The Seventh Call: Standing Firm for Justice

Occasion: A transcription of a lecture (the Isha lesson) delivered at AIA on August 11, 2026 Source: A transcription of a video lecture by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

The Doctor opened his lesson from Sūrat al-Nisā', in which Allah, glorified and exalted, set down the call around which the talk would revolve: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلَّهِ﴾ (O you who believe, be steadfast in justice, witnesses for Allah). He then went on to review the calls to the believers that preceded it in the same sūrah, so that its place among them might be seen.

The calls that came before

He began with the words of the Exalted: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ أَن تَرِثُوا النِّسَاءَ كَرْهًا﴾ (O you who believe, it is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will), and he mentioned that in this call there is a halting of all kinds of injustice in the matter of marriage.^[1]

Then the call concerning wealth: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَكُم بَيْنَكُم بِالْبَاطِلِ إِلَّا أَن تَكُونَ تِجَارَةً عَن تَرَاضٍ مِّنكُمْ﴾ (O you who believe, do not consume one another's wealth unjustly, except through trade by mutual consent).

Then the call concerning prayer: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنتُمْ سُكَارَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَعْلَمُوا مَا تَقُولُونَ وَلَا جُنُبًا إِلَّا عَابِرِي سَبِيلٍ حَتَّىٰ تَغْتَسِلُوا﴾ (O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying, nor while impure, except those passing through, until you have bathed).

Then the call concerning obedience: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ﴾ (O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you), and here he invoked blessings upon Muhammad ﷺ.

Then the call concerning caution: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا خُذُوا حِذْرَكُمْ فَانفِرُوا ثُبَاتٍ أَوِ انفِرُوا جَمِيعًا﴾ (O you who believe, take your precautions, and march forth in detachments or march forth all together).

Then the call concerning verification: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا ضَرَبْتُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَتَبَيَّنُوا وَلَا تَقُولُوا لِمَنْ أَلْقَىٰ إِلَيْكُمُ السَّلَامَ لَسْتَ مُؤْمِنًا تَبْتَغُونَ عَرَضَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا فَعِندَ اللَّهِ مَغَانِمُ كَثِيرَةٌ﴾ (O you who believe, when you go forth in the cause of Allah, verify, and do not say to one who offers you peace, "You are not a believer," seeking the goods of worldly life, for with Allah are abundant spoils).

The seventh call, a rule of life

After these calls, he said, Allah, glorified and exalted, made it a rule of life, grounding it firmly, and so the seventh call comes in the noble sūrah: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ﴾ (O you who believe, be steadfast in justice).

Qisṭ and the steadfast

He paused over two words. As for qisṭ, it is justice kept upright until it completes its course. And justice is defined in Arabic as putting things in the places that suit them. As for "qawwāmīn," it is an intensive form of "qā'im" (one who stands), and he repeated this, and in his words there appeared what seems to be a reference to "men are qawwāmūn over women" (though the original here is garbled).^[2]

Between al-Nisā' and al-Mā'idah

Then he compared the verse with its counterpart in Sūrat al-Mā'idah, asking to make sure: is it not in al-Mā'idah: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ﴾ (O you who believe, be steadfast for Allah, witnesses in justice)?

So in Sūrat al-Nisā', which is the verse that came first, the command is: "Be steadfast," that is, you have no standing except through justice. And why do you do this? For the sake of Allah: ﴿كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلَّهِ﴾ (be steadfast in justice, witnesses for Allah). If we stand for Allah, we cannot complete our standing well except through justice. So Sūrat al-Mā'idah came to complete this verse. And each of the two verses comes either as a beginning or as a completion: whichever you start with, you find yourself needing the other.

Then he concluded with the meaning that joins them: there is no standing in justice except in sincerity to the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted, and sincerity to Allah, mighty and majestic, is not complete except by establishing justice in life. And Allah, blessed and exalted, knows best.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: the transcript's phrase "al-nisā' tawqīf anwā' al-ẓulm kullihā al-zawāj" is unclear; from it was taken the meaning of halting all kinds of injustice in the matter of marriage, according to the apparent wording, and it was linked to the first call (al-Nisā': 19) because it comes right after it in the recitation. The lecturer did not mention verse numbers. Their locations, according to the editor: the first verse recited at the opening, which is the subject of the lesson, al-Nisā': 135; then al-Nisā': 19, 29, 43, 59, 71, 94 in the order of the calls mentioned; and the verse of al-Mā'idah: 8. The headings of the calls ("concerning wealth," "concerning prayer," "concerning obedience," "concerning caution," "concerning verification") are a description by the editor and are not from the lecturer's words. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: in the transcript, after this point there are truncated phrases from which no link between "men are qawwāmūn over women" and the verse of the lesson can be made out, so nothing was built upon them. The remainder of the two verses: al-Nisā': 135 ﴿...وَلَوْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَبِينَ...﴾, and al-Mā'idah: 8 ﴿...وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا...﴾; the lecturer did not mention any of these parts in the transcript.