Interpretation of the - Surat Al-Baqara(2)-Lesson (95)- (Verse 285): Price of Victory

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of Creations, and Peace and blessings be upon our prophet , the faithful and the honest. Oh, Allah, w e know nothing but w hat You teach us. You are the All- Know er, the Wise. Oh Allah, teach us w hat is good for us, and benefit us from w hat You taught us, and increase our know ledge. Show us the righteous things as righteous and help us to do them, and show us the bad things as bad and help us to keep aw ay from them. O Allah our Lord, lead us out from the depths of darkness and illusion, unto the lights of erudition and know ledge, and from the muddy shallow s of lusts unto the heavens of Your Vicinity. O Brothers, this is the ninety-fifth and the last lesson of al-Baqarah and this is the Verse number tw o hundred and eighty five. Allah Almighty says: "

The Messenger (Muhammad) believes in w hat has been sent dow n to him from his lord and (so do ) the believers, each one of them believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books and His Messengers"

Or you can read it as the follow ing:

The Messenger (Muhammad) believes in w hat has been sent dow n to him from his lord, and the believers each one of them believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books and His Messengers"

Both recitations are possible. O Brothers, the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) has absolute faith in his Lord, his faith impelled him to obey his Lord and to become close to Him, and so do the believers, and Allah has enjoined on the Believers the same orders He enjoined on His Messengers despite the great difference betw een the Noble Prophet and a Believer. The Prophet said in an authentic Hadith:

(Allah commanded the Messengers as He commanded the believers)

[Muslim, Termizi, Ahmmad narrated by Abo Huraiah]

There is another proof from the Holy Quran:

"Stand firm and straight( on Islam) as you are commanded and those who turn in repentance w ith you"

[ 112 ]

I've clarified this example to you earlier a health procedure must be applied perfectly by any nurse in a hospital just as by the highest surgeon, so in spite of the great difference betw een the tw o positions (of the nurse and the surgeon) the conditions are the same.

Disobedience of Allah’s instructions indicates faith weakness Whoever doesn't apply the orders of Allah, his heart lacks of faith. Allah Almighty says:

"The Messenger believes in w hat has been sent down to him from his Lord"

There is a slight hint. When Allah Almighty says:

"Allah w ill destroy usury and w ill give increase for alms"

[Surah Al-Baqarah 267]

If you actually believe in this Verse, you w ill not take usury nor w ill you help others in practicing it. When Allah commanded you to be honest, you w ill not lie because you believe in His orders, and w hen Allah commanded you to be sincere, your real faith w ill prevent you from cheating. So, it is not a matter of Blessing, i.e. w hoever recites the Holy Quran only to get the blessing of it and does not act according to it, it is as if he does not believe in it. Suhaib narrated the Prophet( Peace and Blessing be upon him) as saying:

(He doesn't believe in the Holy Quran w ho makes legal w hat is forbidden in it )

[Termizi]

The w ord (believe in the Holy Quran) means: believe that it w as sent dow n from the Creator of the universes, from the Most High, the Most Great, the Well-Acquainted w ith all things, the All-Strong, the Free of all needs, the All-Wise and the All-Know ing. So, w hoever doesn't carry out the commands of Allah, his faith is w eak. The w ord"The Messenger believes" means that the truth is w hat w as revealed dow n to him, and anything else is falsehood, the real happiness is in follow ing Allah's order and if you follow anything else you w ill be distressed; the tranquility is in the Remembrance of Allah, otherw ise your life w ill be a misery.

"Verily, in the Remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest"

[Ar-Rad 28]

Belief in the Quran means application of its verdicts

We must understand the meaning of the Verse"The Messenger believes" When you believe-w ith regards to your health- that salt causes hypertension and that it may produce paralysis or losing eye sight –as a taken for granted truth_ you w ould not neglect this fact; instead, you w ill deal w ith it carefully. So, w hen our belief becomes deeper w e w ill know that it is Allah Who ordered, forbade and made legal and illegal; the commitment to His orders, doing legal and avoiding the illegal is the only sign of your belief. So, the mark of your belief in the Holy Quran is putting its verdicts in effect; otherw ise, your heart lacks of faith. Once, a man coming out of his shop in one of Damascus markets, w anted to take my advice on his daughter’s marriage. He said: a handsome w ealthy young man came to me and asked my daughter's hand. He has a factory, luxurious house, and a vehicle but there is a w eakness in his faith. What should I do? I asked him: don't you recite the Holy Quran? Allah Almighty says:

" A believing slave is better than an idolater even though he pleased you"

Then I asked him: w hat do you say after concluding your reciting? You say: Allah Almighty has said the truth. That man gave his consent upon the marriage, but it didn't last for a long time; they got divorced soon. When he accepted that young man to be his son-in-law he didn't believe from the bottom of his heart that

"a believing slave is better than an idolater even though he pleased you".

So, everyone must w atch himself. When you act against w hat is enjoined on you in the Holy Quran in all your social relations, in getting and spending your w ealth, in approving and disapproving your daughters' marriage and w hen you act w ithout a guidance from Allah, you don't believe in the Holy Quran, w ith all due respect that you are Muslim but you aren't a true Believer. You do not discuss the instructions given by an honest skilled doctor; w hatever the doctor says is applied, you may sell your very expensive house because of only one w ord from a cardiologist: this house doesn’t fit you any more(because of the stairs) you have to sell it and buy a ground floor apartment. So, w hy is it that you don't argue w hen it comes to the instructions of the specialists?

Submission to Allah’s commands is the Mark of faith

O Believers, this is a fact, w hen you don't carry out the straight orders of the Holy Quran, you don't have the complete faith in it – to be precise – the savior belief that stimulates you to obey your Lord, to know that it is the Holy orders of Allah and to know that the reason of any order is that it w as enjoined by Allah Almighty.I'll never forget a dialogue betw een an oriental Muslim scholar and his American counterpart w ho had new ly embraced Islam. The oriental scholar spoke for a long hours about the risks of eating pork to the health, but his counterpart –w ho had absolute belief in his Lord- replied: it is sufficient for you to tell me that Allah has forbidden it! So, w hen you believe that these orders are from the Creator of the universes, from the only Lord, the All-Wise and the All-Acquainted, this is the meaning of"The Messenger believes". Any person can claim to be a Believer, so w hy do a thousand million Muslims have no control over their ow n issues? Why don't they have the upper hand? Why do disbelievers get triumph over them? Because they believe in Allah theoretically (w ithout practicing His order) and they w ill not benefit from this superficial faith, but concerning the straight instructions of their Lord, have they applied it? They haven't. So, the meaning of the Verse:"The Messenger (Muhammad) believes in w hat has been sent dow n to him from his lord" is that this is the reality; Paradise, Hell-Fire, gaining money legally, low ering one's glance, holding the tongue, being dutiful to parents and every item in the orders of Allah is a truth. So, the sign of your faith is your surrender to Allah's orders. Prophets are at the top rank of mankind

The token of a feeble faith- God forbid –is the disregard for the matters of our Lord's path, and this is the case of many Muslims; you don't find the application of Islamic law s in their houses, their w ork, their w edding and grieve ceremonies, their travelling and dw elling and in buying, selling and gaining money ; How ever, they come to mosques frequently, perform Islamic rituals, pray and fast although Allah w ants us to rise to the level of our acts of w orship( to practice it in our life) not to practice our acts of w orship superficially as most people do.

" All of them"

Which means the prophets and the believers.

"All of them believe in Allah"

They believe in Allah as the Creator, the Raiser, the Controller, the Existing, the One and the Perfect; they believed in His 99 attributes and His Virtue Adjectives. All of them believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books and His Messengers. The Books are the instructions w hich Allah sent dow n to His Prophets. The Messengers are those w ho reached the summit of mankind and are a great figures in w hom Allah laid dow n the perfection that everyone must be characterized by. They invite to Allah by their speech, behavior, situation and their endorsement. So they reached the top of mankind and are an examples for us. Allah Almighty says:

"You have a good examples to follow in the Messengers of Allah for him w ho hopes for meeting w ith Allah and the Last Day"

[AL-Ahzab 21 ]

It is not right to draw a comparison between Prophets

This is a very critical point. Allah says:

"w e make no distinction between any of His messengers."

[Surah Al-Baqarah 286.]

It is w rong to compare and contrast betw een Prophets although Allah Almighty says:

" Those Messengers! We preferred some of them to others"

[Surah Al-Baqarah 253] None has the right to prefer some of them to the others but Allah, and w e are not allow ed to do that. for example- it is not a child's business, one w ho is still in elementary school, to compare betw een tw o atomics scientists; it is none of his business, nor is it w ithin his pow er and he isn't capable to do that. So scholars agreed that this comparison isn't allow ed although Allah has granted every Prophet his ow n position and despite that Allah says" w e preferred one of them to the others" because this comparison is done only by Allah not by us. In fact, w e believe that all Prophets have the same call (to Allah) an have the same orders (from Allah). Allah Almighty says:

"And we didn't send any messenger before you but We revealed to him (saying) none has the right to be worshipped but I so w orship Me alone"

[ Surah Al-Anbiya 25 ]

Their call is the same because it is from the same source; but on the contrary, their follow ers fight each others. In Palestine –for example – the follow ers of Muse are fighting against the follow ers of Muhammad peace be upon him. So, w hen people don't genuinely follow their Prophets, their stickiness to religion becomes a kind of partiality.

All Prophets have the same call and instructions

O Brothers:

" Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books and His Messengers, we make no distinction between one and another of His Messengers"

It not our business to do that distinction; it may occur to someone's mind that the Prophet (peace be upon him) -w ho is the master of mankind and the beloved of the Truth- didn't invoke Allah against his people (w hen they did harm to him), instead he said:

( O Allah guide me people; because they don't know )

[Al Jame-Al Saghir]

w hile Moses invoked against his people as he said:

" O our Lord, destroy their w ealth and harden their hearts"

[ Surah 88]

In fact, w hen did Prophet Noah invoke Allah against his people? It w as w hen Allah revealed to him that:

" It w as revealed to Noah that none of your people w ill believe except those w ho have believed already. So be not sad because of w hat they used to do"

[ Surah Hud 36]

So, neither Believers nor Scholars are permitted to made such a comparison because it is above human position, w e believe that Prophets have the same call and the same message and are sent dow n from Allah; w hen the source is the same, all branches are united. The returning of all creatures is to Allah. Allah says:

" They said: w e hear and obey, w e seek Your forgiveness Our Lord and to You is the return"

That means: Our Lord w e ask Your forgiveness and w e w ill return back to you. In fact, w e must tremble w hen w e think about the matter of returning to Allah; do w hatever you w ant and you w ill return to your Lord.

" To Us w ill be their return then verily for Us w ill be their reckoning"

[ Surah Al-Ghashiyah 25-26 ]

All creature w ill return back to Allah, he w ill rew ard them for good deeds and w ill punish them for evil ones.

" They said :w e heard and w e obey"

Some Prophets' follow ers said: w e heard and disobeyed. So, after Friday Prayers the Believers say: w e hear and obey, but it is more appropriate to say alw ays:

" w e hear and obey, we seek Your forgiveness Our Lord and to You is the return"

O Our Lord, w e ask you your forgiveness because w e aren't sinless, and w e w ill return back to You, You know w hat ever one has done, his sincerity, his sacrifices and all his deeds None can specify the human capacity except Allah Almighty No one can specify the human capacity because it is identified by Allah Alone. The last Verse in Surah AL-Baqarah is very precise, in the first paragraph Allah Almighty says:

" Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope"

This verse is beyond place and time, that is to say: at any time and in any place, the straight instructions of Allah w hich sent dow n to his Noble Prophet can be applied at any circumstances, and w hoever says: I can't stand firm and straight on Islam is ignorant because Allah Almighty w ill not enjoin on us w hat w e can't tolerate.

" Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope"

i.e. the commands of Allah: do or not do is w ithin the human capacity. The first and significant fact is: no one is allow ed to specify the human capability because it is specified by Allah Almighty Alone, and you can't say: I can't carry out the Islamic law s, or: how can I low er my glance? If you are more honest and sincere, you w ill control yourself. Had the prophet not been a human w ith all its characteristics of a human being, he w ouldn't be the master of mankind, w hy is the prophet at this position? Because he is a human like us; he likes, hates, desires and fears as w e do. Every human likes relaxation and sensual pleasures and hates exhaustion and tiring matters, but the truthful Believer prefers the obedience to Allah Almighty to anything else; he obeys his Lord, sacrifices, pays the cost, keeps his desires under control and overcomes his appetites. So, human beings are of the same nature. Allah Almighty says:

" It is He w ho has created you from a single person(Adam)"

[Surah Al-Araf 189]

The first thing to say is you can't say: it is hard to obey Allah Almighty because Allah says:

" Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope"

Some pretexts of the neglectful people are: w e can't carry out the commands of Allah, w e are in the last Age, and w hat shall I do w ith my money? I have to put it in the bank, is it reasonable to put it there w ithout interest? He takes the interests w hich is ill-gotten gains.

Any order that Allah has enjoined is within our capacity

Other claims are: meeting betw een men and w omen is a natural aspect of our life, so w hy not attend parties w here men and w omen are together? And the biggest pretexts Satan gives for the slack people is that w e are living in a difficult era, Allah w ill forgive you, you have children and all people take ill-gotten gains so do like them as it is a general mistake (a mistake w hich is forgiven because it can't be avoided), the orders of Allah is above our capability and is more fit to the companions of the Prophet w ho lived a simple live in a desert not in a modern city like us, how could l hold my tongue?, I must buy this apparatus(TV); otherw ise, I w ill be backw ard. So these are their allegations w hich seem as if they are rejecting this Verse:

" Allah w ill never burden a person beyond his scope"

or as if they are saying: O Our Lord, these instructions are above our capacity; You have burdened us above our scope, despite the saying of Allah Almighty:

" Allah w ill never burden a person beyond his scope"

Every order of Allah is w ithin our capacity; This is a fixed fact but the most dangerous thing for you is to specify the capability by yourself w hereas it is identified by The All-Acquainted Who ordered you to break your fast if you are travelling or in the case of sickness, and if you are fatigued then perform your prays sitting dow n, it is the All-Acquainted Who instructed w omen not to observe fast during their menstruation period or in postpartum because He is the All-Acquainted, and Who allow ed you in special cases (w hen you are forced by severe hunger) to eat w hat He had forbidden. Allah Almighty says:

" And none can inform you like Him Who is Well-Acquainted w ith everything" [Surah Fatir 14]

So, you can't pinpoint the ability by yourself. Another point is: the disobedient thinks that these orders are above our scope, and Allah w ill not punish him for it. Who told him that? These days l find many Muslims w ho are making law ful w hat Allah has forbidden for the pretext that the instructions of Allah are beyond their ability or because of embarrassing situations such as w hen they are living in another societies; some of them tells you that it is so difficult to stand firm on Islam in Western countries, w ho told them that it is allow ed to live in the w est permanently? Whoever lives in disbelievers' countries is out of the protection of Allah for the reason that w hen a person lives in society w hich is full of sins and guilty, he may be influenced by these sins and may commit them w ithout feeling guilty, so w hat w as his sin? He lives w ith disbelievers so Allah has become free from all obligations to him. Allah w ill reckon people for their deeds not thoughts If you consider Allah's commands, you w ill find it integrative; w hat has severe influence against your faith is illegal, w hat w eakens it is disliked but not forbidden, w hat doesn't have neither negative nor positive influence is law ful and allow ed, w hat strengthens it is desirable but not compulsory and w hat is essential to is compulsory; the meaning of compulsory is as to say drinking w ater is compulsory because there is no life w ithout it, and the same thing is said for eating, breathing…etc w hereas it is not compulsory to eat all kind of fruit because it is from life nonessentials. But it is permissible to do so. So, in Islamic provisions there are things w hich are compulsory, desirable, law ful, slightly disliked, strongly disliked, and illegal, and w hat destroys your faith and causes a great damage to you in this life and the after-life is illegal and forbidden. So these are our Islamic provisions. O brothers, the first fact is: the instructions of Allah are w ithin our capacity w hich is determined by Our Creator and Our Lord; Allah hasn't burdened you beyond your scope and w ill not punish you for your thoughts, though the Believer is advised not to let bad thoughts flow for fear that they may convert into actions; initially, w hatever comes to your mind you w ill not be punished for, due to the fact that Allah Almighty calls people to account for their deeds only.

"Allah burdens not a person beyond their scope"

Allah hasn't enjoined on you w hat you can't bear, you w ill not be punished for bad thoughts that don't satisfy Allah, but you mustn't let them flow lest they turn into actions No one w ill be called to account instead of another

" No bearers of burdens shall bear another's burden"

[Surah Al-Anam 164]

If a person w as born of a drunk or gambler father, he w ill not be punished for his father's mistakes.

" No bearers of burdens shall bear another's burden"

you w ill not be penalized for sins you haven't committed. So, some of the intuitive principles of Allah's law s that Allah w ill not punish you for things that you can't bear, nor w ill He penalize you for sins you haven't committed; Allah Almighty does not punish a person for other's sins and everyone w ill be called to account on his ow n. That is w hat Allah Almighty says:

"Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope, he get rew ards for that(good) which he has earned and he is punished for that(evil) w hich he has earned"

The verb (earned) in the last Verse has three meanings

In Grammar, the addition of letters to a w ord causes an addition to the meaning, the verb (to earn good) in Arabic is( KASB) w hich is a three-letter verb w hile the verb (to earn evil) is (IKTASB ) w hich is a five-letter verb

1- Allah punishes for evil deeds unless we repent

The first meaning: Allah penalizes you for your sin after you commit it, persist in it, and neither repent nor regret it; instead, be proud of it then the sin w ill be recorded against you. By contrast, good deeds are recorded as soon as you do it. So, as the three-letter verb is simple and the five-letter verb is complex, the same thing is applied for deeds: the good deeds are immediately recorded for you, w hereas the evil deed isn't recorded till you insist on it and never repent from it. This is the first meaning.

2- Doing good is easy and approved

There is another meaning w hich is: doing good is very easy, nobody w ill criticize you, feel malice tow ard you and bring suit against you; if you do righteous deeds; pray, smile to others faces, spend your money on them, be generous to them, give alms to the poor, do a favor to a w eak person, pay a visit to an ill man and all other good deeds are very easy and no one w ill penalize you for practicing them; w hereas, if you take ill-gotten gains there is someone w ho w ill call you to account and penalize you, and if you have a pure soul you w ill feel that you are veiled from being close to Allah; w hen you take ill-gotten gains or w hen you neglect the orders of Allah, you w ill be veiled from closeness to Allah. So, doing good is easy and has a good reputation, good scent and a nice fragrance w hile doing evil is disagreeable, ugly and condemned by you and others, thus, this is the second meaning.

3- The real act is from Allah

The third meaning is that man has only the acquirement of the action w hile the real act is from Allah; When you w ant to perform a good deed, Allah w ill give you pow er, So all of us are needy to Allah, w e are w eak but Allah makes distinction betw een us by our deeds that He enables us to perform according to our faithfulness to Him; Your are an ordinary person if you are truthful to Allah in helping others, He w ill give you very great abilities w hich you haven't dreamt of it before, so you have only the acquirement of the action w hich is called by scholars as"Emission" For example if you w ant to pray, to bring up your children in a right w ay or to call people to Allah, Allah w ill give you help; So the act is from Allah and you only have the:"emission" Another example: w hen a man w ants to steal he acquires the action because he only has the w ill to do it, then Allah w ill guide him sagely to the proper person- w ho w ill be cultivated by the stealth –so he chooses stealing but he can't choose the person he w ill rob, Allah is guiding everything, He w ill lead the robber to a person w ho w ill be cultivated by losing his money; therefore, you only have the acquirement of the action w hereas Allah has the real act. For that reason, w hen the act is ascribed to you, only its reasons are ascribed to you, w hereas w hen an act is attributed to Allah, its achievement is attributed to Him, as w hen w e say: the teacher failed the student"w e attributed the failure to the teacher because he signed it, but the reason for it w as the laziness of the student; it is right also to say:"the student failed" because w e mentioned the reason for the failure w hich is the student himself w hile the teacher carried out the failure. So you only have the acquirement w hile the rest of the action is from Allah. In fact, this is a very precise w ord, it means: everyone is capable of doing a great deed if he is honest w ith Allah even though the deed is above his capacity, his mental and his intellectual abilities because he w ants to perform a great deed, so w ho is the real miser and w ho is the real cow ard? He is the person w ho stints himself from a righteous deed because Allah creates the deeds. By Allah, I believe that anyone w ants to spend his money on poor, Allah w ill endow him money instead, and no one w ants to refrain himself from illegal deeds but Allah w ill keep him aw ay from it, so the act is from Allah and the acquirement is from people.

Performing good deeds is very easy.

Allah Almighty says:

"He gets reward for that good w hich he has earned"

So, you only have the earning, you don't have the act..

"He gets reward for that good w hich he has earned"

Performing good deeds is very simple w hereas performing evil ones needs stages; if someone practices a bad deed, it w ill not be recorded against him till he doesn't repent, regret or conceal himself (not to practice his sin in public", so if someone performs a bad deed, he w ill be despised, blamed and punished by law ; for example, if someone steals, there are w orldly law s that w ill call him to account w hile practicing good deeds is very simple. Allah Almighty says:

"Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error"

Abo zar Alghafari narrated the Prophet peace be upon him as saying:

"Allah forgives my people for mistakes, forgetfulness, and w hat they are forced to do".

Allah Almighty says:

Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget"" Our Lord, forgive us if we forget to obey You or commit sins unintentionally. if w e forget or fall into error""

w e make jurisprudence but w e committed mistakes.

" Our Lord! lay not on us a burden"

A burden that is unbearable

" a burden that w hich You did lay on those before us( Jews and Christians)

Every sin has a punishment

Some scholars said: in the law s of those people w ho w ere before us, repentance required killing oneself in order to be accepted" kill yourselves" Allah instructed the Children-of Israel to kill themselves w hen they w anted to turn in repentance to Him; there are many provisions in the law s of those w ho came before us so Allah teaches us to invoke Him saying:

" Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden that w hich You did lay on those before us( Jews and Christians)"

So. Our Islamic law s are acceptable and tolerable -Praise be to Allah- as observing fast for thirty days, five prayers a day, the first illegal glance is for you (you w ill not be punished for it because you do it by accident ) but the other intentional glance is against you, and necessity know s no law s..and so on.

" Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden"

a burden that w e can't tolerate. There is a very critical point; there are intolerable punishment means, but w hat w as the cause of it? For example, w hen a man is taken to execution, how does he feel? When he hears the utterance of the capital sentence or w hen he stays in a jail for many months, w henever he hears the sound of keys he thinks that he w ill be taken to be executed. In fact; this is above human tolerance but the reason for it is that he committed a crime that an ordinary person does not commit. Therefore, every sin has a punishment that might be above human endurance. Another example, a man w as advised by his doctor to stop smoking, his doctor calmly gave his instructions supported by proofs, but that man insisted on smoking till the Open-Heart Surgery became a must, first of all he couldn't cover the cost of the surgery, then he asked himself: w ill he survive after the surgery? In such operations, surgeons anesthetize the heart then they give it an electrical shock at the end of the surgery in order to revive it, but in some cases it doesn't w ork so the patient dies. So, he persisted in smoking w hich forced him to have an Open-Heart surgery that is above his endurance.

Major sins have intolerable outcomes Allah Almighty says:

" Our lord, put not on us a burden"

Of course the last example w as a medical one. There is another example: w hen a man assaults others then he is shocked w hen others oppress him because he does not bear it, but tit for tat! When another man takes ill-gotten gains, then it surprises him that all his w ealth has been confiscated, stolen or plundered, he might not tolerate the matter, but that happened because w hen he committed sins he paid no attention to his deeds. So, every sin has its ow n penalty, and the consequences of major sins aren't tolerable.

" Our Lord, put not on us a burden greater then we have strength to bear"

Sometimes there is an incurable disease, tw o counter diseases that each one's medicine harms the other, or you may not be able to afford price of the medicine, so there are very hard inflictions but the reason for it is that the one w ho w as afflicted by it has committed a sin w hich is not done by ordinary people. A man w ho neglects Allah's instructions may drink w ine, another man killed all his children w hile he w as drunk, but w hen he sobered up he couldn't bear the affliction so he committed suicide. Each sin has its ow n bad negative impact O brothers, every sin has a bad negative impact, and w hen sins accumulate, man w ill feel unbearable distress and boredom.

" Our Lord, put not on us a burden greater then we have strength to bear. Pardon us"

In Sahih Muslim Ibn Abas said:

"when this Verse was revealed:"w hether you disclose w hat is in your ow n selves or conceal it, Allah w ill call you to account for it" the companions of the Prophet found it very difficult for them, so the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:" say 'w e heard, obeyed and submitted', then Allah cast faith into their hearts and this Verse w as revealed:"Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope, he get rewards for that(good) which he has earned and he is punished for that(evil) w hich he has earned"Our Lord! Punish us not if w e forget or fall into error" then Allah said:"I have done"""Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden that w hich You did lay on those before us( Jews and Christians)" He said:" I have done"" Our Lord, put not on us a burden greater then we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us.You are our Maula( Patron, Supporter and Protector"He said :" I have done"

So"Pardon us" He said:"I have done" "Grant us forgiveness" He said:"I have done" "Have mercy on us" He said :" I have done" so it is from Sunnah to utter these three phrases separately It is from Sunnah to recite these three phrases separately "Pardon us" Then a slight silence "grant us forgiveness" Then a slight silence "Have mercy on us, you are our Maula (Patron, Supporter and Protector" You are our Master, w e have no supporter but You. There is another Verse that has a deep influence into the heart:

"That is because Allah is the Maula ( lord, Master, Supporter,Helper),of those who believe and the disbelievers have no Maula)

[Surah Muhammad 11]

Think about a son of a great, w ealthy, pious, intellectual, and good father w ho provided his son all means of good upbringing, healthy food, he took care of his son's mind, body and morals, he educated him socially, psychologically, morally and intellectually, he facilitated all accommodations to him, then the son grew up and got a Diploma, then his father arranged his marriage as he is a great supporter for him. Compare betw een this son w ith another one w ho spent all his time in streets, from nightclub to another, from jail to another, from bad situation to another, and in addition to that he is filthy, ill-natured and eccentric, that son has no supporter; despite the great divergence betw een the tw o examples but, by Allah, this is the state of the believers"Allah is the Maula of the believers" He takes care about you, cultivates, w arns and cautions you, allow s you to be close to Him or veils you, provides you w ith all means of subsistence and sometimes lessens it because he is fostering and taking care about you, w hereas the unbeliever has no Maula ( protector),he only w aits death w hich w ill end everything.

The major Grace is to be under the fostering of Allah

The greatest blessing is that Allah takes care of you, w hile the major penalty is to be out of the care of Allah. Take from this life w hat you w ant, the greatest penalty is to be out of Allah's cultivation as a man w ho does w hat he w ants ( w hether it is legal or not), w ho is as strong as an ox, has a great salary, goes to nightclub every night w ithout feeling guilty ; in fact, he is the most miserable man in the w orld because after his death he w ill be in Hell for ever. But in contrast, if a man feels fear or gets illness, this is a good sign ( that Allah is refining him). Once, one of the Prophet's companions has no problems in his life so his w ife doubted about his faith, she w ent to the Prophet (PBUH) to complain to him that her husband is not a believer, but w hile they w ere on their w ay to the Prophet (PBUH), her husband stumbled and fell dow n, she said to him: go back, the matter came to an end! So a sign of your closeness to Allah is that Allah cultivates you, w arns, and lessens your sustenance. Allah has commanded the w orldly life to be troublesome and to exert pressure on His Holy men so that they w ill like His meeting- as it w as mentioned in a holy hadith:

( By My Mighty and Majesty, I w ill not make My believer servant die w hile I like to Grant My Mercy upon him, till I punish him for every single sin he had committed, this punishment might be an illness, lessening his sustenance or a trial in his w ealth or children, and if he still has sins, I w ill harden the agony of death till he meets Me w ith no sins)

So, your state is a million times better than a stingy w ealthy strong disobedient. We are in the divine providence. In fact, to be in it suffering (because of our sins) is a thousand times better than being out of the care of Allah, and the most obvious Verse is:

" So, w hen they forgot ( the w arning ) w ith w hich they had been reminded, We opened for them the gates of every (pleasant) things, until in the midst of their enjoyment in that w hich they w ere given, all of sudden, We took them( in punishment), and lo! They w ere plunged into destruction with deep regrets and sorrow s"

[Surah AL-Anam 44 ]

The price of victory is faith, obedience, and preparation

You may visit w est countries, and find in it plenty of rain, large green lands and innumerable w ealth, w hile all sins are committed there, but do you think that Allah is pleased w ith them? God Forbid! On the contrary, you may see very poor orient countries, but you w ill find religion there, piety, fear of Allah, and remains of shyness, devotion and fidelity. So, I w ant you to pay attention to this point: don't compare betw een one w orldly life and another, instead, compare the w orldly life to the Hereafter, join the w orldly life to the Hereafter then compare betw een that and another w orldly life and Hereafter. For example, if you have a simple restaurant in w hich you don't offer w ine, can you compare it to another one that offers alcoholic drinks and has millions in profit? Consider the destiny of offering w ine after one's death, compare betw een a restaurant that it's ow ner doesn't offer w ine and fears Allah in everything and considers the happiness that he w ill find in the Hereafter, and the other one that you w ill find there w ine, all sins are committed in it, and consider the misery that is aw aiting its ow ner in Hell, so don't compare betw een w orldly life and another; this is a w rong comparison; instead, compare betw een w orldly life joined to the hereafter and another one; this is the right comparison. Allah Almighty says:

" Our Lord, put not on us a burden greater then we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us Forgiveness, Have mercy on us. You are our Maula ( Parton, Supporter and Protector)"

We have no protector but You.

"Give us victory over the disbelieving people"

This victory has a cost –as I mentioned previously in the Sermon-. the price is the faith that impelled you to obey your Lord, and it is also to make all available preparation against our enemy, and Allah w ill undertake the rest of the matter.

Translation : Rana Sarakbi Auditing : Ghada Homad