Quranj0urnals

[وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بَالِغُ أَمْرِهِ ۚ قَدْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدْرًا]

"And whoever places their reliance on Allah, then He will be sufficient for him. Allah certainly makes His commands a reality. Allah has set a measure for everything." [03]

Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned a beautiful point related to the arrangement of the three sentences within the above ayah when he said: “When Allah mentioned that He will take care of those who place their reliance on Him, perhaps someone would incorrectly understand that to mean that Allah will take care of him as soon as he places his reliance on Him, so Allah then followed up that phrase by saying:

[ قَدْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدْرًا]

"Allah has set a measure for everything"

meaning: a time beyond which a thing will not last. So Allah will take a thing on its path until it reaches the end time that He set for it. 

So the person who places his reliance on Allah should not be impatient and say, "I have placed my reliance on Allah and made du'a to Him but I haven't seen anything change and I haven't found myself being taken care of!" for Allah certainly makes His command a reality at the time that He has set for it to happen.”

[إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ]

Those who say "Our Lord is Allah" and then are steadfast, the angels will descend on them, saying, "Do not fear nor grieve, but receive glad tidings of the Jannah which you have been promised." [30]

Qatadah said about this ayah: i.e. they are steadfast in obedience to Allah. And when al-Hasan [al-Basri] used to recite this ayah, he would then say, "O Allah, you are our Lord, so grant us steadfastness!"

Sufyan Ibn 'Uayyaina [D. 198 A.H.] [رحمه الله] said: ❝Allaah did not give a greater blessing to a slave of His from amongst His slaves than that of acquainting them with La ilaha ila Allaah. Indeed La ilaha ila Allaah to the people of Paradise is the like of cool water for the people of the Dunya.❞

In his book al-Dala’il al-Nubuwwah, al-Bayhaqi mentioned the following report:

Yahya ibn Aktham said: When al-Ma’mun was the leader, he used to hold a regular gathering. In one such gathering, he noticed a Jewish man with nice clothes, a handsome face, and a good fragrance enter the room. When he spoke, he spoke eloquently.

Later, when the gathering was ending, al-Ma’mun called the man to come to him. He asked him, “Are you an Israelite?” The man said, “Yes.” al-Ma’mun said, “Become a Muslim. Oh, what I would do with you and how well you could be put to use,” and promised him good things. The man replied, “I will remain on my religion and the religion of my forefathers,” and left.

Some years later, that same man came to the gathering again, this time as a Muslim. He spoke about fiqh and spoke very eruditely. When the gathering was ending, al-Ma’mun called the man over and asked, “Are you the one who was here with us here before?” The man replied, “Yes.” al-Ma’mun asked, “So what caused you to become a Muslim?”

He replied, “When I left your gathering last time, I wanted to test these religions. As you saw before, I am an expert in calligraphy, so I set myself to the Tawrah and wrote three copies of it, adding some things in and taking other things out. I took them to a synagogue and they bought them from me.

“Then I set myself to the Injeel and wrote three copies of it, adding some things in and taking other things out. I took them out to sell them and they bought them from me.

“Then I set myself to the Qur’an and made three copies of it, adding in some things and taking other things out. I took them to some scribes and they paged through them. Whenever they found those additions or deletions, they fixed them, and they did not buy my copies. At that point I knew that this Book has been preserved, and that was the reason why I became a Muslim.”

Yahya ibn Aktham went on to say: That year, I made Hajj where I met Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah. I told him this story and he said, “This is confirmed within Allah’s Book.” I asked, “Where is that?” He said,” In Allah’s statement about the Tawrah and the Injeel:

‎بِمَا اسْتُحْفِظُوا مِن كِتَابِ اللَّهِ

… by what they were entrusted of Allah’s scripture … [5:44]

so he made them responsible for preserving it, and they failed to do so. But Allah said:

‎إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ

We have certainly sent down the remembrance, and We are certainly preserving it. [15:9]

I swear by Allah, if a thinking believer were to recite

-surah al-Hadeed,

-the end of surah al-Hashr,

-Ayah al-Kursi, and 

-surah al-Ikhlas

with reflection and contemplation, his heart would surely crack open out of fear of Allah and he would be shaken to his very core by Allah's greatness. 

[فَلَمَّا جَاوَزَا قَالَ لِفَتَاهُ آتِنَا غَدَاءَنَا لَقَدْ لَقِينَا مِن سَفَرِنَا هَٰذَا نَصَبًا ‎]

"Then when they had gone too far, he said to his servant boy, 'Bring our morning meal. We have certainly experienced exhaustion on this journey of ours." [18:62]

In one of his writings, ibn al-Qayyim commented on this by writing:

When Moosaa was traveling to al-Khadhr, he experienced hunger and exhaustion on the way, so he told his servant boy, "Bring our morning meal. We have certainly experienced exhaustion on this journey of ours." That is because he was traveling to a created being. 

However, when his Lord appointed thirty nights for him and then completed them with another ten, during this time he did not eat anything, however he did not feel any hunger or exhaustion. That was because he was traveling to his Lord. 

Likewise with the heart's journey to its Lord. It will not experience any of the sorrow or toil that one experiences when traveling to one of the created beings on that journey to its Lord.  

[فَمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا ]

"So whoever looks forward to meeting his Lord, then let Him do righteous good deeds." [al-Kahf 110]

and 'Abdullah said: Whoever wants to look at the Face of his Creator, then let him do righteous good deeds and not tell them to anyone.

[لَن تَنَالُوا الْبِرَّ حَتَّىٰ تُنفِقُوا مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ]

"You will never achieve goodness until you spend out of what you love." [92]

Sheikh Muhammad ibn Salih al-'Uthaymeen said: "Following from this, people ought to put this ayah into practice even if only just once, that if a certain part of his wealth has captured his attention, then he should give it in charity so that he could achieve this goodness."

[لَن تَنَالُوا الْبِرَّ حَتَّىٰ تُنفِقُوا مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ]

"You will never achieve goodness until you spend out of what you love." [92]

Sheikh Muhammad ibn Salih al-'Uthaymeen said: "Following from this, people ought to put this ayah into practice even if only just once, that if a certain part of his wealth has captured his attention, then he should give it in charity so that he could achieve this goodness."

[وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْنَا الْمُسْتَقْدِمِينَ مِنكُمْ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْنَا الْمُسْتَأْخِرِينَ]

"We surely know those of you who go forward and We surely know those who lag behind." [24]

In part of his commentary on this ayah, Imam al-Baghawi mentioned the following:

Some have explained this ayah by saying that it refers to those who go forward in the front lines for the prayer and those who stay at the back. This is because the women would go out to the congregational prayer and stand behind the men, so maybe a man with some lack of conviction in his heart would lag behind in the last of the men's rows. Also, from the angle of the women, a woman with a lack of conviction in her heart might put herself forward in the first of the women's rows in order to be closer to the men. As a result, this ayah was revealed.

The Prophet said, "The best of the men's rows are the first of them and the worst of them are the last of them. The best of the women's rows are the last of them and the worst of them are the first of them."

‎[قَالَ اللَّهُ هَٰذَا يَوْمُ يَنفَعُ الصَّادِقِينَ صِدْقُهُمْ]

"Allah will say, 'This is the Day when the truthful ones will benefit from their truthfulness.'" [119]

Ibn Abi Haatim and Abu'l-Sheikh reported that ibn 'Abbaas said about this ayah, "Allah is saying: This is the day on which those who singled Allah out for worship will benefit from their tawheed."

[قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ‎]

"Say: My prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are for Allah, Lord of all creation." [162]

Imam al-Baghawi wrote:

"For Allah, Lord of all creation" - meaning: He is the One who gives me life and causes my death. 

Others said: my life through righteous deeds and my death when I die while believing in Allah, Lord of all creation. 

Still others said: My obedience during this life is for Allah and my reward after death is from Allah, Lord of all creation.

-Regularly reflecting on the Book of Allah, the Almighty, the Forgiving 

-and thinking about the details that Allah has mentioned about Jannah and what He has promised the obedient ones

-and thinking about how He has described the punishment of the hellfire and what he has threatened the disobedient ones with

-and continuing to do so until one's fear and hope increase, leading him to call out to Allah with both optimism and apprehension, for optimism and apprehension are the fruits of fear and hope. One fears punishment and hopes for rewards, and Allah is the One who guides to the right."

[ وَإِذَا قُرِئَ الْقُرْآنُ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ وَأَنصِتُوا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ]

"And when the Qur'an is recited, listen to it and be silent so that you might receive rahmah." [al-A'raaf 204]

And when the word *la'alla* - "so that you might ..." - comes from Allah, it is something certain.

Regarding Allah's statement:

[أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا ‎]

"Haven't they contemplated the Qur'an? Or are there locks on their hearts?" [24]

Qatadah said: For I swear by Allah, if the people were to contemplate the Qur'an and understand it, they would find that it contains things that would hold them back from disobeying Allah, but instead they put their focus on its secondary less clear parts and came to ruin as a result. 

[فَلَمَّا آسَفُونَا انتَقَمْنَا مِنْهُمْ فَأَغْرَقْنَاهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ]

"So when they angered us, We punished them and drowned them all." [55]

'Umar ibn Dharr said: O people who disobey Allah, don't be fooled by how long Allah is forbearing towards you, and beware of His anger, for He said, "So when they angered us, We punished them."

[Shaykh Ibn Taimiyyah

Categorized under: Qurʿān]

》》》》》 Ibn Taimiyyah, may Allāh have mercy on him, described a 29 day schedule for completing recitation of the Qur’ān closer to the way the Companions did that.

He said: “…[D]ivision by complete surahs takes precedence over division by parts [based on letter count].” (p. 412)

》》》》 And from the great advantages of division by complete surahs, he mentioned (p. 414):

1. Reciting speech whose parts are connected, one part with another;

2. Beginning [one’s daily recitation] with that which Allāh began a surah with;

3. Finishing with that which He finished with;

4. Completing what was intended [to be completed] from every surah.

》》》》 The chart below shows Ibn Taimiyyah’s recommended schedule for a 29 day completion:

[Source: Majmū‘ al-Fatāwá, vol. 13, pp. 405-416]

Abridger: Mikail ibn Mahboob Ariff

Date published: August 27th, 2016Last updated:February 17th, 2026