hurry. Al-Qurtubi says the same in his own words: to teach gentleness and care in our affairs. Where are you in a hurry for change, in yourself or in someone close to you? What would it look like to give it time?

Viraj: That one will stay with me.

Benedict: Bring your own questions about these ayat to your circle, too.

Close18:29

Benedict: Let us end the way the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, ended a gathering. Abu Barza reports he called these words an expiation for what happens in a gathering. Salma, will you?

Salma: Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ashhadu an la ilaha illa anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk.

Benedict: Glory is to You, O Allah, and praise. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except You. I seek Your forgiveness, and I repent to You.

Victor: Next session, we start from ayah fifty-nine, with Nuh and his people, in sha Allah.

Viraj: And if you're new to studying the Qur'an, take it one ayah at a time. Not long ago, that was me.

Benedict: If you lead a halaqa of your own, the questions and the study notes for this passage are on the halaqa website, for your circle. Jazakumullahu khayran for listening.

Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.