Posts Tagged With: strive

Striving is for Self.

Suuratul – Ankabuut Verse 6.

وَمَن جَـٰهَدَ فَإِنَّمَا يُجَـٰهِدُ لِنَفْسِهِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ لَغَنِىٌّ عَنِ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ﴿٦

6. And whosoever strives, he strives only for himself. Verily, Allah is free of all wants from the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinns, and all that exists).

Tafsir Ibn Kathir Volume 7, Page 460.

﴿وَمَن جَاهَدَ فَإِنَّمَا يُجَـهِدُ لِنَفْسِهِ﴾

(And whosoever strives, he strives only for himself.) This is like the Ayah,

﴿مَّنْ عَمِلَ صَـلِحاً فَلِنَفْسِهِ﴾

(Whosoever does righteous good deed, it is for himself) (41:46). Whoever does a righteous deed, the benefit of that deed will come back to him, for Allah has no need of the deeds of His servants, and even if all of them were to be as pious as the most pious man among them, that would not add to His dominion in the slightest. Allah says:

﴿وَمَن جَاهَدَ فَإِنَّمَا يُجَـهِدُ لِنَفْسِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَنِىٌّ عَنِ الْعَـلَمِينَ ﴾

(And whosoever strives, he strives only for himself. Verily, Allah stands not in need of any of the creatures.) Then Allah tells us that even though He has no need of His creatures, He is kind and generous to them. He will still give to those who believe and do righteous deeds the best of rewards, which is that He will expiate for them their bad deeds, and will reward them according to the best deeds that they did. He will accept the fewest good deeds and in return for one good deed will give anything between ten rewards and seven hundred, but for every bad deed, He will give only one evil merit, or even that He may overlook and forgive.

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Striving as you Ought to!

Suuratul – Hajj Verse 78.

وَجَـٰهِدُوا۟ فِى ٱللَّـهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهِۦ ۚ هُوَ ٱجْتَبَىٰكُمْ وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِى ٱلدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ ۚ مِّلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ ۚ

هُوَ سَمَّىٰكُمُ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ مِن قَبْلُ وَفِى هَـٰذَا لِيَكُونَ ٱلرَّسُولُ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا۟ شُهَدَآءَ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ ۚ

فَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتُوا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَٱعْتَصِمُوا۟ بِٱللَّـهِ هُوَ مَوْلَىٰكُمْ ۖ فَنِعْمَ ٱلْمَوْلَىٰ وَنِعْمَ ٱلنَّصِيرُ ﴿٧٨

78. And strive hard in Allah’s Cause as you ought to strive (with sincerity and with all your efforts). He has chosen you (to convey His Message, Islam), and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship, it is the religion of your father Ibrahim. It is He (Allah) Who has named you Muslims both before and in this (the Qur’an), that the Messenger may be a witness over you and you be witnesses over mankind! So perform As-Salat, give Zakat and hold fast to Allah [i.e. have confidence in Allah, and depend upon Him in all your affairs] He is your Maula (Patron, Lord, etc.), what an Excellent Maula and what an Excellent Helper!

Tafsir Ibn Kathir Volume 6, Page 622.

And strive hard in Allah’s cause as you ought to strive means, with your wealth and your tongues and your bodies. This is like the Ayah:

﴿اتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ﴾

 (Have Taqwa of Allah as is His due.) 3:102

﴿هُوَ اجْتَبَـكُمْ﴾

(He has chosen you,) means, `O Ummah of Islam, Allah has selected you and chosen you over all other nations, and has favored you and blessed you and honored you with the noblest of Messengers and the noblest of Laws.’

﴿وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكمْ فِى الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ﴾

(and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship) He has not given you more than you can bear and He has not obliged you to do anything that will cause you difficulty except that He has created for you a way out. So the Salah, which is the most important pillar of Islam after the two testimonies of faith, is obligatory, four Rak`ahs when one is settled, which are shortened to two Rak`ah when one is traveling. According to some Imams, only one Rak`ahs is obligatory at times of fear, as was recorded in the Hadith. A person may pray while walking or riding, facing the Qiblah or otherwise. When praying optional prayers while traveling, one may face the Qiblah or not. A person is not obliged to stand during the prayer if he is sick; the sick person may pray sitting down, and if he is not able to do that then he may pray lying on his side. And there are other exemptions and dispensations which may apply to the obligatory prayers and other duties. So the Prophet said:

«بُعِثْتُ بِالْحَنِيفِيَّةِ السَّمْحَة»

(I have been sent with the easy Hanifi way.) And he said to Mu`adh and Abu Musa, when he sent them as governors to Yemen:

«بَشِّرَا وَلَا تُنَفِّرا وَيَسِّرَا وَلَا تُعَسِّرَا»

(Give good news and do not repel them. Make things easy for the people and do not make the things difficult for them.) And there are many similar Hadiths. Ibn `Abbas said concerning the Ayah,

﴿وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكمْ فِى الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ﴾

(and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship), “This means difficulty.”

﴿مِّلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَهِيمَ﴾

(It is the religion of your father Ibrahim. ) Ibn Jarir said, “This refers back to the Ayah,

﴿وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكمْ فِى الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ﴾

(and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship) meaning, any difficulty.” On the contrary, He has made it easy for you, like the religion of your father Ibrahim.

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Striving at its Best!

Suuratul – Israa’ Verse 19.

وَمَنْ أَرَادَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةَ وَسَعَىٰ لَهَا سَعْيَهَا وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ كَانَ سَعْيُهُم مَّشْكُورًا ﴿١٩

19. And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it, with the necessary effort due for it (i.e. do righteous deeds of Allah’s Obedience) while he is a believer, then such are the ones whose striving shall be appreciated, thanked and rewarded (by Allah).

Tafsir Ibn Kathir Volume 5.

Allah tells us that not everyone who desires this world and its luxuries gets what he wants. That is attained by those whom Allah wants to have it, and they get what He wills that they should get. This Ayah narrows down the general statements made in other Ayat. Allah says:

﴿عَجَّلْنَا لَهُ فِيهَا مَا نَشَآءُ لِمَن نُّرِيدُ ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَا لَهُ جَهَنَّمَ﴾

(We readily grant him what We will for whom We like. Then, afterwards, We have appointed for him Hell) meaning, in the Hereafter,

﴿يَصْلَـهَآ﴾

(he will burn therein) means, he will enter it until it covers him on all sides,

﴿مَذْمُومًا﴾

(disgraced) means, blamed for his bad behaviour and evil deeds, because he chose the transient over the eternal,

﴿مَّدْحُورًا﴾

(rejected.) means, far away (from Allah’s mercy), humiliated and put to shame.

﴿وَمَنْ أَرَادَ الاٌّخِرَةَ﴾

(And whoever desires the Hereafter) wanting the Hereafter and its blessings and delights,

﴿وَسَعَى لَهَا سَعْيَهَا﴾

(and strives for it, with the necessary effort due for it) seeking it in the right way, which is following the Messenger .

﴿وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ﴾

(while he is a believer,) means, his heart has faith, i.e., he believes in the reward and punishment,

﴿فَأُولَـئِكَ كَانَ سَعْيُهُم مَّشْكُورًا﴾

(then such are the ones whose striving shall be appreciated, (rewarded by Allah).)

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