Taqwa in the Calls to Faith

Occasion: A transcription of a lecture delivered after the ʿIshāʾ prayer at AIA on June 16, 2026, as part of the series "Calls to Faith in the Qur’an" (16)Source: A transcription of a video lecture by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Editor's note: The transcript of this lecture is very unclear, and only the verses and phrases given below could be established from it; no explanation that was not in the lecture has been added.

The session begins with the call in Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن تُطِيعُوا فَرِيقًا مِّنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ يَرُدُّوكُم بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ كَافِرِينَ﴾ [آل عمران: 100] (O you who believe, if you obey a group of those who were given the Book, they will turn you back, after your belief, into disbelievers) [Āl ʿImrān: 100], then another call: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ﴾ [آل عمران: 102] (O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims) [Āl ʿImrān: 102].

Great terms from which we do not deviate

The speaker says: In the Book of the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted be He, we have a set of great terms from which we do not deviate: divinity (ulūhiyyah), Islam, īmān, iḥsān, taqwā. Then he pauses at taqwā and passes through the verses in which it occurs.

Taqwa in worship and transactions

He recites: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ﴾ (O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may attain taqwā), and he repeats it. Then he mentions: ﴿اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ … وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ اللَّهُ﴾ (Fear Allah … and Allah teaches you). Then he moves on to transactions, and to usury: ﴿اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَذَرُوا …مِنَ الرِّبَا﴾ (Fear Allah and give up … of usury),^[2] and to the words «ولا تأكلوا الربا» ("and do not consume usury"), mentioning Sūrat Āl ʿImrān along with it.

Taqwa in the family, in speech and in reconciliation

Then ﴿وَلِلْمُطَلَّقَاتِ مَتَاعٌ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ ۖ حَقًّا … الْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ (For divorced women there is provision according to what is fair, a duty … upon the muttaqīn), and he mentions Sūrat al-Ṭalāq; in the transcript the word "ṭalāq" (divorce) and "let them fear Allah" appear without context. Then Sūrat al-Nisāʾ: ﴿وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامَ﴾ [النساء: 1] (And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs) [al-Nisāʾ: 1], then ﴿اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا﴾ (Fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice). Then: ﴿وَتَنَاجَوْا بِالْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَتَنَاجَوْا بِالْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ﴾ (and confer together in righteousness and taqwā, and do not confer together in sin and transgression), ﴿فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَصْلِحُوا ذَاتَ بَيْنِكُمْ﴾ (So fear Allah and set right what is between you).

Taqwa in justice

﴿اعْدِلُوا هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ﴾ (Be just; that is nearer to taqwā), then ﴿فَمَنِ اعْتَدَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ فَاعْتَدُوا عَلَيْهِ بِمِثْلِ مَا اعْتَدَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ﴾ (So whoever transgresses against you, transgress against him in the same measure as he transgressed against you; and fear Allah), then ﴿فَمَا اسْتَقَامُوا لَكُمْ فَاسْتَقِيمُوا لَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ (So long as they are upright toward you, be upright toward them; indeed Allah loves the muttaqīn).

Taqwa and the Hereafter

Then he mentions the Hereafter: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ ۖ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ﴾ (O you who believe, fear Allah, and let every soul look to what it has sent ahead for tomorrow; and fear Allah; indeed Allah is aware of what you do), ﴿وَاتَّقُوا فِتْنَةً لَّا تُصِيبَنَّ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنكُمْ خَاصَّةً ۖ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ﴾ (And fear a trial that will not strike only those among you who have wronged; and know that Allah is severe in penalty),^[3] ﴿وَاتَّقُوا النَّارَ الَّتِي أُعِدَّتْ لِلْكَافِرِينَ﴾ (And fear the Fire which has been prepared for the disbelievers). And he concludes by saying that taqwā is the character of...^[1]

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The transcript reads "taqwā is the character of the peo…" and then the text is lost; it has therefore not been completed. The speaker did not name in the body the sūrahs of most of the verses mentioned; the attribution to them is the editor's. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The attribution of the following verses is the editor's, since the speaker did not name their sūrahs: ﴿اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ … وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ اللَّهُ﴾ al-Baqarah: 282; usury, al-Baqarah: 278 (the transcript has the garbled "wa dhawā min al-rabā mīn", so it was not completed); ﴿وَلِلْمُطَلَّقَاتِ…﴾ al-Baqarah: 241 (the transcript has "ḥaqqan al-muttaqīn"); ﴿قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا﴾ al-Aḥzāb: 70; ﴿وَتَنَاجَوْا﴾ al-Mujādilah: 9; ﴿وَأَصْلِحُوا ذَاتَ بَيْنِكُمْ﴾ al-Anfāl: 1; ﴿اعْدِلُوا﴾ al-Māʾidah: 8; ﴿فَمَنِ اعْتَدَىٰ﴾ al-Baqarah: 194; ﴿فَمَا اسْتَقَامُوا﴾ al-Tawbah: 7; ﴿وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ﴾ al-Ḥashr: 18; ﴿وَاتَّقُوا النَّارَ﴾ Āl ʿImrān: 131. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: The transcript has "ashhad al-ʿiqāb" whereas the verse has "shadīd al-ʿiqāb" (al-Anfāl: 25), so the wording of the verse has been retained.