Sūrat al-Raʿd and the Verses of Majesty

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 17 November 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

The Doctor opened his khatira with a supplication that Allah bless us in what He has provided us, protect us from the punishment of the Fire, and turn away from us the causes of punishment by His mercy in this world and the Hereafter, and that He save us from disgrace in this world and from the punishment of the Hereafter. He prayed that Allah continue His gentleness and be gentle with our people in Palestine, have mercy on their weakness, pardon their stumbles, make them firm with the firm word, support them with aid from Himself, and inspire them with their right guidance, so that He neither disgraces them nor exposes them nor gives His enemy and their enemy power over them. Then he greeted the noble, blessed faces, and asked Allah to write for us and for them the causes of good in this world and the Hereafter.

A Sūrah That Shows the Power of Allah and His Self-Subsistence

Then he mentioned Sūrat al-Raʿd, and said: If we look at this blessed sūrah and at the signs of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, that He brought into being in it, we see that it establishes for His servants His power, glory be to Him, and His greatness, His dominion, His management of the people, and His self-sustaining care over creation, exalted is He in His majesty; and this is very frequent in the opening of the noble sūrah.

For He, glory be to Him, says: ﴿اللَّهُ الَّذِي رَفَعَ السَّمَاوَاتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا﴾ (Allah is the One who raised the heavens without pillars that you can see)^[1], then He says: ﴿وَهُوَ الَّذِي مَدَّ الْأَرْضَ وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ وَأَنْهَارًا وَمِنْ كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ جَعَلَ فِيهَا زَوْجَيْنِ اثْنَيْنِ﴾ (And it is He who spread out the earth and placed in it firm mountains and rivers, and of all fruits He made in it two pairs)^[2], and likewise ﴿يُغْشِي اللَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ﴾ (He covers the day with the night). Then His saying, Exalted is He: ﴿وَفِي الْأَرْضِ قِطَعٌ مُتَجَاوِرَاتٌ﴾ (And in the earth are neighboring tracts), and in it are ﴿جَنَّاتٌ مِنْ أَعْنَابٍ وَزَرْعٌ وَنَخِيلٌ صِنْوَانٌ وَغَيْرُ صِنْوَانٍ يُسْقَىٰ بِمَاءٍ وَاحِدٍ﴾ (gardens of grapevines, and crops, and palm trees, clustered and unclustered, watered with one water)^[3]. Then He speaks to us, glory be to Him, in His saying: ﴿لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ﴾ (For each person there are successive angels before him and behind him, who guard him by the command of Allah)^[4].

And whoever follows the sūrah sees that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, singled it out to be the place where the most important features of the power of the Lord of Might in His universe are brought out, and His true dominion over this creation.

Why Thunder?

Then he posed a question: Why did Allah choose thunder to be the name of the sūrah, when we have so many kinds of means of establishing Allah's self-sustaining care over the universe and what is in it? Why thunder in particular?

And he answered with what he said points to only part of it, and that specialists know far more than that: that thunder brings out a true picture of the power of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. It is a very powerful sound, and it is usually accompanied by lightning that we may or may not see, and in it is a piercing from one point in the universe to another point, piercing the hearing of people and their sight. Then people before it are utterly helpless; they have no authority alongside it, no means to act against it, and they take refuge, in the face of it, only in Allah, Blessed and Exalted.

It is as though the Lord of Might, in the noble sūrah, is showing us that whoever does not respond to the gentle signs, the signs that bring out the beauty of the Lord of Might and His giving and His bestowal, must surrender, if he does not submit, to the signs of majesty that He displays to His creation in His universe, glory be to Him, exalted in His majesty.

A Great Comparison, and What Is Claimed of Creating the Like

Then he paused at the expression with which the Lord of the Worlds speaks: ﴿وَلِلَّهِ يَسْجُدُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ﴾ (And to Allah prostrates whoever is in the heavens and the earth)^[5], then ﴿قُلِ اللَّهُ﴾ (Say: Allah), ﴿قُلْ أَفَاتَّخَذْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ لِأَنْفُسِهِمْ نَفْعًا وَلَا ضَرًّا﴾ (Say: Have you then taken besides Him protectors who possess no benefit or harm for themselves?). And in contrast, in the same verse without separation, this great comparison: ﴿قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الْأَعْمَىٰ وَالْبَصِيرُ أَمْ هَلْ تَسْتَوِي الظُّلُمَاتُ وَالنُّورُ﴾ (Say: Are the blind and the seeing equal? Or are the darknesses and the light equal?). Then: ﴿أَمْ جَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ شُرَكَاءَ خَلَقُوا كَخَلْقِهِ فَتَشَابَهَ الْخَلْقُ عَلَيْهِمْ﴾ (Or have they made for Allah partners who created as He created, so that the creation seemed alike to them?), ﴿قُلِ اللَّهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ﴾ (Say: Allah is the Creator of all things); so that someone may show us a creation by other than Allah that resembles the creation of Allah, Blessed and Exalted.

And he said: You may now speak with the great engineers, those specialized in information technology and those gifted in artificial intelligence, and they say that there is now a very great creation that nothing rivals and nothing equals, namely this great technology and artificial intelligence; and then they themselves call it "the AI bubble." And what does the word "bubble" mean? It is something that represents a kind of mirage that may overshadow the world for a while, but has no root and no branch. It may bear for us many things and great achievements, but they do not change the origin of the universe, nor the pillars of the divine construction of this system of life in which we live.

The Constancy of the Foundation: Allah Is the Creator

And he said: Our glorifying Allah proceeds from the fact that He is Allah, and our reckoning of the existence of the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, is firm: that Allah is the One who created the heavens and the earth, and that He is the One who set these mountains firm, made these rivers flow, and moved the sun and the moon by precise reckoning, and brought into being in this creation fruit and provision for His servants whom He created in it, and brought into being for them a creation and decreed things in this creation, glory be to Him, exalted in His majesty.

Then he said that our Lord, glory be to Him, speaks to us in a brief sentence that we listened to in the prayer: ﴿أَفَمَنْ يَعْلَمُ أَنَّمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ رَبِّكَ الْحَقُّ كَمَنْ هُوَ أَعْمَىٰ إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ﴾ (Is he who knows that what has been revealed to you from your Lord is the truth like one who is blind? Only those of understanding remember)^[6].

How Do We Apply This to Our Lives?

Reflecting on the creation of Allah requires minds. But how do we apply this to our lives? Our lives are full of problems empty of substance, which need only one thing: that we use our reason, and think about the means that are before us, which we take up.

Then he said: Do not be hasty in this world while you move in it as though you were capable over it, for we own nothing of the world, and we are able to do nothing in it, and we have no authority in it over anything; we move within the framework of the great, mighty power of Allah, glory be to the Creator, the Overseer. So whoever moves in the universe, let him seek help from Allah; whoever seeks provision, let him seek help from Allah; whoever seeks the guidance of the people around him, let him seek help from Allah; and whoever has a need, his need is with Allah alone, so let him ask for it from the One who gives it. Then he prayed: O Allah, we ask You to grant us good recourse to You and good worship.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Raʿd, verse 2. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Raʿd, verse 3, and His saying ﴿يُغْشِي اللَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ﴾ in the same verse. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Raʿd, verse 4. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Raʿd, verse 11. ^[5]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Raʿd, verse 15; and the parts that follow, mentioned in verse 16. ^[6]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Raʿd, verse 19.