2.39. PROMISE AND TRUST (concluded)

God says

…And be true to every promise – for, verily, [on Judgment Day] you will be called to account for every promise which you have made!* -- Q.17:34

Verily We did offer the trust [of reason and violation] to the heavens, and the earth, and the mountains:* but they refused to bear it because they were afraid of it. Yet man took it up** – for, verily, he has always been prone to be most wicked, most foolish. -- Q.33:72
*Classical commentators give all kinds of laborious explanations to the term amanah (“trust”) occurring in this parable, but the most convincing of them ( mentioned in Lane 1, 102, with reference to the above verse) are “reason” or “intellect”, and the “faculty of volition”-- i.e., the ability to choose between two or more possible courses of action or modes of behaviour, and thus between good and evil.

** Sc., “and failed to measure up to the moral responsibility arising from the reason and the comparative free will with which he has been endowed” (Zamakhshari). This obviously applies to the human race as such, and not necessarily to all of its individuals.

.…and [those] who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges; and who stand firm whenever they bear witness; -- Q.70: 32,33

Prophet said

3. “When a man passes an information and wants it to be kept a secret, it is a trust”– H: Tirmizi and Abu Daud. N: Jaber-b-Abdullah.

4. “Return the entrusted (article) to the one who entrusted (it), and do not betray one who betrayed you” – H: Tirmizi and Abu Daud. N: Abu Hurairah.

5. A trustworthy Muslim treasurer is one who carries out his duties honestly and issues what he is ordered to, and very happily hands it over in full to the person entitled to receive the same. Such a treasurer is like a person who himself donated something.” H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Abu Musa Ash‘ari.
According to another Tradition, a person who hands over a thing to another person, as ordered, is also entitled to recompense of charity.

2.39. PROMISE AND TRUST (to be continued)

God says



Behold, God bids you to deliver all that you have been entrusted with unto those who are entitled thereto, …. Q.4:58



O you who have attained to faith, do not be false to God and the Apostle, and do not knowingly be false to the trust [amanah] that has been reposed to you; and know that your worldly goods and your children are but a trial and a temptation, and that with God there is a tremendous reward.*-- Q.8:27

* Inasmuch as love of worldly goods and a desire to protect one’s family may lead a person to transgression, they are described as fitnah. However, contrary to the New Testament, the Qur’an does not postulate a contempt for worldly attachments as a pre-requisite of righteousness: it only demands man that he should not allow these attachments to deflect him from the pursuit of moral verities.



O you who have attained to faith! Remain conscious of God, and be among those who are true to their word! -- Q.9: 119



…And be true to every promise – for, verily, [on Judgment Day] you will be called to account for every promise which you have made!* -- Q.17:34

* Lit., “every promise shall be asked about” or “investigated”.



Prophet said



1. “…a Muslim has a pledge with God and His Apostle: so (as a Muslim) don’t act treacherously about your pledge with God.”– H: Bukhari. N: Anas.



2. “Signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks, speaks falsehood; when he promises, he breaks it; and when he is entrusted, he proves untrustworthy” – H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Abu Hurairah.

2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (continued)

God says

And never have We sent forth any apostle otherwise than [with a message] in his own people’s tongue, so that he might make [the truth] clear unto them; but God lets go astray him that wills [to go astray], and guides him that wills [to be guided] – for He alone is almighty, truly wise.* -- Q.14:4
*Or: “God lets go astray whomever He wills, and guides whomever He wills”. All Quranic references to God’s “letting man go astray” must be understood against the background of 2 : 26-27 – “none does He cause to go astray save the iniquitous, who break their bond with God”: that is to say man’s “going astray” is a consequence of his own attitudes and inclinations and not a result of an arbitrary “predestination”. In his commentary on the above verse, Zamakhshari stresses this aspect of free choice on the part of man and points out “[God] forsakes him who, as He knows will (consciously) choose to deny the truth and will persevere in this (denial); and… He bestows His favour upon him who, as He knows, will choose faith: which means that He makes the issue dependent on (man’s) free choice (al-ikhtiyar), and thus deserving either [God’s] favour or the withdrawal of [His] aid … and does not make it dependant on compulsion [i.e., predestination], which would rule out [man’s] deserving anything of the above.”


This [message] is no less than a reminder to all mankind – to everyone of you who wants to walk a straight way. -- Q.81: 27

Prophet said

How to step out of the house in God’s care? :--
“He who on coming out of the house prays: BISMILLAHI TAWAKKALTO ‘ALAL-LAH, WALA HOWLA WA LA QOOWATA ILLA BILLAH [I go out in the name of God, with my trust in Him. None has strength except Him (to save me from evil) or has the power except Him (to enable me to do good)], then he is shown the right path and is protected, and the Satan withdraws from him.” – H: Abu Daud, Tirmizi and Nisai. N: Anas-bin-Malik.

2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (continued)

God says

Behold, as for those who are bent on denying the truth – it is all one to them whether you [O Prophet] warn them or do not warn them: they will not believe. God has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their eyes is a veil;* and awesome suffering awaits them. – Q.2:6,7
*A reference to the natural law instituted by God, whereby a person who persistently adheres to false beliefs and refuses to listen to the voice of truth gradually loses the ability to perceive the truth, “so that finally, as it were, a seal is set upon his heart” (Raghib). Since it is God who has instituted all laws of nature – which, in their aggregate, are called sunnat Allah (“the way of God”) – this “sealing” is attributed to Him: but it is a consequence of man’s free choice and not an act of “predestination”. Similarly, the suffering which, in the life to come, is in store for those who during their life in this world have remained deaf and blind to the truth, is a natural consequence of their free choice – just as happiness in life to come is the natural consequence of man’s endeavour to righteousness and illumination. It is in this sense that Quranic references to God’s “reward” and “punishment” must be understood.

Prophet said

The wise and the foolish:
“A wise person is one who keeps a watch over his desires and passions, checks himself from that which is harmful and strives for that which will be of benefit after death; and a foolish person is one who submits to the cravings and desires of his self, and (then) ask God (for their fulfillment)”. – H: Tirmizi. N: Abu y‘ala bin Shaddad bin Aus.

Study next week, inshaAllah, verse 14:4: “God lets go astray whomever He wills, and guides whomever He wills” as it needs to be clearly and correctly understood.

2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (continued)

God says


(5) It is they who follow the guidance [which comes] from their Sustainer; and it is they, they who shall attain to a happy state!

Now read together verses 2 to 5, bearing in mind the comments or referring to them.
This divine writ – let there be no doubt about it – is [meant to be] a guidance for all God-conscious* (3) who believe in [the existence of] that which is beyond the reach of human perception**, and are constant in prayer, and spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance;*** (4) and who believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon thee, [O Prophet,] as well as that which was bestowed before thy time:**** for it is they who in their innermost are certain of the life to come!
(5) It is they who follow the guidance [which comes] from their Sustainer; and it is they, they who shall attain to a happy state!




Prophet said


“God says: when a servant of mine proceeds towards Me a hand spread, I rush towards him an arm (length), and when he proceeds towards Me an arm (length), I advance towards him by (the length) of his (both) arms spread out. When he comes to Me walking, I advance to him running.” – Hadees Qudsi, Bukhari. N: Anas-b-Malik.


Next Friday, inshaAllah, understand the next two verses 2: 6,7, which are generally misunderstood: “God has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their eyes is a veil;”

2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (continued)

God says

Q. 2:4. …and (the God-conscious) who believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon thee [O Prophet,] as well as in that which was bestowed before thy time:**** for it is they who are in their innermost certain of the life to come!
**** This is reference to one of the fundamental doctrines of the Quran: the doctrine of the historical continuation of the revelation. Life – so the Quran teaches us – is not a series of unconnected jumps but a continuous, organic process: and this law applies also to the life of the mind, of which man’s religious experience (in cumulative sense) is a part. Thus, the religion of the Quran be properly understood only against the background of the great monotheistic faiths which preceded it, and which, according to Muslim belief, culminate and achieve their final formulation in the faith of Islam.

2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (continued)

God says

Q. 2:3. …and (the God-conscious) are constant in prayer, and spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance;***
*** Ar-rizq (“provision of sustenance”) applies to all that may be of benefit to man, whether it be concrete (like food, property, offspring, etc.,) or abstract (like, knowledge, piety etc.). The spending on others is mentioned here in one breath with God-consciousness and prayer because it is precisely in such selfless acts that true piety comes to its full fruition.