The Brotherhood We Seek in the Qur'an

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 4 January 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

The question was about the verse at which Dr. Ahmed paused at the close of Sūrat al-Zukhruf: ﴿الْأَخِلَّاءُ يَوْمَئِذٍ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ إِلَّا الْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ ("Close friends, that Day, will be enemies to one another, except for the righteous")^[1]

A Scene of Settling Old Accounts

This verse depicts for us the scene of people standing before the Lord of the worlds, glorified is He, with a kind of settling of old accounts taking place among them. And one of the great problems in our lives is that we think the wrongs that go on day and night are folded away with the passing of days and that their memory withers with events, but the Lord of Might, glorified is He, records for every person what he did in his life, what preceded from him and what issued from him, and then the full records come on the Day of Resurrection to testify for their owners or against their owners.

So imagine that there is companionship between you and so-and-so, and then this so-and-so comes on the Day of Resurrection as an enemy to you; either an enemy in his own right, coming claiming that you wronged him and slandered him and lied, or he comes peaceable, yet there is a right standing against you which the Lord of the worlds, glorified is He, who establishes the truth and does justice to people, rules upon, so you and this person are brought and it is said to you: stop here, for your brother has a grievance against you, and you should enter neither Paradise nor the Fire before you settle it. So what would be the state of any one of us?

The first thing a person senses is that companionship requires sincerity; absolute sincerity that is not tainted by betrayal and not accompanied by ill, whether in dealing or in thought. And the dealing may at times be from one side only and may be from both sides, so what is required of me? What is required is that I be sincere on my side, that I speak truthfully with people, that I fear Allah, blessed and exalted, regarding them, that I respect their covenant, preserve their dignity, and safeguard their sanctities. This is the right of people upon me regardless of how they treat you.

What Does Taqwā Mean Here?

But the verse says: ﴿إِلَّا الْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ ("except for the righteous"). The word taqwā is used in a general sense, but its connotations branch out according to the Qur'anic context. You say to your brother: fear Allah, and he asks you: what do you want from me? And you say: fear Allah in buying and selling, so he understands that what is meant here is taqwā in dealings. And you say: fear Allah regarding your wife, so he understands that what is meant is taqwā in this particular matter. But here, in the words of the Exalted, ﴿الْأَخِلَّاءُ يَوْمَئِذٍ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ إِلَّا الْمُتَّقِينَ﴾, taqwā is connected to the matter of brotherhood.

No Fear Upon You Today

Imagine that the Lord of Might, glorified is He, says to those between whom there was true brotherhood and righteous companionship: ﴿يَا عِبَادِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْكُمُ الْيَوْمَ وَلَا أَنتُمْ تَحْزَنُونَ﴾ ("O My servants, no fear will there be concerning you this Day, nor will you grieve")^[2]. So why do they deserve this call? Because the companion is the one who gives his companion the most security in his life. If you have a companion, it is as though you own the earth and all that is on it, because you own support, protection and safeguarding; you entrust him with your honor, your religion, your wealth, your wellbeing and everything. So the brotherhood that the Qur'an expressed in His words: ﴿إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ﴾ ("The believers are but brothers")^[3] guarantees you, by the permission of the Lord of the worlds, the soundness of religion and this world, if such a friend is found. That is why, if you find a truthful friend, bite down on him with your molars and never let him slip from your hands under any circumstance, for he has trustworthiness, sincerity, truthfulness, nobility, sacrifice and self-giving; he has everything that could be hoped for you in your life.

And what is meant by "close friends" here is those who were true in this companionship and sacrificed for one another. Then our Lord says: ﴿الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِآيَاتِنَا وَكَانُوا مُسْلِمِينَ﴾ ("[Those] who believed in Our verses and were Muslims")^[4]. The point is that these did not invent an independent system of friendship; rather they followed the way of the Lord of the worlds, glorified is He. And there comes to my mind, in the Qur'anic context, the words of the Exalted: ﴿إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ﴾ ("The believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers"); these brothers may have something happen between them that spoils the relationship for a time, and something may happen between them that people quarrel over, of malice and dispute, even fighting one another, imagine! And yet our Lord, glorified is He, still calls both of them believers, people of faith. They differ in viewpoints, in challenges and in terminology, yet faith in essence unites them.

Recompense Is of the Same Kind as the Deed

Then it is said: ﴿يَا عِبَادِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْكُمُ الْيَوْمَ وَلَا أَنتُمْ تَحْزَنُونَ﴾. In the time of his true companionship, one of us would rest his hand on his brother's shoulder, calm his alarm and help him endure his hardship and distress. When his brother fell ill, one of us would be beside him more than those closest to him, his wife and his children. And if his companion was in need of money or anything else, he would be beside him, a hand by which his stalk is made strong, his arm is strengthened and his trunk is made firm. In the time of brotherhood, one of us was a safety valve for his brother. So the reward is of the same kind as the deed, and it is said: no fear upon you; since no grief would befall me as long as my brother was beside me, for he is the one who steadied me, helped me endure and gave my soul security. So the recompense is of the same kind as the deed.

﴿ادْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ أَنتُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ﴾

Then He, glorified is He, says: ﴿ادْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ أَنتُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ تُحْبَرُونَ﴾ ("Enter Paradise, you and your spouses, delighted")^[5]. So why is the term "wife" mentioned and why did it come in this context? The people of knowledge say: either what is meant is the wife of the Hereafter, without whose presence the happiness of Paradise is usually not complete, glory be to the All-Powerful. Or what is meant is that the wife is the most truthful of those who should be among one's companions. For the wife, in principle, is the most truthful of companions, and there should be no companionship closer to you than your wife nor closer to her than you, for she is the faithful, trustworthy friend. And the discourse in this context strengthens this relationship that should exist between every husband and wife.

And when you see the disputes between husbands and wives, and see this vulgarity in the words that come out of people in times of hardship, as though, when we disagree, what there was between us of sweet days, the delight of food and the purity of words is lost, all the history is lost and squandered in this way; that is because the relationship was not for Allah. That is why we see the God-fearing, when they disagree among themselves, come out of the relationship safe, just as they entered it secure.

An Example: The Gift of Compensation (Mutʿah), the God-Fearing and the Doers of Good

Say we remind a man, and we want to talk to him about giving his wife her due, and then disputes arise: I will go to court, and I will not give such and such. So you say to him: my brother, did the Lord of the worlds, glorified is He, not say: ﴿وَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ عَلَى الْمُوسِعِ قَدَرُهُ وَعَلَى الْمُقْتِرِ قَدَرُهُ مَتَاعًا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾ ("And give them [a gift of] compensation — the wealthy according to his capacity and the poor according to his capacity — a provision in an acceptable manner, a duty upon the doers of good")^[6], and in another place: ﴿حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ ("a duty upon the righteous")? And all the verses that spoke of the mutʿah gift did not go beyond these two descriptions; so they address either a God-fearing person or a doer of good. And there is no doubt that whoever reaches the degree of taqwā is close to iḥsān, and whoever has reached it finds money easier for him than anything else.

And I imagine the house will be empty of this woman, so what will compensate for her place? The woman who comes to discuss a sum, small or large, is only comparing it with her standing in her home. So this sum that we quarrel over and dispute about, where was your filling of this void throughout these years, a year or ten or fifteen or twenty, whatever it was?

Here we are speaking of close friends who filled the gaps that were between them with one thing only, the remembrance of Allah, blessed and exalted. For people are not identical; when I sit beside my brother and we talk about a subject, it is impossible for the words to come out in the same order and with the same arrangement, for we are not "copy and paste." Something is put to me and I do not respond to it as he wants, so I reply to him and he answers me, and here complementarity occurs. It is like a very respectable dish, which you see to be of the utmost deliciousness, beauty and perfection, and when I taste it we need a little salt. So this difference that arises between people and these gaps are filled by faith, they are filled by the phrase "fear Allah," and we seek help from Allah, mighty and majestic, for taqwā.

The Bliss of Brotherhood

And the point is that when the Lord of Might, glorified is He, arranged for us this great reward for this brotherhood, imagine: ﴿يُطَافُ عَلَيْهِم بِصِحَافٍ مِّن ذَهَبٍ وَأَكْوَابٍ ۖ وَفِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِيهِ الْأَنفُسُ وَتَلَذُّ الْأَعْيُنُ ۖ وَأَنتُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ﴾ ("Brought around to them will be plates of gold and cups, and therein is whatever the souls desire and [what] delights the eyes, and you will abide therein eternally")^[7]. By Allah the Almighty, my brothers, the state of psychological stability that the companion feels beside his companion, and the pleasant morsel he eats with him; you find a friend who, if he asks me, "Where will you eat?", I say: at your house. Then you see that intimacy arising within you by his mere nearness, merely from looking into his eye, seeing his face and feeling his breaths beside you, a degree of closeness that only the people of closeness in Allah, glorified and exalted, feel. And interests are not asked about, because in the first and the last they are a set of numbers, where they went and where they came from. And this you do not find except among those who came to know one another for the sake of Allah, glorified is He.

There is a very great wealth that our Lord has entrusted to us: the concept of brotherhood, the companionship in which you see your companion does not believe evil of you even if he were to see you doing it with his own eyes. And if he advises you, he advises you because he fears for himself if he loses someone like you, and if he delivers advice to you he delivers it in the best way it should be, in a manner that suits your morale and your self, and at a time that suits you. He does not expose you, does not speak ill of you, does not backbite you, does not mention your faults, and does not speak of you with indecency.

Bite Down on Him With Your Molars

We are before a Qur'anic system that has laid down all the rules for the stability of life among human beings. So seize a friend, and if you have seized him, bite down on him with your molars, and if you find him, do not part from him except by death, and then it will not be a parting but an ongoing, steadfast supplication until we meet at the gates of Paradise.

I ask Allah, blessed and exalted, to bless us in this brotherhood of ours, to preserve for us the faith He has entrusted to us, to write for us a path to Paradise, and to write us in the shade of His Throne on the Day when there is no shade but His shade. O Allah, amen.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: al-Zukhruf: 67. The speaker mentioned the verse in the context of the close of the surah. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: al-Zukhruf: 68. The speaker pronounced it as "yā ʿibādī," and what is given here is the spelling of the muṣḥaf. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: al-Ḥujurāt: 10. Its continuation, to which the speaker alluded afterward: "so make settlement between your brothers." ^[4]: Editor's documentation: al-Zukhruf: 69. ^[5]: Editor's documentation: al-Zukhruf: 70. There is a disturbance in the last word in the transcript, and "tuḥbarūn" has been given as in the muṣḥaf. ^[6]: Editor's documentation: al-Baqarah: 236 (the doers of good) and al-Baqarah: 241 (the God-fearing). ^[7]: Editor's documentation: al-Zukhruf: 71.