Worshiping Allah on an Edge Question 63: Allah says: {And of the people is he who worships Allah on an edge. If he is touched by good, he is reassured by it; but if he is struck by trial, he turns on his face. He has lost the worldly life and the Hereafter. That is the manifest loss} Surat al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage) 22:11. What is the meaning of this holy verse? Answer: In the name of Allah, the Abundantly Merciful, the Intensely Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May the peace and prayers of Allah be upon Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis. This verse descended in reference to the one who walks with the truth while not knowing the truth, so you find him moving forth with one foot and moving back with another, so he is in doubt and he finds a trial or a confusion to be an excuse for him to abandon the truth or perhaps to oppose it. Therefore, he is not ready to sacrifice his money, himself or his reputation for the truth that he claims to follow. And if his faith was genuine, the trials would increase him in faith and he would sacrifice his money and himself from the very beginning for the sake of the truth that he believes in. So faith must be free of any request of worldly benefits. Moreover, the believer must be ready to face any worldly harm that is a result of his faith. And if the believer was at the top of a mountain (1), Allah would send to him one who harms him in order for him to be rewarded by it and to raise his rank. Moreover, the people most afflicted with tribulations are the prophets and the successors, followed by the better ones, then the better ones. (2). Also, faith must be minimally tainted with materialism or doubt, so faith in the unseen must be pure of doubt, therefore, faith due to a materialistic, compelling and unequivocal sign is not accepted, and if it was accepted then the faith of Pharaoh would have been accepted {And We took the Children of Israel across the sea, and Pharaoh and his soldiers pursued them in tyranny and enmity until, when drowning overtook him, he said, “I believe that there is no deity except that in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of the Muslims.”} Surat Yunus (Jonah) 10:90. So here, he declared his belief and his Islam after he had touched the wall of water which was an unequivocal sign, but Allah does not accept this belief which is void of the unseen, because Allah is the Absolute Unseen {Now? And you had disobeyed before and were of the corrupters?} Surat Yunus (Jonah) 10:91 . Also the faith of the disbelievers on the Day of Opening would have been accepted {Say, “On the Day of Opening, the belief of those who had disbelieved will not benefit them, nor will they be reprieved.”} Surat as-Sajda (The Prostration) 32:29. Moreover, if doubt permeates belief, it cancels out belief. So the believer must work not to be from those who only heard or saw the truth, but to be from those who were seared by it. Moreover, the best of the best for the believer is to be from those who were completely burned by the fire of truth until the believer himself becomes the truth and the speaker of truth. (1) The Messenger of Allah pbuhap said, {“I and the prophets and believers before me remain afflicted with those who harm us. And if the believer was at the top of a mountain, Allah would send to him one who harms him in order for him to be rewarded by it.”} Ilal al-Sharaia Vol. 1 page 45 [Added by commentator]. (2) Ibrahim bin Muhammad al-Hamadani said, {“I asked Imam al-Retha pbuh why Allah drowned Pharaoh after he believed in Him, so he pbuh said, ‘Because he believed after he saw the punishment, and the belief after seeing the punishment is not accepted. And that is the verdict of Allah swt, He mentioned it to the previous ones. Allah (m) said, {And when they saw Our punishment, they said, “We believe in Allah alone and disbelieve in that which we used to associate with Him.” But never did their faith benefit them once they saw Our punishment.} Surat Ghafir (The Forgiver) 40:84-85. And the Almighty said, {The Day that some of the signs of your Lord will come no soul will benefit from its faith as long as it had not believed before or had earned through its faith some good.} Surat al-Anaam (The Cattle) 6:158. And that was the case with Pharaoh when he was going to drown, he said, {“I believe that there is no deity except that in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of the Muslims.”} Surat Yunus (Jonah) 10:90.’”} Bihar al-Anwar Vol. 6 page 23 [Added by commentator]. Ahmed Al Hasan
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 12:29:23 +0000
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