Surah Al Baqarah: Conversations From Mi'raj | Divine Reminders with Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Surah Al-Baqarah: Conversations From Mi'raj

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم، الحمد لله ونصلي على رسول الله الكريم

InshaAllah we will continue with our short reminder. In today's session, the huffadh recited and completed the recitation of Surah Al-Baqarah and they started the recitation of Surah Ali 'Imran. Both of these surahs are unique and special, and they have significant help and assistance for us in the hereafter.

The Prophet ﷺ tells us: Iqra'ul Qur'an — recite the Qur'an because it will be a source of shafa'ah and a source of intercession for you on the Day of Judgment. But the Prophet ﷺ continued this narration by saying: recite Al-Baqarah and Ali 'Imran because they will be a special source of intercession for you on the Day of Judgment, as they will come in the form of clouds and they will argue on your behalf until you are given Jannah.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 252)

These surahs, despite being very lengthy, have special virtues that we ignore at times. We recognise the virtues of Al-Fatihah, of Yasin, Ar-Rahman — but these two surahs are also extremely virtuous.

The Journey Through the First Three Juz'

In the theme of the first chapter — the first juz' — the focus was growing iman in our hearts, and Allah spoke about that multiple times in the first juz'. In the second juz', the gears changed towards Islam, and I spoke about that yesterday — how Allah highlighted the four remaining pillars: fasting, zakat, praying salah, and hajj. Those four were spoken about in the second juz'.

Now when we move towards the third juz', before we start Ali 'Imran, there are many ayat that we can reflect upon — including Ayatul Kursi — but I covered that a few days ago in our Hidden Treasures of the Qur'an series, so I don't want to talk about the same thing again. I chose another virtuous passage in Surah Al-Baqarah: the last two verses of this surah.

The Last Two Verses of Surah Al-Baqarah

In these last two verses, Allah highlights: you have brought iman. The believers — you were struggling, you brought iman in the first juz', you were bringing iman into your heart, you displayed that iman through the five pillars of Islam — and now I am stamping and sealing the fact that you are believers.

There are two major dominant tafsirs on these last two verses. I will share one in depth and lightly reflect upon the second, which is the more famous one.

A Conversation During Mi'raj: The Tafsir of Imam al-Qurtubi

Imam al-Qurtubi narrates that these last two verses were actually a conversation that took place between Allah and the Prophet ﷺ. Many people ask: in the journey of Mi'raj, what did Allah and the Prophet ﷺ speak about?

The two giants of the world — Allah, being al-'Aliyy al-'Azim, and the Prophet ﷺ, being His beloved — they're meeting. We just want to hear a few snippets of that conversation. Imagine Allah and the Prophet ﷺ meeting — what was that conversation like? What did they speak about?

At Sidrat al-Muntaha

Imam al-Qurtubi says: when the Prophet ﷺ reached Sidrat al-Muntaha and he was continuing with Jibril ﷺ, Jibril ﷺ told him: "I cannot move forward an inch. If I move forward, Allah will burst my wings into flames. You have to go on your own."

The Prophet ﷺ went ahead and recited at-tahiyyatu lillahi wa as-salawatu wa at-tayyibat — referring to Allah — that everything that I own, whether physical, monetary, any commodity that I have, internally or physically, belongs to You.

And Allah responded by saying:

May My peace be upon you, and My mercy and My blessings. The Prophet ﷺ responded to that statement by saying:

"O Allah, may peace be upon me, but also upon all of my pious slaves that believe in me." And all the angels that were there responded by saying:

This is a famous story that we have heard many times. But Imam al-Qurtubi says: that discussion continued beyond what many people know.

Allah's Declaration — Verse 285

When the angels responded, Allah said:

Allah said: "The Prophet has believed — he has accepted My call — and so have the believing men and women, wal-mu'minun. They all have believed in Allah, they all have believed in the angels, they all have believed in the previous scriptures and the previous Prophets, without differentiating between those Prophets."

Because the Yahud and the Nasara from before — they would pick and choose which Prophets they wanted to believe in. "This Prophet we're okay with because he's from the lineage of Ishaq; this Prophet we're not okay with." Allah says that the specialty of our ummah is:

We believe in all the Prophets of Allah that were sent down.

The Prophet's ﷺ Response — Sami'na wa Ata'na

Now when Allah said this, the Prophet ﷺ responded by saying:

"O Allah, not only do we believe — we listen to You and we will obey every single one of Your commandments. Sami'na wa ata'na." Of course, we are echoing this response in our own lives when we recite these two verses, but this is the Prophet's ﷺ response to Allah's statement that this nation is special.

The Prophet ﷺ says: "O Allah, not only have we believed, but we also hear and listen to You and Your commandments and we obey them — without asking too many questions like Bani Israel. Ghufranaka Rabbana — O Allah, we need Your mercy, we need Your forgiveness, wa ilayka al-masir — and we will turn back to You, and our return is to You."

Allah's Response — La Yukallifu Allah

This is a beautiful, marvellous conversation. When we know it is a conversation, it allows us to reflect upon it so much more. Allah responds to that by saying:

"O Prophet of Allah, don't worry. I know you will listen and your nation will listen and obey, but I will never burden a soul — a nafs — more than that which is in its capacity. Whatever I give you, it will be within your ability to perform and to complete. I will never burden you beyond your ability, because that is not right for Me to do."

And Allah says: laha maa kasabat wa 'alayha maa ktasabat — for every soul and for every individual is that which they do. They will see the fruits of their own deeds, the fruits of their own a'mal. Every small deed that we do, Allah will give us the reward for it — a dharrah.

Ibn 'Ashur gives a very profound definition of dharrah: it's like when you are sitting inside a room and there are rays of the sun hitting the window. When the rays of the sun hit the window, you look and you see tiny, tiny dust particles floating in the air. That is what a dharrah is. Allah says every small deed — you will see the reward and the fruits of it.

Jibril's Prompt — "Ask Now"

Now Jibril ﷺ — not being in the same area where the Prophet ﷺ and Allah were speaking, but the angels could hear this — Jibril ﷺ says to the Prophet ﷺ: "Sal, tu'ta — right now is the time to ask. Allah is giving. Ask Allah for something — for yourself and your ummah."

The First Du'a — Forgetting and Mistakes

Informed by Jibril ﷺ to ask, the Prophet ﷺ says:

"O our Lord, O Allah — do not hold us accountable for that which we forget, and for those things that we commit through mistakes — forgetting and by mistake. O Allah, please. You are saying la yukallifu Allahu nafsan illa wus'aha — that You will not put a burden upon a slave except that it would be within their ability and capacity. Well, O Allah, I am asking You: if we forget — it is in our ability to remember, but if we forget, if it was beyond us, if it was simply a mistake — Allah, please do not hold us accountable for that."

La tu'akhidna refers to the idea of: do not allow that to be in our book of deeds. Just let it be swept under the rug.

When the Prophet ﷺ made this du'a and stopped, Allah accepted it. And Jibril ﷺ responded to the Prophet ﷺ and said: "Qad ootita dhalik. Qad rufi'a 'an ummatika al-khata'u wal-nisyan — O Prophet of Allah, you have been given that. Allah has accepted your du'a." And it is only for our nation — through this special divine connection with Allah — that Allah has overlooked the mistakes we commit when we forget, or when something is done unintentionally because we did not know it was wrong.

If we know something is wrong, then we are supposed to protect ourselves from it. But if we forget — say, we were so engulfed in something and completely forgot that we were supposed to pray Fajr — rufi'a 'an ummatika al-khata'u wal-nisyan. Of course, we must take all the means to remember — alarms and so on — but Allah has forgiven that.

The Second Du'a — Don't Burden Us Like Those Before Us

Jibril ﷺ says to the Prophet ﷺ: "Ask more, don't stop there — Allah is giving." So the Prophet ﷺ says:

"O Allah, do not put upon our ummah a burden like You did upon the nations before us."

The mufassirun ask: what is this burden referring to? Imam al-Qurtubi and Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi in Mafatih al-Ghayb say that isran here refers to ithman — do not make a sin a burden for my ummah. They say that in the previous nations, when a person would commit a sin, it would either be written on their forehead, or it would be written on the front door of their house — so everyone would know they had committed a sin.

So the Prophet ﷺ asks Allah: "Do not expose the mistakes of my ummah. They will commit mistakes, O Allah — please do not expose their mistakes." And that was also accepted. Jibril ﷺ said: "Make another du'a."

The Third Du'a — 'Afw, Maghfirah, and Rahmah

The Prophet ﷺ then says:

"O Allah, don't give us a burden that is above our capacity. And throughout all of this, O Allah — we will make mistakes, so forgive us. Wa ighfir lana."

The ideas of wa ighfir lana and wa'fu 'anna are two different things. 'Afw means: O Allah, show love to us and compassion to us — and by means of Your compassion and love, forgive us. We want Your maghfirah, and Your maghfirah can only be manifested and displayed through Your rahma. Warhamna — O Allah, allow that maghfirah: love us, look at us with an eye of mercy, and then actually use that mercy to forgive us. Anta mawlana — You are our guardian and our protector. Help us against all those that are against Islam and against the Muslims.

That du'a was also accepted. Jibril ﷺ said: "Nusirata bil-ru'b — Allah has given you reverence and awe. The people, when they see you, will have awe of you and reverence and respect for you, O Prophet of Allah ﷺ."

Conclusion

Dear brothers and sisters, this is perhaps the first time many of us have heard this — that these last two verses, which are unique, special, and virtuous, are actually a conversation between Allah and the Prophet ﷺ in the beautiful, blessed journey of Mi'raj.

So now when we recite this, let us recite it with the same love, the same connection, the same feeling — as if we are speaking to Allah. Because the Qur'an is Allah speaking to us. Imagine this conversation taking place between us and Allah, and how much sincerity we would pour into reciting these verses.

May Allah make us understand and allow us to benefit from the depth of these verses in the Qur'an, and inshaAllah bring them into our practice. They are very simple things — reciting this once a day, before we sleep, or in the morning — it will give us the ability of having the shafa'ah of Allah through a cloud descending upon us and being a hujjah for us until we reach Jannah.

May Allah make us amongst those for whom the shafa'ah of our Prophet ﷺ and of the Qur'an is accepted, and make us amongst those who can understand the Qur'an to the best of our abilities and implement it into our lives.

I urge all of you to continue joining on a daily basis at 2pm and also at 9:30pm with Sheikh Abdullah and Mufti Abdul Rahman Waheed, where they have a session on the tafsir of an ayah from that juz'. They will also cover juz' 3, but they will choose a different topic and have it as a discussion. I hope everyone can join — spread the word in your communities.

If you haven't already seen, we do have the Ramadan Immersion Program that has started. Today is our third session with our beloved Sheikh, Sheikh Suleyman Mulla. This one is starting at 3:30 because he is teaching from South Africa; the rest are at 6pm. If you haven't joined yet, please go ahead and join — you won't regret it, inshaAllah.

JazakAllah Khair. Assalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. May Allah bless you all.