Sūrat al-Ḥajj
Section 10 of 18 · Surah Studies · Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Hearts That Tremble
In verse 35 come the passages that most deserve attention, for they are a direct message to us about how we should be. Allah (swt) speaks of the believers and of what their description should be — may Allah make us of them:
وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ جَعَلْنَا مَنسَكًا لِّيَذْكُرُوا۟ ٱسْمَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَىٰ مَا رَزَقَهُم مِّنۢ بَهِيمَةِ ٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ ۗ فَإِلَـٰهُكُمْ إِلَـٰهٌ وَٰحِدٌ فَلَهُۥٓ أَسْلِمُوا۟ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلْمُخْبِتِينَ ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ ٱللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ عَلَىٰ مَآ أَصَابَهُمْ وَٱلْمُقِيمِى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَـٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
“For every Ummah (religious community) We prescribed the act of sacrifice, so that they recite Allah’s name over the provision He gave them from the cattle. So, your God is One God. Therefore, to Him alone you must submit. And give good news to those who turn to Him with humbleness - those whose hearts are filled with awe when Allah is remembered, and who observe patience against whatever befalls them, and who are steadfast in Salāh, and who spend (in the way of Allah) out of what We have given to them.” (22:34–35)
Alladhīna idhā dhukira Allāhu wajilat qulūbuhum: those whose hearts tremble when Allah is remembered. When they remember Allah, when Allah is mentioned, they are so closely bound to Him that it stirs them — just as, whenever a person is told of his beloved, it stirs an emotion in him. Allah should be so near to you that whenever He is mentioned that emotion wells up in you; if it does not, your love is not yet enough. For that is the sign of love: when the maḥbūb, the beloved, is mentioned, the heart wells up, and there is an outpouring of feeling. May Allah grant us that.
Wa-l-ṣābirīna ʿalā mā aṣābahum: and whatever affliction befalls them, they are patient. Patience will always be called for. This bears remembering in every place where there are difficulties — and there are difficulties everywhere in the world, some places merely worse than others. Allah tells you that you must have ṣabr, for that is what a believer is. And Allah says wa-bashshir: give glad tidings to such people.