Surah Al-A'raaf (7) — Ayah 55

(Ayah 56,55) ➊ {اُدْعُوْا رَبَّكُمْ تَضَرُّعًا وَّ خُفْيَةً:} In these two verses there are four commands. The first is that supplication should be made with humility, earnestness, and reverence, and it is recommended and better to make supplication in solitude, because this prevents ostentation and does not disturb sincerity.

➋ { اِنَّهٗ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِيْنَ:} The second is that exceeding limits is in no way liked by Allah Almighty. This includes associating partners with Allah or wronging someone, and also supplicating for something impossible, such as: “I should live forever,” or “I should attain the rank of the prophets in the Hereafter,” or supplicating for something about which it is not known whether Allah likes it to be asked, such as the supplication of Noah (peace be upon him) for his son, which was also exceeding the limit. Similarly, shouting and screaming, and leaving the prescribed supplications for rhymed and metered speech and poetry, are also included in exceeding the limit. (Shawkani) Abu Musa Ash’ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said that once during a journey our voices were raised with takbir and la ilaha illallah, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “People! Be gentle with yourselves (i.e., call out softly), for you are not calling upon one who is deaf or absent, but the One you are calling upon is Hearing and Near.” [ بخاری، الجہاد والسیر، باب ما یکرہ من رفع الصوت فی التکبیر : ۲۹۹۲، ۶۳۸۹ ]

➌ {وَ لَا تُفْسِدُوْا فِي الْاَرْضِ بَعْدَ اِصْلَاحِهَا:} The third is: Do not cause corruption in the land after its reformation, i.e., do not disobey Allah Almighty or commit acts of shirk, because disbelief in Allah and committing sins is “corruption in the land.” He said: «ظَهَرَ الْفَسَادُ فِي الْبَرِّ وَ الْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ اَيْدِي النَّاسِ » [ الروم : ۴۱ ] “Corruption has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of people have earned.”

➍ {وَ ادْعُوْهُ خَوْفًا وَّ طَمَعًا:} The fourth is that when supplicating, there should be both fear of Allah Almighty and hope for the acceptance of the supplication in the heart; likewise, there should be fear of Hell and hope for Paradise. Shah Abdul Qadir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “That is, do not be bold with Allah, nor be hopeless.” Included in hope is that a person should not despair after supplicating, as narrated from Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The supplication of any one of you is accepted as long as he does not become hasty, and hasty is when he says: I supplicated to my Lord, but He did not accept it.” [ بخاری، الدعوات، باب یستجاب للعبد ما لم یعجل : ۶۳۴۰ ]

➎ Many Sufis say that supplication should be made solely for the pleasure of the Lord, without any hope or fear, to the extent that some of them have said: “My heart desires to burn Paradise and extinguish Hell, so that people remember Allah without any fear or hope.” Some say: “It is enough that Allah Almighty is pleased with me, then whether He sends me to Paradise or throws me into Hell.” This statement is against the Book and Sunnah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to supplicate to Allah Almighty for Paradise and seek refuge from Hell. The verse under commentary is also against this view, as are many other verses, for example: «يَدْعُوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَّ طَمَعًا » [ السجدۃ : ۱۶ ] “They call upon their Lord with fear and hope.” In reality, this statement was made by some people who wear the cloak of Islam in order to diminish the value of Paradise and Hell. The hope for Paradise and fear of Hell are not separate things; rather, Paradise will be attained only by Allah’s pleasure, and Hell is also the result of His wrath, from which salvation is only possible by His pleasure.

➏ {اِنَّ رَحْمَتَ اللّٰهِ قَرِيْبٌ مِّنَ الْمُحْسِنِيْنَ: } In this is encouragement that the true recipients of Allah Almighty’s mercy are those who do good, i.e., those who strive to obey and serve Allah Almighty in the best possible manner and persist in righteous deeds, and {’’ قَرِيْبٌ ‘‘} this is on the pattern of {’’ فَعِيْلٌ‘‘ }, when it is used for distance, it is the same for masculine and feminine, and if it is for lineage, then by consensus {’’ قَرِيْبَةٌ ‘‘} is used, i.e., the difference between masculine and feminine is made with the addition of the letter “taa.” (Shawkani)