‹Allah Is the Ally of Those Who Believe›: Allah's Guardianship over the Believers

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on August 13, 2024 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

May Allah the Almighty welcome you and be pleased with you, make us and you steadfast upon guidance and goodness, and establish His religion in His earth through us and through you. And we ask Allah the Almighty to grant us the victory of hearts over desires, the victory of minds over doubts, and the victory of bodies over the forsaking of Satan. O Allah, amen.

Now then, among that is His words, the Almighty: ﴿اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا﴾ (“Allah is the Ally of those who believe”)^[1]. The guardianship of the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, over the believers carries dimensions that are exceedingly wonderful to taste and exceedingly profound in effect when present.

What Does It Mean to Have an Ally?

Imagine that you have someone who takes charge of your affairs and takes responsibility for you, so that nothing comes to your mind except that it has already been prepared for you, and you want nothing except that it has already come into your hands. You have an ally who attends to your concerns, manages your affairs and fulfills your need; you call upon him for help in times of distress, and seek his support against every hardship, so that no goal or aim arises for you in life except that he is the first one responsible for it.

So what are the attributes of these believers who have this Ally? There is no guardianship from Allah, Blessed and Exalted, that achieves all these ends unless the condition the Lord of the worlds has set is met, and that is faith; then, after the verse, comes the assurance that Allah the Almighty brings them out from the darkness into the light. And the word "darkness" perhaps encompasses the darkness of polytheism, the darkness of ignorance, the darkness of gloomy souls, and all other kinds of darkness.

Three Models in the Context

What are the attributes of the people of faith who are assured of this guardianship? Allah the Almighty gives us in this context roughly three models:

The first: ﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِي حَاجَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فِي رَبِّهِ﴾ (“Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord”). The second: ﴿أَوْ كَالَّذِي مَرَّ عَلَى قَرْيَةٍ وَهِيَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا قَالَ أَنَّى يُحْيِي هَٰذِهِ اللَّهُ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا فَأَمَاتَهُ اللَّهُ مِائَةَ عَامٍ ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُ﴾ (“Or [consider] the one who passed by a township which had fallen into ruin. He said, ‘How will Allah bring this to life after its death?’ So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him”). And the third: ﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِنْ قَالَ بَلَىٰ وَلَٰكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ…﴾ (“And [mention] when Abraham said, ‘My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.’ He said, ‘Have you not believed?’ He said, ‘Yes, but to satisfy…’”).

So what is intended by these three stories?

The First Model: Giving One's Soul

The matter is connected with Abraham, upon him be prayers and peace, who achieved the utmost in giving and spending intended in the preceding verse. And sometimes we need the Muṣḥaf to be in our hands so that we can connect the verses; the preceding verse is: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنفِقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقْنَاكُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِيَ يَوْمٌ لَّا بَيْعٌ فِيهِ وَلَا خُلَّةٌ وَلَا شَفَاعَةٌ ۗ وَالْكَافِرُونَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ﴾ (“O you who have believed, spend from that which We have provided for you before there comes a Day in which there is no exchange and no friendship and no intercession. And the disbelievers – they are the wrongdoers”). And after it comes Āyat al-Kursī: ﴿اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ﴾ (“Allah – there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence”).

And I wonder: what is the reason for Āyat al-Kursī coming after the verse of spending? It is as though the Lord of the worlds is saying: Spend. And as though the one who is about to give will be afraid: afraid of being overwhelmed by debt and overpowered by men, afraid of the days overtaking him and of the future of his dependents, afraid of the reproach he will meet at home when he returns after having let go of his money. Then the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, answers him: No, do not fear, because the One who guarantees your affair is Allah. The explanation of Āyat al-Kursī requires a long time, but in following the attributes found in it, it is as though the Lord of Might is giving you a strong remedy and a very strong push, because it grants you confidence in Allah, besides Whom there is no god: if He wants to provide for you, no one else will come and say, No. ﴿لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ﴾ (“Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep”), so He is not heedless of you for a moment such that your future or the future of your dependents is lost. Then He is the Self-Sufficient, glory be to Him: ﴿لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ﴾ (“To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth”). Then He does what He wills and no one overcomes Him in what He wills: ﴿مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ﴾ (“Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them”). So His acts do not proceed from ignorance, we seek refuge in Allah; rather, He, glory be to Him, by His knowledge and His encompassing of the means, knows, if you give, how He will provide for you, how He will open a door for you, how He will subject a servant to your service, and how matters will turn out in His hands, glory be to Him, the Almighty.

The point is that Allah, Blessed and Exalted, taught the people of faith the matter of spending. The discourse is still about those who believe, and then comes: ﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِي حَاجَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فِي رَبِّهِ أَنْ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْمُلْكَ إِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّيَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ قَالَ أَنَا أُحْيِي وَأُمِيتُ ۖ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْتِي بِالشَّمْسِ مِنَ الْمَشْرِقِ فَأْتِ بِهَا مِنَ الْمَغْرِبِ فَبُهِتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ﴾ (“Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord [merely] because Allah had given him kingship? When Abraham said, ‘My Lord is the one who gives life and causes death,’ he said, ‘I give life and cause death.’ Abraham said, ‘Indeed, Allah brings up the sun from the east, so bring it up from the west.’ So the disbeliever was overwhelmed”). So what is the reason for the connection of this verse with what preceded?

We claimed that Abraham was the first to give. Give what? There is no purely financial giving in the verse, no money and no cash in it, and nothing apparent and material took place in it. But what Abraham gave here is more complete, greater and more comprehensive than every tangible material gift. So what did he give? He gave his soul. He gave his soul in the presence of a tyrannical oppressor, in the presence of a transgressing ruler, in the presence of one who wants to trespass upon the divine power and set himself up as a god. Abraham, peace be upon him, stood before this man to say to him: Stop here. So Abraham, peace be upon him, represented the first model of giving, but on the side of life and soul. That is why our Prophet ﷺ said that among the greatest forms of jihad is a word of truth spoken before an unjust ruler^[2].

The Second Model: The Doubt That Afflicts the Mind

Then the second model: ﴿أَوْ كَالَّذِي مَرَّ عَلَى قَرْيَةٍ وَهِيَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا قَالَ أَنَّىٰ يُحْيِي هَٰذِهِ اللَّهُ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا فَأَمَاتَهُ اللَّهُ مِائَةَ عَامٍ﴾ (“Or [consider] the one who passed by a township which had fallen into ruin. He said, ‘How will Allah bring this to life after its death?’ So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years”). So what is in this account? It tells us that there is a doubt that may afflict the human mind. Then the Lord of the worlds, Who is the Ally of those who believe, and Who is ﴿لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ﴾ (“there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep”), if you want good for yourself and Allah wants for you that very good, glory be to Him, and greater than it, then He makes you steadfast in faith; He gives you of experience that by which the stages of faith are made firm in your heart and by which your mind attains certainty.

And take note, glory be to the All-Creating, the All-Knowing: sometimes one of us is faced with a certain kind of spending and holds back, and then the next morning his car is struck by an accident while he is on an errand, or a demand comes to him from the tax authorities, or something of that sort, and he says: Where did this come from? And this is a reminder: the Lord of the worlds shows you that if you do not give here, something may be taken from you there. Giving here is voluntary and brings reward, whereas taking there is compulsory, may Allah grant you well-being. And sometimes the powerful authorities are unjust in what they take from you. Glory be to the All-Creating, the All-Knowing.

The Third Model: Asking for More Certainty

Then we come to Abraham, peace be upon him, and the story of the one who passed by the township, whom Allah caused to die for a hundred years and then revived. And the relation between them is in the third story, in brief: ﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن﴾ (“And [mention] when Abraham said, ‘My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.’ He said, ‘Have you not believed?’”).

Is this not the very same Abraham who was standing before the man a little while ago saying to him: ﴿رَبِّيَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ﴾ (“My Lord is the one who gives life and causes death”), and ﴿فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْتِي بِالشَّمْسِ﴾ (“Indeed, Allah brings up the sun”)? Is he Abraham himself or another Abraham? He is himself. So what happened? What happened is that Abraham, upon him be prayers and peace, still wanted to complete the faith in his heart and to draw more of it to himself, to be stronger than he had been yesterday, and to be stronger in carrying out the call and in giving to the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Almighty.

Tell me, is this an acceptable notion, to say that Abraham was still seeking more faith-strength in order to challenge these individuals? And let us not go far: did not Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, train His Prophet ﷺ in the night prayer: ﴿قُمِ اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا﴾ (“Arise [to pray] the night, except for a little”), and ﴿إِنَّ نَاشِئَةَ اللَّيْلِ هِيَ أَشَدُّ وَطْئًا وَأَقْوَمُ قِيلًا﴾ (“Indeed, the hours of the night are more effective for concurrence [of heart and tongue] and more suitable for words”)^[3]? For in the daytime you have ﴿سَبْحًا طَوِيلًا﴾ (“a long occupation”); very many activities, people buying and selling, going out and building and moving about, and very great effort, and none has the strength for this effort except the people of the night, the people of standing in prayer, the people of the night hours. ﴿إِنَّ نَاشِئَةَ اللَّيْلِ هِيَ أَشَدُّ وَطْئًا وَأَقْوَمُ قِيلًا﴾. So the matter of the believer seeking more certainty of the heart is a settled one.

And in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, commands him at the end of the sūrah: ﴿إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَعْلَمُ أَنَّكَ تَقُومُ أَدْنَىٰ مِن ثُلُثَيِ اللَّيْلِ وَنِصْفَهُ وَثُلُثَهُ…﴾ (“Indeed, your Lord knows, [O Muhammad], that you stand [in prayer] almost two thirds of the night or half of it or a third of it…”) up to His words: ﴿عَلِمَ أَن لَّن تُحْصُوهُ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ فَاقْرَءُوا مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ ۚ عَلِمَ أَن سَيَكُونُ مِنكُم مَّرْضَىٰ…﴾ (“He has known that you [Muslims] will not be able to do it, so He has turned to you in forgiveness, so recite what is easy [for you] of the Qur'an. He has known that there will be among you those who are ill…”) to the end of the verses.

I ask Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to inspire us with right guidance, to make us attentive to the implications of the verses, and to preserve for us our bodies, our hearts and our minds, striving in His cause and seeking His good pleasure, glory be to Him, the Almighty. I ask Allah to make us and you steadfast, to guide us and you, and to make us and you content. And I ask Him to mend the hearts of our brothers in Palestine: O Allah, mend their hearts, O Lord; O Allah, make easy what is in their hands, fulfill their need, let them reach what they seek; O Allah, make the ground firm beneath their feet, envelop them with Your mercy, encompass them with Your pardon, and send down upon them Your tranquility, O Most Merciful of the merciful; and descend upon their hearts, O Bestower, O Possessor of Majesty and Honor. O Allah, establish them upon what You intend for them. And may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and Companions, with abundant peace. May Allah reward you with good, and peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: al-Baqara, verse 257. The verses that follow in the same context: 258 (the one who argued with Abraham), 259 (the one who passed by a township), 260 (Abraham's request to see the giving of life to the dead); the verse of spending is 254, and Āyat al-Kursī is 255. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The ḥadīth in this meaning is in the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah, and the speaker conveyed it by meaning. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: al-Muzzammil, verses 2, 6, 7 and 20. The completion of verse 260 of al-Baqara: ﴿قَلْبِي﴾ (“my heart”), was not uttered by the speaker.