‹To Allah Belongs What Is in the Heavens and What Is on the Earth›: The Whole Matter Is Allah's

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 3 April 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

O Allah, bless us in what You have provided us, and protect us, O Allah, from the punishment of the Fire, and turn away from us the causes of punishment in this world and the Hereafter, by Your mercy, Your good pleasure and Your generosity, O Lord of the worlds.

The first verse we listened to today in our prayer is the saying of Allah, blessed and exalted: ﴿لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَإِن تُبْدُوا مَا فِي أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ يُحَاسِبْكُم بِهِ اللَّهُ فَيَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَاءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَاءُ وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ﴾ (“To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Whether you show what is within yourselves or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it. Then He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills, and Allah has power over all things”).^[1]

The Verse in the Context of Sūrat al-Baqarah

If we reflect on this noble verse, we find that it came at the close of Sūrat al-Baqarah, the sūrah through which the Lord of the worlds wanted to build an entire nation with all the contents of a nation and its complements: essentials, supplementary matters and luxuries, glory be to the Creator, the All-Knowing. And Allah said at the beginning of the sūrah: ﴿هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ (“a guidance for the God-fearing”), and He informed us that these God-fearing are those who ﴿يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ﴾ (“believe in the unseen”).^[2]

What Is in the Chests: Contentment or Denial of Blessing

And then there are people who strive, and when they get what they want they give thanks, and when they do not get what they want they disbelieve. That is not the bearing of the believer; rather the bearing of the believer and his motto is: “To Allah belongs what is in the heavens and what is on the earth.” And if you show what is within yourselves of contentment with the decree and destiny of Allah, it will be accepted from you, and if you conceal in your chests something of denying the blessing of Allah, mighty and majestic, then the matter is upon you as well.

So it is as though the verse sums up the creed of the Muslims after their striving in action: we give what we can and strive with everything we are able to, then destiny comes from Allah, blessed and exalted, completing our deeds; if He gives us what we want, then well and good, and if not, the matter is Allah’s, mighty and majestic, in this life and the Hereafter, and we surrender to Him what is in our hands, glory be to Him, the Most High. And the matter of surrender equals the matter of contentment, equals tranquility, equals seeking reward with Allah, equals more work and more sacrifice for the sake of this religion.

And the motto of the Muslims is that Allah forgive us, and nothing other than that: we hear and we obey, so forgive us, O Lord of the worlds. And He, glory be to Him, teaches us in this blessed verse and what follows it that the whole matter is Allah’s, mighty and majestic, from its beginning to its end. So if our wealth increases, the matter is Allah’s, and if it decreases, the matter is Allah’s; and if our children increase, the matter is Allah’s, and if they decrease, the matter is Allah’s.

The Rest of Faith

That is the creed of the people of faith, who find rest through it in their worldly life, enjoy through it their livelihood, settle through it in their homes, and become familiar through it with those around them; with it they feel security, tranquility, calm, rest and serenity, so worries do not multiply upon them and griefs do not double upon them. Why? Because they are Muslims, their affair belongs to the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, the Most High; their motto in this world is that they give what they are able to and what they can, and what is before that and after it and behind it and ahead of it belongs only to the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Most High.

Then the Question: Do We Give What Is Upon Us?

This verse came to treat in my own soul an anxiety about the future, whether for myself or for the Ummah. For the whole matter is Allah’s, glory be to Him, the Most High. And the question remains: do we give what is upon us, or are we waiting for that argument that we sometimes use, that Allah prevails over His affair and that He does whatever He wills, without taking steps toward a future for this Islam, and carrying its concern in our first life and the Hereafter?

We are now before a verse that reveals our consciences to us from within, and shows us what we hide inside these chests. Whoever is upright, Allah sets his life straight for him, and whoever is crooked, the means of this world and the Hereafter turn crooked in his hands. I will not lengthen things for you, but if you seek the tranquility and settledness that every sensible person in this world seeks, then your affair is in the hands of Allah: strive in what is in your hands, in seeking provision, in trying to attain, and give what you can, and do not grieve over results ever, for the whole matter is Allah’s. ﴿يُخْفُونَ فِي أَنفُسِهِم مَّا لَا يُبْدُونَ لَكَ﴾ (“They conceal within themselves what they do not reveal to you”). So Allah, the Most High, spoke to His Messenger ﷺ.^[3]

I ask Allah, the Most High, the Almighty, by His most beautiful names and His loftiest attributes, to make us always content with His decree and destiny, and to turn our hearts, minds, hearing and sight toward what pleases Him alone, mighty and majestic. And I ask Allah, the Most High, to make us firm with the firm word in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. O Allah, āmīn, O Lord of the worlds. May Allah keep sound your speech, your states and your words, and guide aright what is in your hands, and protect your steps, and may Allah reward you.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: al-Baqarah: 284. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: ﴿هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ al-Baqarah: 2, and ﴿يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ﴾ al-Baqarah: 3. After that there is a garbled phrase in the transcription («فكل ما كان من بداية السورة إلى ختامها إنما هو بين يؤمنون بالغيب…») which was deleted because its meaning could not be determined. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Āl ʿImrān: 154; the speaker cited the phrase from the verse, which is in the context of speaking about the hypocrites, and he did not address its context.