3. PIOUS PEOPLE’S DU‘Ā (SUPPLICATION) IN THE QUR’ĀN (2)

3. PIOUS PEOPLE’S DU‘Ā (SUPPLICATION) IN THE QUR’ĀN (2)

The du‘ā’ (supplication) of pious people as groups mentioned in the Qur’ān can be divided into categories, as follows: a. of the followers of Prophet Mūsā (Moses), a.s.; b. of the followers of Prophet Samuel a.s.; c. of the followers of Prophet ‘Īsā (Jesus) a.s.; d. of the people of the Cave (أَصْحَابُ اْلكَهْف); e. of the people of the Heights or the Faculty of Discernment (أَصْحَابُ الأَعْرَاف); f. of oppressed people in their land; g. of the  followers of  good people of earlier generations; h. of the believers of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. and other prophets in general in facing the enemy; and h. of believers in general.

a.     Prophet Moses told his followers to put their trust in Allah (tawakkul) if they really believed in Him. So, the said:

عَلَى اللَّهِ تَوَكَّلْنا رَبَّنا لَا تَجْعَلْنا فِتْنَةً لِلْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ. وَنَجِّنا بِرَحْمَتِكَ

مِنَ الْقَوْم  الْكافِرِينَ ( يونس:85-86)

   In Allah we put our trust. Our Lord! Make us not

 a trial for the folks who are wrongdoers (i.e., do not

 make them over power us). And save us by Your

 Mercy from the disbelieving folks. (Q. 10:85-86)

          According to the classical Qur’ān commentator Mujāhid, the first verse means that they prayed to Allah not to let the people of Pharaoh or any other people to torture them, so that they would say, “if these people (the Israelites) were following the truth, we would not have the ability to have authority over them or punish them” so that they would follow falsehood because of them (the Israelites). (Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī, Q. 10:85; Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī, Q. 10:85).  The right interpretation according to al-Ṭabarī is that the Israelites wished that Allah would prevent them from affliction and tribulation of the people of Pharaoh, as well as any of their affairs which would become an obstruction from following Prophet Moses, affirming him and what he had brought with him. This was undoubtedly a fitnah (a deceiving trial) for them. (Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī, Q. 10:85).

The interpretation of the second verse: “And save us by Your Mercy from the disbelieving folks” is that they asked Allah’s protection from Pharaoh and his people who burdened them with hard labour.     

  Their supplication was answered by Allah when they were delivered from the Pharaoh’s bondage led by their Prophet Moses a.s. They successfully crossed the Red Sea to the desert of Sinai.

          The magic of Pharaoh’s magicians were defeated by that of Prophet Moses. As they knew that this magic was really from Allah, that Moses’s staff did really turn into a real snake, they believed in Prophet Moses a.s., Prophet Aaron a.s. and in Allah Who sent them without the Pharaoh’s permission. This made him very angry, and threatened to punish them severely. He would cut off their hands and their feet from opposite side and then he would crucify them, but they defied the threat (Q. 7:117-125). They prayed:

رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَتَوَفَّنَا مُسْلِمِينَ (الأعراف:126)

Our Lord! pour on us patience, and cause us to

 die as Muslims. (Q. 7:126)

          According to the Qur’ān commentator al-Ṭabarī, the verse means: “Our Lord! When the Pharaoh tortured us send us an obstruction to keep us away from disbelieving You, and when we die, let us die following Islam, the religion of Your friend Ibrāhīm (Abraham), a.s., not associating You with anything.” (Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī, Q. 7:126). Ibn ‘Abbās, ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Umar, Qatādah, and Ibn Jurayj commented that these people started the day as sorcerers and ended it as martyrs.

b.    Allah mentioned the story of a group among the Children of Israel after the time of Prophet Moses who asked their prophet at that time to appoint for them a king. The prophet was not mentioned by name in the Qur’ān, but according to some mufassirīn (Qur’ān commentators) his name was Shamwīl, Samuel, meaning “Allah has heard my pleas” (Some say that his name was Sham‘ūn,  Simeon or Simon which has the same meaning).[1] They promised him that with the new king they would fight for Allah’s way. Prophet Samuel asked them whether they would refrain from fighting when it became prescribed for them. They said that they would never refrain from fighting in Allah’s way while they had been driven out of their homes and families (kept as captives). But when fighting was ordered for them, they turned away except a few of them. (Q. 2:246).

          When Prophet Samuel a.s. told them that Allah had appointed Ṭālūt (Saul) as a king over them, they said: “How can he be a king over us when we are fitter than him for the kingdom, and he has not been given enough wealth.” (Qatādah said that Ṭālūt belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, neither the tribe of prophethood at Levi to which Prophet Moses belonged, nor that of khingship at Yahudha to which Prophet David and Solomon belonged. They wondered how a person who did not belong to the tribe of prophethood nor kingship became their king. They also said that he was poor to be a king. Some said that he used to bring water to the people, others said his profession was dyeing skins). Prophet Samuel a.s. said: “Verily, Allah has chosen him above you and has increased him abundantly in knowledge and stature. And Allah grants His kingdom to whom He wills. Allah is All-Sufficient for His creature’s needs, All-Knower.” (Q. 2:247).

          Ibn ‘Abbās said that Ṭālūt at that time was the most knowledgeable person among the Children of Israel, the most handsome and the most physically perfect among them which scared the enemy. It was said the he was called Ṭālūt because of his tallness. It did not mean the bigness of his body, but rather his goodness in many ways and his bravery.

          Then when Ṭālūt (Saul) set out with his army, he said: “Verily, Allah will try you by a river.[2] So, whoever drinks thereof, he is not of me (shall not accompany me today), and whoever tastes it not, he is of me, except him who takes (thereof) in the hollow of his hand.” Yet, all except a few of them, drank thereof. So, when they had crossed the river, he and those who believed with him said: “We have no power this day against Jālūt (Goliath) and his host.” But those (knowledgeable scholars among them) who knew with certainty that they were going to meet Allah, (strengthened their resolve and) said: “How often a small group overcame a mighty host by Allah’s leave!” And Allah is with the patient.[3] (Q. 2:249).

          And when they advanced to meet Jālūt (Goliath) and his forces they invoked:

  رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانْصُرْنَا

عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ (البقرة:250)

Our Lord! Pour forth on us patience, and set

firm our feet [i.e., save us from running away and

from feebleness] and make us victorious over

 the disbelieving people. (Q. 2:250)

So they routed them by Allah’s leave, and Dāwūd   (David) killed Jālūt (Goliath). Then Allah gave him the kingdom (after the death of king Ṭalūt and Prophet Samuel) and wisdom (prophethood) and taught him that which Allah willed. (Q. 2: 251). He was known in the Bible as King David, and among Muslims as Prophet Dāwūd (Dā’ūd) a.s. he was actually a prophet-king, like his son who inherited his kingdom, the Prophet-King Solomon (Sulaymān).[4]

c. The disciples of Prophet ‘Īsā (Jesus) a.s who helped him was called in the Qur’ān al-ḥawārirrūn (supporters). When he came to know their disbelief, he asked them, “Wo will be my helpers in Allah’s cause?” In other words, “Who will help me convey the Message of Allah?” The ḥawārirrūn replied, “We are the helpers of Allah; we believe in Allah, and bear witness that we are Muslims.” (Q. 3:52). Then they prayed to Allah, saying:

رَبَّنَا آمَنَّا بِمَا أَنْزَلْتَ وَاتَّبَعْنَا الرَّسُولَ فَاكْتُبْنَا مَعَ الشَّاهِدِينَ (53آل عمران:53)

Our Lord! We believe in what You have sent down

nd we follow the Messenger [‘Īsā, Jesus]; so write us

 down among those who bear witness. (Q. 3:53)

Similarly, the Prophet before his migration to Madinah, did not find anybody who would help him in conveying the Message of Islam, as the Quraysh tribe had prevented him from doing so. In Madinah, the anṣār (“helpers”, the people of Madinah) helped him, and gave him refuge. They comforted him and protected him from his enemies.

When the Prophet s.a.w. encouraged people to fight in the battle of al-Aḥzāb (Confederates) also called the Battle of Khandaq (Trench) which took place in Shawwal 5 A.H, al-Zubayr came forward, and when he called again, al-Zubayr came forward again. The Prophet s.a.w. then said; “Every Prophet has a ḥawārī (a helper), and my ḥawārī is al-Zubayr.”

(CIVIC, 30 January, 2015)

المراجع: 

المكتبة الشاملة       

تفسير الطبري (ت. 310 هـ )

تفسير القرطبى (ت. 671 هـ)

تفسير ابن كثير (ت. 774 هـ)

الراغب الأصفهاني(ت. 425 هـ). مفردات ألفاظ القرآن.

الدامغاني (ت. 478 هـ). قاموس القرآن

Ali, A.Yusuf.  The Meanings of the Holy Qur’ān. Kuala Lumpur: Percetakan Zafar Sdn Bhd, 2005.

Asad, Muhammad. The Message of the Qur’ān.Gibraltar: Dar al-Andalus, 1984.

Abu Khalil, Dr. Shawqi. Atlas of the Qur’ān. Riydh: Maktabah Dar-us-Salam, 2003

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[1] In the Old Testament Samuel was a prophet and a judge (1Samuel 1:20; 3:19-21). The Old Testament mentioned that the Children of Israel asked for a king (1Samuel 8), and Saul was made king (1Samuel 10:9-26).

[2] The river was the Jordan river. See al-Dāmaghānī (d. 478/1085-6), Qāmūs al-Qur’an, s.v. n-h-r. According to Ibn ‘Abbās and others, the name of the river was the Sharī‘ah river which flowed between Jordan and Palestine.

[3] According to mufassirīn the term ṣabr (patience) has many meanings in the Qur’an depending on the contexts. In facing the enemy it means “bravery”, the opposite of “cowardice”. See al-Rāghib al-Aṣfahānī (d. ca. 425/1132)  Mufradāt Alfāẓ al-Qur’an, s.v. ṣ-b-r.

[4] According to Islam prophets sent by Allah, including Biblical prophets mentioned in the Qur’an and King David as well as King Solomon, are ma‘ṣūm (infallible, sinless, protected by Allah from committing sin). Therefore, any kind of sin claimed to have been committed by any of them in the Bible is rejected in Islam, such as: Aaron took the gold errings of the Israelite women “and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, ‘These are your gods [in another version ‘This is your god’] O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’” So, according to the Bible, Aaron was guilty of making and worshipping the golden calf (Exodus 32:1-5). According to the Qur’an, instead of Aaron, it was the Sāmirī, the Samaritan, who did it. However, tranlating al-Sāmirī as “the Samaritan”, i.e., a man of the Jewish clan of the Sāmirah would be unlikely, as Muhammad Asad put it, “… this sect did not exist yet at the time of Moses, it was possible that—as Ibn ‘Abbas maintained (Rāzī)—the person in question was one of the many Egyptians who had been converted to the faith of Moses and joined the Israelites on their exodus from Egypt ... in which case the designation sāmirī might be connected with the ancient Egyptian shemer, “a foreigner” or “stranger….” (Asad, The Message of the Qur’an, Q.20:85, n. 70). In other words, it was the newly Egyptian convert who made the idol. As punishment Prophet Moses banished him and that he would say throughout his life lā misāsa (“don’t touch me!”). (Q. 20:97). This expression, according to Muhammad Asad, was “a metaphorical description of the loneliness and the social ostracism in which he would henceforth find himself.” (Ibid., Q.20:97, n. 83).