The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. (They say,) "We make no distinction between one another of His Messengers ـ and they say, "We hear, and we obey. (We seek) Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the return (of all). (285)Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned. "Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians); our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Mawla (Patron, Supporter and Protector) and give us victory over the disbelieving people. (286)
The Hadiths on the Virtue of These Two Ayat, May Allah Benefit Us by Them
Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Mas'ud said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
مَنْ قَرَأَ بِالْآيَتَيْنِ مِنْ آخِرِ سُورَةِ الْبَقَرَةِ فِي لَيْلَةٍ، كَفَتَاهُ
(Whoever recites the last two Ayat in Surat Al-Baqarah at night, they will suffice for him.)
The rest of the six also recorded similar wording for this Hadith. The Two Sahihs recorded this Hadith using various chains of narration, and Imam Ahmad also recorded it.
Muslim recorded that 'Abdullah said, "When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went on the Isra journey, he ascended to the Sidrat Al-Muntaha in the sixth heaven, where whatever ascends from the earth ends at, and whatever descends from above it ends at.
إِذْ يَغْشَى السِّدْرَةَ مَا يَغْشَىٰ
(When that covered the lote tree which did cover it!)[53:16] meaning, a mat made of gold.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was then given three things: the five prayers, the last Ayat in Surat Al-Baqarah and forgiveness for whoever did not associate anything or anyone with Allah from his Ummah."
Earlier we mentioned the Hadith regarding the virtues of Surat Al-Fatihah from Ibn 'Abbas which stated, "While the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was with Jibil, he heard a noise from above. Jibil lifted his sight to the sky and said, 'This is a door that was opened just now in heaven, and it was never opened before.' An angel came down through the door to the Prophet ﷺ and said, 'Receive the good news of two lights that you have been given and which no Prophet before you was given: the Opener of the Book (Al-Fatihah) and the last Ayat in Surat Al-Baqarah. You will not read a letter of them, but you will be granted its benefit.'" This Hadith was collected by Muslim and An-Nasa'i, and this is the wording collected by An-Nasa'i.
The Tafsir of the Last Two Ayat of Surat Al-Baqarah
Allah said,
كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ
(Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. (They say,) "We make no distinction between one another of His Messengers.")
Therefore, each of the believers believes that Allah is the One and Only and the Sustainer, there is no deity worthy of worship except Him and there is no Lord except Him. The believers also believe in all Allah's Prophets and Messengers, in the Books that were revealed from heaven to the Messengers and Prophets, who are indeed the servants of Allah. Further, the believers do not differentiate between any of the Prophets, such as, believing in some of them and rejecting others. Rather, all of Allah's Prophets and Messengers are, to the believers, truthful, righteous, and they were each guided to the path of righteousness, even when some of them bring what abrogates the Law of some others by Allah's leave. Later on, the Law of Muhammad, the Final Prophet and Messenger from Allah, abrogated all the laws of the Prophets before him. So the Last Hour will commence while Muhammad's Law remains the only valid Law, and all the while a group of his Ummah will always be on the path of truth, apparent and dominant. Allah's statement,
وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا
(And they say, "We hear, and we obey") means, we heard Your statement, O our Lord, comprehended and implemented it, and adhered to its implications.
غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا
((We seek) Your forgiveness, our Lord) contains a plea and supplication for Allah's forgiveness, mercy and kindness.
Allah's statement,
لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا
(Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope) means, Allah does not ask a soul what is beyond its ability. This only demonstrates Allah's kindness, compassion and generosity towards His creation. This Ayah is the Ayah that abrogated the Ayah that worried the Companions, that is, Allah's statement,
وَإِن تُبْدُوا مَا فِي أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ يُحَاسِبْكُم بِهِ اللَّهُ
(And whether you disclose what is in yourselves or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it.)[2:284]
This indicates that although Allah will question His servants and judge them, He will only punish for what one is able to protect himself from. As for what one cannot protect himself from, such as what one says to himself - or passing thoughts - they will not be punished for that. We should state here that to dislike the evil thoughts that cross one's mind is a part of faith. Allah said next,
لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ
(He gets reward for that which he has earned) of good,
وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ
(And he is punished for that which he has earned) of evil, that is, concerning the acts that one is responsible for.
Allah then said, [mentioning what the believers said] while directing His servants to supplicate to Him, all the while promising them that He will answer their supplication:
رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا
("Our Lord! Push us not if we forget or fall into error,") meaning, "If we forgot an obligation or fell into a prohibition, or made an error while ignorant of its ruling." We mentioned the Hadith by Abu Hurayrah, that Muslim collected, wherein Allah said, "I shall (accept your supplication)." There is also the Hadith by Ibn 'Abbas that Allah said, "I did (accept your supplication)."
رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا
(Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians),) means, "Even if we were able to perform them, do not require us to perform the difficult deeds as You required the previous nations before us, such as the burdens that were placed on them. You sent Your Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the Prophet of mercy, to abrogate these burdens through the Law that You revealed to him, the Hanifi (Islamic Monotheism), easy religion." Muslim recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that Allah said, "I shall (accept your supplication)." Ibn 'Abbas narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that Allah said, "I did (accept your supplication)." There is the Hadith recorded through various chains of narration that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
بُعِثْتُ بِالْحَنِيفِيَّةِ السَّمْحَةِ
(I was sent with the easy Hanifiyyah way.)
رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ
(Our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear) of obligations, hardships and afflictions, do not make us bear what we cannot bear of this.
رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ
(Our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear.)
We mentioned that Allah said, "I shall (accept your supplication)" in one narration, and, "I did (accept your supplication)," in another narration.
وَاعْفُ عَنَّا
(Pardon us) meaning, between us and You regarding what You know of our shortcomings and errors.
وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا
(And grant us forgiveness) concerning what is between us and Your servants. So do not expose our errors and evil deeds to them.
وَارْحَمْنَا
(Have mercy on us) in what will come thereafter. Therefore, do not allow us to fall into another error. They say that those who commit error need three things: Allah's forgiveness for what is between Him and them, that He conceals these errors from His other servants, and thus does not expose them before the servants, and that He grants them immunity from further error." We mentioned before that Allah answered these pleas, "I shall," in one narration and, "I did," in another narration.
أَنتَ مَوْلَانَا
(You are our Mawla) meaning, You are our supporter and helper, our trust is in You, You are sought for each and every type of help and our total reliance is on You. There is no power or strength except from You.
فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ
(And give us victory over the disbelieving people) those who rejected Your religion, denied Your Oneness, refused the Message of Your Prophet ﷺ, worshipped other than You and associated others in Your worship. Give us victory and make us prevail above them in this and the Hereafter. Allah said, "I shall," in one narration, and, "I did," in the Hadith that Muslim collected from Ibn 'Abbas.
Further, Ibn Jarir recorded that Abu Ishaq said that whenever Mu'adh would finish reciting this Surah,
فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ
(And give us victory over the disbelieving people), he would say "Amin."
After that comes the second verse where the doubt, which could have risen during the comprehension of some sentences in the previous verse, has been removed in a style that is very special. It will be recalled that the question was as to how one would escape punishment if thoughts concealed in hearts were also made subject to accounting. It was said: لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّـهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا :'Allah burdens not anyone beyond his or her capacity.' Therefore, thoughts that enter the heart without one's intention and control and are not translated into action, stand all excused in the sight of Allah Almighty. Deeds, that are undertaken with choice and volition will be the only ones apprehended and called to account.
A little detail will show that there is an outward aspect of human deeds which concerns what is done with the hand, head, eye, tongue and other parts of the body. This is further divided into two kinds. The first reflects what is done with choice and volition. This is voluntary, such as, to speak by choice or to beat somebody by choice. The second kind is involuntary, that which just issues forth without choice or volition, for instance, saying something other than what one actually intended to say, or a palsied hand moving unintentionally caused pain to somebody. Here everyone knows that accounting and retribution, reward and punishment are particularly related to voluntary deeds. As far as non-voluntary deeds are concerned man is neither obligated nor constrained therein, and certainly, there is no ثواب thawab (reward) or عذاب ` adhab (punishment) on them.
Similarly, the deeds relating to one's heart are also of two kinds. The first one is voluntary, for instance, the belief in کفر kufr and shirk شرک ، which one has. Implanted firmly in one's heart with intention and choice, or the arrogance one assumes as a result of conscious and wilful self-pride, or the making of firm resolution to start drinking. The second kind is the non-voluntary, for instance, the entry of some evil thought in one's heart without volition and intention. Here too, the accounting, the reckoning and the reprehensibility covers voluntary deeds only, and does not cover non-voluntary deeds.
By this explanation given by the Qur'an itself, peace was restored in the hearts of the noble Companions. They were satisfied that there was no accounting, reckoning, punishment or reward on non-voluntary thoughts. The same subject has been further clarified towards the end by saying: لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ that is, man is rewarded for what he intends to do and is punished for what he elects to do.
But it should be borne in mind that the drive of the meaning of this verse is that, one will initially face direct reward or punishment for what is done with intention and volition. However, the indirect coming of reward or punishment after any such deed which was not intended is not contrary to this. This provides an answer to the doubt that there are times when man faces reward or punishment even without intention and volition. In this context, several other verses of the Qur'an and many reports from ahadith prove that one who does something good which persuades others to act similarly, then its reward will continue reaching the original doer of the good deed as long as the later followers of the original deed continue with their good deeds. Similar is the case with one who gives currency to an evil way; he too will be incurring its curse as the original innovator of this evil way when later people follow him, and keep getting involved with the sin for all times to come.
Similarly, narrations in hadith prove that one can transmit the reward of one's good deeds to any other person. It is clear that in all these situations, man is receiving reward or punishment without intention and volition.
Here is an answer to this doubt. It is obvious that this reward and punishment did not reach a person directly, but it reached him through the medium of another person. In addition to that, one's own act and choice do surely play a role in making another person a medium of thawab ثواب for oneself. The reason is that whoever adopts a good or evil way initiated by someone, then in his doing, there certainly is a role played by the voluntary act of the original person, even if he did not intend to release such particular effect. Similar is the case of a person who does his isal al-thawab ایصال الثواب (the prayer for transmittal of reward) for somebody only when he has done him some favour. In view of this, the said reward and punishment of somebody else is, in reality, the reward and punishment of one's own deeds.
The noble Qur'an, towards the far end, teaches Muslims to make a special du` a or prayer in which forgiveness has been sought on commission of some act because of forgetfulness or neglect or mistake. It was said:
رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا
Our Lord, do not hold us accountable, if we forget or make a mistake.
Then it was further said:
رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ
Our Lord, do not place on us a burden such as You have placed on those before us. And our Lord, do not make us bear that for which we have no strength.
Indicated here are the severe restrictions placed on the Bani Isra'il (Israelites), such as, a piece of cloth could not be made fully pure unless cut or burnt, or that repentance could not be accepted without killing. Alternately, it could mean that punishment should not visit us as it visited the Bani Isra'il following their evil deeds.
In short, Allah Almighty bestowed His best when He promised the acceptance of all these prayers through His Rasul ﷺ ، the last among the prophets, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
و للہ الحمد اول و آخرہ و ظاہرہ و باطنہ و ھو المستعا