Mukhtasar Muslim

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that when this verse was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): (Allah’s is whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth...) meaning, “Whatever is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah. Whether you disclose what is in your hearts or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it. Then He will forgive whom He wills and punish whom He wills, and Allah has power over all things,” this verse was very hard on the Companions. They came to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and sat down on their knees. Then they said, “O Messenger of Allah! (Previously) we were made responsible for acts such as prayer, fasting, jihad, and charity, which we had the strength to do, but now this verse has been revealed to you, and we do not have the strength for it.” The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Do you want to say what the people of the two books (the Jews and Christians) before you said (that is, they said), ‘We have heard and we disobey,’ that we have heard (the word of Allah and His Messenger) but we do not accept it? Rather, you should say, ‘We have heard and we obey. O our Lord, we seek Your forgiveness, and to You is our return.’” So the Companions said, “We have heard and we obey. We seek forgiveness for our sins, O our Lord! And to You is our return.” When the Companions began to recite this, it became easy for their tongues to recite it, so Allah revealed these verses: (The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him...) meaning, “The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has believed in what was sent down to him from his Lord, and the believers (have believed as well). All of them have believed in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers. (They all say) ‘We make no distinction between any of His messengers (we believe in all the messengers, not that we believe in some and not in others),’ and they said, ‘We have heard and we obey. O our Lord, we seek Your forgiveness, and to You is the return.’” When the Companions did this (that is, recited these verses and recited them sincerely), Allah abrogated the verse (Whether you disclose what is in your hearts...) and revealed the verse (Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity...) meaning, “Allah does not burden any soul beyond its capacity. For it is what it has earned, and against it is what it has earned. O our Lord, do not lay upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us.” So Allah said, “Yes.” “O our Lord, do not place upon us a burden greater than we have strength to bear.” So Allah said, “Yes.” “And pardon us, forgive us, have mercy on us. You are our Protector, so help us against the disbelieving people.” So Allah said, “Yes.”