Surah Ghafir (40) — Ayah 60

(Ayah 60) ➊ { وَ قَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُوْنِيْۤ اَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ … :} With the reminder of the Hereafter, the emphasis on monotheism was made, which was the biggest cause of dispute between the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the disbelievers. At the end of the verse, the mention of the Hereafter was also made in the form of the mention of Hell.

➋ As evidence for being the only one worthy of "supplication," He introduced Himself with the words {’’ رَبُّكُمْ‘‘} (your Lord), that the command {’’ ادْعُوْنِيْۤ ‘‘} (call upon Me) is being given to you by the One who, at every moment, without any partner, is nurturing you and fulfilling all your needs.

➌ Your Lord said, call upon Me, ask from Me, I will accept your supplication, I will give you. Neither be suspicious of Me, nor go about calling or asking anyone else, thinking that they can give you something, or that they can have your requests accepted in My court.

➍ In this verse, Allah Almighty has promised to accept supplication absolutely, but elsewhere, along with the promise of acceptance, some conditions have also been mentioned. He said: « وَ اِذَا سَاَلَكَ عِبَادِيْ عَنِّيْ فَاِنِّيْ قَرِيْبٌ اُجِيْبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ اِذَا دَعَانِ فَلْيَسْتَجِيْبُوْا لِيْ وَ لْيُؤْمِنُوْا بِيْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُوْنَ» [ البقرۃ : ۱۸۶ ] "And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then indeed I am near. I respond to the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be guided." And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified that supplication is certainly accepted in one of three ways: either Allah Almighty quickly accepts his supplication, or He stores it for him in the Hereafter, or He averts from him an equivalent evil. [ دیکھیے مسند أحمد : 18/3، ح : ۱۱۱۳۹، صحیح ] For details of the conditions and forms of acceptance of supplication, see the commentary of Surah Al-Baqarah (186).

➎ { اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ يَسْتَكْبِرُوْنَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِيْ:} This sentence is evidence that supplication itself is worship and calling is servitude. Whoever calls upon Allah Almighty, asks from Him, and seeks help from Him, he is worshipping Him. And whoever, for things beyond means, calls upon anyone other than Him, i.e., says "O Ali, help," {’’ يَا شَيْخُ عَبْدَ الْقَادِرِ جِيْلَانِيْ شَيْئًا لِلّٰهِ ‘‘} says, calls upon Bahāʾul-Haqq or any self-made Data, Dastgir, Ganj Bakhsh, or Gharib Nawaz, and requests to bring a sinking boat to shore, in reality, he is worshipping them and committing the crime of associating partners with Allah, which is unforgivable with Him. To say that we only call upon these revered personalities, we do not worship them, is sheer deception, which the polytheists are giving to themselves and to the servants of Allah, because calling itself is worship. Nu'man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the statement of Allah Almighty: « وَ قَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُوْنِيْۤ اَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ » that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ اَلدُّعَاءُ هُوَ الْعِبَادَةُ ] "Calling is servitude itself." And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this verse: « وَ قَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُوْنِيْۤ اَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ يَسْتَكْبِرُوْنَ۠ عَنْ عِبَادَتِيْ سَيَدْخُلُوْنَ جَهَنَّمَ دٰخِرِيْنَ» [ ترمذي، تفسیر القرآن، باب و من سورۃ البقرۃ : ۲۹۶۹، و قال الألباني صحیح ]

➏ { اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ يَسْتَكْبِرُوْنَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِيْ … :} Previously, Allah Almighty had stated the reason for the disputes and obstinacy of the deniers of His verses, that it is merely the arrogance and false pride of their hearts, which they can never attain. Now He said that those who are afflicted with this arrogance, do not believe in My verses and My messengers, and do not supplicate to Me, they will enter Hell humiliated. The higher they made themselves in the world, the more humiliated and insignificant they will be on the Day of Resurrection. Shah Abdul Qadir writes: "The condition of servitude is to ask from your Lord; not asking is arrogance. If you do not ask for the world, then at least ask for forgiveness." (Mawduh)

Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ يُحْشَرُ الْمُتَكَبِّرُوْنَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَمْثَالَ الذَّرِّ فِيْ صُوَرِ الرِّجَالِ يَغْشَاهُمُ الذُّلُّ مِنْ كُلِّ مَكَانٍ فَيُسَاقُوْنَ إِلٰی سِجْنٍ فِيْ جَهَنَّمَ يُسَمّٰی بُوْلَسَ تَعْلُوْهُمْ نَارُ الْأَنْيَارِ يُسْقَوْنَ مِنْ عُصَارَةِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ طِيْنَةِ الْخَبَالِ ] [ترمذي، صفۃ القیامۃ والرقائق، باب ما جاء في شدۃ الوعید للمتکبرین : ۲۴۹۲، و قال الألباني حسن ] "The arrogant will be raised on the Day of Resurrection like ants in the form of men, humiliation covering them from all sides. Then they will be driven to a prison in Hell called 'Bawlas.' Over them will be the fire of fires, and they will be given the pus and blood of the people of Hell to drink." Allah Almighty loves very much that He be asked; Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ إِنَّهُ مَنْ لَّمْ يَسْأَلِ اللّٰهَ يَغْضَبْ عَلَيْهِ ] [ ترمذي، الدعوات، باب منہ : ۳۳۷۳، و حسنہ الألباني ] "Whoever does not ask Allah Almighty, He becomes angry with him." How beautifully it has been said:

{اَللّٰهُ يَغْضَبُ إِنْ تَرَكْتَ سُؤَالَهُ ¤ وَ تَرَي ابْنَ آدَمَ حِيْنَ يُسْأَلُ يَغْضَبُ}

"Allah Almighty becomes angry if you stop asking from Him, and you will see that the son of Adam becomes angry when he is asked."

60. 1 In the previous verse, when Allah mentioned the occurrence of the Day of Judgment, now in this verse such guidance is being given, by adopting which a person can attain the blessings of the Hereafter. In this verse, most commentators have taken "dua" to mean worship, i.e., worship only Allah. As in the hadith, dua is also called worship, rather the essence of worship. Some say that by "dua" is meant supplication itself, i.e., asking Allah for benefit and protection from harm, because the legal and real meaning of dua is to ask. Its use in the second sense is metaphorical. Moreover, dua, in its real meaning and according to the aforementioned hadith, is also worship, because calling someone for the fulfillment of needs in a way that transcends means is worship of that being, and worship is not permissible for anyone except Allah.

60. 2 This is the end of those who deny or turn away from the worship of Allah, or associate others with Him in worship.

Your Lord has said: "Call upon Me; I will respond to you. Surely those who are too proud to worship Me [78] will soon enter Hell, humiliated [79]."

[78] Supplication and worship are one and the same thing; rather, supplication is the essence of worship. From this verse, it is clearly understood that supplication, or calling upon someone for the fulfillment of needs and the removal of difficulties, and worship are synonymous terms. In the first part of this verse, Allah the Exalted says that you should call upon Me, I will respond to your call, and in the second part, He says that those who are arrogant regarding My worship. This is clear evidence from this verse that supplication and worship are the same thing. Then, this meaning is also supported by authentic hadiths. The Prophet ﷺ said: «الدعاء هو العبادة» (i.e., calling upon is the very essence of worship), and on another occasion, he said: «الدعاء مخ العبادة» (i.e., supplication is the essence or core of worship) [ترمذي، ابواب التفسير زير آيت هذا]

How is supplication worship?

Now we will see how supplication is worship. A person supplicates when the apparent means for attaining something or for the removal of some calamity are absent. And the one whom he calls upon, he does so with the understanding that wherever that being is, it hears his call. Along with this, he also believes that this being has such control over hidden means that it can remove his difficulty or fulfill his need. Thus, the being who is called upon must be All-Knowing of the unseen, as well as All-Hearing and All-Seeing. And this attribute can belong to none other than Allah the Exalted. Secondly, unless one accepts that this being has control over the means of the universe, supplicating to it would be a futile act. In other words, to attribute the exclusive attributes of Allah the Exalted to any other being is to consider it equal to or a partner with Allah, and this is the very essence of shirk (associating partners with Allah). And whoever grants such a status of divinity to any being other than Allah, then he himself descends to the position of servitude before it; thus, the being called upon becomes his deity, and the supplicant becomes the worshipper, and his supplication becomes actual worship. Allah is pleased when asked and displeased when not asked, and this is the very characteristic of worship. It should be clear that a person supplicates to Allah, and sometimes it is accepted, sometimes not, and sometimes it is accepted after a long time. There are certain etiquettes, certain causes, and certain hindrances, the details of which are mentioned in the hadiths. Here, the only point to be impressed upon the mind is that even if the supplication is not accepted, it still has great benefit, because supplication in itself is worship. And the time spent in supplicating is as if it was spent in worship. Therefore, we are commanded to keep supplicating to Allah, to keep asking. Whether He accepts or not, or accepts after a delay, all is subject to Allah the Exalted's wisdom. The second thing that is understood from this verse is that asking from Allah and continuing to ask is the very demand of servitude. And the person who does not ask from Allah, this is a sign of denial of worship or arrogance. In other words, Allah the Exalted is pleased when asked and displeased when not asked, and all of this is included in the meaning of the word worship.

[79] This will be the punishment for their arrogance. On the Day of Resurrection, they will be severely beaten and, with humiliation and disgrace, will be thrown into Hell.