Quran Garden

Session 319

Chapter 2

Verse 286

a continuation

Allah does not burden any soul, except with something within its capacity: for it what it earned and against it what it had acquired. - ‘Our Lord, do not take us to task if we have forgotten or erred.  Lord, do not burden us as You burdened those before us. Lord, do not burden us with more than we have the strength to bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our guardian, so help us against the disbelievers.’ (Chapter 2: Verse 286)

We continue with the supplication of the believers: ‘Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us.’  We turn to you, Lord, raise our hands and ask: Our Lord, you know that no matter how much awareness we have; No matter how God-fearing we are, we will never be able to properly fulfill your right, so we turn to you and supplicate for pardon. 

What is the meaning of ‘pardon us,’ you may ask? ‘Pardon’ is translated from the Arabic ‘Afu.’  It has its roots in the desert environment where footprints left by travelers in the sand are erased by the wind.  Similarly, if you do something wrong, your sins leave a trace.  When Allah pardons your sin, He erases its traces -as if it never happened-. 

How about ‘forgive us, and have mercy on us’? How is it different from ‘Pardon us’? "forgive us" is translated from the Arabic origin ‘Eghfir Lana.’  Say for example, that your neighbor wronged you and threw trash by your door.  Now you have a choice; you can treat the neighbor the same way he treated you and throw trash at his door.  You can suppress your anger and do nothing –although you still feel livid.-  Or you can choose to forgive and forget.

But how about your Creator? If you sin, God may not punish you for your sin, but He may still be angry with you.  And who among us can bear God’s anger? Therefore, we ask for forgiveness and supplicate: "forgive us.”  

Lastly, we ask our Lord for mercy which is the best of all things.  To receive mercy is to be spared from sin from the very beginning.  God says:

We send down the Quran as healing and mercy to those who believe; as for those who disbelieve, it only increases their loss. (17:82)

Take note that healing means to be cured of a disease that you are already afflicted with.  Mercy, on the other hand, means that you are spared the affliction entirely.    

The verse continues: “You are our guardian, so help us against the disbelievers.’  This is an acknowledgment that Allah is our Creator, the Executors of our affairs, and our Supporter.   He supports us against the disbelieving people.  Hence, the last verse of ‘The Cow’ is in harmony with the first few verses:

Alif, Lam, Meem. This is the Book in which there is no doubt, containing guidance for those who are mindful of God.  Those who believe in the unseen, establish prayer and spend out of what We have provided for them.  Those who believe in the revelation sent down to you, and in what was sent before you, and those who have firm faith in the Hereafter. Those are upon guidance from their Lord, and those are the successful.  As for Those who willfully persist in unbelief: it is alike to them whether you warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe. Allah has set a seal on their hearts, and on their ears and over their eyes there is a dark covering, and for them is great torment. (2:1-7)

At the beginning of the chapter, Allah gave us the examples of the believers and their counterparts -the disbelievers and the hypocrites-.  Here, Allah ends the chapter with the supplication of the believers: “You are our guardian, so help us against the disbelievers’ indicating an ongoing conflict between faith and disbelief. 

A true believer always upholds the commandment of God whenever and wherever disbelief and corruption are found.  He or she has complete trust and confidence that God is the Savoir and Protector.  The moment Islam is challenged, the believer stands up for his or her faith.  This implies that the believer must always remain attentive to the conspiracies of disbelief.  Why? We answer that the ultimate goal of those with no faith is to replace God’s rules with their own.  They aim to tilt the balance of life in their favor.  They want to exploit the weak, impoverish others by drowning them in interest-bearing and predatory loans, and raid natural resources even if that lays the environment to waste.  God’s teachings are the one major obstacle in the way of corruption.  Thus, it is critical for the believers to defend faith and work diligently to guard God’s teachings.  In this struggle, the believers ask God for support: ‘You are our guardian, so help us against the disbelievers’

This supplication also suggests that your personal belief in God is not enough.  You should work tirelessly to help others and let your faith shine to all creations around you.  The conflict between those on the straight path and the corrupt will cause life to be miserable and exhausting, especially for the believers.  Why, you may ask? We answer that if a person is honest and upright, his good character mostly benefits others, and would not necessarily benefit him.

Similarly, if a person is corrupt, his corruption hurts others, and may not necessarily hurt him.  An excellent surgeon benefits all patients, but if the surgeon needs surgery, he or she will have to go to a lesser doctor.  Think about your hands: if you are right-handed, your right-hand does a great job on everything else except itself.  When you trim your nails, you do a great job using your right hand to trim the left hand’s nails.  But when it comes to trimming the nails of your right hand, you use your left hand which is far less skilled.  Thus, make sure that all those around you are righteous so you can reap the benefits of their faith. 

Allah honored humanity by entrusting us as His successors on earth and making us superior over other creations.  The entire universe is at our service.  If we apply God’s teachings, tranquillity and peace would prevail, and humanity will be in perfect harmony with all creation.  God says:

We create man in the finest state, then reduce him to the lowest of the low, except those who believe and do righteous deeds.  There awaits them a never-ending reward. What, then, can make you deny the Divine System of life! (95:4-7)

Faith in God does not mean to isolate yourself from the rest of the world.  To the contrary, it means engaging people and living life to the fullest.  But there will always be those who benefit from corruption because it serves their interests, and thus a struggle arises; a battle in which everyone wants to be victorious.  Allah teaches you to ask for His aid and victory over the disbelievers.  We supplicate: ‘Lord, do not burden us as You burdened those before us. Lord, do not burden us with more than we have the strength to bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our guardian, so help us against the disbelievers.’

God’s help, however, is not without conditions.  A believer must face conflicts with untainted faith, pure motives, and adequate preparation.  If the believers are defeated, they should re-examine which part of their faith they did not uphold.  God says: ‘and the ones who support Our cause will be the victors’ (37:173)

You should use all the means God put at your disposal first, then supplicate: ‘You are our guardian, so help us against the disbelievers.’  God says:

Prepare against them whatever arms and cavalry you can muster, that you may strike terror in the hearts of the enemies of God and yours, and others besides them not known to you, but known to God. Whatever you spend in the way of God will be paid back to you in full, and no wrong will be done to you. (08:60)

God asks you to work hard, utilize the materials He deposited for you in the earth, and exercise your thoughtful mind.  Once you have exhausted all the means at your disposal, you would truly be eligible for God’s support and victory. 

CONGRATULATIONS FOR LISTENING TO THE ENTIRE TAFSIR OF SURAT AL-BAQARAH