Quran Ayah of the Day, 2:44

Hassan

Laa ilaha ilaa Allah
Staff member
Al Baqarah, 2:44

أَتَأْمُر‍ُ‌ونَ ‌ال‍‍‍نّ‍‍‍َ‍اسَ بِ‍‍الْبِرِّ‌ ‌وَتَ‍‍ن‍‍سَوْنَ ‌أَن‍‍فُسَكُمْ ‌وَ‌أَن‍‍ْ‍تُمْ تَتْل‍‍ُ‍ونَ ‌الْكِت‍‍َ‍ابَ ‌أَفَلاَ‌ تَعْقِل‍‍ُ‍ونَ

Transliteration:
'Ata'murūna An-Nāsa Bil-Birri Wa Tansawna 'Anfusakum Wa 'Antum Tatlūna Al-Kitāba 'Afalā Ta`qilūna

Translation:
Yusuf Ali: Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people and forget (to practise it) yourselves and yet ye study the Scripture? Will ye not understand?

Dr. Mohsin: Enjoin you Al-Birr (piety and righteousness and each and every act of obedience to Allâh) on the people and you forget (to practise it) yourselves, while you recite the Scripture [the Taurât (Torah)]! Have you then no sense?

Tafsir al-Jalalayn:
Will you bid others to piety, to belief in Muhammad (s), and forget yourselves, neglecting yourselves and not bidding them to the same, while you recite the Book?, in which there is the threat of chastisement, if what you do contradicts what you say. Do you not understand? the evil nature of your actions, that you might then repent? (the sentence about ‘forgetting’ constitutes the [syntactical] locus of the interrogative of disavowal).

Tafsir ibn Kathir:
(44. Enjoin you Al-Birr (piety and righteousness and every act of obedience to Allah) on the people and you forget (to practise it) yourselves, while you recite the Scripture (Tawrah))! Have you then no sense)

The Condemnation of commanding Others to observe Righteousness while ignoring Righteousness

Allah said, "How is it, O People of the Book, that you command people to perform Al-Birr, which encompasses all types of righteousness, yet forget yourselves and do not heed what you call others to And you read Allah's Book (the Tawrah) and know what it promises to those who do not fulfill Allah's commandments.

﴿أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ﴾

(Have you then no sense) of what you are doing to yourselves, so that you might become aware of your slumber and restore your sight from blindness'' `Abdur-Razzaq said that Ma`mar stated that Qatadah commented on Allah's statement,

﴿أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنسَوْنَ أَنفُسَكُمْ﴾

(Enjoin you Al-Birr (piety and righteousness and every act of obedience to Allah) on the people and you forget (to practise it) yourselves,) "The Children of Israel used to command people to obey Allah, fear Him and perform Al-Birr. Yet, they contradicted these orders, so Allah reminded them of this fact.'' As-Suddi said similarly. Ibn Jurayj said that the Ayah:

﴿أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ﴾

(Enjoin you Al-Birr on the people) "Is about the People of the Book and the hypocrites. They used to command people to pray and fast. However, they did not practice what they commanded others. Allah reminded them of this behavior. So whoever commands people to do righteousness, let him be among the first of them to implement that command.'' Also, Muhammad bin Ishaq narrated that Ibn `Abbas said that,

﴿وَتَنسَوْنَ أَنفُسَكُمْ﴾

(And you forget yourselves,) means, "You forget to practice it yourselves,

﴿وَأَنتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْكِتَـبَ أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ﴾

(While you recite the Scripture (Tawrah)! Have you then no sense) You forbid the people from rejecting the prophethood and the covenant that you have mentioned with you in the Tawrah, while you yourselves have forgoten it, meaning that `you have forgotten the covenant that I made with you that you will accept My Messenger. You have breeched My covenant, and rejected what you know is in My Book.' ''

Therefore, Allah admonished the Jews for this behavior and alerted them to the wrongs that they were perpetrating against themselves by ordering righteousness, yet refraining themselves from righteousness. We should state that Allah is not criticizing the People of the Book for ordering righteousness, because enjoining good is a part of righteousness and is an obligation for the scholars. However, the scholar is himself required to heed, and adhere to, what he invites others to. For instance, Prophet Shu`ayb said,

﴿وَمَآ أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُخَالِفَكُمْ إِلَى مَآ أَنْهَـكُمْ عَنْهُ إِنْ أُرِيدُ إِلاَّ الإِصْلَـحَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ وَمَا تَوْفِيقِى إِلاَّ بِاللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَإِلَيْهِ أُنِيبُ﴾

(I wish not, in contradiction to you, to do that which I forbid you. I only desire reform to the best of my power. And my guidance cannot come except from Allah, in Him I trust and unto Him I repent) (11:88).

Therefore, enjoining righteousness and performing righteousness are both required. Neither category is rendered not necessary by the practice of the other, according to the most correct view of the scholars among the Salaf (predecessors) and the Khalaf.

Imam Ahmad reported that Abu Wa'il said, "While I was riding behind Usamah, he was asked, `Why not advise `Uthman' He said, `Do you think that if I advise him I should allow you to hear it I advise him in secret, and I will not start something that I would hate to be the first to start. I will not say to a man, `You are the best man,' even if he was my leader, after what I heard from the Messenger of Allah .' They said, `What did he say' He said, `I heard him say,

«يُجَاءُ بِالرَّجُلِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامةِ فَيُلْقَى فِي النَّار فَتَنْدَلِقُ بِه أَقْتَابُهُ فيَدُورُ بِهَا فِي النَّار كَمَا يَدُورُ الْحِمَارُ بِرَحَاهُ فيُطِيفُ بِهِ أَهْلُ النَّار فَيَقُولُون: يَا فُلَانُ ما أَصَابَكَ؟ أَلَمْ تَكُنْ تَأْمُرُنَا بِالْمَعْرُوف وَتَنْهَانَا عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ؟ فَيَقُولُ: كُنْتُ آمرُكُمْ باِلْمَعْرُوفِ وَلَا آتِيهِ وَأَنْهَاكُمْ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَآتِيه»

(A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and thrown in the Fire. His intestines will fall out and he will continue circling pulling them behind him, just as the donkey goes around the pole. The people of the Fire will go to that man and ask him, `What happened to you Did you not used to command us to do righteous acts and forbid us from committing evil' He will say, `Yes. I used to enjoin righteousness, but refrained from performing righteousness, and I used to forbid you to perform from evil while I myself did it.').'''

This Hadith was also recorded by Al-Bukhari and Muslim. eAlso, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i said, "I hesitate in advising people because of three Ayat:

﴿أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنسَوْنَ أَنفُسَكُمْ﴾

(Enjoin you Al-Birr on the people and you forget (to practise it) yourselves).

﴿يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ - كَبُرَ مَقْتاً عِندَ اللَّهِ أَن تَقُولُواْ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ ﴾


(O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do Most hateful it is to Allah that you say that which you do not do) (61:2-3).''

And Allah informed us that the Prophet Shu`ayb said,

﴿وَمَآ أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُخَالِفَكُمْ إِلَى مَآ أَنْهَـكُمْ عَنْهُ إِنْ أُرِيدُ إِلاَّ الإِصْلَـحَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ وَمَا تَوْفِيقِى إِلاَّ بِاللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَإِلَيْهِ أُنِيبُ﴾

(I wish not, in contradiction to you, to do that which I forbid you. I only desire reform to the best of my power. And my guidance cannot come except from Allah, in Him I trust and unto Him I repent) (11:88).
 

Janaan

ربنا اغفر لنا ذنوبنا
Staff member
Assalaamu `alaikum warahmatullaah

Wow, we've already reached the second maqra'ah? I'll have to go back and read from the 6th verse.

Subhaanallaah though, I think this ayah applies to many (if not all) of us! It's worth remembering this statement from the hadeeth (as well as what Ibrahim An-Nakha`i said):
... I used to enjoin righteousness, but refrained from performing righteousness, and I used to forbid you to perform from evil while I myself did it

And jazaakallaahu khayran for continuing with the ayah of the day in absence of brother Mutlek, akhy.
 

Hassan

Laa ilaha ilaa Allah
Staff member
wa alaikum asalaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

Alhamdulillah I find reading just one or two ayat at a time very different to reading several, and I find it beneficial to be making the posts. These will slow down for the next two weeks, but I will be trying to post when I can, in shaa Allah.

Welcome back!
 

Janaan

ربنا اغفر لنا ذنوبنا
Staff member
Assalaamu `alaikum warahmatullaah.

Yes I agree, it is best to take it one to two ayaat a day to let everything sink in. I found this on my search for tafaaseer websites a while back, and I think it's brilliant maashaa'Allaah! Before, when I used to learn tafseer in another language, the shaykhs always used the word-for-word approach, and because of that I know some of the qur'aanic words off the top of my head. For instance, in this verse the word "An-naas" appears and once I learn the meaning of this, I automatically know "An-naas" in all of the other places (could) also mean "people". Anyway, I hope it benefits ya'll inshaa'Allaah.

May Allaah `azza wa jalla grant us all the ability and strength to memorize and act upon His words.
 

Hassan

Laa ilaha ilaa Allah
Staff member
wa alaikum asalaam. MashaaAllah, that link looks like a great site. I bookmarked it for future study, in shaa Allah. Reminds me of the understandquran course (with video classes). I meant to get back to that too. In shaa allah I will have more free time soon.

JazakAllah khairan for sharing that, and Ameen to your dua.
 
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