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Prayers for Travel

Duas for Muslim Travelers

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In addition to being required to pray three times daily (normally five, but exceptions are made when traveling), Allah also requires Muslims to begin other prayers, or ​duas, to keep them safe as soon as they leave their cities or towns and begin their travels. Whether before or during their travels—and whether by airplane, car, boat or other transportation—Muslims ask Allah to protect them on their journeys and get them back home safely to their families.

Invocation for Traveling

Allaahu 'Akbar, Allaahu 'Akbar, Allaahu 'Akbar, Subhaanal-lathee sakhkhara lanaa haathaa wa maa kunnaa lahu muqrineen. Wa 'innaa 'ilaa Rabbinaa lamunqaliboon. Allaahumma 'innaa nas'aluka fee safarinaa haathal-birrawattaqwaa, waminal-'amalimaa tardhaa, Allaahumma hawwin 'alaynaa safaranaa haathaa watwi 'annaa bu'dahu, Allaahumma 'Antas-saahibu fis-safari, walkhaleefatu fil-'ahli, Allaahumma 'innee 'a'oothu bika min wa'thaa'is-safari, wa ka'aabanl-mandhari, wa soo'il-munqalabi fil-maaliwal'ahli.

Allah is the Most Great. Allah is the Most Great. Allah is the Most Great. Glory is to Him Who has provided this for us though we could never have had it by our efforts. Surely, unto our Lord we are returning. O Allah, we ask You on this our journey for goodness and piety, and for works that are pleasing to You. O Allah, lighten this journey for us and make its distance easy for us. O Allah, You are our Companion on the road and the One in Whose care we leave our family. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from this journey's hardships, and from the wicked sights in store and from finding our family and property in misfortune upon returning.

Prayer for the Trip

Bismi-Allahi wa al-hamdu li-Allahi. Subhana-alladhi sakh-khara la-na hadha wa ma kunna la-hu muqrinin. Wa inna ila Rabbi-na la munqalibun.

In the name of Allah, and Praise be to Allah. Glory unto Him Who created this transportation, for us, though we were unable to create it on our own. And unto our Lord we shall return.

The Departure Prayer

lla   ihlmh   ila   allmha  waḥdahs  lba  sh  ryka   lh   llhn   almlk    wlh  alnḥ  mld   whww  ʿl a  kll   shyw’r   qd   yrsh  aybṭwnn  twamb  wnḍ ʿabnd  wnr   sajadrwny  lḥr  bmnaa  ḥramdwn ṣndqa  allahl  wʿkhdyhr whndhṣhr  ʿbdh w  hzm  alaahḥlzhab  wnḥʿdwh bk mn  shrha   wshr   ahlha   wshr  ma  fyha

There is none worthy of worship besides Allah who has no partner. His is the Kingdom and to him is all praise, for He has created everything. We are those returning, repenting and obedient to Allah, performing Sajda, praising Allah, Allah has made truth (fulfilled) His promise and aided His servant and defeated the enemy armies Alone.

Prayer for Reaching the Destination

Allhm rb alsmawat alsbʿ wma aẓlln wrb alarḍyn alsbʿ wma aqlln wrb alshyaṭyn wma aḍlln wrb alryaḥ wma dhryn fina nsalk khyr hdhh alqrya wkhyr ahlha wnʿwdh bk mn shrha wshr ahlha wshr ma fyha .

O Allah, You are the Lord of the seven skies and all the things that are under these skies and the seven planets and whatever is over these and of Satan who misled and all those misled by him and for the wind and all that it blows. Thus we seek the good of this town and the good of its members (people) and seek refuge from its evil and the evil of its members, and from the evils of whatever is in it.

Prayer to Reach Home Safely

Alw bham a wbaa llrbhanwa tdwhb ab lsha yyghaadr ʿllnyana ḥw bwal h alnḥ mld whww ʿl a kll shyw’r qd yrsh aybṭwnn twamb wnḍ ʿabnd wnr sajadrwny lḥr bmnaa ḥramdwn ṣndqa allahl wʿkhdyhr whndhṣhr ʿbdh w hzm alaahḥlzhab  wnḥʿdwh bk mn shrha wshr ahlha wshr ma fyha.

I have come back, I have come back, I seek forgiveness from Allah with such a repentance that leaves me with no sin.

Prayer Upon Returning Home

Aa'iboona, taa'iboona, 'aabidoona, Lirabbinaa haamidoon.

We return repentant to our Lord, worshipping our Lord, and praising our Lord.

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Traveler's Dua - Invocation in Islam: Guided Prayers for Safe Journeys

In Islam, every act in our daily life can be an opportunity to draw closer to Allah, the Almighty. Traveling, whether short or long, is one of these special times when believers are encouraged to recite specific prayers for safety, guidance, and a peaceful return.

In this post, we’ll delve into the significance of the traveler’s invocation through teachings from the Quran and the authentic hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). We will also provide examples of invocations in Arabic, along with their transliteration and English translation.

Seeking Divine Protection for the Journey

Traveling, be it for business, leisure, or pilgrimage, poses challenges and uncertainties. Hence, Islam urges believers to seek Allah’s protection and guidance before and during their journey. The Quran states: “And when you have completed your rites of pilgrimage, invoke Allah as you invoke your forefathers, or even more fervently.” (Quran, Al-Baqara, verse 200) This verse emphasizes the importance of invocation during pilgrimage but can be applied to other journeys as well.

The Power of the Traveler’s Invocation

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) highlighted the significance of the traveler’s prayer, saying: “Three prayers are not rejected: the prayer of a father, the prayer of a fasting person, and the prayer of a traveler.” (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi) This implies that when traveling, your prayers hold particular significance and are more likely to be granted.

Invocation - Dua Examples in Arabic, Transliteration, and Translation:

Prayer for departure:.

“بسم الله توكلت على الله ولا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله”

Transliteration : “Bismillah, tawakkaltu ‘ala Allah, wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah.”

Translation : “In the name of Allah, I place my trust in Allah, and there’s no might nor power except with Allah.”

Prayer for Safety:

“اللهم هون علينا سفرنا هذا واطو عنا بعده”

Transliteration : “Allahumma hawwin ‘alayna safarana hadha wa tawwi ‘anna bu’dahu.”

Translation : “O Allah, ease our journey and shorten its distance for us.”

Prayer for Safe Return:

« سبحان الذي سخر لنا هذا وما كنا له مقرنين وإنا إلى ربِّنا لمُنْقَلِبُونَ، اللهمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ فِي سَفَرِنَا هَذَا البِرَّ وَ التَّقْوَى، وَ مِنَ العَمَلِ مَا تَرْضَى، اللهمَّ هَوِّنْ عَلَيْنَا سَفَرَنَا هَذَا وَ اطْوِ عَنَّا بُعْدَهُ، اللهمَّ أَنْتَ الصَّاحِبُ فِي السَّفَرِ، وَ الخَلِيفَةُ فِي الأَهْلِ، اللهمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ وَعْثَاءِ السَّفَرِ، وَ كآبَةِ المَنْظَرِ وَ سُوءِ المُنْقَلَبِ فِي المَالِ وَ الأَهْلِ. »

Transliteration : “.Subhan alladhi sakhkhara lana hadha wa ma kunna lahu muqrinin wa inna ila rabbina lamunqalibun. Allahumma inni nas’aluka fi safarina hadha al-birra wa at-taqwa, wa min al-‘amali ma tarda. Allahumma hawwin ‘alayna safarana hadha wa atwi ‘anna bu’dahu. Allahumma anta as-sahibu fi as-safar, wa al-khalifatu fi al-ahli. Allahumma inni a’udhu bika min wa’thais-safar, wa ka’bati al-manzari wa su’i al-munqalabi fi al-mali wa al-ahli.”

Translation: “Glory to He who has subjected this to our service, for we could not have done it. To our Lord, we shall return. O Allah, we ask for righteousness and piety in this journey and acts that please You. O Allah, make this journey easy for us and shorten its distance. You are the Companion on the journey and the Successor over the family. I seek refuge with You from the hardships of travel, bad sights, and harm to wealth and family upon return. When returning, one should add, ‘We return, repent, worship, and praise our Lord.'”

This invocation – Dua serves as a comforting source for travelers, assisting them in seeking divine protection, safety, and ease throughout their journey and upon their return home. May each journey be blessed and safe, and may Allah heed the sincere prayers of travelers.

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The Power of Dua When Traveling: A Comprehensive Guide for a Safe and Blessed Journey

As believers, we understand the significance of dua, or supplication, in our daily lives. Dua is not just a means of seeking Allah’s guidance and blessings; it is a powerful tool that accompanies us on every step of our journey. When it comes to traveling, dua takes on even greater importance, offering us solace, protection, and peace of mind. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the essence of dua and its role in ensuring a safe and blessed journey. Whether you’re embarking on a grand adventure or a simple commute, let’s discover the transformative power of dua in the realm of travel.

Dua When Traveling in Arabic

سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ وَإِنَّا إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنْقَلِبُونَ

Dua When Traveling in English

“Subhan Allahdhi sakh khara lana haza wama kunna lahu muqrineen. Wa inna ila Rab-bina lamun-qaliboon.”

Translation:

“Glory be to the One who has subjected this for us, and we were not capable of doing it. And indeed, to our Lord, we will return.”

When embarking on a journey, it is essential to seek Allah’s protection, guidance, and blessings. Here are five recommended duas (supplications) to recite when traveling:

Dua Before Setting Out

“Allahumma inni as’aluka fi safarina hadha al-birra wa al-taqwa, wa min al-‘amali ma tarda, Allahumma hawwin ‘alayna safarana hadha watwi ‘anna bu’dahu. Allahumma anta al-sahibu fi al-safari, wa al-khalifa fi al-ahl. Allahumma inni a’udhu bika min wa’tha’ al-safari wa ka’abaat al-manzar, wa su’ al-munqalabi fi al-mali wa al-ahl.”

Translation: “O Allah, I ask You for righteousness and piety in this journey of ours, and for deeds that are pleasing to You. O Allah, make our journey easy for us and shorten its distance. O Allah, You are the Companion on the journey and the Successor over the family. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the difficulties of travel, from having an unpleasant sight, and from harmful consequences in my wealth and family.”

Dua When Boarding Transportation

“Bismillahi, tawakkaltu ‘ala Allah, wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah.”

Translation: “In the name of Allah, I place my trust in Allah, and there is no might or power except with Allah.”

Dua When Arriving at the Destination

“A’udhu bi kalimatillah al-tammati min sharri ma khalaq.”

Translation: “I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created.”

Dua for a Safe Return

“Allahumma inni as’aluka fi safarina hadha al-birra wa al-taqwa wa min al-‘amali ma tarda. Allahumma hawwin ‘alayna safarana hadha. Allahumma anta al-sahibu fi al-safari, wa al-khalifa fi al-ahl. Allahumma inni a’udhu bika min wa’tha’ al-safari wa ka’abaat al-manzar, wa su’ al-munqalabi fi al-mali wa al-ahl.”

Translation: “O Allah, I ask You for righteousness and piety in this journey of ours and for deeds that are pleasing to You. O Allah, make our journey easy for us. O Allah, You are the Companion on the journey and the Successor over the family. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the difficulties of travel, from having an unpleasant sight, and from harmful consequences in my wealth and family.”

Understanding the Essence of Dua When Traveling

In Islam, dua is an integral part of our relationship with Allah. It is a way to communicate our hopes, fears, and desires, seeking His guidance and blessings in all aspects of life. Dua is a reflection of our faith, humility, and trust in the Divine. When we make dua, we acknowledge our dependence on Allah and His control over every aspect of our lives. Through dua, we establish a profound connection with our Creator, finding solace and strength in His infinite mercy.

Dua Before the Journey

Embarking on a journey is an exciting yet uncertain time. Before setting foot outside our homes, it is crucial to seek Allah’s protection and blessings. As the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever leaves his home, and says: ‘In the name of Allah, I trust in Allah, there is no might nor power except with Allah,’ it will be said to him: ‘You have been guided, defended, and protected,’ and the devil will go far away from him” (Sunan Abu Dawood).

In preparation for your journey, take a moment to make dua. Seek Allah’s protection from all potential hardships and calamities that may come your way. Offer supplications for a smooth and safe journey, accompanied by His divine mercy. By starting your travels with the remembrance of Allah, you invoke His blessings and pave the way for a secure expedition.

Dua During the Journey

As you embark on your journey, the significance of dua remains steadfast. Each step, whether on land, air, or sea, presents unique challenges and unforeseen circumstances. In these moments, turning to Allah through dua provides us with tranquility and assurance. We implore His protection, guidance, and assistance, understanding that our safety lies solely in His hands.

During the journey, offer prayers specific to each stage, seeking Allah’s safeguarding grace. Whether you’re boarding a plane, driving on a busy highway, or navigating through unfamiliar terrain, take a moment to recite supplications tailored to your circumstances. These prayers become a shield against accidents, discomfort, and any potential harm. By placing your trust in Allah and making dua, you invite His divine intervention, transforming your journey into a blessed and secure experience.

Dua Upon Arrival

Upon reaching your destination, express your gratitude to Allah for His protection and guidance. Offer prayers of thanksgiving, recognizing that your safe arrival is a testament to His mercy and benevolence. At this juncture, take a moment to make dua for a blessed stay and positive experiences throughout your journey. Seek His blessings in exploring new places, meeting new people, and gaining valuable insights from your travels.

Remember, dua is not limited to seeking protection from harm; it is also about seeking blessings, prosperity, and spiritual growth. Embrace the opportunity to connect with Allah, for He is ever-ready to respond to your heartfelt supplications.

Can dua change the course of my journey?

While we ultimately rely on Allah’s divine decree, dua has the power to invoke His intervention and influence the outcome of our journey. It instills within us a sense of tranquility, strengthens our faith, and aligns our actions with His guidance.

Are there specific duas for different modes of travel?

Yes, there are supplications and prayers tailored to various forms of travel. These include prayers for boarding a plane, driving, sailing, or any other mode of transportation. These specific duas ensure that we seek Allah’s protection and blessings throughout the journey.

In the realm of travel, dua serves as a faithful companion, offering solace, protection, and blessings. By understanding the essence of dua, making supplications before, during, and after the journey, and expressing gratitude upon arrival, we infuse our travels with spirituality and divine guidance. Embrace the power of dua, for it is an integral part of our faith and an ever-present source of strength. Let your journey be safe, blessed, and filled with the mercy of Allah, knowing that you are under His watchful care.

As we embark on our travels, may we always remember the profound impact dua can have on our journeys, both in this world and the next.

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Safe Journey Wishes In Islam

Safe Journey Wishes in Islam: Islam is a religion of total submission to the will of Allah. It is a religion that allows Muslims to totally rely on Allah for their wellbeing because they believe He is the only one that can suffice them in anything they are doing. Beginning from their daily needs down to their journey, they handle everything to Allah to watch and protect. Today, I will be writing some safe journey wishes messages from an Islamic perspective and hope that you enjoy it.

Great Safe Journey Wishes

1. May the mercy of Allah go with you, may His sheefah always make company with you as you enjoy your journey until your destination.

2. Ay stress in the journey shall be converted into into Nurullahi for you. Your moment throughout of trip will end with alhamdullillahi.

3. May the blessing of Allah be your companion all through the journey. Any kind of harm that causes accident will be neutralized by the angels of mercy.

4. Allah will be your Wali as you move from your home to your destination. Your dream of travelling shall come with the rahma of Allah.

5. Allah will bless you beyond your expectation, guide your way to your destination. He shall bring more success to your home. Safe journey.

6. May Allah send along with you angels that never miss their focus, may they be the one to hold your hands while you arrive at your destination.

7. You are going for agood mission for the sake of Allah, I pray that His mayashau be with you and your entire family.

8. Protection of Allah that has no limit, safeguard of Allah that lasts forever shall be granted upon you this time as you travel along with your family.

9. Our Lord is the most merciful; I pray that He consider your journey free from accident. May He grant you the benefit of the journey.

10. More of success for you, more your rahma and nurun kahair for you as you embark on this special journey. May He make you benefit the blessing of Hajj.

11. Journey mercy for you from the custody of Allah Haza Wajala. He shall take care of your family after you. Safe journey.

12. As you begin your journey with bismillaahi, may your end it with alhamdulliiaah. May you stand out among the others for the same mission.

13. You are going out for the sake of Allah, may you return home for His sake. Your journey will not be a reason for you to leave the fold of Islam.

14. Ya Allah, we cannot protect ourselves but by your leave and power. Come and protect us throughout this journey.

15. We direct our worship to you alone, let it be accepted and then guarantee our safety as we carry on fulfilling our mission.

16. There is no guidance as yours. Guide our pilot to take the right direction, clear the cloud for him to see clearly and land us safely in our destination.

17. Give us the support to achieve our goals in life, bless our handwork and make us useful to our family. Bless this journey for us, so that we will live to praise you more.

18. We thank God for bringing us safely home last year. This year we are embarking on another holy passage, bring us home along the righteous ones.

19. Give us your Light to see the road to our goals. Remove every obstacle that could cause accident and let us return to our family in good health.

20. Ya Allah, to you belong the East and the West. To you belong the safety of your entire creatures, known and unknown. Please bless us with a safe expedition.

Special Safe Journey Wishes

21. We are unto this trip for your sake. Protect us from any harm on our way. Cover us in your protection and release us from the stress of ride.

22. You are the one that created the trees to live long, we beseech you to spare our life throughout this flight.

23. Make our mission be achievable, give us a maximum assurance to return home safely. You are the master protector, protect our children after us.

24. O Allah, we are leaving here for your mission. We are leaving our wives and children behind. Please, feed them, quench their taste and provide whatever they need until we return to them.

25. Journey mercy to you, may Allah be your companion as you engage in this long drive. The trip will bring success to you.

26. In you we put our trust, grant us an infinite mercy on this journey and block the evil ones from every angle until we reach our various homes.

27. I wish you a bountiful experience in this journey you are into. May Almighty Allah in His unending kindness take you home safely.

28. Allah is the greatest, He created everything, both road and the journey we are about to embark. May He be your protector over the year.

29. Allah will bless your hustle and make you happy in anything you are doing. This journey of yours will become a reason for your joy in life.

30. Have your journey guided with lots of love and mercy from Allah? May He make your face be whitened with joy and success.

31. You are simply the most amazing friend in this world. May you come back home safely to us so we can give more thankful to Allah.

32. Ya Allah, do not let our striving be in vain. As we go out to call into your religion, keep us safe all through the journey.

33. Build for us a big palace in Jannah, make us be friends of each other in this world and the hereafter. Protect us against all evils on our way.

34. I am wishing you maximum safety. I am praying for your secured arrival at your destination. I ask Allah to bless you abundantly.

35. Ya Allah, only you have the power to make us live long, please do not make this journey the last for us. Bless us with long life.

36. Accept our prayers and protect us against any predicament on our way. Give us the power to be good to our parents and lead our way to our destination.

37. May Allah make this journey profit each and every one of you. You shall be blessed abundantly with the mission in your heart.

38. Allah will be your maulah as you embark for this beautiful trip. You shall reach your destination in peace and harmony.

39. No matter how hard the entire world looks, you will not feel it. Allah will watch over you wherever you may be. Safe journey.

40. Shiffatullaahu alaikum. May the mercy of Allah cover you like a canopy so that you feel the comfort of a peaceful journey.

41. Allah will guide your way to your destination. He shall bless you with abundant success as you move down to another home.

42. May His infinite mercy continue to leave with you throughout your journey. May His endless guidance light your way to your point.

43. I am committing the life of these travelers in the Hands of Allah. May He see them through. Any kind of problem that may face along the way should be converted into goodness.

44. I will really miss you. Your smile, your words of advice and the beautiful moments we share together. Until you are back. May the blessing of Allah follow you?

45. I want to use this opportunity to thank Allah for this wonderful family. I am home alone today, please bring them back for me in peace and harmony.

46. I will actually miss you so much. I am not that happy to see you walk away but I have no choice than to accept my fate. May Allah protect you?

47. Allah will take care of your children. Allah will bless and remove your stress. As you are about to fly out of the country, may you land with the angels of Allah?

48. Glory belongs to Allah alone. Only He can save a dying soul. Whenever we are in a car traveling, it is like we are in a cascade, may Allah deliver us safely.

49. Thank you O Lord for this wonderful nikkah. We are committing ourselves to you. May you become the eyes we used to see, the Hands our driver drives with. Shield us away from the evil way attackers.

50. Do not let our car run into the bush. Protect our movement with your angels. Accomplish our mission for us. Bless us with a journey mercy.

51. Make our ways easy for us as you make the ways of your beloved ones easy in the end. Let us meet our colleague in joy and happiness.

52. Ya Allah, only you can guide us to the right path, do not let our pilot take the wrong direction. Whatever will cause crash in the future, remove it from us.

53. In as much as we are not supposed to live a caged life, we need to travel once in a while. I am wishing you a safe journey.

54. Travelling is sweet; you experience new things in this world but coming back home after a trip is to be committed onto the Lord. Have a safe journey.

55. May Allah take control of your outing and make it a Rahmat for you and your family. You will be protected from the beginning of your journey to the end.

56. May you not find it difficult in any way to achieve whatever you desire in your life. May your vision be accomplish for you by Allah.

57. Mayashaullahu will follow you to the end of your trip; you will not be touched by any affliction of any kind. Your face will finally glow with the light of Allah.

58. You are the best friend I have in my life. The most important person that makes me important. I pray that Allah should protect you anywhere wherever.

59. O Allah, make my effort profit me, do not let the pains and stress I went through to raise these children go in vain. Protect them and bring them back to me in good condition.

60. May you find joy in your journey. May the blessing and mercy of Allah that does not end continue to live with you until eternity.

61. Your Lord shall be pleased with you and your heart desires shall be fulfilled for you as you wanted. Allah will always provide for the children you left behind. Safe journey.

62. You are going for the pilgrimage for the purpose of pleasing Allah. May your purpose be fulfilled for you. You will find endless peace in your heart.

63. May Allah be with you. May He shield you with the wings of maximum protection and wrap you in His infinite mercy.

64. Ya Allah, we are answerable to your call. Accept our main purpose of coming for this hajj and lead us back safely to our various homes. Do not let us leave here without our sins of past and future being forgiven. Bless us with great purpose that is achievable.

65. We pray to Allah to bless us with abundant dates, so that our tongue shall taste the sweetness of this journey, and our heart will be relaxed upon His protection. He will not get tired of you for any reason. His love for you shall increase by His Grace after this short journey.

66. This year imurah shall profit everyone that attend, you all shall be forgiven your sins, you shall be purified and draw close to Allah Azawajjalah.

67. Have the best out of this soft trip. Be guarded by the angels of mercy. Be happy all through your stay wherever you are.

68. May Allah bring peace to your heart so that you will not worry too much about your kids. Don’t you panic, Allah will take care of them until you are back. Safe journey.

69. Happiness shall be the end of this voyage, success shall follow it along and you will not regret that you embark on this mission for the sake of Allah.

70. There is none that can make movement and power possible save God. Your movement and your energy to travel shall be blessed by Allah the All-Mighty. He shall take care of your property on your way. No armed robbers shall attack you. Kidnappers will not come your way until you finally reach your destination.

With that being said, now that you are satisfied with  Deedees blog   safe journey wishes . Why not check out some  Valentine messages for your girlfriend .

Detola Deedee

The brain behind Deedeesblog, Detola is an embodiment of creativity - With deep knowledge in Counseling and Photography, He started this platform to share happiness via digital contents in Relationships and Documentaries. Content here tells a story with the intention to shape narratives. What's your Love and Life story? Care to Share? Connect with Detola on [email protected]

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The muslim traveler's guide to packing for a trip.

Traveling can be one of the most exhilarating and liberating experiences in life. You get to explore new places, have unique experiences, and make lasting memories with friends and family. But to any Muslim traveler, there is an additional layer of spiritual appreciation around it; something that turns a regular vacation into somewhat of a pilgrimage — the power of prayer! It’s believed by many people across the world that reciting certain supplications (known as Duas) for traveling helps bring protection and peace on your journey. Here we will look at some of these traveling prayers for Muslims, what they mean in Arabic, how you can use them when traveling, and other useful tips to help you stay safe wherever you go.

The importance of Dua for traveling

Duas (or supplications) are a powerful form of spiritual communication, as they allow us to communicate directly with Allah and ask for His protection, guidance, and grace. When it comes to traveling in particular, there are tons of authentic narrations from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), that teaches the importance of saying certain Duas whenever someone embarks on a journey. The most famous Dua for travel is known as “Dua al-Safar” or “The Traveler’s Prayer”.

This special prayer will not only help bring you safety during your trip but will also provide you an extra shield of mental peace while you travel and explore new places. It can be recited anytime during your journey, before setting out or even when you arrive to your destination.

Travel essentials for Muslim travelers

Apart from the spiritual tools of prayer, there are also some key material items that all Muslim travelers should bring with them on their journeys. These include:

– A Quran and/or an Islamic book ; this is particularly important if traveling abroad and encountering a new culture.

-Headscarves and long clothes such as abayas or hijab(s) can be useful for those observing traditional modesty.

– Islamic books or audio lectures that contain Islamic knowledge relevant to the situation, such as understanding cultural norms in other countries or how to deal with a difficult travel experience.

– An Islamic compass that can help with finding the direction of qibla (the direction to face when praying) no matter where you are.

– Miswak – a natural toothbrush found in some Islamic countries, it is considered Sunnah (recommended practice) to use it while traveling.

– Prayer beads or tasbihs – these are particularly useful for dhikr and reciting Duas throughout your journey.

These items will not only provide spiritual support during your travels but also provide practical guidance on how to observe Islamic etiquette both at home and abroad.

What to say in a dua for traveling

سبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ وَإِنَّا إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنْقَلِبُونَ. Quran Verse Travel Duaa

Subhana-alladhi sakh-khara la-na hadha wa ma kunna la-hu muqrinin. Wa inna ila Rabbi-na la munqalibun. Glory unto Him Who created this transportation, for us, though we were unable to create it on our own. And unto our Lord we shall return. Surah Az-Zukhruf 43:13-14 Travel Duaa

How to say a Dua for travelling

When reciting Duas for travel, there are some tips to keep in mind:

-Start by making a sincere intention of your journey and its purpose.

-Recite the Dua calmly and with humility, remembering that Allah is All-Knowing and always listening.

-Look for times when you may be feeling especially vulnerable or anxious while traveling, such as during long flights or in unfamiliar places, and recite the Dua at those moments.

-Remember to ask Allah for His guidance throughout the journey, asking Him to help you stay on track spiritually.

-If possible, try to read Surah Al-Kafirun (The Disbelievers) before embarking on any journey. This is a powerful Dua that promises protection, safety, and success during the journey.

-Always be mindful of Allah’s presence in your travels, regardless of where you are or what challenges come your way.

The best time to recite a dua for traveling

The best time to recite a Dua for travel is just before setting out on the journey. This will ensure that you begin your travels with blessings and protection from Allah, as well as help focus your thoughts and intentions so that they remain in line with His guidance throughout the journey. Additionally, it is a good idea to recite any special Duas or prayers you may have learned while traveling, such as “l-Safar” or “The Traveler’s Prayer”. This special prayer will not only help bring you safety during your trip, but will also provide you an extra shield of mental peace while you travel and explore new places. It can be recited anytime during your journey, before setting out, or before going to sleep.

The blessings of making a dua for traveling

Making a Dua for travel is an excellent way to ensure that your travels are blessed and protected. By asking Allah for His guidance, mercy, and protection, we can rest assured that He will provide us with the strength and courage to persevere throughout our journey. Additionally, it is important to remember that Allah knows best what is best for us in all circumstances – so reciting a dua for travel reminds us of this and helps keep our intentions focused on Him. Ultimately, making a Dua for travel can help increase our faith in Allah as well as bring peace of mind knowing that He always has our back.

What to do if your journey is interrupted

If your journey is interrupted or delayed due to any unforeseen circumstances, it is important to stay patient and remember that Allah has a plan for you. During these times, it is beneficial to recite the Dua for travel again, as well as make supplications asking Him for guidance and ease in the situation. Additionally, you can also seek refuge with Him by reading Surah Al-Kafirun (The Disbelievers) and other prayers of protection. Finally, try to maintain a positive attitude during these difficult periods – knowing that Allah will provide you with what’s best in His perfect timing.

Some advice on staying safe while traveling, especially if you're a woman

If you are a woman traveling alone, it is important to take extra precautions to ensure your safety and security. Here are some tips to help you stay safe on your travels:

-Always trust your instincts. When in doubt, get out!

-Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Stay in well-lit areas and avoid dark alleys or deserted streets.

-Keep an eye out for suspicious people or activities. Do not hesitate to ask for help if you feel uncomfortable.

-Stay up to date with local news and events so that you can be prepared in case of any unexpected changes in the environment or any potential threats.

-Inform your friends and family about where you are going and when you expect to return.

-Always carry a cell phone with you so that you can call for help in an emergency.

-Finally, make sure to recite the Dua for travel often – asking Allah to grant you safety and protection throughout your journey.

By following these simple tips and relying on Allah’s guidance and protection, you can have peace of mind knowing that no matter what challenges come your way, He will always be by your side!

May Allah grant us all safe travels! Ameen.

Tips on how to make the most of your travels, insha'Allah

The best way to make the most of your travels is to stay focused on Allah and have a positive attitude. Here are some tips on how to do just that:

-Take time out each day for prayer and reflection – this will help keep you connected to Allah throughout your journey.

-Express gratitude for all the blessings you receive during your trip.

-Make note of any meaningful moments, experiences, or feelings in order to remember them later when reflecting back on the trip.

-Be mindful of local customs and traditions in order to respect cultural differences.

-Keep an open mind and heart – it’s amazing what you can learn from other cultures and people!

-Seek knowledge in whatever way that resonates with you – whether it’s through reading books, watching videos, or simply conversing with locals.

-Lastly, remember to recite the Dua for travel often as this will help keep your heart and mind focused on Allah.

By implementing these tips and striving to stay mindful of Allah during our travels, we can truly make the most out of our journeys, insha’Allah!

May Allah bless us all with safe and meaningful travels! Ameen.

Would like to learn more about Islamic Teachings? Resala Academy can be the best option!

If you’d like to learn more about Islamic teachings and benefit from the wisdom of our beloved Prophet (ﷺ) then Resala Academy is an excellent option!

Resala Academy provides an array of educational content such as podcasts, articles , videos and more that explore various topics relating to Islamic teachings. Through Resala Academy, you can gain a deeper understanding of faith-based topics as well as stay up-to-date on current events impacting the Muslim community. Additionally, Resala Academy also offers courses in Quran studies, Hadith sciences and other Islamic disciplines – so it’s perfect for those who are looking to enhance their religious knowledge!

So if you’re looking to spiritually enrich your life, make sure to check out Resala Academy – insha’Allah you will benefit from it tremendously!

May Allah grant us all knowledge that is beneficial and a heart that seeks Him! Ameen.

Traveling is a great opportunity to explore the world and learn about different cultures, but it’s also important to stay safe on your travels. By following the suggested tips such as staying aware of your surroundings, informing loved ones of your whereabouts, and reciting duas for protection – you can have peace of mind knowing that Allah will always be by your side. Additionally, if you’d like to enhance your spiritual journey then consider enrolling in Resala Academy where you can gain access to educational content related to Islamic teachings.

May Allah grant us all safe and meaningful travels! Ameen.

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How to Say “Safe Trip” in Islam: A Comprehensive Guide

Greeting someone with well-wishes before they embark on a journey is a common practice rooted in Islamic tradition. Muslims appreciate and value the importance of prayers and supplications for protection and safety during travels. In this guide, we will explore various ways to say “Safe Trip” in Islam, both formally and informally. While there may be regional variations, our focus will primarily be on universal Islamic expressions of good wishes for a safe journey. Let’s dive in!

Formal Expressions

In formal settings, whether you’re bidding farewell to acquaintances, colleagues, or elders, it’s essential to use polite and respectful language. Here are some standard phrases you can use:

• May Allah (God) Protect You on Your Journey: This phrase is a sincere supplication for Allah’s divine protection:

“Allahumma Hafidhaka fi Rihlatik.”

May Allah Grant You a Safe Journey: This is another common way to convey your well-wishes:

“Allahumma Yassir lak Rihla Sa’ida.”

May Allah Bring You Back Safely: If you specifically want to pray for their safe return, this expression is suitable:

“Allahumma Raddaka bil-Salama.”

May Allah Bless Your Journey: A simple yet heartfelt supplication for a blessed trip:

“Allahumma Barik lak fil Rihla.”

Remember, when using these formal expressions, ensure you maintain a respectful and humble tone, reflecting the Islamic values of kindness and compassion.

Informal Expressions

Informal ways of saying “Safe Trip” are commonly used among friends, family, and individuals of similar age groups. These expressions are more casual and relaxed:

• Khuda Hafiz: This phrase is widely used across the Islamic world and is an informal way of saying “May God Protect You.” It is especially common in South Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
• Allah Yisalmik: Used primarily in Arab cultures like Egypt, this expression means “God Keep You in Peace.”
• Ma’assalama: This popular phrase means “Go with Peace” and is widespread in Arabic-speaking communities.

Additional Tips and Examples

Here are some additional tips and examples to enhance your well-wishes for a safe trip:

1. Consider the traveler’s destination:

If the traveler is embarking on a journey to a specific place, you can tailor your prayers accordingly. For example:

“May Allah Safeguard You on Your Pilgrimage to Mecca.”

“May Allah Grant You Safe Passage to Medina.”

2. Combine multiple prayers:

In Islam, it is common to offer multiple prayers and supplications. Combine your well-wishes with other blessings, such as:

“May Allah Grant You a Safe and Blessed Journey.”

“May Allah Bestow His Mercy and Protection Upon You Throughout Your Trip.”

3. Personalize your prayers:

Adding the traveler’s name to your well-wishes can make your prayers more personal and intimate:

“May Allah Protect and Guide You, [Name], During Your Travels.”

“May Allah Surround [Name] with His Angels and Keep [Name] Safe.”

4. Use heartfelt phrases:

When expressing your well-wishes, genuine emotions and sincerity go a long way. Consider the following phrases:

“May Allah Wrap You in His Embrace and Bring You Back to Us Safely.”

“May Your Journey Be Filled with Joy, Blessings, and Safety in the Loving Care of Allah.”

5. Pray for their overall well-being:

While ensuring a safe journey is important, remember to include broader prayers for their general well-being:

“May Allah Protect You during Your Journey and Grant You Success in All Your Endeavors.”

“May Allah Watch Over You, Keep You Healthy, and Bring You Back to Us Safely.”

These additional tips and examples will help you personalize your prayers and convey your heartfelt wishes effectively.

Remember, when wishing someone a safe trip, it is essential to transmit positive energy, showcase empathy, and offer genuine prayers for their protection and well-being. Through meaningful well-wishes, we strengthen social bonds and demonstrate love and care within the Islamic community. Happy journey, and may Allah bless all travelers with safety and guidance!

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When someone you care about is about to embark on a journey, expressing your wishes for their safety and well-being is essential. By saying "have a safe trip," you not only convey your concern but also offer them positive thoughts for their upcoming adventure. This guide will provide you with a variety of ways to express this sentiment, both formally and informally. So, whether you're bidding farewell to a close friend or a business associate, here are some tips and examples to help you convey your wishes effectively.

How to Say "Have a Safe Trip and Enjoy": A Comprehensive Guide

When someone dear to us sets off on a journey, it's only natural to wish them well. In expressing our heartfelt wishes, we often say, "Have a safe trip and enjoy". This simple phrase encapsulates our desire for their safety and enjoyment during their travels. However, depending on the occasion, relationship, and level of formality, there are various ways to convey this sentiment. In this guide, we'll explore both formal and informal ways to express this phrase, providing you with tips, examples, and even regional variations where necessary.

Guide on How to Say "Have a Safe Trip Back"

When bidding farewell to someone who is about to embark on a journey, it is customary to express well wishes and emphasize the importance of their safety. Saying "Have a safe trip back" is a common way to convey this sentiment. Depending on the situation and level of formality, there are various ways to express these wishes. This guide will provide you with both formal and informal ways to say "Have a safe trip back," along with tips, examples, and regional variations.

How to Say "Have a Safe Trip Back Home": A Guide with Tips and Examples

Saying "have a safe trip back home" is a thoughtful and caring way to bid farewell to someone who is traveling back to their residence. Whether you want to express your wishes formally or informally, this guide provides you with various phrases, tips, and examples to do so effectively. We'll explore both casual and formal expressions that can be used in different situations. So, let's dive in!

Guide: How to Say "Have a Safe Trip Home"

Giving well wishes for a safe journey is a thoughtful gesture that shows you care for someone's well-being. Regardless of whether you are bidding farewell to a friend, family member, or colleague, expressing your hope for their safe journey home is always appreciated. In this guide, we will explore various ways to convey this message, both formally and informally, while also providing tips, examples, and regional variations (if necessary). Let's dive in!

How to Say "Have a Safe Trip" in Arabic: A Comprehensive Guide

Traveling is an exciting and enriching experience, and it's essential to wish someone a safe journey before they embark on their adventure. If you are looking to express this sentiment in Arabic, you've come to the right place! In this guide, we'll explore various ways to say "have a safe trip" in Arabic, including both formal and informal expressions. While Arabic consists of numerous dialects, we will focus mainly on Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) while also mentioning regional variations when deemed necessary. Let's get started!

How to Say "Have a Safe Trip" in Armenian: A Comprehensive Guide

Armenian is a beautiful language spoken by millions of people around the world. If you're planning to wish someone a safe trip in Armenian, you've come to the right place. In this guide, we will provide you with formal and informal ways to convey this kind message. While there are no notable regional variations for this phrase, we'll focus on the standard Eastern Armenian dialect spoken in Armenia. Let's delve into the various ways to express "Have a safe trip" in Armenian with plenty of tips, examples, and linguistic insights!

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If you're traveling to Bangladesh or have Bengali-speaking friends, it's always nice to be able to wish someone a safe journey in Bengali. In this guide, we'll explore different ways to say "Have a safe trip" in Bengali, providing formal and informal variations for different situations. We'll also include some regional variations, where necessary. So, let's begin!

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When does a journey count as travelling?

Publication : 09-01-2001

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Praise be to Allah.

Some of the scholars (may Allaah have mercy on them) think that travelling is defined by a distance between 81 and 83 km or more. Some think that travelling is defined by ‘urf (local custom), so that whatever is customarily regarded as travelling is travelling, even if it is to a place that is close, and whatever is not regarded as travelling – i.e. it is not called travelling – is not travelling. This was the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him), and it is more correct from the point of view of the evidence (daleel), but it is difficult to apply, because one person may regard a trip as travelling whilst another does not. The definition based on distance is more precise and is clearer to people. If it is agreed that a trip counts as travelling based on both distance and ‘urf, there is no need for debate.  If there is a difference between distance and ‘urf, then a person should act in accordance whatever is on the safe side. 

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Source: I’laam al-Musaafireen bi Ba’d Aadaab wa Ahkaam al-Safar wa maa yakhuss al-Mallaaheen al-Jawwiyyeen by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen, p. 5

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Five Powerful Duas and Prayers for Traveling

Last updated on November 17th, 2021 at 08:40 am

Have you ever found yourself on the plane ready to take off, but unable to find your booklet of prayers for traveling? Often we find ourselves without access to these special duas or prayers when we need them the most. In our opinion, memorizing duas is the best solution.

One of the beautiful things about Islam is that there is a prayer for our normal daily activities and even prayers for traveling abroad .  When we embark on a journey, we should recite a prayer to Allah and remember Him. It brings us closer to Allah and also saves us from any untoward incident that may take place on our journey.

As per Islamic teachings, reciting a dua not only brings Allah’s protection; it also mobilizes angels to protect us during our journey and bring us safely back home to our loved ones.

Below are the five common duas that Muslims recite before journeys, complete with Arabic verse, dua transliteration, source, and explanation.

1. Prayer for Safety When Embarking on Travel

• Arabic Verse: وَقُل رَّبِّ أَنزِلْنِى مُنزَلًا مُّبَارَكًا وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ ٱلْمُنزِلِينَ
• Dua Transliteration: Rabbi anzilni munzalan mubarokan wa anta khairul munzilin
• English Translation: My Lord, let me land at a blessed landing-place, and You are the best to accommodate [us].
• Source: Surah Al Muminun ayat 29

When embarking on travel, this dua is recited to protect oneself from any mishap and to ensure a safe landing. When you recite this dua, you will feel calmer and less anxious about your upcoming trip.

It is always helpful to start a journey by remembering Allah. This prayer is useful to keep with you whenever you are packing for your trip so that you can easily recite it once you leave your home or on the plane.

This prayer asks Allah to protect us when traveling abroad . It also helps us proclaim our faith and affirm the fact that there is no one that can protect us except Allah.

2. Prayer for Safety During the Trip

• Arabic Verse: سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ وَإِنَّا إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ
• Dua Transliteration: Subhana-alladhi sakh-khara la-na hadha wa ma kunna la-hu muqrinin. Wa inna ila Rabbi-na la munqalibun.
• English Translation: Glory unto Him Who created this transportation, for us, though we were unable to create it on our own. And unto our Lord, we shall return.
• Source: Surah Az-Zukhruf 43:13-14

This excerpt from Surah Az-Zukhruf is a masnoon prayer that thanks Allah for providing us with the means of transportation to make our journey. This dua is short and can be easily memorized so that it becomes a habit to recite it when on a journey.

The Holy Prophet (ﷺ) recited this Surah as dua when he would mount an animal for traveling . He would say Bismillah and then recite this prayer for travel safety . We may be traveling by car, plane, train, or boat; whatever the means of transportation is, it is always important to remember Allah during our journey.

3. Prayer for Traveling to a New Place

• Arabic Verse: وَقُل رَّبِّ أَدۡخِلۡنِى مُدۡخَلَ صِدۡقٍ۬ وَأَخۡرِجۡنِى مُخۡرَجَ صِدۡقٍ۬ وَٱجۡعَل لِّى مِن لَّدُنكَ سُلۡطَـٰنً۬ا نَّصِيرً۬ا
• Dua Transliteration: Wa-qul Rabbi Adkhilnee Mudkhala S’idqiw Wa Akhrijnee Mukhraja S’diqiw Waj-a’l Lee Mil Ladunkaa Sult’aanan Nas’eeraa
• English Translation: O Lord, cause me to enter a goodly entrance and cause me to go out a goodly exit, and grant me from you an authority to assist (me).
• Source: Sura Al-‘Isra 17:80

The prophet (ﷺ) was in Makkah and had to emigrate to Madinah when Allah revealed this verse. The Holy Prophet (ﷺ) was being attacked by individuals in Makkah and was preparing to enter a new place.

This verse asks for Allah’s protection when taking a big decision and traveling to a new place. This decision could be anything from moving to a new city to even moving to a new home. In this prayer, we are asking Allah to bless our entrance and exit. We are looking for His assistance and blessing while we take this decision.

4. Prayer upon Reaching Destination Safely

• Arabic Verse: وَقَالَ ارْكَبُواْ فِيهَا بِسْمِ اللّهِ مَجْرَاهَا وَمُرْسَاهَا إِنَّ رَبِّي لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
• Dua Transliteration: Va kealarkaboo feehea bismilleahi macreahea va murseahea, inna raabbee la gaafoorun raaheem
• English Translation: Embark there in! In the name of Allah be its course or its mooring. Lo! My Lord is Forgiving and Merciful!
• Source: Surah Al-Hud – 11:41

This verse is from Sura Hud, which relays the trials and tribulations of Prophet Noah allehisalam. Prophet Noah was commanded by Allah to create a ship and load it with two creatures (male and female) of every living thing that had a soul.

When the command came to leave on the ship, a strong storm came that brought heavy rainfall. This verse was then revealed at that time and means that the moving course and resting (anchorage) of the ship will be all in Allah’s hands.

This is a specific verse in the Surah and is often used when someone reaches their destination safely. It is a small and short prayer that can be memorized easily when traveling abroad and after you have reached your destination.

5. Prayer Upon Returning Home

• Arabic Verse: آيِبُونَ تَائِبُونَ عابِدُونَ ساجِدُونَ لِرَبِّنَا حَامِدُونَ  
• Dua Transliteration: Ayibun, ta’ibun, ‘abidun, sajidun, lirabbina hamidun
• English Translation: We return, repentant, worshipping, prostrating, and praising our Lord.
• Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 3084

This short prayer for travel safety is part of a longer verse that the Holy Prophet would recite upon returning from his journeys. After he came back from a journey, he would say Allah u Akbar three times and then recite this dua.

It is important not to forget Allah once we have returned safely to our homes. Often we only remember Allah when we are starting our journey or when we are in the process of traveling. But we should be grateful to Allah once we return safe and sound.

This dua only has a few words and can be easily learned by heart so that you can recite it quickly once you return home safely after traveling abroad.

Now You Know the 5 Powerful Duas and Prayers for Traveling

We can see that all of the prayers for traveling safety are not very long and can be remembered very easily. One should understand that when you are traveling, you are putting yourself in the trust of Allah and his powers.

Only Allah can decide what our fate is, but by saying prayers before we start our journey, during the journey, and when we reach home, we are affirming the fact that we believe in Allah’s power to protect us from harm.

If you want to learn about more authentic duas, read: What is the Dua you say before sleeping?

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7 Helpful Prayers for Traveling Mercies, Grace and Protection

by Ryan Hart | Updated on December 29, 2018 | Post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

In this post I’m going to share with you my favorite prayers for traveling mercies and protection.

These prayers have guided me safely to my destination on long journeys around the world and even on short road trips near my hometown. I hope they will give you protection on your travels as well.

Ready to learn a powerful traveling mercies prayer?

Let’s get started.

Traveling Mercies Prayer for a Long Journey (Psalm 121:7-8)

Lord, please provide me with traveling mercies and keep me safe from all evil on my journey. Watch over my life and preserve my soul. Be with me from the time I step out the front door and until I return. Both now and forevermore. Amen.

Prayer for Mercy from God While Traveling (Psalm 145:8-9)

Lord, you are so gracious and full of compassion. Please be with me if encounter misfortune on my journey. Thank you for being slow to anger and overflowing with mercy if I make a wrong turn along the way. You are good to all. Everything you do is full of grace. Amen.

Guardian Angel Prayer for Traveling

O almighty and merciful God, Who hast commissioned Thy angels to guide and protect us, command them to be our assiduous companions from our setting out until our return; to clothe us with their invisible protection; to keep us from all danger of collision, of fire, of explosion, of falls and bruises; and finally, having preserved us from all evil, and especially from sin, to guide us to our heavenly home. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer to Our Lady of the Highway

O Lady of the Highway, be with us on our journey, for all your ways are beautiful and all your paths are peace. O God, who with unspeakable providence does rule and govern the world, grant unto us, your servants, through the intercessions of our watchful mother, to be protected from all danger and brought safely to the end of our journey. Amen.

Simple Traveling Mercies Prayer

In the name of God I go on this journey. May God the Father be with me, God the Son protect me, and God the Holy Ghost be by my side. Amen.

Prayer to St. Christopher Patron Saint of Travelers

Dear Saint Christopher, protect me today in all my travels along the road’s way. Give your warning sign if danger is near so that I may stop while the path is clear. Be at my window and direct me through when the vision blurs from out of the blue. Carry me safely to my destined place, like you carried Christ in your close embrace. Amen.

Motorist's Prayer

Grant me O Lord a steady hand and watchful eye. That no one shall be hurt as I pass by. Thou gavest life, I pray no act of mine may take away or mar that gift of Thine. Shelter those, dear Lord, who bear me company, from the evils of fire and all calamity. Teach me to use my car for others need; Nor miss through love of undue speed the beauty of the world; that thus I may with joy and courtesy go on my way. St. Christopher, holy patron of travellers, protect me and lead me safely to my destiny. Amen.

Traveling Mercies Meaning

The term “traveling mercies” does not appear in the bible, but there are hundreds of examples of God showing mercy for others. Mercy is God’s compassion or concern for us even though it is within His power to punish or harm us.

A traveling mercies prayer is said for someone who is going on a trip or starting a big journey. In the 19th century, these prayers were commonly said for missionaires, preachers, and volunteers who were traveling on behalf of the church. During those times travel was dangerous and unpredictable.

Today, prayers for traveling mercies are said for anyone that is embarking on a journey, whether that be by plane, train, car, boat or even on foot.

While it is easier and faster to travel than it was in the 19th century, when this term became popular, there are still many dangers in foreign lands. We need God’s protection now more than ever and we ask for his mercy through prayer.

Now It's Your Turn

And now I want to hear from you.

What prayers do you say for traveling mercies?

Are you or someone you know going on a trip and need God to watch over them?

Either way let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

Ryan Hart is a certified relationship coach and writer. His mission is to help make connections between people better, stronger, more meaningful, and longer lasting using technology.

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In our journey through life, we encounter moments of despair, doubt, and heartbreak. In such times, turning to the spiritual wisdom of the Quran can offer solace. One of the most comforting themes threaded through the Quran is Allah’s Mercy. Delving into the mercy of Allah in the Quran not only uplifts our spirits but also reaffirms our faith in His infinite compassion and love for us.

Understanding Allah’s Mercy

Mercy, in Arabic, is translated as “Rahmah.” The very name of Allah, “Ar-Rahman” (The Most Merciful), and “Ar-Raheem” (The Especially Merciful) signify the profound extent of His mercy. But how does this mercy manifest in our lives?

“Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we forget or err. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us.” – Quran, 2:286

This verse from the Quran encapsulates a believer’s plea for Allah’s understanding, patience, and above all, His mercy. The mercy of Allah is all-encompassing, always available, and offered without condition.

Allah’s Mercy in Our Lives

Each day, as the sun rises and sets, and as we navigate through the challenges life throws our way, Allah’s mercy constantly surrounds us. Often, it is in the subtle things – a problem averted, a moment of peace, an unexpected blessing, or a lesson learned through hardship.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Allah has one hundred parts of mercy, of which He sent down one between the jinn, mankind, the animals, and the insects, by means of which they are compassionate and merciful to one another, and by means of which wild animals are kind to their offspring. And Allah has kept back ninety-nine parts of mercy with which to be merciful to His slaves of the Day of Resurrection.” Muslim, al-Tawbah, 6908

This Hadith not only emphasizes the vastness of Allah’s mercy but also highlights that what we witness on Earth is just a fragment of the mercy awaiting us in the Hereafter.

Seeking Allah’s Mercy

How can one tap into this boundless mercy? By turning to Him, by seeking forgiveness, and by constantly striving to be better. It’s never too late to turn to Allah and seek His mercy. Regardless of our past mistakes or shortcomings, Allah’s door of mercy is always open.

If you’re keen on deepening your understanding of Allah’s Mercy and other Quranic teachings, consider signing up for our program to engage more profoundly with the Quran. Alternatively, you can explore our courses here to find one that fits your needs.

Conclusion: Embracing Allah’s Mercy

In this fast-paced world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Remembering and reflecting upon the mercy of Allah in the Quran can be our anchor. It serves as a reminder that no matter the magnitude of our problems, the Mercy of Allah is even greater.

Allah says: “Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” Quran, 39:53

Such verses reassure us that despair has no place in a believer’s heart. Allah’s Mercy is always within reach, waiting for us to seek it.

Let this exploration serve as a starting point. Dive deeper into the ocean of the Quran, and you will discover treasures beyond imagination. If you wish to learn more and strengthen your bond with the Quran, enroll in our program today. For those curious about the various avenues of Islamic learning, feel free to explore our courses .

May Allah’s Mercy be with us all, guiding, protecting, and blessing us throughout our journey.

References:

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A Prayer for Traveling Grace: Finding Peace on Your Journey

Travel Guides

Introduction

Welcome to “Family-Friendly Vacations with Sarah” on Journey Jones! In this article, we delve into the significance of a prayer for traveling grace, journey mercies, and the safe flight dua, offering insights into why they are essential and how they can bring comfort and security to your journeys. Just as planning family vacations requires careful consideration, embarking on a journey, whether for leisure or business, warrants a moment of reflection and prayer for safe travels.

Psychology of a Prayer for Traveling Grace, Journey Mercies, and Safe Flight Dua

Before we explore the prayers for safe travel, journey mercies, and the safe flight dua, let’s delve into the psychology behind them. Saying a prayer for traveling grace, journey mercies, and the safe flight dua is more than a mere ritual; it’s an expression of faith, trust, and a desire for divine protection. Here’s why it matters:

Seeking God’s Presence: Much like the joy of exploring new destinations during family vacations, praying for traveling grace, journey mercies, and the safe flight dua seeks God’s presence and guidance throughout your journey, acknowledging that His protection is needed on the road ahead.

Navigating Life’s Challenges: Traveling, whether by car, plane, or any other means, often presents unforeseen challenges and dangers. Just as parents strive to ensure a smooth and safe vacation for their families, a prayer for safe travel, journey mercies, and the safe flight dua recognizes the potential hazards and asks for God’s intervention.

Finding Peace and Comfort: Amidst the hustle and bustle of travel, there’s a need for inner peace. Prayer offers solace, assuring travelers that they are not alone in their journey, journey mercies surround them, and the safe flight dua shields them from harm.

The Prayer for Safe Travel, Journey Mercies, and Safe Flight Dua for safe journey

Let’s now explore a heartfelt prayer for traveling grace, journey mercies, and the safe flight dua, acknowledging God’s role as our protector and guide:

Gracious God, we come before you with gratitude for the safe journey, journey mercies, and the safe flight dua for safe journey you have granted us. Your divine mercy has preserved us from all road evils, and your encompassing journey mercies and safe flight dua have surrounded us, allowing us to travel to our destination without harm. We are profoundly thankful for your tender care and protection. Lord, we humbly pray that you extend the same shield of safety, journey mercies, and the safe flight dua over us in all our future travels. We ask for your guidance and presence as we embark on our journeys, be it for leisure or business. In the name of Jesus Christ, we offer this prayer, Amen.

How Can Our Prayer for Safe Travel and Journey Mercies Help?

Overcoming Anxiety: Travelers sometimes experience anxiety or fear during their journey. When we pray for traveling grace, journey mercies, and the safe flight dua, we are reminded of God’s presence and find comfort in knowing that He is with us, alleviating anxiety and fostering a sense of security.

Invoking God’s Protection: Prayers hold the power to change circumstances. When we pray for safe travel, journey mercies, and the safe flight dua for safe journey, we invoke God’s divine protection, trusting that He will keep us safe from harm, guide our paths, and shield us from potential dangers.

Peace and Reassurance: God has promised peace and safety to His children. A prayer for traveling grace, journey mercies, and the safe flight dua brings a sense of peace and reassurance, helping travelers navigate their journey with confidence, regardless of the challenges they might face.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, a prayer for traveling grace, journey mercies, and the safe flight dua is a potent and meaningful practice, akin to meticulously planning a family vacation. It connects us with our faith, acknowledges life’s uncertainties, and brings inner peace. As you embark on your journeys, whether for leisure or business, remember the profound significance of this prayer. May it bring you comfort, security, and an overwhelming sense of God’s loving presence, guiding you safely through every mile, as Psalm 121:7-8 reminds us, “The Lord will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life; The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

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Qur'an Verses About Allah's Mercy

We've compiled a list of verses from the Qur'an on the topic of Allah's rahma meaning mercy. The collection process was to find all the verses in the Qur'an which mentioned these specific words. To be more comprehensive, we started with the root ra ha mim (ر ح م) and searched for all words in the Qur'an with this root and included for publishing in this list. With this, you may find some Qur'anic verses that may seem incomplete in message as it pertains to the topic of Allah's mercy, but insha'Allah, the intention was to serve as a springboard for you to explore those verses in more detail in the context of the entire surah. We've also tried to make the tafseer accessible for each verse so that you could gain further insight.

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Ala-Maududi

(2:37) Thereupon Adam learned from his Lord some words and repented [51] and his Lord accepted his repentance for He is Much-Relenting, Most Compassionate. [52]

51. This means that when Adam became conscious of his act of sin and wanted to return from his state of disobedience to that of obedience, and when he tried to seek remission for his sin from God, he was unable to find the words to use in his prayer to God. In His Mercy God taught him the words with which he could pray.

The word tawbah basically denotes ‘to come back, to turn towards someone’. Tawbah, on the part of man, signifies that he has given up his attitude of disobedience and has returned to submission and obedience to God. The same word used in respect of God means that He has mercifully turned towards His repentant servant so that the latter has once more become an object of His compassionate attention.

52. The Qur’an refutes the doctrine that certain consequences necessarily follow from sins and that man must in all cases bear them. In fact this is one of the most misleading doctrines to have been invented by human imagination. If it were true it would mean that a sinner would never have the opportunity to have his repentance accepted. It is a mechanistic view of reward and punishment and thus prevents and discourages the sinner from trying to improve.

The Qur’an, on the contrary, tells man that reward for good actions and punishment for bad ones rests entirely with God. The reward that one receives for good acts is not the natural consequence of those acts; it is rather due to the grace and benevolence of God and it is entirely up to Him to reward one or not. Likewise, punishment for evil deeds is not a natural and unalterable consequence of man’s acts. God has full authority to punish man for his sin as well as to pardon him.

God’s grace and mercy, however, are interrelated with His wisdom. Since He is wise, He does not use His power arbitrarily. Hence, whenever God rewards a man for his good acts, He does so because the good was done with purity of intention and for the sake of pleasing God. And if God refuses to accept an act of apparent goodness, He does so because that act had merely the form or appearance of goodness, and was not motivated by the desire to please God.

In the same way God punishes man for those sins which he commits with rebellious boldness, and which whet his appetite for more rather than lead him to repentance. Similarly, in His mercy God pardons those sins which are followed by genuine repentance and readiness on the part of the sinner to reform himself. There is no need for the criminal to despair of God’s grace and mercy, no matter how great a criminal he is. Nor is there any reason for even the most rabid disbeliever to despair, provided he recognizes his error, repents of his disobedience and is ready to replace his former disobedience with obedience.

(2:64) Then you turned away from your covenant, and had it not been for Allah’s grace and mercy upon you, you would have long been utter losers.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

(2:105) The unbelievers, be they the People of the Book or those who associate others with Allah in His Divinity, do not wish that any good should be sent down upon you from your Lord. But Allah chooses for His mercy whomsoever He wills. Allah is Lord of Abounding Bounty.

(2:157) Upon them will be the blessings and mercy of their Lord, and it is they who are rightly guided.

(2:178) Believers! Retribution is prescribed for you in cases of killing: [176] if a freeman is guilty then the freeman; if a slave is guilty then the slave; if a female is guilty, then the female. [177]

But if something of a murderer’s guilt is remitted by his brother [178] this should be adhered to in fairness, [179] and payment be made in a goodly manner. This is an alleviation and a mercy from your Lord; and for him who commits excess after that [180] there is a painful chastisement.

176. Retribution, that is, blood revenge, is based on the principle that what a person has done to others ought to be done to him. This does not mean that the murderer should be put to death in exactly the same manner as he killed but that the murderer should be subjected to the same act, i.e. killing, as that to which he subjected his victim.

177. In pre-Islamic Arabia people tried to take blood revenge upon the murderer’s family and tribe, and the retaliation corresponded to the value placed on the blood of the victim. Their desire for revenge was not quenched merely by putting the murderer to death. They preferred to put to death tens and even hundreds of people to avenge the one life they had lost. If a respected member of their tribe was killed by an ordinary member of another, it was not deemed enough to put to death the actual murderer. They preferred to kill a man of the murderer’s tribe equal in standing to the victim, and even several members of the murderer’s tribe. However, if the victim was a man of humble standing from another tribe, and the murderer from their tribe happened to be a man of high standing, they were unwilling to permit the execution of the murderer.

This attitude is not confined to the Ignorance of that bygone age. Even today those nations that are supposedly the most civilized will often proclaim, officially and quite brazenly, that if one of their citizens is killed they will execute scores of the killer’s compatriots. In addition we often hear that to avenge the murder of one person a large number of hostages belonging to a subject nation have been shot dead. One of the ‘civilized’ nations of the present century subjected the whole Egyptian nation to blood revenge because one of their officials, Sir Lee Stack, was killed by an Egyptian. The courts of justice of these so-called civilized nations have been known to refrain from passing the death sentence on convicted homicides when they happened to be members of the ruling nation while their victims belonged to the subject nation. It is iniquities such as these that God seeks to end by means of the directive contained in this verse. What God says here is that the killer ought to be put to death irrespective of his status and that of the victim.

178. The very use of the word ‘brother’ in this context suggests that as a general rule one ought to incline towards leniency. Despite the bitterness felt towards someone who has shed the blood of, say, one’s father, the murderer is still one’s brother by virtue of being a member of the human family. Hence if one who has been wronged can overcome the vengeful spirit aroused by his erring brother’s deed, this attitude of forgiveness will be worthy of his humanity.

This verse also makes it clear that according to the Islamic penal law the question of homicide can be settled by the mutual consent of the two parties. It is the prerogative of the heirs of the victim to forgive the murderer, and if it is exercised not even a judge has the power to insist on carrying out the death sentence. In such a case, however, as the following verse mentions, the murderer will be made to pay blood money.

179. The term ma’ruf occurs quite frequently in the Qur’an. It refers to conduct which is reckoned fair and equitable by the generality of disinterested people. The generally accepted usages and customs of life are called ‘urf and ma’ruf in Islamic terminology, and they are considered valid in all those matters not specifically regulated by the Shar’iah.

180. Excess might consist of trying to avenge the blood of the murdered man even after his heirs have settled the matter and received blood money or of efforts on the part of the murderer to delay the payment of blood money thus repaying the heirs of the victim with ingratitude for their kindness and goodwill.

(2:218) (On the contrary) those who believed, and forsook their hearth and home and strove [234] in the Way of Allah, such may rightly hope for the mercy of Allah: for Allah is All-Forgiving, All- Merciful.

234. Jihad denotes doing one’s utmost to achieve something. It is not the equivalent of war, for which the Arabic word is qital. Jihad has a wider connotation and embraces every kind of striving in God’s cause. A mujahid is a person who is single-mindedly devoted to his cause, who uses his mental capacity to reflect how best he can achieve it, propagates it by word of mouth and by the pen, uses his physical energy in striving to serve it, spends all the resources at his disposal to promote it, employs all the force he commands in confronting any power which might stand in its way, and, whenever necessary, does not shirk risking his very life for it. All this is Jihad. ‘ Jihad in the way of God’ is that strife in which man engages exclusively to win God’s good pleasure, to establish the supremacy of His religion and to make His word prevail.

(2:286) Allah does not lay a responsibility on anyone beyond his capacity. [338] In his favour shall be whatever good each one does, and against him whatever evil he does. [339] (Believers! Pray thus to your Lord): “Our Lord! Take us not to task if we forget or commit mistakes.

Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden such as You laid on those gone before us. [340] Our Lord! Lay not on us burdens which we do not have the power to bear. [341] And overlook our faults, and forgive us, and have mercy upon us. You are our Guardian; so grant us victory against the unbelieving folk.” [342]

338. Man’s answerability to God is limited by the extent of his ability. If a man does not have the ability to do a certain thing, God will not take him to task for not having performed it. In the same way, if it is really beyond a man’s ability to abstain from something, God will not blame him for having failed to abstain from it. It should be noted here that man will not be the final judge as to whether he had the ability to do something or not. Such judgement will be made by God alone.

339. This is the second fundamental principle of God’s law of retribution. Every man will be rewarded for the services he has rendered, none will be rewarded for services rendered by others. The same applies to punishment. It is the one who is guilty who will be punished. It is possible, however, that if a man has initiated either good or bad practices, they will continue to affect people’s lives. The resulting good and bad deeds of people will be reckoned either to their credit or against them, since they are clearly related to their efforts and actions. It is impossible, however, that a map should be either rewarded for an act of goodness or punished for an act of evil in which he has had no share – neither by intent nor practical action. The requital of acts is not transferable.

340. The prayer made here is that God should not subject them to the severe tests and the terrible persecutions and hardships undergone by their predecessors. It is God’s law that those who commit themselves to follow Truth and righteousness are subjected to severe tests and tribulations, and it is a believer’s duty to meet them with patience and fortitude. At the same time, the believer should always pray that God may make it easy for him to follow the path of Truth and righteousness.

341. Believers pray to God not to place upon them a burden beyond their capacity of endurance, and to subject them only to those tests from which they may emerge triumphant. May it not happen that the hardships are too much for them to bear, and that their feet falter and are turned away from the path of righteousness,

342. In order to appreciate fully the spirit of this prayer, one should remember that these verses were revealed on the occasion of the ascension of the Prophet, a year before his migration to Madina. At that time the struggle between Islam and unbelief had reached its climax. Not only in Makka, but throughout the Arabian peninsula, there was no place where the lives of those who wished to follow the religion of God had not been made extremely difficult. In these circumstances the Muslims were told in what manner they ought to pray to their Lord. It is obvious that if the bestower himself tells one how to present one’s request, the granting of the request becomes virtually assured. Hence, this prayer greatly strengthened the hearts of the Muslims. Moreover, this prayer implicitly taught the Muslims not to allow their feelings to flow along undesirable channels. They should instead mould them into a prayer to their Lord.

Think of the heart-rending cruelties to which the Muslims were subjected merely because of their devotion to Truth, and then turn to the contents of this prayer, where there is no trace of bitterness against the enemies. Consider the physical afflictions and material losses which the Muslims suffered, then note how this prayer does not contain the slightest hint of worldly ambition. Compare the wretchedness and misery of these devotees of Truth with the pure, exalted feelings with which this prayer is overflowing. This comparison will enable us to appreciate the nature of the spiritual and moral training provided to men of faith.

(3:8) They pray to Allah: ‘Our Lord! Do not let our hearts swerve towards crookedness after You have guided us to the right way, and. bestow upon us Your mercy. Surely You, only You, are the Munificent Giver!

(3:74) He singles out for His mercy whomever He wills, Allah is possessed of abounding bounty.’

(3:107) And those whose faces have turned bright, they will be in the mercy of Allah, and therein they shall abide.

(3:132) And obey Allah and the Messenger, that you may be shown mercy.

(3:157) And were you to be slain or to die in the way of Allah, then surely Allah’s forgiveness and mercy are better than all the goods they amass.

(3:159) It was thanks to Allah’s mercy that you were gentle to them. Had you been rough, hard-hearted, they would surely have scattered away from you. So pardon them, and pray for their forgiveness, and take counsel from them in matters of importance. And when you are resolved on a course of action place your trust in Allah; surely Allah loves those who put their trust (in Him).

(4:83) Whenever they come upon any news bearing upon either security or causing consternation they go about spreading it, whereas if they were to convey it to either the Messenger or to those from among them who are entrusted with authority, it would come to the knowledge of those who are competent to investigate it. [112] But for Allah’s bounty and mercy upon you, (weak as you were) all but a few of you would surely have followed Satan.

112. This was a period of turbulence and upheaval and rumour was rife. Occasionally, baseless and exaggerated reports circulated and seized the whole of Madina and its outlying areas with alarm and consternation. At other times some cunning enemy tried to conceal the dangers threatening the Muslims by spreading soothing reports. A specially keen interest in rumours was taken by those who simply relished anything out of the ordinary, and who did not consider this life-and-death struggle between Islam and Ignorance to be a matter of crucial importance, and who were not aware of the far-reaching consequences of rumour-mongering. As soon as they heard something, they ran about spreading it everywhere. This rebuke is addressed to such people. They are warned against spreading rumours and are directed to convey every report they receive to responsible quarters.

(4:96) For them are ranks, forgiveness, and favours from Him. Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate.

(4:113) (O Messenger!) But for Allah’s favour and mercy upon you, a party of them had resolved to mislead you,yet they only misled them selves, and could not have harmed you in any way. [142] Allah revealed to you the Book and Wisdom, and He taught you what you knew not. Great indeed has been Allah’s favour upon you.

142. Even if some people succeeded in their design to obtain from the Prophet (peace be on him) a wrong judgement in their favour by presenting a false account of events, the real loss would have been theirs rather than the Prophet’s (peace be on him). For the real criminals in the sight of God are the perpetrators of that fraud and not the Prophet (peace be on him) who might in good faith have delivered a verdict that actually did not conform to the facts. Whoever obtains a judgement in his favour by tricking the courts deludes himself into believing that by such tricks he can bring right to his side; right remains with its true claimant regardless of judgements obtained by fraud and deception. See also (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 188) note 197.

(4:175) Allah will surely admit those who believe in Him and hold fast to Him to His mercy and bounty, and will guide them on to a straight way to Himself.

(6:12) Ask thern: ‘To whom belongs all that is in the heavens and on the earth?’ [9] Say: ‘Everything belongs to Allah.’ He has bound Himself to the exercise of mercy (and thus does not chastise you for your disobedience and excesses instantly). Surely He will gather you all together on the Day of Resurrection – the coming of which is beyond doubt; but those who have courted their own ruin are not going to believe.

9. The subtlety of this expression should not go unnoticed. The unbelievers are asked to whom belongs whatever exists in either the heavens or on the earth. The inquirer then pauses to wait for the answer. Those questioned are themselves convinced that all belongs to God, yet while they dare not respond falsely, they are nevertheless not prepared to give the correct answer. Fearing that their response may be used as an argument against their polytheistic beliefs, they keep quiet. At this, the inquirer is told to answer the question himself and to say that all belongs to God.

(6:16) Whosoever has been spared chastisement on that Day, Allah has bestowed His mercy upon him. That is the manifest triumph.

(6:54) And when those who believe in Our signs come to you, say to them: Peace be upon you. Your Lord has made mercy incumbent upon Himself so that if anyone of you does a bad deed out of ignorance and thereafter repents and makes amends, surely you will find Him All-Forgiving, AllCompassionate.’ [37]

37. Several of those who came to believe in the Prophet (peace be on him) had committed many serious sins before they embraced Islam. Even though their lives had altogether changed following their conversion, the opposition continued to play up the weaknesses and misdeeds of their past life. The Prophet (peace he on him) is asked to comfort such persons and to tell them that God does not punish those who sincerely repent their sins and mend their ways.

(6:133) Your Lord is Self-Sufficient, full of compassion. [101] If He wills, He can put you away and cause whomever He wills to succeed you just as He has produced you from the seed of another people.

101. The Qur’anic statement: ‘Your Lord is Self-Sufficient’ signifies that God is in need of nothing from anyone, that none of His interests will be jeopardized by disobedience to Him, and that no benefit will accrue to Him from obedience. Even if all human beings became disobedient, God’s dominion will not shrink. Nor will His dominion expand if everybody were to become obedient and serve and worship Him as they ought to. God is dependent neither upon their show of veneration nor upon their offerings. He lavishes His limitless treasures on human beings and seeks nothing in return.

The other statement, namely that ‘Your Lord is full of compassion’, has been made here to emphasize two things. First, that when God urges human beings to follow the Right Way, and asks them not to do anything in conflict with Ultimate Reality, He does not do so because their good behaviour benefits Him or their misconduct harms Him. He does so because good conduct is beneficial to man himself, as evil conduct is harmful to him. Hence it is out of sheer benevolence that God urges man to develop righteous conduct, for it will raise him to great heights, and He urges him to avoid evil conduct because it will lead to his own degradation. Second, that God is not unduly stern in judging man. He gets no pleasure from punishing people. He is not on the look-out for slight lapses for which to convict and persecute people. God is highly compassionate towards all His creatures and governs with utmost mercy and benevolence, and the same characterizes His dealings with human beings as well. Hence, He constantly forgives the sins of people. Many disobey, indulge in sins, commit crimes, disregard God’s commands, even though they are nourished by the sustenance He provides. God, nevertheless, continually treats them with forbearance and forgives them. Again and again, He grants them respite in order that they may take heed, understand things properly and reform themselves. Had He been excessively stern, He could even have obliterated them instantly and raised up another people. He could have put an end to humanity and brought into being an altogether different species of creation.

(6:147) ‘Then if they give you the lie, say: ‘Your Lord is of unbounded mercy; but His punishment shall not be averted from the guilty folk.’ [123]

123. If they could still give up their disobedience and return to the true service of God, they would find Him ready to embrace them with His mercy. But if they persisted, they should remember that no one could save them from His wrath.

(6:154) Then We gave to Moses the Book, completing the benediction of Allah upon the one who acts righteously, spelling out everything clearly, a guidance and a mercy; so that they may believe in their meeting with their Lord. [136]

136. To believe in ‘meeting with the Lord’ signifies the conviction that one is answerable to God, and which leads one to adopt responsible behaviour in life. The statement made here could mean two things. It might mean that the teachings of the heavenly Book vouchsafed to Moses could itself create a sense of responsibility among the Israelites. Alternatively, it might mean that when ordinary people observe the wonderful way of life prescribed by God, and note the beneficial effects of its merciful dispensation in the lives of righteous people, they will come to realize that belief in the After-life is, in all respects, a better basis for human life than its denial. In this way, their observation and study might turn them from rejection to true faith.

(6:155) And likewise We revealed this (Book) – a blessed one. Follow it, then, and become God-fearing; you may be shown mercy.

(6:157) Nor may you claim that: ‘Had the Book been revealed to us, we would have been better guided than they.’ Surely clear evidence has come to you from your Lord, which is both a guidance and a mercy. Who, then, is more unjust than he who gave the lie to the signs of Allah and turned away from them? [138] And We shall soon requite those who turn away from Our signs with a severe chastisement for having turned away.

138. ‘Signs of Allah’ include the teachings embodied in the Qur’an. They are also manifest in the noble life of the Prophet (peace be on him), and the pure lives of those who believed in him. Tley also include the natural phenomena to which the Qur’an refers in support of its message.

(7:23) Both cried out: ‘Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and do not have mercy on us, we shall surely be among the losers.’ [13]

13. The narrative sheds light on the following significant points:

(i) Modesty and bashfulness are inherent in human nature. The primary manifestation of this instinct is seen in the sense of shame that one feels when one is required to expose the private parts of one’s body in the presence of others. According to the Qur’an, this bashfulness is not artificial, nor an outcome of advancement in human culture and civilization. Nor is it something acquired as some misguided thinkers contend. On the contrary, modesty has been an integral part of human nature from the very beginning.

(ii) The very first stratagem adopted by Satan in his bid to lead man astray from the Right Path consisted of undermining man’s sense of modesty, to direct him towards lewdness and make him sexually deviant. In other words, the sexual instincts of man were taken by Satan as the most vulnerable aspect of human nature. Accordingly, he sought to weaken man’s natural instincts of modesty and bashfulness. This devilish stratagem is still followed by the disciples of Satan in our time. For them, progress is inconceivable without exposing woman to the gaze of all and making her strip before others in one form or another.

(iii) Such is human nature that man scarcely responds to an unambiguous invitation to evil. Those who seek to propagate evil are, therefore, forced to present themselves as sincere well-wishers of humanity.

(iv) Man is naturally, drawn towards lofty ideals such as the attainment of superhuman positions and the securing of immortality. Satan achieved his first victory in his bid to mislead man by appealing to the latter’s inherent desire to attain immortality. Satan’s most effective weapon is to promise man a more elevated position than his present one, and then set him on a course that leads instead to his degradation.

(v) Here the Qur’an refutes the fairly popular view that Satan first misled Eve and later used her as an instrument to mislead Adam. See Ibn Kathir’s comments on (Surah Al-Aaraf, ayat 22-23) The Qur’anic version of the story is that Satan attempted to mislead both Adam and Eve, and in fact both fell prey to his guile. At first sight, this might seem of trivial significance. However, all those who are acquainted with the impact of this version of Adam’s fall on the moral, legal and social degradation of women will appreciate the significance of this Qur’anic statement.

(vi) There is hardly any basis to assume that the forbidden tree had certain inherent qualities which could result in the exposure of Adam and Eve’s private parts as soon as they had tasted its fruit. Instead of the forbidden tree possessing any extraordinary qualities, it was rather man’s disobedience to God which led to his fall from his original state. Initially, Adam and Eve’s private parts had remained hidden on account of special arrangements made by God. Once they disobeyed, they were deprived of that special Divine arrangement, and were left to themselves to cover their nakedness if they so wished.

(vii) This was a way, of conveying to mankind for all time that whenever he disobeys God, he will sooner or later be exposed; that man will enjoy God’s support and protection only so long as he remains obedient to Him. Once man transgresses the bounds of his obedience, he will be deprived of God’s care and protection and left to his own self. This idea is also embodied in many traditions from the Prophet (peace be on him). According to a tradition, the Prophet (peace be on him) prayed:

O God! I seek Your Mercy. Do not leave me to my own care even for the wink of an eye!’ (Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 5, P. 421 – Ed.)

(vii) Satan wanted to prove that man did not deserve, not even for a moment, the superior status which had been granted to him by God. However, Satan failed in the very first round of his efforts to discredit man. Granted, man did not fully succeed in obeying God’s command; rather, he fell prey to the machinations of his arch-enemy, Satan, and deviated from the path of obedience. Nevertheless, it is evident even in the course of this first encounter that man is a morally superior being. This is clear from many a thing. First, whereas Satan laid claim to superiority, man made no such claim rather a superior status was bestowed upon him by God. Second, Satan disobeyed God out of sheer pride and arrogance. But far from openly revolting against God out of his own prompting, man was disobedient under Satan’s evil influence. Third, when man disobeyed God, he did so unwittingly, not realizing that he was committing a sin. ‘Man was beguiled into disobedience by Satan ,who appeared in the garb of man’s well-wisher. It was Satan who persuaded him to believe that in the fruit of the forbidden tree lay his good, that his action would lead him to the heights of goodness, not to the depths of evil. Fourth, when Satan was warned, rather than confessing his mistake and repenting, he clung even more adamantly to disobedience. But when man was told that he had sinned, he did not resort to continued transgression as Satan did. As soon as man realized his mistake, he confessed his fault, returned to the course of obedience and sought refuge in God’s mercy.

This story draws a clear line between the way of Satan and the way that befits man. Satan’s way is characterized by rebellion against God, by arrogantly persisting in that rebellion even after having been warned, and by trying to mislead the righteously disposed towards sin and disobedience. As opposed to this, the way that befits man is to resist the evil promptings of Satan and to be constantly vigilant against Satanic machinations. But, if in spite of all these precautions, a man does swerve from the course of obedience, he should turn, as soon as he realizes his fault, to God in penitence and remorse and make amends.

This is the lesson that God conveys to man through this anecdote. The Qur’an seeks to impress upon the opponents of the Prophet (peace be on him) that the way, they are following is the way of Satan. To become indifferent to God’s Guidance, to take satans among men and jinn as their protectors and to persist in disobedience despite repeated warnings, amounts to adopting a Satanic attitude. It demonstrates that they have fallen prey to the snares of the arch-enemy and have been totally overpowered by him. This attitude will lead to their total undoing just as it led to Satan’s undoing. Anyone who has even an iota of understanding should heed and emulate the example of his foreparents – Adam and Eve – who repented and made amends after their disobedience.

(7:49) Are these not the ones of whom you swore that Allah shall grant them nothing of His mercy?’ To such it will be said: ‘Enter Paradise. You have no cause to fear, nor shall you grieve.’

(7:52) Surely We have brought them a Book which We expounded with knowledge; [36] a guidance and a mercy to those who believe ‘ [37]

36. The Qur’an has spelled out in some detail what constitutes the fundamental reality, explained the attitude that man ought to adopt, and laid down the fundarnentals of the way of life that he ought to follow. The tails laid down in the Book in this regard are based on sound knowledge rather than on conjecture and fancy.

37. The contents and teachings of the Book are perspicuous enough to show one the right way. Moreover, the life-style of those who believe in this Book also bears out, by the beneficial effects it produces on human life, how well it guides man. The blessings of the Qur’an become evident if man first notes the healthy changes that it brings about in his outlook, character and morals.

The above verse in fact alludes to the wonderful effect belief in the Qur’an had on the lives of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be on him).

(7:56) Anddo not make mischief in the earth after it has been set in order, [44] and call upon Him with fear and longing. [45] Surely Allah’s mercy is close to those who do good.

44. The command not to make mischief in the earth means not to vitiate the right order of life. What basically, constitutes ‘mischief-making’ is to surrender oneself to one’s lusts, to commit acts in subservience to other human beings and to subscribe to base morals, social orders, civilizations, principles and laws derived from sources other than God’s Guidance. This is the essential mischief from which innumerable evils issue and which the Qur’an seeks to eradicate. The Qur’an also emphasizes that sound order is the original condition, and disorder and mischief occurred later as accidents resulting from man’s ignorance and transgression. In other words, man’s life on earth did not start with ignorance, savagery, polytheistic beliefs, rebellion against God and moral disorder whereafter reforms were gradually introduced. On the contrary, man’s life began with good order and was later corrupted because of man’s perversity and folly. God sent Prophets from time to time in order to eradicate the disorder that had set in and to restore the original, good order. These Prophets constantly ehorted people to refrain from disrupting the original order and creating mischief.

Thus the Qur’anic view on this question is altogether different from that of the proponents of the false doctrine of evolution, who postulate that man has gradually come out of darkness into light; that life has advanced in a unilinear fashion, towards increasinly better conditions. The Qur’an rather postulates that human life began in the full light of Divine Guidance, that the original state of affairs was in accord with the Right Way prescribed by God. The blame for corruption goes to man who, failing victim to Satan’s allurements, veered towards darkness and corrupted the right order of human life again and again. As for God, He continually sent Prophets in order to summon men from darkness to light, and to ask them to eschew evil and wickedness. (See Towards Understanding the Qur’an, (al-Baqarah 2, n. 230, pp. 165-6 – Ed.)

45. This clearly shows what the expression ‘mischief-making’ in the verse signifies. It consists of man’s turning to others than God as his guardian, patron and helper, and calling them to his aid and support. To bring about reform, therefore, consists of man’s turning exclusively to God as his guardian and helper.

Calling upon Allah with fear and longing’ conveys the idea that man should fear God alone, and to Him alone he should look for the fulfilment of his wishes. While calling upon God man should realize that he is totally dependent on God’s favour and that he can attain success only if God helps and guides him to it. Similarly, man should also bear in mind that once he is deprived of God’s support, he is doomed to utter failure and undoing.

(7:57) And it is He Who sends forth winds as glad tidings in advance of His Mercy, and when they have carried a heavy-laden cloud We drive it to a dead land, then We send down rain from it and bring forth therwith fruits of every kind. In this manner do We raise the dead that you may take heed.

(7:63) Do you wonder that admonition should come to you from your Lord through a man from amongst yourselves that he may warn you, that you may avoid evil and that mercy may be shown to you?’ [49]

49. There were striking similarities between Muhammad and Noah (peace be on them). The Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) received the same treatment from his people as did Noah from his. The message that each of them sought to preach was also the same. Likewise, the doubts and objections raised by the people of Muhammad (peace be on him) with regard to his prophethood were the same as those raised by Noah’s people several thousand years ago. Again, what Muhammad (peace be on him) said in response to the doubts and objections raised against him were exactly the same as what Noah had said.

The Qur’anic narration of the stories of the Prophets makes it amply clear that the attitude of the nations to whom the Prophets were sent had always been the same as that of the Makkans towards the Message of Muhammad (peace be on him). Apart from this, the accounts of the various Prophets and their people, display the same striking resemblances. Likewise, the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be on him) vindication of his teaching in response to the Makkans is identical with similar attempts by other Prophets to vindicate their teachings. So doing, the Qur’an seeks to emphasize that in the same way as the error and misguidance of which men become victims have remained essentially the same throughout the ages, the Message of God’s Messengers has also been the same in all places and at all times. Again, there is a striking resemblance in the ultimate fate of all those peoples who reject the message of the Prophets and who persist in their erroneous and evil ways. This too has also been the same, namely utter destruction.

(7:72) Then We delivered Hud and his companions by Our mercy, and We utterly cut off the last remnant of those who called the lie to Our signs and would not believe. [56]

56. The Qur’an informs us that God brought about the total extermination of the ‘Ad, a fact borne out by both Arabian historical traditions and recent archaeological discoveries. The ‘Ad were so totally destroyed and their monuments so completely effaced that the Arab historians refer to them as one of the umam ba’idah (extinct peoples) of Arabia. The Arab tradition also affirms that the only people belonging to the ‘Ad who survived were the followers of the Prophet Hud. These survivors are known as the Second ‘Ad (‘Ad Thaniyah). The Hisn al-Ghurib inscriptions referred to earlier (n. 51) above are among the remaining monuments of these people. One inscription, which is generally considered to date from the eighteenth century B.C., as deciphered by the experts, contains the following sentences:

We have lived for a long time in this fort in full glory, free of all want. Our canals were always full to the brim with water . . . Our rulers were kings who were far removed from evil ideas, who dealt sternly with mischief-makers and governed us according to the Law of Hud. Their edicts were recorded in a book. We believed in miracles and resurrection.

The above account fully corroborates the Qur’anic statement that it was only the companions of Hud who survived and inherited the glory and prosperity of the ‘Ad.

(7:149) And when they were afflicted with remorse and realized that they had fallen into error, they said: ‘If our Lord does not have mercy on us and does not pardon us, we shall be among the losers.’

(7:151) Thereupon Moses said: ‘O Lord! Grant forgiveness upon me and my brother and admit us to Your Mercy, for You are most merciful of the merciful.’

(7:154) And when the anger of Moses was stilled, he took up the Tablets again, the text of which comprised guidance and mercy to those who fear their Lord.

(7:155) And out of his people Moses singled out seventy men for Our appointment. [109] Then, when violent shaking seized them, he addressed his Lord: Had You willed, O my Lord, You could have destroyed them and me long ago. Will You destroy us for what the fools amongst us did? That was nothing but a trial from You whereby You mislead whom You will and guide whom You will. [110] You alone are our guardian. Forgive us, then, and have mercy upon us. You are the best of those who forgive.

109. Moses was summoned for the second time to Mount Sinai along with seventy chiefs of the nation in order that they might seek pardon for their calf-worship and renew their covenant with God. Reference to this event is not found in the Bible and Talmud. They simply mention that Moses was summoned to receive new tablets as replacements for the ones he had thrown down and broken. (Cf. Exodus 34.)

110. When a people are put to the test it is an occasion of crucial importance for it helps to distinguish the righteous from the wicked. Like a winnow, it separates out of the mass the useful from the useless. Hence in his wisdom God subjects people to tests. Those who successfully pass through them, owe their success to the support and guidance they receive from God. As for those who are unsuccessful, their failure is the result of their not receiving that support and guidance. This does not detract from the fact that men neither arbitrarily receive or are denied God’s support and guidance. Both extending and withholding support and guidance follow a rule which is based on wisdom and justice. The fact, however, remains that man can succeed in the test to which he is put only if God supports and guides him.

(7:156) And ordain for us what is good in this world and in the World to Come for to You have we turned.’He replied: ‘I afflict whomsoever I wish with My chastisement. As for My mercy, it encompasses everything. [111] will show mercy to those who abstain from evil, pay Zakat and have faith in Our signs.’

111. It is false to assume that the general rule underlying God’s governance of His realm is that of wrath which is occasionally tempered with mercy and benevolence. On the contrary, the general rule is that of mercy and benevolence and wrath is the exception which is aroused when man’s transgression and rebellion exceed all reasonable limits.

(7:203) [O Prophet!] When you do not produce before them any miracle, they say: ‘Why do you not choose for yourself a miracle?’ [151] Say to them: I follow only what is revealed to me by my Lord. This is nothing but a means of insight into the truth, and guidance and mercy from your Lord to the people who believe. [152]

151. This question is a taunt rather than a simple query. What the utterance implies is that if the claim to prophethood is genuine, it should have been supported by some miracle. The next verse contains a fitting rejoinder to the taunt.

152. The Prophet (peace be on him) is being made to tell his opponents in clear terms that he has no power to get whatever he wants. Being God’s Messenger, he is required to follow the directives of the One Who has sent him and has granted him the Qur’an which has the light of guidance. The major characteristic of this Book is that those who seek guidance from it do indeed find the right way. The moral excellence visible in the lives of those people who accept the Qur’an is testimony to the fact that they have been blessed with God’s mercy.

(7:204) So when the Qur’an is recited, listen carefully to it, and keep silent so that you may, be shown mercy.’ [153]

153. The unbelievers are asked to shed their prejudice and to abandon their deliberate indifference to the Qur’an. Whenever the Qur’an is recited to them, they stuff their fingers into their ears and make a lot of noise lest they or any others hear the Qur’an. They should better behave more maturely and make an effort to grasp the teachings of the Qur’an. It is quite likely that their study, of the Book would ultimately make them share with Muslims the blessings of the Qur’an. This is an excellent, subtle and heart-winning approach which simply cannot be over-praised. Those who are interested in learning the art of effective preaching can benefit immensely by, pondering over this Qur’anic verse.

The main purpose of the verse has also been explained. By implication, however, the verse also enjoins people to be silent and to listen attentively to the Qur’an when it is being recited. The verse also provides the basis of the rule that when the leader (imam) is reciting verses of the Qur’an in Prayer, the followers in the congregation should (refrain from reciting and) listen to the recitation in silence. There is some disagreement among scholars on this issue. Abu Hanifah and his disciples are of the view that the followers in the congregation should remain silent, irrespective of whether the the imam is reciting the Qur’an aloud or silently in his mind. On the other hand, Malik and Ahmad b. Hanbal are of the opinion that the followers in the congregation should listen silently only when the Qur’an is being recited aloud. According to Shafi’i, the followers in the congrega tion should also recite the Qur’an regardless of whether the imam is reciting the Qur’an aloud or silently’. His view is based on the Hadith that Prayer without recitation of al-Fatihah is void. (See Ibn Rushd, Bidayat al-Mujtahid, vol. 1, pp. 149-50; Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni, vol. 1, pp. 562-9 – Ed.)

(9:21) Their Lord gives them glad tidings of mercy from Him and of His good pleasure. For them await Gardens of eternal bliss.

(9:61) And of them there are some who distress the Prophet, saying: “He is all ears.” [69] Tell them: “He listens for your good. [70] He believes in Allah and trusts the believers, [71] and is a mercy for those of you who believe. A painful punishment lies in store for those who cause distress to the Messenger of Allah.”

69. This was one of the charges which the hypocrites leveled against the Prophet (peace be upon him). As he used to listen to everyone and let him say freely whatever he had to say, they would find fault with him, saying, “He is a credulous person. Everyone can approach him freely and may say whatever he pleases, and he readily believes whatever he hears” Though it was a good thing that he heard everyone, the hypocrites intentionally spread it as a vice, so that the poor and humble Muslims should be kept away from coming near the Prophet (peace be upon him). The hypocrites did not like that these true believers should inform the Prophet (peace be upon him) about their plots, mischief and hostile talks. They resented it very much that the Prophet (peace be upon him) listened to and believed in the talk of these humble people against such “respectable” people as themselves.

70. The answer to this charge implies two things. First, “Though the Prophet (peace be upon him) listens to everything, he attends only to that which is good and is for the welfare of the community, for he is not the one who would listen to or encourage mischievous things.” Secondly, “It is good for yourselves that he listens patiently to everyone; otherwise he would not have allowed you to put forward lame excuses for your negligence from the struggle in the Way of Allah. Had he not been forbearing, he would not have paid attention to your false professions of faith and hypocritical expressions of good wishes for Islam, but would have taken you to task for your mischief and made it difficult for you to live at Al-Madinah. It is thus obvious that it is good for you that he listens to everyone.

71. That is, you are wrong that he listens to everyone. He puts his trust only in the true believers. Accordingly, he believed only in those things about you that were conveyed to him by good and trustworthy people, who were neither liars nor tale-bearers. Therefore, whatever they said about you was true and should have been taken as true.

(9:71) The believers, both men and women, are allies of one another. They enjoin good, forbid evil, establish Prayer, pay Zakah, and obey Allah and His Messenger. [80] Surely Allah will show mercy to them. Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.

80. The contrast between the characteristics of the hypocrites (Ayat 67) and of the true believers (Ayat 71) clearly shows that the two are entirely different from each other, in spite of their outwardly similar profession of faith in Islam and obedience to it. The difference lies in their morals, conducts, habits, attitudes and ways of thinking. On the one hand, are the hypocrites whose tongues are never tired of professing faith in Islam, but who are void of sincere faith, and whose conduct belies their professions. They are, as it were, like bottles which have labels of musk, but contain cow-dung which may easily be recognized from its appearance and unpleasant odor. On the other hand, are the true believers, who are like those bottles which contain musk which may be tested in any way by its appearance, its smell and other characteristics to be the musk. Likewise, though the outward label of Islam apparently makes both of them one community of Muslims, the real characteristics of the hypocritical Muslims are so different from those of the true Muslims that they have, in fact, become two different communities. The hypocritical Muslims, men and women, form a separate community with those who have similar characteristics. They all are neglectful of Allah, take interest in evil things and deviate from all that is good and never cooperate with true believers. In short, they are allies to one another and practically dissociate themselves from true believers and form a group of their own. In contrast to them, the true believers, men and women, have practically become one community. All of them take interest in what is good, and abhor what is evil. They remember Allah day and night and cannot think of life without the constant remembrance of Allah. They are very generous in spending in the Way of Allah, and obey Him and His Messenger (peace be upon him) without any mental reservations. These common characteristics have dissociated them from the hypocrites and united them in one community and made them allies to one another.

(9:99) And among the bedouin Arabs are those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and regard their spending (in the Way of Allah) as a means of drawing near to Allah and of deserving the prayers of the Messenger. Indeed, this shall be a means of drawing near to Allah. Allah will surely admit them to His mercy. Allah is All-Forgiving, Ever Merciful.

(9:102) There are others who have confessed their faults. They intermixed their good deeds with evil. It is likely that Allah will turn to them in mercy, for Allah is All- Forgiving, Ever Merciful.

(9:106) There are others in whose regard Allah’s decree is awaited: whether He will chastise them or relent towards them. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. [101]

101. The case of these people had been deferred because it could not yet be legally decided whether they were sinners or hypocrites, and not because their case was doubtful in the sight of Allah. This was because the symptoms of their diseases had not as yet come to the surface to indicate clearly which of the two they were. For Islam teaches the Muslims not to pass judgment on a person or a party unless they possess definite knowledge based on conscious reasoning and not on intuition and the like to support it.

(9:117) Surely Allah has relented towards the Prophet, and towards the Muhajirun (Emigrants) and the Ansar (Helpers) who stood by him in the hour of hardship, [115] although the hearts of a party of them had well-nigh swerved. [116] (But when they gave up swerving from the Right Course and followed the Prophet), Allah relented towards them. [117] Surely to them He is the Most Tender, the Most Merciful.

115. Allah forgave the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions for those inadvertent lapses that had been made in connection with the Tabuk expedition, in view of their excellent services. The inadvertent lapse made by the Prophet (peace be upon him) was that he had given leave to stay behind to those people who were able to take part in the Jihad. (Ayat 43).

116. This refers to those sincere companions who were at first somewhat unwilling to go to war on that critical occasion, but at last overcame their weakness, for they had true faith in their hearts and loved the right way.

117. That is, Allah will not take them to account for their wrong inclinations for He does not punish a man for that weakness which he himself has overcome and corrected.

(9:118) And He also relented towards the three whose cases had been deferred. [118] When the earth, for all its spaciousness, became constrained to them, and their own beings became a burden to them, and they realized that there was no refuge for them from Allah except in Him; He relented towards them that they may turn back to Him. Surely, it is Allah Who is Much Forgiving, Ever Merciful. [119]

118. These three were among those who came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to present their excuses for staying behind. More than eighty of them were hypocrites, who put forward lame excuses and the Prophet (peace be upon him) accepted these and let them go. Then came the turn of these three, who were true believers, and they confessed their fault plainly. Therefore the Prophet (peace be upon him) postponed the decision of their case and ordered the Muslims not to have any social relations with them till the decision of their case came from Allah. This verse was sent down to decide their case.

In this connection it should be kept in mind that the case of these three was different from the case of the seven mentioned in E.N. 99. They had inflicted the punishment on themselves before they were called to account for their fault.

119. The three whose condition has been described in this verse, were Kaab bin Malik, Hilal bin Umayyah and Murarah bin Rubai. They were sincere believers, as has been stated above, and had made many sacrifices and given proofs of their sincerity before this. The last two had taken part in the battle of Badr also, and therefore their faith was above every kind of suspicion. Though Kaab had not taken part in the battle of Badr, he had accompanied the Prophet (peace be upon him) in every other expedition. But in spite of all these services, they were severely punished for the negligence they had shown on the critical occasion of the Tabuk expedition, when all the able-bodied Muslims were commanded to go forth to Jihad.

When the Prophet (peace be upon him) came back from Tabuk, he ordered the Muslims to break away completely from them; so much so that they should not even respond to their greetings. After forty days of this boycott their wives also were ordered to have nothing to do with them. In short, they were reduced at Al-Madinah to the same sad plight which has been described in this verse. At last, after a boycott of fifty days, this verse was sent down to announce their forgiveness.

The story of the above-mentioned boycott has been described in detail by Kaab bin Malik, who was one of the three. When he became old and blind, he himself told his story to his son, Abdullah, who used to accompany him everywhere. As this story is an excellent lesson for all, it is given below in Kaab’s own words:

“When the Prophet (peace be upon him) urged upon the people to get ready for Jihad, I made up my mind to make preparations for this. But when I went home, I became negligent, saying to myself, “There is no hurry. When the time comes I will readily make preparations and start forthwith”. In this way I went on putting off my preparations till the time came when the army was going to start on the expedition. As I had made no preparations for the journey, I said to myself, “It does not matter. I will be able to join the army in a couple of days during the journey”. But again the same negligence prevented me from putting my intention into practice. At last no occasion was left for me to join the army. To add to my misery my conscience pricked me over and over again that the people with whom I had stayed behind in Al-Madinah were either the hypocrites or those Muslims who were old or otherwise unfit for Jihad.

When the Prophet (peace be upon him) came back from Tabuk, he, as usual, said two rakats of prayer in the mosque. Then he sat there to meet the people. At first, the hypocrites, whose number was a little more than eighty, came to him and offered lame excuses on solemn oaths. The Prophet (peace be upon him) listened to the false story of each of them and accepted their apparent excuses and left the decision about their hearts to Allah, saying, “May Allah forgive you”. Then it was my turn to put forward my excuse. I went forward and uttered my salutations. He smiled and said, “Well, what kept you behind?” I hesitated for a moment. By God, I would have invented one excuse or the other to satisfy any man of the world, for I am well versed in the art of conversation. But here was the Prophet (peace be upon him) who was demanding an explanation from me. I believed that even if I succeeded in satisfying him by making a false excuse, Allah will inform him of the truth of the case and I shall again incur his displeasure. On the other hand, if I told the truth, I expected that Allah would forgive me, even though I were to incur his displeasure for the time being. So I replied, “I have no excuse for staying behind. I was in every way able to go forth (to Tabuk)”. At this the Prophet (peace be upon him) remarked, “This is the man who has told the truth”. Then turning to me, he said, “Go and wait till Allah decides your case”.

I rose from there and took my seat among the people of my own clan. They at once began to tease and reprove me because I had made no excuse. At this, I was tempted to go and make some false excuse. But when I came to know that there were also two good people (Murarah bin Rubai and Hilal bin Umayyah), who had told the same thing that I had, I felt satisfied and stuck to the truth.

After this the Prophet (peace be upon him) issued a general order that no one should have any kind of talk with us. The other two confined themselves to their houses but I used to go out of my house and say my prayers in congregation and walk through the bazaars. As nobody spoke to me, it appeared to me that I was a foreigner in some strange city where I had no acquaintances. When I attended the mosque, I would utter the usual salutations and wait in vain for a response from the Prophet (peace be upon him). I would turn stealthy looks at him to read his thoughts in regard to me, but he would turn his eyes away from me, though he had been looking at me while I was engaged in prayer. As this condition became intolerable for me, one day I went to see Abu Qatadah who was a cousin of mine and a friend from childhood. I climbed over the wall of his garden and uttered my salutations, but even he did not make any response to it. Then I said, “O Abu Qatadah! I ask you to tell me on oath whether I love or do not love Allah and His Messenger”. But he remained silent. Again I repeated the question but he kept silent. I asked him on oath to answer my question. Then he merely replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best”. At this my eyes were filled with tears, and I came back.

Another incident happened during those days. Once I was passing through the bazaar, when a Syrian came to me and gave me a letter wrapped in silk. This was from the king of Ghassan and read like this: We have come to know that your leader is persecuting you these days. As you are not an ignoble person, we will not leave you to rot there. Therefore come to us and we will honor you (as you deserve). I said to myself, “Here is another hard trial for me”. Then I threw the letter into the burning oven.

The boycott continued for forty days, when a man brought this message from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that I should separate from my wife. I asked whether I should divorce her but was told that I should only separate from her. Accordingly I said to my wife, “Go to your parental home and wait till a decision comes from Allah.”

On the fiftieth day, when after the morning prayers, I was sitting in a state of utter despair on the top of my house, all of a sudden someone cried aloud, “O Kaab bin Malik! please accept my congratulations.” Hearing this, I fell prostrate to the ground before Allah, for I understood that the command of my forgiveness had come. After this, people began to pour in, each trying to forestall the other in congratulating me on the acceptance of my repentance. I rose and went directly to the Mosque. I noticed that the face of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was glowing with happiness and in response to my salutations, he said, “I congratulate you on this: it is the best day of your life.” I said, “Is this forgiveness from you or from Allah?” He replied, “It is from Allah.” Then he recited these verses (117-118). I asked, “O Messenger of Allah! Does my repentance require that I should give the whole of my property in charity?” He replied, “Keep a part of it, for it will be better for you.” Accordingly, I kept my property at Khaibar for myself and gave all the rest in charity. Then I solemnly pledged that I would stick to the truth throughout rest of my life, for Allah had forgiven me in return for the truth I had told. That is why I have never uttered a word against reality intentionally up to this time and hope and expect that Allah will protect me from lies in future as well.

This story contains many lessons, and every believer should impress these on his mind and heart.

The first and foremost lesson we learn from this story is that the matter of the conflict between Islam and kufr is so important and delicate that we should take the greatest possible care to be on our guard in regard to this. Not to mention the case of one who takes active part on the side of kufr, if a Muslim shows the least negligence even inadvertently in taking part on the side of Islam once in his life; and that, too, not with any evil intention, he is liable to lose all the lifelong services and devotions rendered by him in the cause of Islam. That was why such a severe action was taken even against those worthy people who had done great deeds of valor in the battles of Badr, Uhd, Ahzab and Hunain, and whose sincerity and faith were absolutely above suspicion.

The second thing, which is as important as the first, is that one should never consider lightly any negligence in the performance of a duty, for this often misleads one to commit an offense that is counted among heinous sins. The fact that one did not commit the offense with any evil intention cannot save one from punishment.

Lastly, this story presents the true spirit of the society that had been evolved out under the leadership of the Prophet (peace be upon him). On the one side, there were the hypocrites whose treacherous deeds were quite well known to all. They offered lame excuses which were accepted without demur for nothing better could be expected from them. On the other side, let us take the case of Kaab bin Malik, who was a tried believer, and whose sacrifices were above every kind of suspicion. He did not invent any false story to justify himself but confessed his fault quite plainly and clearly. But in contrast to the hypocrites, a severe chastisement was inflicted on him, not because there was any suspicion about his faith but because a sincere believer like him had behaved in a way in which only a hypocrite could behave. Thus the chastisement was meant to remind them: “You are the salt of the earth. But if you, too, become tasteless, from where will then salt be obtained?”

There is another noteworthy side of the matter. The part played by the leader and the follower and the Muslim society in this incident is unique. The leader inflicts the most severe punishment but with the feelings of affection and without any tinge of anger or hatred in it. It is like the punishment which a father gives to his son. It is always understood that the punishment is given for the good of the son, who knows that as soon as he mends his ways, he will regain the fatherly love. And the follower sets an excellent example of obedience under very trying circumstances. He suffers hard from the severity of the chastisement but never thinks of rebelling against the leader because of any false personal or clannish pride; nay, he does not cherish in his heart any complaint against his beloved leader, but begins to love him even more than before. During this saddest period of his life the only thing he yearns for is a look of affection from his leader. For he is like a famine-stricken farmer whose only hope is the piece of cloud which he sees floating in the sky.

Now let us have a glimpse of the Muslim society, which displayed the greatest discipline and the highest moral spirit that had ever been shown by any society. No sooner does the leader order the boycott than the whole community becomes a stranger to the follower not only in public but also in private. So much so that his nearest relatives and closest friends do not even speak to him; nay, his own wife leaves him alone. He implores them on oath to tell him if they suspected his sincerity, but even his lifelong companions make a point-blank refusal, saying that he should ask Allah and His Messenger for that testimony. But in spite of the show of this strict discipline, the moral spirit of the community is so high and so pure that not a single person tries to take advantage of the position of the fallen brother by adding insult to his injury; nay, everyone feels sorry for his brother in disgrace, and is important to embrace him as soon as he is forgiven. That is why the people run in haste to tell him the good news.

The above is the model of the righteous community that the Quran aims.

This background makes it plain why Allah not only forgave them but also manifested His kindness; gentleness and compassion in His forgiveness to these people. It was because of their sincerity which they proved during the fifty days of their chastisement. Had they shown arrogance after the commission of their offense and retaliated by taking angry and hostile actions as does every selfworshiper whose pride is wounded: had they behaved during their boycott in a manner as if they would break away from the community but never bow down before it: had they passed this period in spreading dissatisfaction in the community and gathering around them all the disgruntled people in order to organize a strong opposition against the leader, then they would have most certainly been expelled from the community, as if to say, “Go you now and worship the idol of yourself, for henceforth you will never be given any opportunity for exerting to raise the word of Allah”. But these three did not adopt this way though it was open to them. On the contrary, they took a different way, as has been seen, and proved that Godworship had destroyed every idol that might have remained hidden in their hearts: that they had dedicated themselves entirely to the exertion in the Way of Allah: that while joining the Islamic community they had burnt their boats to make it impossible for themselves to go back anywhere: that they would put up with every kind of treatment but would remain in the community and die as a member of it and would scornfully reject any offer of an honorable place outside it; and would rather bear disgrace in it. That was why they were again taken in the community with the same honor as before. This is the explanation of the kind words of forgiveness: “Then He turned to them, that they might repent.” In these concise words, the Quran has depicted the true picture of the matter. The Master had at first turned away His attention from His three servants but when He saw that they had not left His door but had remained there with broken hearts, He again turned to them in appreciation of their fidelity so as to bring them back into the fold.

(10:21) No sooner than We bestow mercy on a people after hardship has hit them than they begin to scheme against Our signs. [29] Tell them: ‘Allah is swifter in scheming. Our angels are recording all your intriguing. [30]

29. They practiced deceptions regarding the sign of the famine that had been inflicted on them (Surah Yunus, ayat 11-12) . This verse alludes to the same, as if to say, “How dare you demand a sign again, whereas recently the sign of the famine has been shown to you? At that time you invoked the help of your deities but in vain, though you had set them up as intercessors with Allah and believed that offerings to their shrines would prove very effective in removing the famine. But you yourselves learned by the first hand experience that those so called gods possessed no power at all. Therefore when you were convinced that all power belongs to Allah alone, you turned to Him and began to invoke His help. This experience ought to have convinced you of the truth of the Message of Muhammad (peace be upon him) for this was the very fundamental thing which he was teaching. Instead of learning a lesson from this sign, you began to practice deceptions to explain it away, as soon as the famine was over and there had come the blessed rainfall. You invented many explanations (deceptions) concerning the causes of the famine and its subsequent end in order to escape from the doctrine of Tauhid and stick to your shirk. The verse is meant to declare that no sign would convince such people as those who had not benefited from the great sign of the famine. Therefore there was no use of showing any sign to them.

30. “Allah is more swift in plotting” means this: If you practice deceptions in order to explain away the sign of the famine so that you might find excuses to evade the implications of its acceptance in order to continue your rebellious attitudes. Allah is more swift in carrying out His plans to outdo your deceptive methods. He will leave you free to move in your wrong ways. He will even bestow upon you the worldly prosperity, which will so delude you that you will forget that you were being closely watched. And you will commit evil deeds with apparent immunity and enjoy yourselves to your heart’s content. But His angels will go on keeping a full and complete record of your deeds, which will be presented for your prosecution after your death.

(10:57) Men! Now there has come to you an exhortation from your Lord, a healing for the ailments of the hearts, and a guidance and mercy for those who believe.

(10:58) Tell them (O Prophet!): ‘Let them rejoice in Allah’s grace and mercy through which this (Book) has come to you. It is better than all the riches that they accumulate.

(10:86) and deliver us, through Your mercy, from the unbelievers.’

(11:9) If We ever favour man with Our Mercy, and then take it away from him, he becomes utterly desperate, totally ungrateful.

(11:17) Can it happen that he who takes his stand on a clear evidence from his Lord, [17] subsequently followed by a witness from Him (in his support), [18] and prior to that the Book of Moses was revealed as a guide and a mercy, (would even he deny the truth in the manner of those who adore the life of this world)? Rather, such men are bound to believe in it. [19] The Fire shall be the promised resort of the groups that disbelieve. So be in no doubt about it for this indeed is the truth from your Lord although most people do not believe.

17. This shows that even apart from revelation, there is ample evidence in man’s own self, in the structure of the heavens and the earth, and in the order that prevails in the universe to prove that God is the only creator, master, lord and sovereign of the universe. The evidence referred to above also inclines man to believe that the present life will be followed by another one in which man will be required to render an account of his deeds and wherein he might be requited.

18. The “witness from Him” is the Quran. The testimony of the natural phenomena combined with that provided by man’s own self had already created in man the disposition to affirm the truths mentioned earlier. All that was further reinforced by the Quran which came as reassurance that what he was predisposed to believe in was indeed true.

19. In the present context the verse means that those who are overly infatuated with the allurements of a worldly life will be inclined to reject the message of the Quran. Distinguishable from these are those who take full note of the testimony furnished by their own beings and by the structure and order prevailing in the universe in support of God’s unity. This testimony was further reinforced by the heavenly books revealed before the Quran. How could such persons close their eyes to such overwhelming testimony as this and join their voice with those of the unbelievers?

This verse clearly indicates that even before the Quran was revealed, the Prophet (peace be on him) had reached the stage of belief in the Unseen. We have seen, in (Surah Al-Anam, Ayat 75) , the case of Abraham. Before being appointed as a Prophet, Abraham (peace be on him) was led by a careful observation of the natural phenomena to knowledge of God’s unity. Likewise, the present verse makes it clear that by his reflection, the Prophet (peace be on him), had been led to believe in the Unseen even before the Quran was revealed. Subsequently, when the Quran was revealed it not only confirmed what he had already become inclined to accept, but also provided definite knowledge about it.

(11:28) Noah said: ‘My people! If I base myself on a clear evidence from my Lord, and I have also been blessed by His mercy [34] to which you have been blind, how can we force it upon you despite your aversion to it?

34. This is the same thing that has been put into the mouth of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in (Surah Hud, Ayat 17) . That is, At first I recognized the reality of Tauhid by observing keenly the signs of God in the universe and in my own self. Then the same was confirmed by revelation to me. This shows that all the Prophets acquired the knowledge of the Unseen by observation and contemplation. Then Allah blessed them with the actual knowledge of the same at the time of their appointment as Prophets.

(11:43) The son replied: ‘I will go to a mountain for refuge and it will save me from the water.’ Noah said: ‘None can save anyone today from the command of Allah except those on whom He may have mercy.’ Thereupon a wave swept in between the two and he was drowned.

(11:47) Noah said: ‘My Lord! I take refuge with You that I should ask you for that concerning which I have no knowledge. And if You do not forgive me and do not show mercy to me, I shall be among the losers. [51]

51. The Quran has cited the story of the drowning of the son of Prophet Noah (peace be upon him) to bring home to the people that Allah’s decrees are absolutely just and final.

This also served as a warning to the Quraish who considered themselves to be immune from the torment of Allah simply because they were the descendants of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), and had several gods and goddesses as their interceders. Likewise it was a warning to the Jews and the Christians who cherished, and still cherish, such beliefs, nay, even to those Muslims, who foolishly believe that their saintly ancestors and holy people will guard them against the consequences of the justice of Allah. For the tragic scene depicted here categorically refutes such false expectations and beliefs, saying: O foolish people! Why do you cherish such false hopes? When Our Prophet Noah could not save his son who was drowned before his very eyes, and his prayer for the son was not only rejected but he was rebuked for making such a prayer, how can you then expect that anyone much less than a Prophet can deliver you from the justice of Allah?

(11:58) And when Our com-mand came to pass, We delivered Hud, together with those who shared his faith, out of special mercy from Us. We delivered them from a woeful chastisement.

(11:63) Salih said: ‘My people! What do you think? If I had a clear evidence from my Lord, and then He also bestowed His mercy upon me, who will rescue me from the punishment of Allah if I still disobey Him? You can only make me lose even more. [73]

73. This is the answer to the preceding question: If I disobey Allah by discarding the guidance I have received from Him in order to please you, you cannot defend me against Him. You will rather add to the intensity of my guilt of disobedience to Him. Thus I shall incur additional punishment from Him for misleading you instead of showing the right way for which I had been sent to you.

(11:66) Then, when Our command came to pass, We saved Salih and those who shared his faith through Our special mercy, from the disgrace of that day. [74] Truly Your Lord is All-Strong, All-Mighty.

74. According to the traditions that are current in the Sinai Peninsula, Allah delivered them from the torment and led them there. There is a Mount near Jabal-i-Musa, known by the name of Prophet Salih where, it is said, the Prophet took refuge after the destruction of his people.

(11:73) They said: ‘Do you wonder at Allah’s decree? [82] Allah’s mercy and His blessings be upon you, O people of the house. Surely, He is Praiseworthy, Glorious.’

82. The question was posed to her to remind her that though people of old age do not bear children, it is not beyond Allah’s power to bring this about. Therefore a true believer like her should not show any surprise at the good news when it is conveyed to her from Allah.

(11:94) And when Our command came to pass, We delivered Shu’ayb and those who shared his faith, through Our mercy, and the Blast seized those who were engaged in wrong-doing, so they lay lifeless in their homes

(11:119) except for those on whom your Lord has mercy. And it is for this (exercise of freedom of choice) that He has created them. [116] And the word of your Lord was fulfilled: ‘Indeed I will fill the Hell, with men and jinn, altogether.’

116. This is the answer to the objection raised in the name of taqdir (destiny) against the principle that has been laid down in the preceding verse for the destruction of the wicked communities. It is this: Why should these communities be punished for lack of a sufficient number of righteous persons in them? Why didn’t Allah Himself will to produce that sufficient number of righteous persons in it? Allah has answered this objection, so as to say: It is not the will of Allah to bind mankind inherently to a fixed course of life as He has bound the vegetable and animal life. Had it been so, there would have been no need of sending the Messengers and the Books for inviting mankind to the faith. For, in that case all human beings would have been born Muslims and born believers and there would have been no unbelief and no disobedience. But it is the will of Allah to grant freedom of choice and action to man so that he may be free to choose and follow any way of life. That is why He has left open both the way to Paradise and the way to Hell for man and given every individual and every community the opportunity to choose and follow either of the two ways with full freedom and win any of the two abodes as a result of his own efforts and exertions. It is obvious that this scheme of Allah demands that it should be based on the freedom of choice and the option to adopt faith or unbelief. This is why Allah does not compel a community to the right way if it itself intends to follow the wrong way, and plans and works for it. Allah’s scheme does not interfere with the plans and works of such a community. When it makes deliberate arrangements to mold the wicked, unjust, and sinful people, He does not supply it with righteous persons by birth to set it right. Every community is free to produce good or bad people as it wills. And if a community wills to follow a wrong way as a community, leaving little room for the production and the development of the righteous people in order to raise up the standard of virtue, God does not will to coerce it to follow the righteous way. He will let it follow the way it chooses for itself with its inevitable consequences. On the contrary, Allah shows His mercy to that community which produces a sufficiently large number of such people as accept the invitation to virtue, and leaves room in its collective system for such people to work for its reform and purification. For further explanation, See (Surah Al-Anaam, ayat 35) note 24.

(12:53) I do not seek to acquit myself; for surely one’s self prompts one to evil except him to whom my Lord may show mercy. Verily my Lord is Ever Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

(12:56) Thus did We establish Joseph in the land so that he could settle wherever he pleased. [48] We bestow favour, out of Our Mercy, on whomsoever We please, and We do not cause the reward of those who do good to go to waste.

48. This is to show that the whole land of Egypt was under his complete control, as if it belonged to him and he could claim any piece of it as his, and there was no piece of it that could be withheld from him. The early commentators have also made the same comment on this verse. For instance, Allamah Ibn Jarir Tabari, on the authority of Ibn Zaid, says that this verse means: We made Joseph the owner of all those things that were in Egypt, and in this part of the world he could do whatever he liked and wherever he liked for he had been given complete authority over this land. So much so that he could bring Pharaoh under his sway and become his master, if he so desired. He has quoted another thing from Mujahid, who is one of the most learned commentators, to the effect that the King of Egypt had embraced Islam through Prophet Joseph.

(12:87) My sons! Go and try to find out about Joseph and his brother and do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Verily only the unbelievers despair of Allah’s mercy.”

(12:92) He replied: “No blame lies with you today. May Allah forgive you. He is the Most Merciful of all those that are merciful.

(12:111) Certainly in the stories of the bygone people there is a lesson for people of understanding. What is being narrated in the Qur’an is no fabrication; it is rather confirmation of the Books that preceded it, and a detailed [80] exposition of everything, and a guidance and mercy for people of faith.

80. That is, it gives details of everything that is required for the guidance of man. Some people take details of everything to mean the details of everything in the world. So, when they do not find in it the details of mathematics, physics, medicine etc. etc. they become skeptical. Whereas the Quran claims to give the details of only one subject, “Guidance”, for which it has been sent down, and it does give the details of everything that is essential for it.

(15:56) Abraham said: “Who despairs of the Mercy of his Lord except the misguided?”

(16:64) We have sent down the Book that you may explain to them the truth concerning what they are disputing and that the Book may serve as a guidance and mercy for those who believe in it. [53]

53. That is, this Book has afforded them an excellent opportunity to resolve their differences which have been caused by the superstitious creeds of their forefathers, and which have divided, them into warring factions. They can then unite on the permanent basis of the truth presented by the Quran, but those foolish people preferring their former condition even after the coming of this blessing, shall meet with disgrace and torment. On the other hand, only those, who believe in this Book, will find the right way and blessed with mercy and favors from Allah. 65. And Allah sends down from the sky water, then He revives therewith the earth after its death. Indeed, in this is a sure sign for a people who listen.

53a. That is, had you listened to the message of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and observed those signs carefully, you would have cried from the core of your heart. These signs support his message. Year after year you witness these signs. There is the land, all barren before you, without any sign of life, no blade of grass, no bud or flower, and no insect. Then comes rain. All of a sudden, the same land is covered with life. There crop upon numerous kinds of insects of which no vestige had been left. You witness this process of life and death, and death and life, repeated year after year. Yet you doubt this when the Prophet (peace be upon him) tells you that Allah will again bring to life all human beings after their death. This is because you see these signs as animals do, who do not see the wisdom of the Creator underlying this phenomenon; otherwise you would have discovered that these signs support the message of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

(16:89) (O Muhammad), warn them of the coming of a Day when We shall bring forth a witness against them from each community and We shall bring you forth as a witness against them all; (and it is for that purpose that) We sent down the Book to you which makes everything clear, [86] and serves as a guidance and mercy and glad tidings to those who have submitted to Allah. [87]

86. The Quran makes manifest everything on which depends guidance or deviation, success or failure. Whose knowledge is essential for following the right way. What clearly distinguishes truth from falsehood.

In this connection one should guard against that meaning of this sentence and the like in the Quran according to which some people interpret “everything” to mean the knowledge of all sciences, arts, etc. and in order to prove the correctness of their interpretation, they have to pervert the real meaning of the Quran.

87. This Book is a guidance for those who surrender to it as a divine Book and follow it in every aspect of life. Then it will bring Allah’s blessings upon them, and will give them the good news that they will come out successful in the court of Allah on the Day of Judgment. Or, the contrary, those people who reject it shall not only be deprived of guidance and blessing but will also find it as a testimony against themselves on the Day of Resurrection when Allah’s Messenger will stand up to testify against them. This Book will prove to be a strong argument against them. For Allah’s Messenger will say that he had conveyed its message which made manifest the distinction between truth and falsehood.

(17:8) Your Lord may well show Mercy to you, but if you revert to your evil behaviour, We shall revert to chastising you. We have made Hell a prison for those who are thankless [10] of Allah’s bounties.

10. Though this admonition has been given as a parenthesis at the end of the address to the children of Israel, it does not mean that this and the address itself are solely meant for them. As a matter of fact, the whole address is really directed towards the disbelievers of Makkah but, instead of addressing them directly, some important historical events from the history of the children of Israel have been cited in order to serve as admonition for them.

(17:24) and be humble and tender to them and say: “Lord, show mercy to them as they nurtured me when I was small.”

(17:28) (v) And when you must turn away from them – (that is, from the destitute, the near of kin, the needy, and the wayfarer) – in pursuit of God’s Mercy which you expect to receive, then speak to them kindly. [28]

28. These three articles are meant to impress that a man should not reserve his earnings and his wealth exclusively for his own person. He should do his utmost to fulfill his own necessities of life in a moderate way and render the rights of his relatives, neighbors and other needy persons as well. This attitude will help create the spirit of cooperation, sympathy and justice in the collective Islamic life. Thus every relative will cooperate with the other and every rich person will help the needy in his neighborhood and a wayfarer would find himself an honorable guest among generous hosts. The conception of rights should be so extensive that every person should consider that all other human beings have rights on his person and his property so that he should serve them with the idea that he is rendering their rights and is not doing any favor to them. In that case one would beg pardon of the other if he was unable to serve him and would pray to God to send his blessings upon him to enable him to serve His servants.

These articles of the Islamic manifesto were not merely confined to moral teachings but these formed the basis of the commandments of Zakat and voluntary charity. The laws of inheritance and of making will and endowments were based on these articles. The rights of the orphans were determined by these and it was made obligatory on every habitation to entertain a wayfarer gratis for at least three days. Subsequently the whole moral system was formed so as to create the feelings of generosity, sympathy and cooperation. So much so that the people began to realize the importance of and observe voluntarily the moral rights which could neither be demanded legally nor enforced by law.

(17:54) Your Lord knows you best. He will have mercy on you if He wills and chastise you if He wills. [60] We have not sent you, (O Muhammad), as an overseer over them. [61]

60. This is to warn the believers to refrain from making claims of piety so as to assign Paradise to themselves and Hell to their opponents. It is Allah alone Who has the power to decide these things because He is fully aware of the known and secret and the present and future things about all human beings. It is He Who will decide whether to show mercy to anyone or give chastisement. However, a man may say in the light of the divine Book that a certain kind of human beings deserve mercy and another kind of people incur chastisement but none has any right to say specifically that a particular man will be given chastisement and another will get salvation.

61. This is to declare that a Prophet is sent to convey the message and not to decide whether a person will receive mercy or get chastisement. It does not, however, mean that, God forbid, the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself did such a thing and Allah had to warn him. In fact, this is to warn the Muslims that when the Prophet himself is not in a position as to decide the fates of the people, they should never think of such a thing as to assign Paradise and Hell to anyone.

(17:57) Those whom they call upon are themselves seeking the means of access to their Lord, each trying to be nearer to Him. They crave for His Mercy and dread His chastisement. [65] Surely your Lord’s punishment is to be feared.

65. The words of the text are a clear proof that the deities and the helpers referred to in this verse were not idols of stone but were either angels or dead saints. It is clearly implied in this that no prophet, no saint and no angel, whom the people invoke for help, has the power to hear prayers and help anyone. They themselves hope for mercy from Allah and dread His punishment and vie with one another in seeking means for nearness to Him.

(17:82) What We are sending down in the course of revealing the Qur’an is a healing and a grace for those who have faith; but it adds only to the ruin of the wrong-doers. [102]

102. That is, those people who make the Quran their guide and their book of law, are favored with the blessing of Allah and are cured of all their mental, psychological, moral and cultural diseases. On the other hand, those wicked people who reject this and turn their back on its guidance, in fact, are unjust to themselves. Therefore, the Quran does not allow them to remain even in that bad condition in which they were before its revelation or its knowledge but involves them in a greater loss than before. This is because before the revelation of the Quran or their acquaintance with it, they suffered from ignorance alone but when the Quran came before them and made distinct the difference between truth and falsehood, no excuse was left with them to remain in their previous condition of ignorance. After this, if they reject its guidance and persist in their deviation, it is a clear proof that they are not ignorant but workers of iniquity and worshipers of falsehood, which are averse to the truth. For then their position is of the one who, when presented both poison and elixir, makes a choice of poison. Therefore, they themselves are in that cast fully responsible for their deviation and whatever crimes they commit after that, shall incur their full punishment. It is obvious that the consequent loss of wickedness must be far greater than the loss of ignorance. The Prophet (peace be upon him) has summed this up in this concise and comprehensive sentence: The Quran is either an argument in your favor or against you.

(17:87) (Whatever you have received) is nothing but grace from your Lord. Indeed His favour to you is great. [104]

104. Though these words are apparently addressed by the Prophet (peace be upon him), they are in fact meant for the disbelievers who considered the Quran to be either the invention of the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself or of some other man, who secretly taught him the Quran. They are being told that this is the Word of Allah, as if to say: Our Prophet has not fabricated the Quran but We have bestowed this on him, and if We take it back from him, the Prophet has no power to invent such a thing nor has any other man the power to help the Prophet to present such a miraculous Book.

(17:100) Tell them, (O Prophet): “Even if you owned the treasures of my Lord’s Mercy you would have held them back for fear of spending them.” Man is indeed ever niggardly. [112]

112. This verse also suggests the same thing that has already been mentioned in Ayat 55. This hints at the real psychological reason why the disbelievers of Makkah were not inclined to accept Muhammad (peace be upon him), their contemporary, as a Prophet. For thus they would have to acknowledge his superiority and one does not easily acknowledge the superiority of his contemporary. This verse may be expanded like this: Those people who are so narrow minded that they are unwilling even to acknowledge the real superiority of another, cannot be expected to be generous in spending on others, if they possessed the keys of the treasures of Allah’s blessings.

(18:10) When those youths sought refuge in the Cave and said: “Our Lord! Grant us mercy from Yourself and provide for us rectitude in our affairs.”

(18:16) And now that you have dissociated yourselves from them and from whatever they worship beside Allah, go and seek refuge in the Cave. [11] Your Lord will extend His mercy to you and will provide for you the means for the disposal of your affairs.”

11. When these God worshiping youths fled the habitations to take refuge in the hills, the city of Ephesus was the principal center of idol worship and sorcery in Asia Minor. There was a great temple dedicated to the goddess Diana, which was well known in the whole world and attracted devotees from far places. The sorcerers, workers of magic and occult arts, soothsayers and amulet writers of Ephesus were well known and their black business had spread throughout Syria and Palestine, even as far as Egypt. The Jews also had a big share in it, who attributed this art to Prophet Solomon. (Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature under Ephesus). The predicament in which the righteous people living in an environment of idolatry and superstition were involved can well be imagined from the remark of the companions of the cave that occurs in (Surah Al-Kahf, Ayat 20) : If they succeed in over powering us, they will surely stone us to death or force us back into their faith.

(18:58) Your Lord is All-Forgiving, full of mercy. Had He wished to take them to task for their doings, He would have hastened in sending His scourge upon them. But He has set for them a time-limit which they cannot evade. [55]

55. This is to warn the foolish people that they should not be deluded by the respite that is given to them and presume that they will never be taken to task whatever they may go on doing. They forget that Allah gives them respite because He is Forgiving and Forbearing and does not punish the evil doers on the spot, for His Mercy demands that the evil doers should be given respite so that they may mend their ways.

(18:65) and there they found one of Our servants upon whom We had bestowed Our mercy, and to whom We had imparted a special knowledge from Ourselves. [59]

59. The name of this servant has been stated to be Khidr in all the authentic books of traditions. Thus there is no reason why it should be considered at all that his name was Elijah, as some people have asserted under the influence of the Israelite traditions. Their assertion is incorrect not only because it contradicts the assertion of the Prophet (peace be upon him) but it is also absurd because Prophet Elijah (peace be upon him) was born several hundred years after Prophet Moses (peace be upon him). Though the Quran does not mention the name of the attendant of Prophet Moses (peace be upon him), according to some traditions he was Joshua, the son of Nun, who succeeded him.

(18:82) As for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and under it there was a treasure that belonged to them. Their father was a righteous man and your Lord intended that they should come of age and then bring forth their treasure as a mercy from your Lord; I did not do this of my own bidding. This is the true meaning of things with which you could not keep your patience.” [60]

60. In connection with this story, a very hard problem arises to which an answer must be found. Two of the three things done by Khidr are obviously against those commandments of the law which have always been in force since the creation of man. No law allows anyone the right to damage the property of another and kill an innocent person. So much so that if a man were to know by inspiration that some usurper would illegally seize a certain boat, and that a certain boy would be involved in a rebellion and unbelief, even then no law, sent down by Allah, makes it lawful that one should bore a hole in the boat and kill the innocent boy by virtue of his inspiration. If in answer to this, one were to say that Khidr committed these two acts by the commands of Allah, this does not solve the problem, for the question is not this: “By whose command did Khidr commit these acts”, but it is this: “What was the nature of these commands”? This is important because Khidr did these acts in accordance with divine command, for he himself says that these acts of his were not done by his own authority, but were moved by the mercy of Allah, and Allah Himself has testified this by saying: “We gave him a special knowledge from Ourselves”. Thus it is beyond any doubt that these acts were done by the command of Allah, but the question about the nature of the command remains there, for it is obvious that these commands were not legal because it is not allowed by any divine law, and the fundamental principles of the Quran also do not allow that a person should kill another person without any proof of his guilt. Therefore we shall have to admit that these commands belonged to one of those decrees of Allah in accordance with which one sick person recovers, while another dies: one becomes prosperous and the other is ruined. If the commands given to Khidr were of this nature, then one must come to the conclusion that Khidr was an angel (or some other kind of Allah’s creation) who is not bound by the divine law prescribed for human beings, for such commands as have no legal aspect, can be addressed to angels only. This is because the question of the lawful or the unlawful cannot arise about them: they obey the commands of Allah without having any personal power. In contrast to them, a man shall be guilty of a sin whether he does any such thing inadvertently by intuition or by some inspiration, if his act goes against some divine commandment. This is because a man is bound to abide by divine commandments as a man, and there is no room whatsoever in the divine law that an act may become lawful for a man merely because he had received an instruction by inspiration and had been informed in a secret way of the wisdom of that unlawful act.

The above mentioned principle has been unanimously accepted by scholars of the divine law and the leaders of Sufism, Allamah Alusi has cited in detail the sayings of Abdul Wahhab Shiirani, Muhy-ud-Din ibn-Arabi, Mujaddid Alf Thani, Shaikh Abdul-Qadir Jilani, Junaid Baghdadi, Sirri Saqti, Abul-Hussain An-nuri, Abu Said-al- Kharraz, Ahmad ud-Dainauri and Imam Ghazzali to this effect that it is not lawful even for a sufi to act in accordance with that inspiration of his own which goes against a fundamental of law. (Ruh-ul-Maani, Vol. XVI, pp. 16-18). That is why we have come to the conclusion that Khidr must be an angel, or some other kind of Allah’s creation, exempted from human law, for he could not be the only exception to the above mentioned formula. Therefore we inevitably come to the conclusion that he was one of those servants of Allah who act in accordance with the will of Allah and not in accordance with the divine law prescribed for human beings.

We would have accepted the theory that Khidr was a human being, if the Quran had plainly asserted that the servant to whom Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) was sent for training, was a man. But the Quran does not specifically say that he was a human being but says that he was one of Our servants which does not show that he was necessarily a human being. Besides this, there is no tradition which specifically says that Khidr was a human being. In the authentic traditions related by Said bin Jubair, Ibn Abbas, Ubayy bin Kaab from the Prophet (peace be upon him), the Arabic word rajul has been used for Khidr, which though generally used for human beings, is not exclusively used for human beings. In the Quran itself, this word has been used for Jinns also (Surah Al-Jinn, Ayat 6) . It is also obvious that when a jinn or an angel or an invisible being will come before a human being, he will surely come in human shape and, in that form; he will be called a bashar (man), just like the angel who came before Mary in the shape of a human being (Surah Maryam, Ayat 17) . Thus the word rajul, used for Khidr in the above mentioned tradition by the Prophet (peace be upon him), does not necessarily mean that he was a human being. Therefore we are quite justified in the light of the above discussion to believe that Khidr was one of the angels or some other kind of Allah’s creation who is not bound by the divine law prescribed for human beings. Some of the former scholars of the Quran have also expressed the same opinion which has been cited by lbn Kathir in his commentary on the authority of Mawardi.

(18:98) Dhu al-Qarnayn said: “This is a mercy from my Lord: but when the time of my Lord’s promise shall come, He will level the rampart with the ground. [71] My Lord’s promise always comes true.” [72]

71. That is, though I have built a very strong iron wall, as far as it was possible for me, it is not ever lasting, for it will last only as long as Allah wills, and will fall down to pieces when the time of my Lord’s promise shall come. Then no power in the world shall be able to keep it safe and secure.

As regards to the time of Allah’s promise, it has two meanings. (1) It may mean the time of the destruction of the wall. (2) It may also mean the time of the death and destruction of everything destined by Allah at the end of the world i.e. the Hour of Resurrection.

Some people have entertained the misunderstanding that the wall attributed here to Zul-Qarnain refers to the famous wall of China, whereas this wall was built between Derbent and Daryal, two cities of Daghestan in the Caucasus, the land that lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian. There are high mountains between the Black Sea and Daryal having deep gorges which cannot allow large armies to pass through them. Between Derbent and Daryal, however, there are no such mountains and the passes also are wide and passable. In ancient times savage hordes from the north invaded and ravaged southern lands through these passes and the Persian rulers who were scared of them had to build a strong wall, 50 miles long, 29 feet high and 10 feet wide, for fortification purposes, ruins of which can still be seen. Though it has not yet been established historically who built this wall in the beginning, the Muslim historians and geographers assign it to Zul-Qarnain because its remains correspond with the description of it given in the Quran. Ibn Jarir Tabari and Ibn Kathir have recorded the event, and Yaqut has mentioned it in his Mu jam-ul-Buldan that when after the conquest of Azerbaijan, Umar sent Suraqah bin Amr, in 22 A.H. on an expedition to Derbent, the latter appointed Abdur Rehman bin Rabiah as the chief of his vanguard. When Abdur Rehman entered Armenia, the ruler Shehrbraz surrendered without fighting. Then when Abdur Rehman wanted to advance towards Derbent, Shehrbraz informed him that he had already gathered full information about the wall built by Zul-Qarnain, through a man, who could supply all the necessary details and then the man was actually presented before Abdur Rehman. (Tabari, Vol. III, pp. 235-239; AIBidayah wan-Nihayah, Vol. VII, pp. 122-125, and Mujamul- Buldan, under Bab-ul-Abwab: Derbent).

Two hundred years later, the Abbasid Caliph Wathiq (227- 233 A.H.) dispatched a party of 50 men under Sallam-ul- Tarjuman to study the wall of Zul-Qarnain, whose observations have been recorded in great detail by Yaqut in Mujam-ul-Buldan and by Ibn Kathir in AI-Bidayah. They write that this expedition reached Samarrah from where they reached Tiflis (the present Tbilisi) and then through As-Sarir and Al-Lan, they reached Filanshah, from where they entered the Caspian territory. From there they arrived at Derbent and saw the wall. (AIBidayah Vol. II, p. 111, Vol. VII, pp. 122-125; Mujam-ul-Buldan: under BabulAbwab). This clearly shows that even up till the third century of Hijrah the Muslim scholars regarded this wall of the Caucasus as the wall of Zul-Qarnain.

Yaqut in his Mujam-ul-Buldan has further confirmed the same view at a number of places. For instance, under Khazar (Caspian) he writes:

This territory belongs to the Turks, which adjoins the wall of Zul Qarnain just behind Bab-ul-Abwab, which is also called Derbent. In the same connection, he records a report by Ahmad bin Fadlan, the ambassador of Caliph Al- Muqtadar-billah, who has given a full description of the Caspian land, saying that Caspian is the name of a country whose capital is Itil (near the present Astrakhan) right through which flows River Itil, which joins the Caspian from Russia and Bulghar.

Regarding Bab-ul-Abwab he says that this city is called both Al-Bab and Derbent, which is a highly difficult passage for the people coming from the northern lands towards the south. Once this territory was a part of the kingdom of Nausherwan, and the Persian rulers paid particular attention to strengthening their frontiers on that side.

72. Here the story of Zul-Qarnain comes to an end. Though this story has been related in answer to the questions put by the disbelievers of Makkah as a test along with the stories of the sleepers of the cave and Moses and Khidr, the Quran has utilized this story, too, for its own aim and object, as if to say: Zul Qarnain, about whose glory you have heard from the people of the Book, was not merely a conqueror, but also a believer of the doctrines of Tauhid and the life after death and acted upon the principles of justice and generosity. He was not a mean person like you who have been puffed up by the possession of petty estates, and give yourselves airs of superiority.

(19:2) This is an account [1] of the mercy of your Lord to His servant Zechariah [2]

1. For comparison please see the story of Zachariah as given in (Surah Aal-Imran, ayat 34-57) and the E.Ns thereof.

2. In order to understand the position held by Zachariah, a descendant of Prophet Aaron, one should be acquainted with the system of priesthood among the children of Israel.

After the conquest of Palestine, the entire land was divided among the 12 tribes of the descendants of Prophet Jacob as inheritance, and the 13th tribe, the Levites, was entrusted with religious services and duties. Even among the Levites, the house that was separated to sanctify the most holy things, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name forever was the house of Prophet Aaron. The other Levites were not allowed to enter the Temple. Their duty was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the Lord in the Sabbaths, in the new moon, and on the set festivals. The descendants of Aaron were divided into 24 families, who came to serve the house of the Lord by turns. One of these families was of Abiah whose chief was Zachariah. Thus it was Zachariah’s duty to go into the house on his family’s turn and burn incense before the Lord. (For details, see 1 Chronicles, chapters 23, 24).

(19:21) The angel said: “Thus shall it be. Your Lord says: ‘It is easy for Me; and We shall do so in order to make him a Sign for mankind [15] and a mercy from Us. This has been decreed.’ “

15. The word “Thus shall it be” are very significant as has been stated in (Surah Maryam, ayat 9) note 6. The plain meaning is this: A pure son shall be born to you just as your Lord has decreed, even though no man has touched you. The same was the response to prophet Zachariah as stated in (Surah Maryam, ayat 9) above. And it is a sheer perversion to interpret it as: So shall it be that a man will touch you and a son will be born to you. For, if it were to mean: You will bear a son like all other women of the world, the subsequent two sentences, Your Lord says: This is an easy thing for Me to do, and We will make that boy a sign for the people, would have become meaningless. Had this birth been an ordinary birth like the birth of every other child, there would have been no occasion to boast: It is an easy thing, and that it will be made a sign (miracle). This will be so because the child will speak in the cradle.

(19:50) and We bestowed on them Our mercy, and granted them a truly lofty renown. [28]

28. This is to give comfort to the migrants who had been forced to migrate from their homes. They were told that they would be honored and blessed with true renown just as Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) had been blessed with true renown after his migration.

(19:53) and out of Our mercy We appointed his brother Aaron, a Prophet (that he may assist him).

(21:75) And We admitted him into Our mercy. Verily he was of the righteous.

(21:84) We accepted his prayer and removed the affliction [78] from him, and We not only restored to him his family but as many more with them as a mercy from Us and as a lesson to the worshippers. [79]

78. How his disease was cured has been explained in (Surah Suad, Ayat 42) : Stamp the ground with your foot: here is cool water for you to wash with and to drink. From this it appears that no sooner did he stamp the ground than a spring gushed forth. He took bath and drank the water and was cured of his disease. The nature of the treatment hints that he was suffering from a skin disease. This is confirmed by the Bible as well. Satan smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. (Job, 2:7).

79. It will be worthwhile to compare the high character of Prophet Job as given in the Quran with that in the Book of Job in the Bible. The Quran presents him as a veritable picture of patience and fortitude and an excellent model for the worshippers of Allah, but his general picture presented in the Book of Job is that of a man who is full of grievance against God: Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. Let them curse (the night) that curse the day. Because it shut not the doors of my mother’s womb, nor did sorrow from mine eyes. Why died I not from the womb? (Chapter 3). Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balance together, the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. (Chapter 6) I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself? And why dost thou not pardon my transgressions, and take away my iniquity? (Chapter 7: 20-21).

His three friends try to console him and counsel patience, but in vain. He says: My soul is weary of my life. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul (10:1). I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all. (16:2). So these three men ceased to answer Job. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu against Job, because he justified himself rather than God.” (32:1-3), but he also failed to console him. Then the Lord himself came down and condemned the three friends and Elihu and rebuked Job and then forgave him, accepted him and blessed him. (Chapters 41, 42). It should be noted that in the first two chapters of this Book, Prophet Job is presented as a perfect and upright man who feared God, but in the following chapters he becomes an embodiment of grievance against God, as though the estimate of Satan about him was correct and that of God incorrect. Thus this Book itself is a clear evidence that it is neither the word of God nor of Prophet Job but had been written afterwards by some literary man and incorporated in the Bible as a scripture.

(21:86) And We admitted them into Our mercy, for they were of the righteous.

(21:107) We have sent you forth as nothing but mercy to people of the whole world. [100]

100. This verse can also be translated as: We have sent you only as a blessing for the people of the world. In both cases it will mean that the appointment of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is indeed a blessing and mercy of Allah to the whole world. This is because he aroused the neglectful world from its heedlessness and gave it the knowledge of the criterion between truth and falsehood, and warned it very clearly of both the ways of salvation and ruin. This fact has been stated here to tell the disbelievers of Makkah that they were quite wrong in their estimate of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he was an affliction and distress for them because they said: This man has sown seeds of discard among our clans and separated near relatives from each other. They have been told here: O people, you are wrong to presume that he is an affliction for you; but he is in reality a blessing and mercy of Allah for you.

(23:75) Were We to be merciful to them and remove from them their present afflictions, they would persist in their transgression, blindly wandering on. [72]

72. The affliction alluded to in this verse was the famine which occurred in Makkah some time after the advent of Prophethood. According to Abdullah bin Masud, when the Quraish persistently refused to accept the invitation of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and started putting up stiff resistance, he prayed: O Allah, help me against them with a seven year famine like the seven year famine of the time of Prophet Joseph. So a severe famine started in Makkah with the result that people were obliged to eat carrion. This famine has been alluded to in a number of Makki Surahs. For instance see (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 42-44) ; (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 94-99) ; (Surah Yunus, Ayat 11-12) , (Surah Yunus, Ayat 21) ; (Surah An-Nahl, Ayat 112-113) and (Surah Ad-Dukhan, Ayat 10-16) along with the relevant E.Ns.

(23:109) You are those that when a party of My servants said: ‘Our Lord, we believe, so forgive us, and have mercy on us, for You are the Best of those that are merciful,’

(23:118) And say, (O Muhammad): “My Lord, forgive us and have mercy on us, for You are the Best of those that are merciful.” [107]

107. Compare and contrast this prayer with (Surah Al-Muminun, ayat 109) . Here the Prophet (peace be upon him) has been told to make the same prayer as contained in (Surah Al-Muminun, ayat 109) , as if to say, You (and your followers) should supplicate Allah with the same prayer so that, if the people scoff at you, they themselves might provide a proof of a strong case against themselves.

(24:10) Were it not for Allah’s Bounty and His Mercy unto you and that Allah is much prone to accept repentance and is Wise, (you would have landed yourselves into great difficulty on the question of unsubstantiated accusation of your spouses).

(24:14) Were it not for Allah’s Bounty and His Mercy unto you in the world and in the Hereafter a grievous chastisement would have seized you on account of what you indulged in.

(24:20) Were it not for Allah’s Bounty and His Mercy unto you, and that Allah is Most Forgiving and Wise, (the evil that had been spread among you would have led to terrible consequences).

(24:21) Believers! Do not follow in Satan’s footsteps. Let him who follows in Satan’s footsteps (remember that) Satan bids people to indecency and evil. Were it not for Allah’s Bounty and His Mercy unto you, not one of you would have ever attained purity. [18] But Allah enables whomsoever He wills to attain purity. Allah is All- Hearing, All-Knowing. [19]

18. Satan is bent upon involving you in all kinds of pollutions and indecencies. Had it not been for the mercy and kindness of Allah Who enables you to differentiate between good and evil and helps you to educate and reform yourselves, you would not have been able to lead a pure and virtuous life on the strength of your own faculties and initiative alone.

19. It is Allah’s will alone which decides whom to make pious and virtuous. His decisions are not arbitrary but based on knowledge. He alone knows who is anxious to live a life of virtue and who is attracted towards a life of sin. Allah hears a person’s most secret talk, and is aware of everything that passes in his mind. It is on the basis of this direct knowledge that Allah decides whom to bless with piety and virtue and whom to ignore.

(24:56) Establish Prayer and pay Zakah and obey the Messenger so that mercy may be shown to you.

(25:48) And He it is Who sends forth the winds as glad tidings, heralding His Mercy. Then We send down pure water [62] from the sky

62. That is, such water as is pure and free from all sorts of impurities, germs and poison, which cleanses and washes away filth and becomes a source of life for men, beasts as well as all kinds of plant life.

(27:19) Smiling at the ant’s utterance, Solomon burst into laughter and said: “My Lord! Hold me under (Your) control [25] that I may render thanks for the favour which You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may act righteously in a manner that would please You. Include me, out of Your Mercy, among Your righteous servants. [26] “

25. “Bestow upon me that I may be thankful” means this: “O my Lord! The wonderful powers and abilities that You have given me are such that if I become even a little forgetful and heedless, I might transgress the bounds of service and be puffed up with pride and go astray. Therefore, O my Lord, bestow upon me so that I may remain grateful to You for all Your blessings instead of being ungrateful.”

26. “And admit me by Your mercy among Your righteous slaves” probably implies this: “I should be included among the righteous in the Hereafter and should enter Paradise along with them.” For a person who does righteous acts will automatically be righteous, but one’s entry into Paradise in the Hereafter cannot come about merely on the strength of one’s good works, but it will depend on Allah’s mercy. According to a Hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) once said, “Merely the deeds of any one of you will not enable him to enter Paradise.” It was asked, “In your case too, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “Yes, I also shall not enter Paradise only on the strength of my deeds, unless Allah Almighty covers me with His mercy.”

This prayer of the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) on this occasion becomes irrelevant if an-namal is taken to mean a tribe of human beings and namlah a member of that tribe. After all, there could be nothing extraordinary in the warning given by a member of a human tribe to the people of his tribe about the approaching troops of a powerful king that it should have induced the king to make such a prayer to Allah. However, a person having such a wonderful power of comprehension that he may hear the speech of an ant from a distance and also understand it, is certainly something extraordinary, which can involve a person in self-conceit and vanity. In such a case only the prayer of the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) can be relevant.

(27:46) Salih said: “My people, why do you wish to hasten that evil rather than good [59] should come upon you? Why should you not seek pardon from Allah so that mercy be shown to you?”

59. That is, “Why do you hasten in asking for a torment instead of some good from Allah?” The following saying of the chiefs of the Prophet Salih’s people has been related at another place: “O Salih, bring that scourge with which you threaten us, if you really are one of the Messengers.” (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 77) .

(27:63) Who is it Who guides you through the darkness on land and sea? [78] And Who sends winds as heralds of good tidings ahead of His Mercy? [79] Is there any god associated with Allah (in this task)? Exalted be Allah above whatever they associate with Him in His Divinity!

78. That is, “He has made such arrangements by means of the stars that you can find your way even in the darkness of the night.” This is also because of the wise planning of Allah that He has created such means by which man can determine his direction and the way to his destination in his journeys by sea and land. In the day time he is guided by different land-marks and the direction of sunrise and sunset, and in the dark nights by the stars. In Surah An-Nahl this has been counted among the bounties of Allah: “He has placed land-marks to direct people, and by the stars, too, they are guided aright.” (Surah An-Nahl, ayat 16) .

79. “His mercy” the rain whose coming is promptly foretold by the winds.

(27:77) and it is a guidance and mercy for the believers. [94]

94. That is, “It is mercy and guidance for those who accept the message of the Quran and believe in what it presents. Such people will be saved from the errors in which their own people are involved. They will find the right way of life by means of the Quran and they will be blessed with such favors by Allah, which the disbelievers among the Quraish cannot even imagine today.” This shower of Allah’s mercy was also witnessed by the world after a few years. The same people who were living unknown lives in a corner of the Arabian desert and could at the most become successful raiders in the state of unbelief, suddenly emerged after their belief in the Quran as the guides of the world, leaders of the nations, makers of human civilization and rulers over a vast part of the world.

(28:43) After We had destroyed the earlier generations We bestowed the Book on Moses – a source of enlightenment for people and a guidance and mercy – that they may take heed. [59]

59. That is, “When the former generations met with the evil consequences of turning away from the teachings of the Prophets, and they met the doom that was experienced by Pharaoh and his hosts, then Moses was granted the Book so as to usher in a new era for mankind.”

(28:46) Nor were you on the side of the Mount (Sinai) when We called out to Moses (in the first instance). But it is out of Mercy from your Lord (that you are being informed of all this) [64] so that you may warn a people to whom no warner came before you. [65] Maybe they will take heed.

64. These things have been presented as a proof of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) prophethood. At the time when these were cued, all the chiefs of Makkah and the common disbelievers were bent upon somehow proving him as a non prophet, and, God forbid, a false claimant to prophethood. To help and assist them in their campaign, there were the Jewish scholars and the Christian monks also, who were living in the habitations of the Hijaz. Besides, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had not appeared all of a sudden from somewhere and started reciting the Quran to the people, but he was a resident of the same city of Makkah, and no aspect of his life was hidden from the people of his city and clan. That is why when these three things were presented like an open challenge as a proof of his prophethood, not a single person from Makkah and Hijaz and the entire land of Arabia could stand up to say the absurd thing which the modern orientalists say, although those people were no less efficient in fabricating falsehood than these so called scholars. But how could they utter an unprofitable lie that could not survive for a single moment? How could they say, “O Muhammad, you have attained this information from such and such a Jewish scholar and a Christian monk?” For, this purpose, they could not mention any name in the entire land. For whatever name they mentioned, it would become manifest there and then that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had not obtained any information from him. How could they say, “O Muhammad, you possess a full-fledged library containing all sorts of books on ancient history and sciences and literature, from which you take help to prepare all your discourses?” For not to speak of a library, no one could seize even a scrap of paper from his house containing such information. Everyone in Makkah knew that Muhammad (peace be upon him) was unlettered and no one could also say that he had had some translators at his disposal, who supplied him with translations from Hebrew and Assyrian and Greek books. Then, none of them could be so shameless as to dare claim that he had obtained this information during the trade journeys to Syria and Palestine, for he had not performed those journeys alone, but had traveled in company with trade caravans of Makkah. Had somebody made any such assertion, hundreds of living witnesses would have refuted this and testified that he had received no such instruction from anyone there. Then, within two years of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) death, war started between the Romans and the Muslims. If he had any sort of discussion anywhere in Syria and Palestine with any Christian monk or Jewish rabbi, the Roman Empire would not have hesitated to launch a propaganda campaign, saying, that Muhammad (peace be upon him), God forbid, had learned everything from them and gone back to Makkah and proclaimed himself a Prophet. In short, at that time when the challenge of the Quran was the knell of the disbelieving Quraish and the polytheists and the need of those people to refute it was far greater then of the modern orientalists, no one could discover any material by which he could prove that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had some other means than revelation for obtaining that information.

One should also know that the Quran has not given this challenge only here, but also at several other places in connection with different stories. After narrating the story of the Prophet Zacharias (peace be upon him) and Mary, it was said: “These are of the “unseen” things We are revealing to you: you were not present there when the priests of the Temple were casting lots by throwing their quills to decide which of them should be the guardian of Mary: nor were you there with them when they were arguing about it.” (Surah Aal-Imran, Ayat 44) . At the end of the Prophet Joseph’s (peace be upon him) story it was said: “This story which We are revealing to you is of those things that were not known to you: for you were not with the brothers (of Joseph), when they had conspired together a plot against Joseph.” (Surah Yusuf, Ayat 102) . Similarly, after relating the full story of the Prophet Noah (peace be upon him), it was said: “These are some of the tidings of the unseen which We are revealing to you. You did not know these before nor did your people.” (Surah Hud, Ayat 49) . That, this thing has been reiterated several times, shows that this was one of the main arguments that the Quran gave to prove its being Allah’s Word and the Prophet (peace be upon him) being a Messenger of Allah. For there was no perceptible means of knowledge available to the Prophet (peace be upon him) who was an unlettered person, apart from revelation, through which he could narrate so accurately the events that had happened hundreds and thousands of years in the past. And this was one of the important reasons why the contemporaries of the prophet (peace be upon him) were coming to believe, in larger and still larger numbers, that he was really a Prophet of Allah and has received Allah’s revelations. Now one can easily imagine how important it must have been for the opponents of the Islamic movement at that time to meet this challenge, and what efforts they must have made to collect arguments and proofs against it. One can also see that if, God forbid, there was the slightest weakness in this challenge, it would not have been at all difficult for the contemporary people to provide evidence for its refutation.

65. No prophet had been born especially in Arabia after the Prophets Ishmael and Shuaib (peace be upon them), during the past two thousand years or so, though teachings of the Prophets like Moses and Solomon and Jesus (peace be upon them) had reached the people of that land.

(28:73) It is out of His Mercy that He has made for you night and day that you may repose (during the night) and seek His Bounty (during the day) that you might be grateful.

(28:86) (O Prophet), you never looked forward for the Book to be revealed to you. It is out of sheer Mercy of your Lord that it was (revealed to you). [109] So do not lend any support to the unbelievers. [110]

109. This thing is being presented as a proof of the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) prophethood. Just as the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) was unaware that he was going to be appointed a Prophet, and sent on a grand mission, when he had never even expected or wished for such a thing, but had been suddenly called upon while on a journey and made a Prophet and assigned a mission which had no relevance with his previous life. So was precisely the case with the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The people of Makkah knew well what kind of life he was leading till a day when he came down from the cave of Hira with the message of prophethood. They were fully aware of his occupations, of the topics of his conversation, of the nature of his interests and activities. No doubt it was a life which was an embodiment of truth, honesty and righteousness, a model of nobility, peacefulness, fulfillment of obligations and rights of others and of the service to humanity, but there was nothing in it which could give somebody any idea that the righteous man was going to make a claim to prophethood the next day. There was no one among his most intimate friends and relations and neighbors, who could say that he had already been preparing to become a Prophet. No one had ever heard a word on the themes and problems and topics from him, which became the subject of his daily conversation all of a sudden after the revolutionary moment in the cave of Hira. No one had heard him employing the kind of diction and words and terms, which the people started hearing from him in the shape of the Quran. He had never stood up for preaching, had never given a message or started a movement, and none of his activities had ever indicated that he was anxious to undertake a program for the solution of the social problems or for religious or moral reformation. Until the day before this revolutionary moment, he was leading the life of a trader, who earns his living by fair and lawful means. Who lives a happy life with his family, receives his guests, helps the poor and treats his relatives well, and at times retires from society into seclusion for the sake of worship. For such a person it would be a great change if he started making, all of a sudden, world moving orations, preaching a revolutionary message, producing a sublime literature and propounding an enduring philosophy of life and a profound system of thought and morality and social life. For psychologically too, such a change is not possible through any kind of preparation and conscious effort. Any such effort and preparation, in any case, has to pass through certain evolutionary stages, which cannot remain hidden from the people among whom a person is passing his life. Had the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) life passed through any such stages of gradual development, hundreds of the people in Makkah would have come out to say, “Did we not tell you beforehand that this man would one day make a tall claim?” But history bears evidence that no one in Makkah ever made such an objection although the disbelievers of Makkah raised all sorts of other objections against the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Then another thing: the Prophet (peace be upon him) never wished for or expected or awaited his appointment to prophethood, but he came across this experience all of a sudden quite unexpectedly. This is supported by the event that has been reported in the traditions in connection with the beginning of revelation. After his first meeting with the Angel Gabriel and the revelation of the initial verses of Surah Al-Alaq he rushes back home from Hira trembling with fear, and says to his wife, “Cover me with a cloak! Cover me with a cloak!” After a while when he recovers a little from the state of anxiety, he relates what he had experienced to his wife and says, “I feel there is danger to my life!” She responds, “No, never! Allah will never bring you to grief: you render the rights of your kindred, you support the indigent, help the poor, treat your guests well, and are ever ready to contribute to a good cause.” Then she takes him to Waraqa bin Naufal, who was her cousin and a righteous and knowledgeable person from among the people of the Book. Hearing from him what had happened, Waraqa says without any hesitation, “The one who came to you is the same Namus (the specially appointed divine messenger), who used to come to Moses (peace be upon him). I wish I were a young man and could live till the time when your people will expel you.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) asks, “Will my people expel me?” He replies, “Yes; no one has passed before, who brought same thing that you have brought, and his people did not turn hostile to him.”

This whole event depicts the state which a simple man will naturally undergo when he is confronted unexpectedly by a most extraordinary experience all of a sudden. If the Prophet (peace be upon him) had already been anxious to become a prophet and thinking that a man like him ought to be a prophet, and had been meditating and straining his mind and awaiting the arrival of an angel with a message, he would have been filled with delight at the experience in the cave, and descending from the mountain would have gone straight before his people and proclaimed Prophethood. But, quite to the contrary, he is confounded at what he had seen, reaches home trembling and lies in bed fully covered up. When he is composed a little, he tells his wife quietly what had happened in the solitude of the cave, and expresses feelings of anxiety and insecurity. How different is this state from the state of a candidate for prophethood! Then, who can be better aware of the husband’s life, his ambitions and thoughts, than the wife? If she had perceived before-hand that the husband was a candidate for prophethood and had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the angel, her reply would have been different from what Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) said. She would have answered, “Dear husband! Why are you so agitated? You have got what you have been longing for long. Now, flourish as a saint: I too shall get ready for collecting gifts and offerings.” But on the basis of what she had seen of her husband during her 15 years long companionship, she did not take more than a moment to understand that Satan could not have come to a righteous and selfless man like him, nor could Allah have put him to a severe test. Therefore, whatever he had seen was the very truth and reality.

The same is also true in the case of Waraqa bin Naufal. He was not an outsider, but a member of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) own clan and a brother in law by a close relationship. Then being a knowledgeable Christian he could discriminate the prophethood and book and revelation from fabrication and fraud. Being the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) senior by many years his whole life since childhood had been spent before him. Therefore, when he heard what the Prophet (peace be upon him) had to say about his experience in the cave, he at once said that it was most surely the same Angel who used to bring divine messages to the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him). For in this case also precisely the same thing had happened as in the case of the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him). He also was a pure and righteous person, simple in thought and without any preconceived notions about prophethood, he also had experienced the same thing unexpectedly in full consciousness. Therefore, without the least hesitation, he was led to the firm conclusion that there was no self deception or satanic insinuation involved, but whatever the honest man had seen, without any will or desire on his own part, was in fact, an experience of the reality.

This is such a clear proof of the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) prophethood that a realistic person can hardly deny it. That is why it has been presented as a proof of prophethood at several places in the Quran. For example, in Surah Yunus it has been said: “O Prophet, say to them: Had Allah willed so, I would never have recited this Quran to you, nor would He have told you anything (about its existence). I have already lived a lifetime among you before its revelation. Do you not use common sense?” (Surah Yunus, Ayat 16) . And in Surah Ash-Shura it has been said: “O Prophet, you did not know at all what was the Book and what was the faith but We made that revelation a light by which We show the way to any of Our servants We will.” (Surah Ash-Shura, Ayat 52) . For further explanation, see (Surah Yunus, ayat 16) note 21, (Surah Al-Ankabut, ayat 48-51) note 88-92, and (Surah Ash-Shuara, ayat 116) note 84.

(29:21) He chastises whom He will and forgives whom He will. To Him all of you will be sent back.

(29:23) Those who disbelieved in Allah’s signs and in meeting Him, it is they who have despaired of My Mercy; [36] it is they for whom a painful chastisement lies ahead.

36. That is, they have no share in My mercy, and they should entertain no hope whatsoever of getting any share of My mercy. When they denied the revelations of Allah, they themselves gave up their right to benefit by the promises Allah has made to the believers. Then, when they have denied the Hereafter and do not at all believe that one day they will have to stand before their God, it only means that they cherish no hope at all of Allah’s pardon and forgiveness. After this when they will open their eyes in the- Hereafter, against their expectations, and will also see the truth of those signs of Allah, which they had denied, there is no reason why they should expect to receive any share from Allah’s mercy.

(29:51) Does it not suffice for them (as a Sign) that We revealed to you the Book that is recited to them? [91] Surely there is mercy and good counsel in it for those who believe. [92]

91. That is, “A Book like the Quran has been sent down to you in spite of your being unlettered. Is it not by itself a great miracle which should convince the people of your Prophethood? Do they yet need another miracle after this? The other miracles were the miracles for those who witnessed them. But this miracle is ever present in front of them. It is being recited before them almost daily; they can witness it as and when they like.” Even after such an assertion and argument by the Quran the audacity of those who try to prove that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was literate is astonishing. The fact, however, is that the Quran here has presented in clear terms the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) being illiterate as a strong proof of his prophethood. The traditions which lend support to the claim that the Prophet (peace be upon him) could read and write, or had learned reading and writing later in life, stand rejected at first glance, for no tradition opposed to the Quran can be acceptable. Then these traditions in themselves are too weak to become the basis for an argument. One of these is a tradition from Bukhari that when the peace treaty of Hudaibiya was being written down, the representative of the disbelievers of Makkah objected to the word Rasul-Allah being added to the name of the Prophet (peace be upon him). At this the Prophet ordered the writer (Ali, may Allah be pleased with him) to cross out the word Rasul-Allah and write Muhammad bin Abdullah instead. Ali refused to cross out Rasul-Allah. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) took it in his own hand, struck out the word himself and wrote Muhammad bin Abdullah.

But this tradition from Bara bin Azib appears at four places in Bukhari and at two places in Muslim and everywhere in different words:

(1) At one place in Bukhari’s Kitab-us-Sulh. The words of this tradition are to the effect: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) told Ali to strike out the words. He submitted that he could not do that. At last, the Prophet (peace be upon him) crossed them out with his own hand.”

(2) In the same book the second tradition is to the effect: “Then he, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Ali: Cross out Rasul-Allah. He said: By God, I shall never cross out your name. At last, the Prophet (peace be upon him) took the document and wrote: This is the treaty concluded by Muhammad bin Abdullah.”

(3) The third tradition, again from Bara bin Azib is found in Kitab-ul-Jizia in Bukhari to the effect: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) himself could not write. He said to Ali: Cross out Rasul-Allah. He submitted: By God, I shall never cross out these words. At this, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Show me the place where these words are written. He showed him the place, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) crossed out the words with his own hand.”

(4) The fourth tradition is in Bukhari’s Kitab-ul-Maghazi to the effect: “So the Prophet (peace be upon him) took the document although he did not know writing, and he wrote: This is the treaty concluded by Muhammad bin Abdullah.”

(5) Again from Bara bin Azib there is a tradition in Muslim (Kitab-ul-Jihad) saying that on Ali’s refusal the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself wiped off the words Rasul- Allah.

(6) The second tradition from him in the same book says, “The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Ali: Show me where the word Rasul-Allah is written. Ali showed him the place, and he wiped it off and wrote Ibn Abdullah.

The disparity in the traditions clearly indicates that the intermediary reporters have not reported the words of Bara bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) accurately. Therefore, none of these reports can be held as perfectly reliable so that it could be said with certainty that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had written the words “Muhammad bin Abdullah” with his own hand. Probably when Ali, refused to wipe off the word Rasul-Allah, the Prophet might have himself wiped it off after finding out the place where it was written, and then might have gotten the word Ibn Abdullah substituted by him or by some other writer. Other traditions show that there were two writers who were writing down the peace treaty; Ali and Muhammad bin Maslamah (Fath al-Bari). Therefore, it is not impossible that what one writer did not do was done by the other writer. However, if the Prophet (peace be upon him) actually wrote his name with his own hand, there are plenty instances of this in the world. The illiterate people learn to write their own name although they cannot read or write anything else.

The other tradition on whose basis it has been claimed that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was literate, has been reported by Ibn Abi Shaibah and Umar bin Shabbah from Mujahid. It says: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) had learned reading and writing before his death.” But in the first place, it is a weak tradition on account of its links as said by Hafiz Ibn Kathir: “It is weak: it has no basis.” Secondly, it is weak otherwise also, for if the Prophet (peace be upon him) had really learned reading and writing later in life, it would have become a well known fact. Many of the companions would have reported it, and it would also have been known from which person (or persons) he had learned this. But no one except one man, Aun bin Abdullah, from whom Mujahid heard this, has reported it. And this Aun was not even a companion, but a follower of the companions, who does not at all tell from which companion (or companions) he got this information. Evidently, on the basis of such weak traditions nothing which contradicts well known facts can become acceptable.

92. That is, “The revelation of this Book is, without any doubt, a great bounty of Allah, and it contains great admonitions for the people. But only those people can benefit by it are those who believe in it.”

(30:21) And of His Signs is that He has created mates for you from your own kind [28] that you may find peace in them [29] and He has set between you love and mercy. [30] Surely there are Signs in this for those who reflect.

28. That is, the Creator’s perfect wisdom is such that He has not created man in one sex only but in two sexes, which are identical in humanity, which have the same basic formula of their figure and form, but the two have been created with different physical structures, different mental and psychological qualities, and different emotions and desires. And then there has been created such a wonderful harmony between the two that each is a perfect counterpart of the other. The physical and psychological demands of the one match squarely with the physical and psychological demands of the other. Moreover, the Wise Creator is continuously creating the members of the two sexes in such a proportion since the dawn of the creation that in no nation and in no region has it ever happened that only boys or only girls may have been born. This is one thing in which human intelligence has absolutely no part to play. Man cannot at all influence the course of nature according to which girls continue to be born with the feminine qualities and the boys with the masculine qualities, which are perfectly complimentary to each other, nor has he any means by which he may change the proportion in which men and women continue to be born everywhere in the world. The working of this system and arrangement so harmoniously and perpetually in the birth of millions and billions of human beings since thousands of years cannot be accidental either, nor the result of the common will of many gods. This is a clear indication of the reality that One Wise Creator and One only, in the beginning made a most appropriate design of a man and a woman by His infinite Wisdom and Power and then made arrangements that precisely in accordance with that design countless men and countless women should be born along with their separate individual qualities in the right proportion.

29. That is, this system has not come about by chance, but the Creator has brought it about deliberately with the object that the man should find fulfillment of the demands of his nature with the woman, and the woman with the man, and the two should find peace and satisfaction in association and attachment with each other. This is the wise arrangement which the Creator has made the means of the survival of the human race on the one hand, and of bringing the human civilization into existence on the other hand. If the two sexes had been created on different patterns and designs, and the state of agitation which changes into peace and tranquility only through union and attachment between the two had not been placed in each, the human race might have survived like sheep and goats, but there was no possibility of the birth of a civilization. Contrary to all other species of animal life; the fundamental factor that has helped create human civilization is that the Creator by His wisdom has placed a desire and a thirst and a lodging in the two sexes for each other, which remains unsatisfied unless the two live in complete attachment and association with each other. This same desire for peace and satisfaction compelled them to make a home together. This same desire brought families and clans into being, and this same desire made social life possible for man. In the development of social life man’s mental capabilities have certainly been helpful, but they were not its real motives. The real motivating force was the same longing with which man and woman were endowed and which compelled them to establish the “home”. Can anyone, possessed of common sense, say that this masterpiece of wisdom has come about by chance through the blind forces of nature? Or, that it has been arranged so by many gods, and countless men and women have been continuously coming into being with the same natural longing since thousands of years? This is a sign of the wisdom of One Wise Being, and of One only, which the people devoid of common sense only can refuse to acknowledge.

30. “Love” here means sexual love, which becomes the initial motive for attraction between man and woman, and then keeps them attached to each other. “Mercy” implies the spiritual relationship which gradually develops in the matrimonial life, by virtue of which they become kind, affectionate and sympathetic towards each other; so much so that in old age, sexual love falls into the background and the two partners in life prove to be even more compassionate towards each other than they were when young. These two are the positive forces which the Creator has created in man to support the initial longing of his nature. That longing and restlessness only seeks peace and satisfaction and brings the man and the woman into contact with each other. After that these two forces emerge and bind the two strangers brought up in different environments so intimately together that the two remain attached to each other through every thick and thin of life. Evidently, this love and mercy which is being experienced by millions and millions of people in their lives, is not anything material, which may be weighed and measured, nor can it be traced back to any of the constituent element of human body, nor the cause of it birth and growth found out in a laboratory. The only explanation of this can be that the human self has been endowed with it by a Wise Creator, Who has done so of His own will to serve a special purpose.

(30:33) (Such are human beings) that when any misfortune befalls them, they cry to their Lord, penitently turning to Him. [52] But no sooner that He lets them have a taste of His Mercy than some of them begin associating others with their Lord in His Divinity [53]

52. This is a clear proof of the fact that in the depths of their heart there still exists an evidence of Tauhid. Whenever the hopes start crumbling, their hearts cry out from within that the real Ruler of the universe is its Master and His help alone can improve their lot.

53. That is, they again start presenting offerings before other deities, and claiming that their misfortune has been removed through the help and grace of such and such a saint and shrine.

(30:36) When We make people have a taste of Our Mercy, they exult in it; and when any misfortune befalls them in consequence of their deeds, then lo and behold, they despair. [55]

55. In the preceding verse the man has been censured for his ignorance, folly and ingratitude. In this verse, he has been censured for puerility and meanness. When a person attains a little wealth and power and respect, and he sees that his business has started flourishing, he forgets that he has been given all this by Allah. He exults at his success and is so puffed up and conceited that he has neither any regard left for Allah nor for the people. But as soon as good luck deserts him, he loses heart and a single stroke of ill-luck so disheartens and frustrates him that he is prepared to do any mean thing, even commit suicide.

(30:46) And of His Signs is that He sends winds to herald good tidings [68] and that He may give you a taste of His Mercy, and that ships may sail at His bidding, [69] and you may seek His Bounty [70] and give thanks to Him.

68. That is, to give good news of the rain.

69. This refers to winds, which are helpful in sailing. In ancient times, sailing boats and ships mostly depended on favorable winds and adverse winds were disastrous for them. Therefore, the mention of these winds after the rain bringing winds has been made as a special favor of Allah.

70. “Seek of His bounty”: To perform trade journeys.

(30:50) See, then, the tokens of Allah’s Mercy: how He revives the earth after it is dead. [73] Verily He is the One Who will revive the dead. He has power over everything.

73. There is a subtle allusion in the mention of the Prophethood and the rain, one after the other, to the reality that the advent of a Prophet is a blessing for man’s moral life even as the coming of the rain proves to be a blessing for his material life. Just as the dead earth awakens to life by a shower of the rain from the sky and starts blooming and swelling with vegetation, so is the morally and spiritually desolate human world quickened to life at the coming down of divine revelation and starts blossoming with moral excellences and virtues. This is the disbelievers’ own misfortune that they show ingratitude, and regard the blessing of Prophethood as a portent of death for themselves instead of a good news of life.

(31:3) a guidance and mercy for the doers of good, [2]

2. That is, these verses give guidance to the right way and have been sent down as a mercy from God. But the people who can profit by this mercy and guidance are only those who adopt a righteous attitude, who wish to become good, who crave for their own well being, whose quality is that they avoid the evil when they are warned of it, and follow the good when they are shown the ways to it. As for the wicked and mischievous people, they will neither profit by this guidance nor receive any share from this mercy.

(33:17) Say (to them): “Who can protect you from Allah if He desires an evil for you? And who can prevent Him if He desires to show mercy to you?” They shall find none other than Allah to be their protector or helper.

(33:24) (All this is) in order that Allah may reward the truthful for their truthfulness, and either punish the hypocrites or, if He so wills, accept their repentance. Verily Allah is Most Pardoning, Most Compassionate.

(33:73) (The consequence of man’s carrying the trust is) that Allah may chastise hypocritical men and hypocritical women and accept the repentance of believing men and believing women. He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

(35:2) Whatever Mercy Allah accords to people, none can withhold; and whatever He withholds, no other will be able to release after Him. [4] He is Most Mighty, Most Wise. [5]

4. This is also meant to remove the misunderstanding of the polytheists, who believed that from among the servants of Allah, someone gave them the provision, someone the children and someone health to their patients. All these superstitions of shirk are baseless, and the pure truth is just that whatever of mercy reaches the people, reaches to them only through Allah Almighty’s bounty and grace. No one else has the power either to bestow it or to withhold it. This theme has been expressed at many places in the Quran and the Ahadith in different ways so that man may avoid the humiliation of begging at every door and at every shrine and may realize that making or marring of his destiny is in the power of One Allah alone and of none else.

5. “He is the All-Mighty”: He is dominant and the owner of Sovereignty: none can stop His judgments from being enforced. Also “He is All-Wise”: every act of His is based on wisdom. When He gives somebody something He gives because it is demanded by wisdom, and when He withholds something from somebody, He withholds it because it would be against wisdom to give it.

(36:44) It is only Our Mercy (that rescues them) and enables enjoyment of life for a while. [40]

40. The signs until now were mentioned as arguments for Tauhid. This sign has been mentioned to make man realize that whatever powers he has been given over the forces of nature, have been given him by Allah and are not of his own acquirement. And whatever methods he has discovered of exploiting these forces; have been discovered also through the guidance of Allah and not solely by himself. Man did not have the power and strength to have subdued these great forces by his own power, nor the capability to have discovered the secrets of nature himself and known the methods of taking service from them. Then he can use and employ the forces over which he has been given control by Allah only till the time that Allah wills them to remain subdued to him. For when Allah wills otherwise the same forces which were serving man turn against him suddenly and he finds himself utterly helpless before them. To call man’s attention to this reality, Allah has presented the case of the sea journey only as an example. The whole human race would have perished in the flood had Allah not taught the method of making the vessel to the Prophet Noah (peace be upon him) and had his followers not boarded it. Then the scattering of the human race over the whole earth became possible only because the people learned the principles of building vessels from Allah and became able to cross the rivers and oceans. But from that humble beginning till today in spite of making great strides in the art of building huge ships and attaining every possible perfection in the science of navigation, man cannot claim that he has brought the rivers and the oceans fully under his control and power. Even today the water of God is still in God’s own power alone and whenever He wills He drowns man along with his ships in it.

(36:45) When it is said to such people: “Guard yourselves against what is ahead of you and what has preceded you [41] that mercy be shown to you” (they pay scant heed to it).

41. “What is behind you”: Which the peoples before you have seen and experienced.

(38:9) Do they possess the treasures of your Lord, the Most Mighty, the Great Bestower?

(38:43) And We granted to him his family and also the like of them, [44] as a mercy from Us, and as a reminder to people of understanding, [45]

44. Traditions show that during this illness everyone except his wife had deserted the Prophet Job (peace be upon him); even his children had turned away. To this Allah has alluded, saying: When We granted him health, the whole family returned to him, and then We granted him even more children.

45. That is, in it there is a lesson for an intelligent man. Neither should man forget God and become arrogant in good times nor despair of Him in bad times. Good fortune and misfortune are entirely in the Power of Allah, the One. If He wills He can change the best times of man into the worst times and the worst into the best. Therefore, a wise person should trust in Him alone in all sorts of circumstances and should pin all his hopes on Him.

(39:9) Is such a person (preferable or he) who is obedient, and prostrates himself in the watches of the night, stands (in Prayer), is fearful of the Hereafter, and looks forward to the mercy of His Lord? Ask them: “Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” [28] Only those endowed with understanding take heed.

28. It should be noted that two kinds of the men are being contrasted here. First, those who turn to Allah when a calamity befalls them, but worship others than Allah normally. Second, those who have made it their permanent way of life to obey Allah and worship and serve Him, and their worshiping Him in solitude during the night is a proof of their sincerity. The first kind of the men have been called ignorant by Allah, even if they might have devoured whole libraries. And the second kind of the men have been called the learned, even if they might be illiterate. For the real supremely important thing is the knowledge of the truth and man’s action according to it, and on this depends his true success. Allah asks: How can these two be equal? How can they possibly follow the same way together in the world, and meet with the same end in the Hereafter?

(39:38) If you ask them: “Who created the heavens and the earth?” they will surely answer: “Allah.” Tell them: “What do you think, then, of the deities whom you call upon instead of Allah? If Allah should will that an affliction befall me, will those deities remove the harm inflicted by Him? Or if Allah should will that I receive (His) Mercy, will they be able to withhold His Mercy from me?” Say: “Allah is sufficient for me; those who have to put their trust, let them put their trust in Him. [57]

57. Ibn Abi Hatim has related from Ibn Abbas that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The person who desires that he should become most powerful among men should repose his trust in Allah. And the person who desires that he should become the wealthiest among men should have more trust in that which is with Allah than that which is in his own hand. And the person who desires that he should become most honorable among men should fear Allah All- Mighty.

(39:53) Tell them, (O Prophet): “My servants [70] who have committed excesses against themselves, do not despair of Allah’s Mercy. Surely Allah forgives all sins. He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. [71]

70. Some commentators have given a strange interpretation to these words. They say that Allah Himself has commanded the Prophet (peace be upon him) to address the people as “My servants” therefore, all men are the servants of the Prophet (peace be upon him). This interpretation is no interpretation at all but a worst distortion of the meaning of the Quran and indeed tampering with the Word of Allah. If this interpretation were correct, it would falsify and negate the whole Quran. For the Quran, from the beginning to the end, establishes the concept that men are the servants of Allah alone, and its whole message revolves around the point that they should serve none but One Allah alone. The Prophet (peace be upon him) himself was Allah’s servant. Allah had sent him not as rabb (sustainer, providence) but as a Messenger so that he should himself serve Him and teach the other people also to serve Him alone. After all, how can a sensible person believe that the Prophet (peace be upon him) might have one day stood up before the disbelieving Quraish of Makkah and made the sudden proclamation: You are in fact the slaves of Muhammad and not of al-Uzzah and ash- Shams. (We seek Allah’s refuge from this).

71. The address here is to all mankind. There is no weighty argument to regard only the believers as the addressees. As has been observed by Allama Ibn Kathir, to address such a thing to the common men does not mean that Allah forgives all sins without repentance, but Allah Himself has explained in the following verses that sins are forgiven only when the sinner turns to Allah’s worship and service and adopts obedience to the message sent down by Him. As a matter of fact, this verse brought a message of hope for those people who had committed mortal sins like murder, adultery, theft, robbery, etc. in the days of ignorance, and had despaired whether they would ever be forgiven. To them it has been said: Do not despair of Allah’s mercy; whatever you might have done in the past, if you sincerely turn to your Lord’s obedience, you will be forgiven every sin. The same interpretation of this verse has been given by Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, Mujahid and Ibn Zaid. (Ibn Jarir, Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daud, Tirmidhi). For further explanation, see (Surah Al-Furqan, Ayat 70-71) and the E.Ns thereof.

(40:7) The angels that bear the Throne and those that are around to extol your Lord’s glory with His praise, they believe in Him, and ask forgiveness for the believers, [6] saying: “Our Lord! You encompass everything with Your Mercy and Knowledge. [7] So forgive those that repent and follow Your Path, [9] and guard them against the chastisement of Hell. [8]

6. This thing has been said for the consolation of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) companions, who were feeling greatly discouraged at the impudence and rebellious attitude of the disbelievers of Makkah as against their own helplessness, as if to say: Why do you feel grieved at what these mean and worthless people say? You have the support of the angels who bear the divine Throne and of those who stand around it. They are interceding with Allah for you. The mention of the angels who bear the divine Throne and of those who stand around it, has been made, instead of the common angels, to impress the fact that not to speak of the common angels of divine kingdom, even the angels who are the pillars of this kingdom, being nearest in rank and station to Allah, bear deep sympathy and regard for you. Then the words: They affirm faith in Him and ask forgiveness for the believers, show that the relationship of the faith is the real relationship, which has joined the heavenly creatures and the earthly creatures together, and which has induced sympathy and esteem in the angels stationed around the Throne for the mortal humans inhabiting the earth, who affirm faith in Allah just like them. The angels affirming the faith in Allah does not mean that they could disbelieve, and they adopted belief instead of disbelief, but it means that they believe in the sovereignty of Allah, the One, alone there is no other being that may be commanding them and they submit before it in utter obedience. When the same attitude and behavior was adopted by the human believers, a strong relationship of cherishing a common creed and faith was established between them and the angels in spite of the great disparity in species and remoteness in rank and station.

7. That is, the weakness, lapses and errors of Your servants are not hidden from You. You indeed know everything, but like Your knowledge, Your Mercy also is infinite. Therefore, forgive the poor creatures in spite of knowing their errors. Another meaning can be: Forgive by Your Mercy all those about whom by knowledge You know that they have repented sincerely and have, in reality, adopted Your way.

8. To forgive and to save from the torment of Hell are although not related, and there seems to be no need to mention the other when one has been mentioned, this style, in fact, reflects the deep interest the angels have in the believers. It is customary that when a person who is deeply involved in a matter, finds an opportunity to make submissions before a judge, he presents the same petition humbly over and over again, in different ways, and does not rest content with making the petition just once.

9. And save those who have given up disobedience and rebellion, adopted obedience and followed the way which You Yourself have shown.

(40:9) and guard them against all ills. [12] He whom You guard against ills on that Day, [13] to him You have surely been Most Merciful. That is the great triumph.”

12. The word sayyiat (evils) is used in three different meanings and all three arc implied here: (1) False beliefs, perverted morals and evil deeds. (2) Consequences of deviation and evil deeds. (3) Calamities, disasters and suffering in this world, or in barzakh, or on the Day of Resurrection. The object of the angels’ prayer is that they be saved from everything which may be evil for them.

13. “Evils of that Day” implies the dread and terror of the Day. deprivation of the shade and every other comfort, severity of accountability, the ignominy of exposing every secret of life before all mankind, and other humiliations and hardships which the guilty ones will experience in the Hereafter.

(41:50) And if We bestow Our Mercy upon him after hardship, he will surely say: “This is what I truly deserve, [66] and I do not believe that the Hour (of Resurrection) will ever come to pass; and if I am returned to my Lord, there too I shall enjoy the best.” Surely We shall fully apprise the unbelievers of what they have done, and We shall certainly make them taste a severe chastisement.

66. That is, I have gotten all this because of my being worthy of it. It is my right that I should receive all this.

(42:8) If Allah had so willed, He could have made them all a single community. But He admits whomsoever He pleases into His Mercy. As to those given to wrong-doing, they shall have none as protector or helper. [11]

11. This theme has three objects in this context:

First, it is meant to instruct and console the Prophet (peace be upon him), as if to say: Do not grieve so much at the ignorance and deviation of the disbelievers of Makkah and their stubbornness and obduracy. It is Allah’s will that man should be granted the freedom of choice and action. Then whoever desires to have guidance should be given guidance, and whoever wants to remain astray should be allowed to go astray. Had this not been Allah’s will, there was no need whatsoever of sending the Prophets and the Books. For this only a creative hint of Allah Almighty’s was enough, all human beings would have become as obedient as the rivers, mountains, trees, stones, and all other creatures. In this connection, see (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 35-36) , (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 107) .

Secondly, its addressees are all those people who were involved in the confusion, and even now are, that if Allah really had wanted to show guidance to human beings and He did not like the differences of creed and practice that were prevalent among the people, and wanted to have the people adopt the way of the faith and Islam, there was no need for the revelation and the Book and the Prophethood. He could have easily achieved this object by creating everyone a believer and Muslim by birth. Another result of this confusion was also this reasoning: When Allah has not done so, the different ways that we are following, are approved by Him, and whatever we are doing, is according to His will. Therefore, nobody has any right to object to it. To remove this misunderstanding also this theme has been mentioned at several places in the Quran. Please see (Surah Al-Anam, Ayat 112) , (Surah Al-Anam, Ayat 137) , (Surah Al-Anam, Ayat 148-149) ; (Surah Yunus, Ayat 99) ; (Surah Houd, Ayat 118-119) ; (Surah An-Nahl, Ayat 9) , (Surah An-Nahl, Ayat 35) and the relevant E.Ns.

Thirdly, its object is to make the believers realize the truth about the difficulties that one generally faces in the way of preaching religion and reforming the people. Those people who do not understand the reality of the God, given freedom of choice and will and of the resulting differences of temperament and methods, sometimes become despondent at the slow progress of the reformatory work and wish that some supernatural things should appear from Allah, which should change the hearts of the people, and are sometimes inclined to adopt unsound methods of bringing about reformation, owing to excessive enthusiasm. For this object also this theme has occurred at some places in the Quran, for which see (Surah Ar-Raad, Ayat 31) ; (Surah An-Nahl, Ayat 91-93) .

To highlight these objects a very important theme has been expressed in these brief sentences. Allah’s real vicegerency in the world and His Paradise in the Hereafter is not an ordinary blessing, which may be distributed over creatures of the rank of the earth and stones and donkeys and horses as a common blessing. This is indeed a special blessing and a blessing of a very high order for which even the angels were not considered fit. That is why Allah created man as a creature endowed with power and authority and placed vast means of His earth under his control and blessed him with these special powers so that he may pass through the test, success in which alone can entitle a servant to His blessings. This blessing is Allah’s own; no one has a monopoly over it, nor can anyone claim to have it on the basis of a personal right, nor has anyone the power to take it by force. He who presents service before Allah, who takes Him as his Guardian and comes under His protection, alone can have it. Then Allah blesses him with help, guidance and grace to pass this test, so that he may enter His Mercy. As for the unjust man who turns away from Allah Himself and instead takes others as his patrons, Allah has no need that he should become his guardian by force. And the others whom He takes as his guardians do not possess any knowledge and power and authority that they may enable him to achieve success by dint of their guardianship of him.

(42:48) (O Prophet), if they turn away from the Truth, know that We did not send you to them as their overseer. [74] Your task is only to convey (the Message). Indeed when We give man a taste of Our Mercy, he exults in it. But if any misfortune afflicts them on account of their deeds, man is utterly ungrateful. [75]

74. That is, you have not been made responsible that you must bring them to the right path anyhow, nor will you be held accountable as to why these people did not come to the right path.

75. Man here implies the mean and shallow people who are the subject of the discourse here, who have gotten a measure of the worldly provisions and are exulting in this, and who do not pay any attention when they are admonished to come to the right path. But when they are visited by a disaster in consequence of their own misdeeds, they start cursing their fate, and forget all those blessings which Allah has blessed them with, and do not try to understand how far they themselves are to be blamed for the condition in which they are placed. Thus, neither does prosperity become conducive to their reformation nor can adversity teach them a lesson and bring them to the right path. A study of the context shows that this is, in fact, a satire on the attitude of the people who were the addressees of the above discourse, but they have not been addressed to tell them of their weakness directly, but the weakness of man has been mentioned in a general way and pointed out that what is the real cause of his sad plight. This gives an important point of the wisdom of preaching: the weaknesses of the addressee should not be made the target directly, but they should be mentioned in a general way so that he is not provoked, and if his conscience has still some life in it, he may try to understand his shortcoming with a cool mind.

(43:32) Is it they who distribute the Mercy of your Lord? It is We Who have distributed their livelihood among them in the life of this world, and have raised some above others in rank that some of them may harness others to their service. [31] Your Lord’s Mercy is better than all the treasures that they hoard. [32]

31. This is the answer to their objection, which briefly mentions many important things:

First, it asks: Since when do these people become responsible for distributing the mercy of your Lord? Is it for them to decide whom Allah should favor with His mercy and whom He should not? (Here, by Allah’s mercy is implied His general mercy from which everyone has a share).

Second, Allah says: Prophethood is a great blessing. We have even kept the distribution of the common means of life in the world in Our own hand, and have not entrusted it to anyone else. We create someone beautiful and another ugly, someone with a sweet voice and another with a harsh voice, someone robust and strong and another weak and frail, someone intelligent and another dull, someone with a strong memory and another forgetful, some with healthy limbs and another a cripple, or blind or deaf and dumb, someone in a rich family and another among the poor, someone in an advanced country and another in a backward community. No one can do anything about this destiny concerning birth. One is compelled to be what We have made him. And it is in no one’s power to avert the impact his circumstances of birth have on his destiny. Then it is We our self Who are distributing provisions, power, honor, fame, wealth, government, etc. among men. No one can degrade the one whom We have blessed with good fortune, and no one can save from ruin the one whom We have afflicted with misfortune. All plans and schemes of man become ineffective against Our decrees. In this universal divine system, therefore, how can these people decide as to whom should the Master of the universe make His Prophet and whom He should not?

Thirdly, an abiding principle that We have kept in view in this divine system is that everything should not be given to one and the same person, or everything should not be given to everybody. If you look around carefully, you will see that great differences exist between the people in every respect. We have given one thing to one person but deprived him of another, and given the same to another one. This is based on the wisdom that no human being should become independent of others, but everyone should remain dependent on the other in one way or the other. Now if would be foolish on your part to think that We should have given the Prophethood also to the same person whom We had blessed with wealth and nobility. Likewise, will you also say that wisdom, knowledge, wealth, beauty, power, authority and all other excellences should be assembled in one and the same person, and the one who has not been given one thing, should not be given anything else?

32. Your Lord’s mercy: the Prophethood. It means: Your leaders and chiefs whom you regard as big people because of their wealth and dignity and chiefship, are not worthy of this wealth, which has been given to Muhammad bin Abdullah (peace be upon him). This wealth is far superior to that and for this the criterion is different. If you think that every noble and rich man is worthy of becoming a prophet, it would only show your own thinking. Why do you expect Allah to be so ignorant and simple?

(44:6) as a Mercy from your Lord. [4] Surely He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing, [5]

4. That is, it was not only a demand of wisdom to send a Messenger with this Book but also of Allah’s mercy, for He is the Provider, and Provider requires that not only should arrangements be made for nourishing the servants’ bodies but they should also be afforded right guidance by knowledge, that they should be made aware of the distinction between right and wrong and that they should not be left wandering in darkness.

5.. The object of mentioning these two attributes of Allah in this context is to warn the people of the truth that He alone can give correct knowledge for He alone knows all the realities. Not to speak of one man, even if all men join to determine a way of life for themselves, there can be no guaranty of its being the right way, for even the entire mankind together cannot become all-hearing and allknowing. It does not lie in its power to comprehend all those realities whose knowledge is essential for determining a correct way of life. This knowledge is only with Allah. He alone is All-Hearing and All-Knowing. Therefore, He alone can tell what is guidance for man and what is falsehood, what is the truth and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil.

(44:42) except those to whom Allah shows mercy. He is the Most Mighty, the Most Compassionate. [37]

37. These sentences portray the nature of the court that will be established on the Day of Decision. It will be a court where nobody’s help or support will help rescue any culprit nor have his sentence reduced. All powers will rest with the real Sovereign Whose decisions cannot be withheld from being enforced nor influenced by any power. It will entirely depend on His own discretion whether He forgives somebody mercifully, or awards him a lesser punishment. It indeed behooves Him to exercise justice mercifully and not mercilessly, but whatever decision He gives in any case, will be enforced entirely and completely. After this portrayal of the nature of the divine court, in the following few sentences it has been stated what will be the fate of those who will be found guilty in that court, and what will be conferred on those about whom it will be established that they had been refraining from Allah’s disobedience in the world out of fear of Him.

(45:20) These are the lights of discernment for people and guidance and mercy for those endowed with sure faith. [25]

25. That is, this Book and this Shariah present such a light for all the people of the world, which distinguishes the truth from falsehood, but only such people receive any guidance from it who believe in its truth; for them only it is a mercy.

(45:30) As for those who believe and act righteously, their Lord shall admit them to His Mercy. That indeed is the manifest triumph.

(46:12) Yet before this the Book was revealed to Moses as a guide and a mercy. This Book, which confirms it, is in the Arabic tongue to warn the wrong-doers [17] and to give good tidings to those who do good.

17. To warn the wrongdoers: To warn of the evil end those who are being unjust to themselves and to the truth itself by disbelieving in Allah and serving others than Allah, and are involved because of this deviation of theirs in the evils of morals and deeds, which have filled human society with every kind of wickedness and injustice.

(48:25) They are the ones who disbelieved and barred you from the Inviolable Mosque and prevented the animals you had designated for sacrifice from reaching the place of their offering. [43] If it had not been for the believing men and believing women (who lived in Makkah and) whom you did not know, and had there not been the fear that you might trample on them and unwittingly incur blame on their account, (then fighting would not have been put to a stop. It was stopped so that) Allah may admit to His Mercy whomsoever He pleases. Had those believers been separated from the rest, We would certainly have inflicted a grievous chastise-ment on those of them [i.e. the Makkans) who disbelieved. [44]

43. That is, Allah was seeing the sincerity and the selfless devotion with which you had become ready to lay down your lives in the cause of the true faith and were obeying the Prophet (peace be upon him) without asking any question. Allah was also seeing that the disbelievers were being unfair. The demand of this situation was that they should have been punished there and then through you, but in spite of that, Allah restrained your hands from them and their hands from you.

44. This was the reason why Allah did not allow fighting to take place at Hudaibiyah. This has two aspects:

That at that time there were quite a number of the Muslim men and women living in Makkah, who were either hiding their faith, or were being persecuted because of their faith as they had no means to emigrate. Had there been fighting and the Muslims had pushed back the disbelievers and entered Makkah, these Muslims would also have been killed in ignorance along with the disbelievers. This would not only have grieved the Muslims but the Arab polytheists also would have gotten an opportunity to say that the Muslims did not even spare their own brethren in faith during wartime. Therefore, Allah took pity on the helpless Muslims and averted the war in order to save the companions from grief and infamy. The other aspect of the expedience was that Allah did not will that Makkah should fall to the Muslims as a result of the defeat of the Quraish after a bloody clash but He willed that they should be encircled from all sides so that within two years or so they should become absolutely helpless and subdued without offering any resistance, and then the whole tribe should accept Islam and enter Allah’s mercy as it actually happened on the conquest of Makkah.

Here the juristic dispute has arisen that if during a war between the Muslims and the disbelievers, the disbelievers should bring out some Muslim men and women, children and old men, in their possession and put them in the forefront as a shield for themselves, or if there is some Muslim population also in the non-Muslim city under attack by the Muslim forces, or if on a warship of the disbelievers, which is within gunfire, the disbelievers have also taken some Muslims on board, can the Muslim army open fire on it? In answer to it the rulings given by different jurists are as follows:

Imam Malik says that in such a case fire should not be opened, and for this he cites this very verse as an argument. He contends that Allah prevented the war at Hudaibiyah only in order to save the Muslims. (Ibn al-Arabi, Ahkam al Quran). But this in fact is a weak argument. There is no word in the verse which may support the view that launching an attack on the enemy in this case is unlawful and forbidden. At the most what one can say on the basis of this verse is that the launching of an attack in such a case should be avoided in order to save the Muslims, provided that it does not put the disbelievers in an advantageous position against the Muslims militarily, or does not diminish the Muslims’ chances of gaining an upper hand in the conflict.

Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Abu Yusuf, Imam Zufar and Imam Muhammad say that it is lawful to open fire in such a case; so much so that even if the disbelievers use the children of the Muslims as a shield by putting them in the forefront, there is no harm in shooting at them, and it is not obligatory for the Muslims to expiate and pay any bloodmoney for the Muslims thus killed, (Al-Jassas, Ahkam al- Quran; Imam Muhammad, Kitab as-Siyar).

Imam Sufyan Thauri also in this case regards opening of the fire as lawful, but he says that although the Muslims will not pay the blood-money of the Muslims thus killed, it is obligatory for them to expiate the sin. (Al-Jassas, Ahkam al-Quran).

Imam Auzai and Laith bin Saad say that if the disbelievers use the Muslims as a shield, fire should not be opened on them. Likewise, if it is known that in their warship our own prisoners also are on board, it should not be sunk. But if we attack a city of theirs and we know that there are also Muslims in the city, it is lawful to open fire on the city, for it is not certain that our shells will only hit the Muslims, and if a Muslim becomes a victim of this shelling, it will not be willful murder of a Muslim but an inadvertent accident. (Al-Jassas, Ahkam alQur an).

Imam Shafei holds the view that in such a case if it is not inevitable to open fire. It is better to try to save the Muslims from destruction; although it is not unlawful to open fire in this case, it is undesirable. But if it is really necessary and it is feared that in case fire is not opened it will put the disbelievers in a better position militarily against the Muslims, it is lawful to resort to shelling, but even then every effort should be made to save the Muslims as far as possible. Furthermore, Imam Shafei also says that if during a conflict the disbelievers put a Muslim in front as a shield and a Muslim kills him, there can be two possible alternatives: either the killer knew that the murdered person was a Muslim, or he did not know that he was a Muslim. In the first case, he will be under obligation to pay compensation for manslaughter as well as do expiation; in the second case he will only do expiation. (Mughni alMuhtaj).

(49:10) Surely the believers are none but brothers unto one another, so set things right between your brothers, [18] and have fear of Allah that you may be shown mercy.

18. This verse establishes a universal brotherhood of all the Muslims of the world, and it is by virtue of this that the sort of fraternity that exists among the Muslims exists among the followers of no other religion and creed. The importance of this command, and its demands, has been explained by the Prophet (peace be upon him) in many of his traditions from which one can understand its full significance and spirit.

Jarir bin Abdullah says: The Prophet (peace be upon him) took a pledge from me on three things: That I will establish the Prayer, that I will continue to pay the zakat, and that I will remain a well-wisher of every Muslim. (Bukhari: Kitab-al-Iman). According to Abdullah bin Masud, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: To abuse a Muslim is sinful and to fight him a disbelief. In Musnad Ahmad a tradition bearing on the same subject has also been related by Saeed bin Malik on the authority of his father.

Abu Hurairah relates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The life, property and honor of every Muslim is forbidden to every other Muslim. (Muslim: Kitab-al-Birr was Silah; Tirmidhi: Abwab-al-Birr was-Silah). Abu Saeed Khudri and Abu Hurairah say that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: A Muslim is a brother to the other Muslim: he does not treat him unjustly, he does not leave him alone and he does not dishonor him. There is no greater evil than that one should hold a Muslim in contempt. (Musnad Ahmad).

Sahl bin Saad as-Saidi has related this saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): A believer’s relation with the community of the believers is just like the head’s relation with the body. He feels their afflictions as the head feels the pain of every part of the body. (Musnad Ahmad). In another Hadith bearing on the same subject the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The believers’ example in the matter of their mutual love, relationship and compassion with one another is of the state of the body that when a part of it is afflicted, the whole of it is afflicted with fever and restlessness. (Bukhari, Muslim).

In another Hadith he is reported to have said: The believers are with one another like the bricks of a wall so that each is strengthened by the other. (Bukhari: Kitab al- Adab; Tirmidhi; Abwab al-Birr was-Silah).

(57:13) On that Day the hypocrites, both men and women, shall say to the believers: “Look at us that we may extract some light from your light.” [18] They will be told: “Go back and seek light for yourselves elsewhere.” Then a wall shall be erected between them with a door in it. On the inside of it there will be mercy, and on the outside of it there will be chastisement. [19]

18. It means that when the believers will be going towards Paradise, the light will be before them, and the hypocrites will be stumbling about in the darkness behind. At that time they will call out to the believers, who lived with them together in the same Muslim society in the world, saying: Look back towards us awhile so that we also may get some light.

19. This means that the people of Paradise will enter it through a gate and then the gate will be closed. On one side of the gate there will be the blessings of Paradise and on the other the torment of Hell. For the hypocrites it will not be possible to cross the barrier that will stand between them and Paradise.

(57:27) In their wake, We sent a succession of Our Messengers, and raised Jesus, son of Mary, after all of them, and bestowed upon him the Evangel, and We set tenderness and mercy [51] in the hearts of those that followed him. As for monasticism, [52] it is they who invented it; [53] We did not prescribe it for them. They themselves invented it in pursuit of Allah’s good pleasure, and then they did not observe it as it ought to have been observed. [54] So We gave their reward to those of them that believed. But many of them are wicked.

51. The words in the text are rafat and rahmat, which are almost synonymous. But when they are used together, rafat implies the compassion that a person feels on seeing another person in pain and distress, and rahmat is the feeling under which bhe tries to help him. As the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) was highly compassionate and merciful towards the people, his this trait of character deeply influenced his disciples: therefore, they treated the people with pity and sympathy and served them with all their heart and soul.

52. The root rahb (from which rahbaniyyat or ruhbaniyyat is derived) means fear; thus rahbaniyyat means a mode of life which reflects fear and terror, and ruhbaniyyat means the mode of life of the terrified. As a term it implies a person’s abandoning the world out of fear (whether it is the fear of somebody’s tyranny, or fear of the worldly temptations and distractions, or fear of one’s personal weaknesses) and taking refuge in the jungles and mountains, or living alone as a hermit.

53. The words in the original can have two meanings:

(1) That We did not enjoin monasticism (ruhbaniyyat) upon them. We enjoined upon them only the seeking of Allah’s good pleasure.

(2) That monasticism was not enjoined by Us. They of their own accord enjoined it on themselves, to seek Allah’s good pleasure. In both cases this verse makes it explicit that monasticism is an un-Islamic creed, and it has never been part of the true faith. The same thing has been stated by the Prophet (peace be upon him) thus: There is no monasticism in Islam. (Musnad Ahmed). In another Hadith the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The monasticism of this ummah is to fight in the way of Allah. (Musnad Ahmed Musnad Abi Yala. That is, the way for this ummah to attain to spiritual piety lies not in abandoning the world but in fighting in Allah’s way. This ummah does not flee to the jungles and mountains out of fear of temptations and distractions but counteracts them by resort to fighting in Allah’s way. According to a tradition related both by Bukhari and by Muslim, one of the companions said that he would keep up Prayers throughout the night; another said that he would fast perpetually without ever observing a break; and a third one said the he would never marry and would have nothing to do with women. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) came to know of what they had resolved, he said: By God, I fear Allah the most and remain conscious of Him at all times; yet my way is that I observe the fast as well as break it. I keep up the Prayer during the night as well as have sleep. And I marry the women also. The one who does not follow my way, does not belong to me. Anas says that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to say: Do not be hard and severe to yourselves, lest Allah should be hard and severe to you. A community had adopted this way of severity towards itself, then Allah also seized it in severity. Look, the remainder of them are found in the monasteries and churches. (Abu Daud).

54. That is, they were involved in a double error. First, they imposed on themselves the restrictions which Allah had not imposed. Second, they did not observe in the right spirit the restrictions that they had imposed upon themselves with a view to attain to Allah’s goodwill, and conducted themselves in a way as to earn Allah’s wrath instead of His good pleasure.

To understand this theme fully we should have a look at the history of Christian Monasticism.

Until 200 years after the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him), the Christian Church knew no monasticism. Its germs, however, were found in Christianity from the very beginning. To look upon asceticism as a moral ideal and to regard celibacy as superior to matrimonial and mundane life is the basis of monasticism. Both these existed in Christianity from the beginning. Owing to the sanctification of celibacy in particular, it was considered undesirable for those who performed religious services in the church to marry, have children and be involved in domestic chores; so much so that by the 3rd century monasticism began to spread like an epidemic in Christiandom. Historically, it had three main causes.

First, sensuality, immorality and worship of the world had so permeated the ancient polytheistic society that in their zeal to counteract it, the Christian scholars adopted the extremist way instead of the way of moderation. They so stressed chastity that the relationship between man and woman by itself came to be looked upon as filthy, even if it was within marriage. They reacted so violently to monasticism that to possess property of any kind ultimately was considered a sin for a religious person and to live like a poor man and ascetic the criterion of moral excellence. Likewise, in their reaction to the sensuality of the polytheistic society, they touched the other extreme. They made withdrawal from pleasure and all material comforts, self denial and curbing of the desires as the object of morality. They regarded torturing the body by different sorts of harsh discipline as the climax and proof of a person’s spirituality.

Secondly, when Christianity started achieving successes and spreading rapidly among the common people, the Church in its zeal to attract more and more adherents went on imbibing every evil that was prevalent in society. Thus, saint-worship replaced the ancient deities. Images of Christ and Mary began to be worshiped instead of the idols of Horus and Isis. Christmas took the place of Saturnalia. Christian monks began to practice every kind of occult art like curing the sick by amulets and magic incantations, taking omens and fortune-telling, driving out spirits, etc. as were prevalent in ancient days. Likewise, since the common people looked upon a dirty and naked person who lived in a cave or den as a holy and godly man, this very concept of sainthood became prevalent in the Christian Church, and legends of their miraculous powers began to abound in the memoirs of the Christian saints.

Thirdly, the Christians possessed no detailed law and definite traditions and practices to determine the bounds of religion. They had given up Mosaic Law and the Gospel by itself afforded no perfect code of guidance. Therefore, the Christian doctors went on permitting every kind of innovation to enter the religion partly under the influence of alien philosophies, customs and practices and partly under their personal preference and whim. Monasticism was one such innovation. Christian scholars and doctors of law took its philosophy and rules and practices from the Buddhist monks, Hindu Yogis and ascetics, Egyptian Anchorites, Iranian Manicheans, and the followers of Plato and Plotinus, and made the same the means and methods of attaining self-purification, spiritual loftiness and nearness to God. Those who committed this error were not ordinary men. From the 3rd to the 7th century (i.e. till about the time the Quran began to be revealed) the religious personalities who were recognized as the foremost scholars and religious guides and leaders of Christendom, both in the East and in the West, St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Gregory of Bazianzus, St. Chrysostom, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine St. Benedict, St. Gregory the Great, all were monks themselves and great upholders of monasticism. It was under their influence that monasticism became popular in the Church.

Historically, monasticism among the Christians started from Egypt. Its founder was St. Anthony (A.D. 250 -350) who is regarded as the father of Christian Monasticism. He set up the first monastery at Pispir (now Der al Memum) in the Fayum. Later he established another monastery on the coast of the Red Sea, which is now called Der Mar Antonius. The basic cults of Christian Monasticism are derived from his writings and instructions. After this beginning the monastic movements spread like a flood in Egypt and monasteries for monks and nuns were set up everywhere in the land in some of which lived three thousand monks at a time. In 325 another ascetic, pachomius, appeared in Egypt, who founded ten major monasteries and nunneries for the monks and nuns. The monastic movement then began to spread in Palestine and Syria and different countries of Africa and Europe. The Christian Church in the beginning experienced some confusion in connection with monasticism, for although it recognized abandonment of the world, celibacy and voluntary poverty as an ideal of spiritual life, yet it could not declare marriage, producing children and possessing property or money to be sinful as the monks did. Subsequently, under the influence of holy men like St. Athanasius (d. 373), St. Basil (d. 379), St. Augustine (d. 430) and Gregory the Great (d. 609) many of the monastic rules became part and parcel of the Church.

This monastic innovation has some characteristics which are briefly as follows:

1. Inflicting pain on the body by severe exercises and novel methods. In this thing every monk tried to surpass the other. The achievements of these holy men as related in the memoirs of the Christian saints are to this effect: St. Macarius of Alexandria constantly carried on himself a weight of 80 pounds. For six months he slept in a swamp while poisonous flies preyed on his naked body. His disciple, St. Eusebius, even surpassed his master in suffering severities and rigors. He moved about carrying a weight of 150 pounds, and lay in a dry well for three years. St. Saba ate the maize that would start stinking having been soaked in water for a whole month. St. Bassarion lay in thorny bushes for 40 days and did not rest his back on the ground for 40 years. St. Pachomius passed 15 years of his life, and according to another tradition 50 years, without putting his back on the ground. St. John remained standing in worship for three years during which he neither sat nor lay down, he would only recline at times against a rock. His food consisted of the offering that was brought for him every Sunday. St. Simeon Styiltes (390- 449) who is counted among the most illustrious Christian saints, used to observe an un-broken 40 days fast and smiling. Owing to such concepts the bond of marriage between man and woman came to be looked upon as filthy. A monk was forbidden even to look at a woman, not to speak of marriage, and was required to abandon his wife if he was married. As for men it was also impressed on the women that if they wished to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, they should shun marriage and remain spinsters and if they were married, they should separate from their husbands. St. Jerome, the distinguished Christian scholar, ruled that the woman who remained a spinster as a nun for the sake of Christ, was the bride of Christ, and her mother was the mother-in-law of Christ, i.e. God. Elsewhere St. Jerome says: To cut asunder the bond of marriage with the ax of chastity is the primary duty of the true devotee of God. The first impact these teachings had on a Christian man or Christian woman, under religious fervor, was that his or her married life was ruined. And since there was no provision for divorce or separation in Christianity, the husband and the wife would separate from each other while they remained bound in wed-lock. St. Nilus was father of two children. When he came under the spell of monasticism, he immediately separated from his wife. St. Ammon, on the first night of his marriage, gave his bride a sermon on the filthiness of the marriage bond and then the two between themselves decided to keep aloof from each other throughout life. St. Abraham abandoned his wife on the very first night of marriage. The same was done by St. Alexis. The memoirs of the Christian saints are full of such incidents.

The Church continued to resist in one way or the other these extremist concepts for three centuries. In those days it was not required of a priest to be single and unmarried. If he was married before being appointed a minister, he could keep his wife. However, he was forbidden to marry after his appointment. Moreover, a person could not be appointed a minister if he had married a widow, or a divorced woman, or had two wives, or possessed a concubine. Gradually, by the 4th century, the concept became firm that for a married person it was odious to perform religious services in the Church. The Council of Gengra (A.D. 362) was the last one in which such ideas were held as anti-religious, but a little later in 386, Roman Synod counseled the priests to avoid marriage relations and the following year Pope Siricius decreed that the priest who married, or continued to have sex relations with his wife if already married should be dismissed from office. Illustrious scholars like St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine upheld this decision most fervently, and after a little resistance it became fully enforced in the Western Church. In this period several councils were convened to consider the complaints to the effect that the people who were already married were having illicit relations with their wives even after their appointment to perform religious duties. Consequently, with a view to reform them, rules were made to the effect that they should sleep in the open, should never meet their wives in private, and should meet them only in the presence of at least two other men. St. Gregory has made mention of a wonderful priest who did not have any relation with his wife for 40 years, and when the woman approached him at his death-bed, he rebuked her, saying: Woman, keep away.

2. Their second characteristic was that they were dirty and against cleanliness and bodily care. Washing or applying water to the body was regarded as opposed to Godworship. For, according to them purification of the body was tantamount to pollution of the soul. St. Athanasius has faithfully described this virtue of St. Anthony that he never washed his feet during life. St. Abraham, from the day he entered Christianity, neither washed his face nor feet for 50 years. A famous nun Virgin Sylvia never allowed any part of her body except the fingers to become wet with water throughout life It is said of 130 nuns of 8 convent that they never washed their feet and would shudder with horror at a mere reference to bath.

3. Monasticism practically forbade married life and ruthlessly discarded the institution of marriage. All religious writings of the 4th and 5th centuries are replete with the thought that celibacy is the highest moral virtue, and chastity meant that one should strictly abstain from sexual relation even if it was between husband and wife. The perfection of a pure spiritual life lay in complete selfdenial, with no desire for physical pleasure. It was necessary to suppress any carnal desire because it strengthened animal nature. For them pleasure and sin were synonymous so much so that being happy was regarded as being forgetful of God. St. Basil forbade even laughing before Easter every year. Once he kept standing on one leg for a whole year. Often he would leave his monastery and retire to a well. Later he got a 60 foot high pillar erected near Antioch, which was three feet wide at the top and railed round. He spent the last 30 years of his life on this pillar and remained permanently exposed to the elements. His disciples carried food to him by ladder and removed his filth. He had even tied himself to the pillar by a string, which cut into his flesh; when the flesh became rotten, it bred worms; whenever a worm fell out, he would restore it to the sore, saying: Eat what God has given you. Crowds of pilgrims flocked to him from far and near. When he died the Christian world proclaimed that he was the best model of a Christian saint.

The memoirs of the Christian saints of this period are full of such instances. One particular saint had the characteristic that he observed silence for 30 years. He was never seen speaking. Another had tied himself to a rock; another roamed the jungles and lived on grass; another moved about carrying a heavy load; another kept his limbs and body tied in fetters and chains; some saints lived in the dens of beasts, or in dry wells, or in old graves; and some others remained naked and concealed their private parts under long hair and would crawl on the ground. After death the bones of the illustrious saints were preserved in monastery. I saw a full library decked with such bones in St. Catherine’s monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. There were skulls and foot-bones and hand bones arranged separately. A glass-case contained the whole skeleton of a saint.

4. The most painful and pathetic chapter of ascetic monasticism is that it cut asunder man’s relations with his parents, with his brothers and sisters, and even his children For the Christian saints love of the parents for son, love of the brothers and sisters for brother and love of the children for father also was sinful. They believed it was necessary for man to break off all those relations for the sake of spiritual progress. In the biographies of the Christian saints one comes across highly pathetic and heart-rending incidents. A monk, St. Evagrius, had been undergoing severe exercises in the desert for many years. Suddenly one day letters reached him from his father and mother, who were passing their days in great agony without him. The saint, fearing that the letters might arouse feelings of human love in his heart, cast the letters immediately into the fire, without even opening them. The mother and sister of St. Theodorus came to the monastery where he was staying, with recommendatory letters from many priests, and desired to have only a glimpse of him, but the saint refused to come out before them. St. Marcus’ mother went to the monastery to see him. She somehow obtained the abbot’s permission for it and requested him to order her son to come out before her, but the son was adamant to her prayers. At last, he implemented the abbot’s orders by appearing before his mother disguised and with closed eyes. Thus, neither was the mother able to recognize her son, nor the son saw his mother. Another saint, St. Poemen and his six brothers lived in a desert monastery of Egypt. Years later their old mother came to know of their whereabouts and went to see them in the monastery. As soon as the brothers saw their mother coming, they hurried into their cell and shut the door. The mother started crying and wailing outside saying: I have traveled in this old age from a distant place only to have a glimpse of you. There will be no harm if only I see you. Am I not your mother. But the saints did not open the door and told the mother that they would meet her in the next world. Even more painful and piteous is the story of St. Simeon Stylites, who left his parents and remained away from them without any trace of his whereabouts for 27 years. The father died of grief. When the fame of the son’s piety and holiness spread, the mother, who was still living in agony, came to know of his whereabouts. She came to the monastery to see him but women were not allowed to enter. She prayed that either the son should call her in, or he should himself come out to let her have a glimpse of him, but the saint refused to oblige her. The woman lay at the entrance for three days and three nights and at last breathed her last in the same state. Then the holy man emerged from his seclusion, mourned his mother’s death and prayed for her forgiveness. In the same harsh way these saints treated their sisters and children. There is the story of Mutius, a prosperous man by all means. Drawn out suddenly by the religious impulse, he took his 8-year-old son and went to a monastery. But for the sake of his progress to holiness it was necessary that he should give up love of his son. Therefore, first the son was separated from him. Then the innocent child was subjected to harsh treatment before his very eyes and he watched it patiently. Then, the abbot of the monastery ordered him to go and cast the child into the river. He became ready even for this; then right at the time when he was going to throw the child into the river, the monks saved the child’s life. Then it was admitted that he had actually attained to the rank of a holy man. The viewpoint of Christian monasticism in these matters was that the one who sought love of God, should break off all relations of human love that bound him in the world to his parents, his brothers and sisters and his children. St. Jerome says: Even if your nephew clings to you with his hands round your neck; even if your mother calls you back in the name of having suckled you; even if your father obstructs your way and lies down before you, you should hasten out to the banner of the cross, trampling the body of your father, without shedding a tear. Ruthlessness in this matter is piety itself. St. Gregory writes: A young monk who could not give up love of his parents, left the monastery one night in order to pay them a visit. God punished him for this error, for as soon as he returned to the monastery, he died. His body was buried in the grave but the earth did not accept it. He was placed in the grave again and again, and the earth threw him out every time. At last, St. Benedict placed a sacred offering on his chest, and then the grave accepted him. Of a nun it is said that for three days after her death, she remained subject to a torment because she had not been able to cleanse her heart of her mother’s love. About a saint it is written that he never treated anyone harshly except his relatives.

5. Their practice of meting out ruthless, cruel and harsh treatment to their nearest relatives, made their human feeling dead, with the result that they would treat with utmost enmity those with whom they had any religious differences. By the beginning of the 4th century, 80 to 90 religious sects had arisen in Christianity. St. Augustine has made mention of 88 sects of his own time, each of which regarded the other with extreme hatred. And the fire of this hatred also was fanned by the monks, who were always in the forefront to halt and destroy the opponent sects by their machinations. Alexandria was a great center of this sectarian conflict. There, in the beginning the Bishop of the Arian sect attacked the Athanasius party. Virgin nuns were dragged out of their convents, stripped naked and beaten with thorny branches and branded in order to make them give up their creed. Then, when the Roman Catholics came to power in Egypt, they treated the Arian sect likewise; so much so that according to the prevalent view Arius himself was also poisoned. Once in the same city of Alexandria the monks of St. Cyril created a turmoil. They seized a nun of the opponent sect and took her into their church; they killed her, backed her body to pieces, and cast it into the fire. Rome was not any different from this. In 366, at the death of Pope Liberius, two sects nominated their respective candidates for papacy; this resulted in great bloodshed; so much so that in one day 137 dead bodies were taken out from one church.

6. Side by side with this retreat from the world and life of seclusion and poverty, wealth of the world was also amassed most avariciously. By the beginning of the 5th century the condition was that the bishop of Rome lived in his palace like kings, and when his conveyance emerged in the city, it would be as stately and splendid as of the emperor himself. St. Jerome complains of the conditions of his time (later part of the 4th century) saying that the feast hosted by many of the bishops out-classed the feasts of the governors. The flow of wealth to monasteries and churches had assumed the proportions of a deluge by the beginning of the 7th century (the age of the revelation of the Quran). It had been deeply impressed on the minds that a person who happened to commit a grave sin could be redeemed only by making an offering at a saint’s shrine, or a sacrifice at the altar of a church or monastery. Then the same world and its luxuries and comforts abstention from which was the mark of distinction of the monks, lay at their feet. The factor which, in particular, caused this decline was that when the common people developed extreme reverence for the monks because of their undergoing severe exercises of self-discipline and self-denial, hosts of world seeking people also donned the monk’s garments and entered their ranks. Then under the garb of feigned poverty they turned acquisition of worldly wealth and possessions into a flourishing business.

7. In the matter of chastity monasticism was also repeatedly defeated in its fight against nature and defeated well and proper. In the monasteries some exercises of selfmortification were such as required the monks and nuns to live together in one and the same place, and they had often to pass the night in the same bed in their enthusiasm for more and more temptations. St. Evagarius, the well-known monk, has praised the self-control acquired by the Palestinian monks, saying: They had mastered their passion so completely that although they bathed with the women together, looked at their bodies, touched them, even embraced them, yet they remained invincible to nature. Although bathing was an odious thing in monasticism, such baths were also taken for the sake of exercise in selfcontrol. At last, about the same Palestine, St. Gregory of Nyssa (d. 396) writes that it bas become a center of wickedness and immorality. Human nature avenges itself on those who fight it. Monasticism fought it and ultimately fell in the pit of immorality the story of which is a most shameful blot on the religious history of the 8th to 11th centuries. An Italian bishop of the 10th century writes: If the penal law for misconduct is practically enforced against those who perform religious services in the church, none would escape punishment except the boys, and if the law to remove illegitimate children from religious services was also enforced, there might perhaps be left no boy among the attendants of the church. Books of the medieval authors are replete with the complaints that the nunneries had become houses of prostitution. Within their four walls newborn babies were being massacred; the priests and religious attendants of the church had developed illicit connections even with forbidden relatives; the crime of the unnatural act had spread like an epidemic in the monasteries; and the practice of confession had become a means of immorality in the churches. From these details, one can fully appreciate what corruption of Christianity is that which the Quran is alluding to when it says: The Christians themselves invented monasticism, but they did not observe it as it should have been observed.

(57:28) Believers, have fear of Allah and believe in His Messenger, [55] and He will grant you a two-fold portion of His Mercy, and will appoint for you a light whereby you shall walk; [56] and He will forgive you. [57] Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Compassionate.

55. The commentators differ in the explanation of this verse, One group says that the address here is directed to the people who believed in the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him). It is being said to them: Believe in the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) now; for this you will be given a double reward, one reward for believing in the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) and the other reward for believing in the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The second group says that the followers of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) are being addressed. They are being admonished to the effect: Do not rest content with your verbal affirmation of the faith only, but you should believe sincerely and truly. For this you will be given a double reward: one reward for giving up disbelief and turning to Islam, and the second reward for believing sincerely in Islam and remaining steadfast to it. The first commentary is supported by (Surah Al-Qasas, ayat 52-54) , and furthermore by the tradition reported by Abu Musa al-Ashari, according to which the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: There are three men who will get a double reward, one of them is a person from among the followers of the earlier Books who believed in this earlier Prophet and then believed in the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). (Bukhari Muslim). The second commentary is supported by (Surah Saba, ayat 37) , which says that the righteous believers will have a double reward. From the point of view of argument both the commentaries are equally weighty. However, considering the theme that follows, one feels that the second commentary is more in keeping with the context here; and in fact the whole theme of this Surah, from beginning to end, supports this very commentary. From the beginning of this Surah the addressees are the people who had entered Islam after affirming the Prophethood of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and it is they whom the Surah invites to believe sincerely and truly and not merely verbally with the tongue.

56. That is, He will bless you with such a light of knowledge and vision in the world by which you will be able clearly distinguish at every step the straight way of Islam from the crooked paths of ignorance in different matters of life, and in the Hereafter He will grant you the light that has been mentioned in verse 12 above.

57. That is, He will forgive you your errors that you may happen to commit due to human weaknesses in spite of your sincere efforts to fulfill the demands of the faith, and will also forgive those sins of yours that you had committed in the pre-Islamic days of ignorance.

(67:28) Say to them: “Did you ever consider: whether Allah destroys me and those that are with me, or shows mercy to us, who can protect the unbelievers from a grievous chastisement?” [38]

38. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) started his mission in Makkah and the members of the different clans of Quraish began to embrace Islam, the people of every house started cursing him and his companions. They started practicing magic and charms on him to cause his death, even devising plots to kill him. At this, it was said: Say to them: what will it profit you whether we perish or we live by the grace of God? You should worry for yourselves as to how you will save yourselves from the punishment of Allah?

(76:31) He admits to His Mercy whomsoever He pleases. As for the wrong-doers, He has prepared for them a grievous chastisement. [34]

34. In this verse “wrongdoers” imply the people whom the revelations of Allah and the teachings of His Prophet (peace be upon him) may reach, yet they deliberately and consciously decide that they would not obey and follow them. This also includes those unjust people who may plainly say that they do not accept the revelation as God’s revelation and the Prophet as God’s Prophet, or that they do not believe in God at all, and also those wicked people who may not refuse to believe in God and the Prophet and the Quran, but they are resolved not to obey and follow them. As a matter of fact, both these groups are unjust and wicked. As regards the first group, their case is clear and obvious; but the second group is no less wicked; it is also hypocritical and treacherous. Verbally, they say that they believe in God and the Messenger and the Quran, but in their hearts and minds they are resolved not to follow them, and their practical conduct of life is also opposed to it. About both Allah has declared that He has prepared for them a painful torment. They might strut about in the world, enjoy life as they like, boast and brag of their superiority, but ultimately they will be subjected to a disgraceful punishment; they cannot enter and enjoy Allah’s mercy in any way.

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“Prayers for Travelling Mercies: Seeking Protection on Journeys”

Let’s talk about ” Prayers for Travelling Mercies “

Embarking on a journey, whether near or far, fills us with excitement and anticipation. Yet, amidst the thrill of exploration, it’s essential to acknowledge the uncertainties that come with traveling. This is where prayers for traveling mercies come into play.

These heartfelt petitions seek the protection and guidance of a higher power as we set out on our adventures. In this blog post, we delve into the significance of prayers for traveling mercies, exploring how they offer solace, comfort, and a sense of divine presence throughout our travels.

Join us as we discover the reassuring power of these prayers in ensuring safe and secure journeys.

Table of Contents

A Prayers for Travelling Mercies

“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

Heavenly Guide,

As I embark on this journey, I come before You with a heart filled with hope and a humble request for traveling mercy.

May Your hand be upon the drivers, pilots, and captains, that they may navigate with skill and care. Grant us clear skies, smooth roads, and safe passages. Amidst the excitement of exploration, let Your calming presence be our companion.

As I journey, I am reminded of Your providence that spans beyond horizons. In moments of uncertainty, may I find solace in the knowledge that You are my refuge and my guardian. Lead me safely to my destination, and bring me back home with joyful tales to share.

In Your name, I pray for traveling mercy and divine protection.

Prayers for Travelling Grace and Mercies

Heavenly Father,

As I prepare to embark on this journey, I lift up my heart to You, seeking Your traveling grace and mercy.

Guide my steps, both near and far, and surround me with Your protective wings. May Your presence be my constant companion, offering peace amidst the uncertainties of travel.

Watch over the paths I tread, the roads I traverse, and the destinations I reach. Grant safe passages and clear skies, and guide the hands that operate vehicles and vessels. In moments of weariness, be my strength, and in times of solitude, be my company.

As I explore new horizons, remind me that Your love knows no bounds. Keep me from harm’s way and bring me safely back to my loved ones, enriched by the experiences and memories gathered along the way.

In Your name, I place my journey into Your hands, trusting in Your traveling grace and mercy.

Prayers for Travelling Mercies During Difficult Times

Compassionate Creator,

In the midst of challenging circumstances, I embark on a journey that requires courage and strength. As I navigate through difficulties, I ask for Your traveling mercy to be upon me. Be my guiding light, illuminating the path ahead and offering solace in the midst of adversity.

Amidst the storms that may arise, grant me the resilience to endure and the wisdom to make sound decisions.

When the road seems uncertain, help me to hold onto the hope that Your presence brings. May Your grace be my anchor and Your mercy my shield.

As I journey through rough terrains, both physically and metaphorically, let me not lose sight of the lessons that adversity teaches. Strengthen my resolve, and may my struggles transform into opportunities for growth and understanding.

In Your name, I seek Your traveling mercy during these difficult times, trusting that You are my constant source of comfort and guidance.

Prayer for Traveling Mercy Every Day

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

As I set out each day on the journey of life, I ask for Your traveling mercy to be with me. Guide my steps, guard my path, and keep me safe from harm. In the mundane routines and unexpected detours, may Your presence be my constant source of reassurance.

Watch over me as I navigate through the challenges and joys that each day brings. May Your grace be my compass, directing me toward opportunities for growth and connection. When weariness sets in, grant me renewed strength, and when uncertainties arise, offer me the wisdom to make choices aligned with Your will.

In this continuous journey, may I find solace in Your mercy, knowing that You are the ultimate guide through the twists and turns of life.

Traveling Mercy Prayer for Family.

Loving God,

As our family embarks on this journey together, we gather under Your protective care. Bless each member with traveling mercy, guarding our steps and keeping us united in love and harmony. May our bond grow stronger as we share experiences and create memories along the way.

Watch over our travels, whether near or far, and guide us safely to our destinations. May Your presence be the source of laughter, support, and meaningful connections. In moments of restlessness, remind us of the blessings we carry within our family.

Grant us discernment to navigate challenges, gratitude to appreciate each other’s company and an abiding sense of Your love to strengthen our family ties. May our journey be a reflection of the unity and togetherness You desire for us.

Prayer for Protection and Traveling Mercies

O Gracious Protector,

As I prepare to journey forth, I humbly seek Your divine protection and traveling mercies. Shield me from harm’s way and guide me through the paths ahead. Surround me with Your watchful care and the comfort of Your presence.

Grant me clarity of mind to make sound decisions and discernment to avoid dangers. May Your angels watch over my travels, ensuring safe passages and secure arrivals. In times of uncertainty, be my anchor, and in moments of solitude, be my companion.

As I embark on this journey, whether for leisure or duty, may Your grace go before me and Your peace accompany me. Keep me under Your protective wings and bring me back safely to the embrace of loved ones.

Prayer for Traveling Mercies for a Friend.

As my dear friend sets out on a journey, I lift up heartfelt prayers for traveling mercies to surround them. Watch over their path, from departure to arrival, and grant them safe passages and protected travels.

May Your presence be their constant companion, offering comfort and guidance along the way.

Guide their steps, guard their route, and bring them back to us with stories of their journey. Bless them with good company, favorable weather, and a heart full of gratitude for the experiences that lie ahead. May Your hand of protection be upon them, ensuring their safe return.

In Your name, I ask for traveling mercies to envelop my friend and bring them safely to their destination.

Morning Prayer for a Safe Journey

“The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the unwary; when I was brought low, he saved me.”

Loving Creator,

As the sun rises on a new day, I lift up my intentions for a safe journey ahead. May the roads I travel be guided by Your presence, and may Your protective hand shield me from harm. Grant me a clear path, vigilant senses, and the wisdom to make prudent decisions.

Surround me with Your grace and favor, that I may experience safe travels from morning till night. Whether by land, sea, or air, may Your angels watch over every step of my journey. May this day be a testament to Your guiding care and a source of gratitude for the gift of life’s journey.

In Your name, I commit this day’s travels to Your loving protection.

Prayer for Safe Family Trip.

Merciful Guardian,

As our family embarks on this journey together, we turn to You for your protective embrace. Bless our trip with traveling mercies and shield us from harm’s way. May our collective presence be a source of support, joy, and unity as we navigate this adventure.

Guide the hands that drive, the hearts that plan, and the paths that we take. May Your grace go before us, ensuring safe passages, smooth travels, and a return home filled with cherished memories. As we journey, may we grow closer as a family and deepen our bonds of love and understanding.

Watch over us, both near and far, and bring us back safely to the haven of our home. In Your name, we entrust this family trip to Your loving care.

Prayer for Safe Flight Journey.

Heavenly Protector,

As I board this flight, I humbly seek Your watchful care and guidance. Bless this journey through the skies with safety and grace. May the pilots’ skills be guided by Your wisdom, and may the plane soar under Your protective wings.

As I travel through the clouds, may Your presence be a source of comfort and reassurance. Grant me a safe landing at my destination, and bring me back home with a heart full of gratitude.

In Your name, I entrust this flight journey to Your divine protection.

Prayer for Safe Mission Trip.

As I prepare to embark on this mission trip, I lift up prayers for safe travels and divine guidance. Bless each step of this journey with Your watchful care. Keep our paths clear, our connections strong, and our purpose unwavering.

Guide us as we engage in service, compassion, and outreach. May Your light shine through our actions, touching the lives of those we meet. Protect us from harm, provide us with strength, and inspire us to make a positive impact on the communities we serve.

Watch over us in unfamiliar places, among new faces, and in moments of uncertainty. May Your love guide our mission, keeping us safe as we strive to bring hope and healing to others.

In Your name, we ask for Your protection and blessings for this mission trip.

Prayers for Safe Sea Travelling Mercies

Oceans’ Guardian,

As I set sail upon the vast seas, I turn to You for safe passage and protection. Bless this sea journey with calm waters, clear skies, and favorable winds. May Your hand guide the captain’s decisions and steer the ship through every wave.

As we journey upon the seas, grant us a sense of awe for the vastness of creation and the wonders of the deep. Bring us safely to our destination, and may our sea travel be a testament to Your divine providence.

In Your name, we seek Your protection for this sea journey.

“ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Prayer for Safe Travel Back Home

As I begin my journey back home, I seek Your protective presence and safe passage. Bless this return journey with Your guiding light. May the roads, skies, or paths that I take be free from harm and obstacles.

Watch over me as I travel, whether near or far, and bring me safely back to the haven of my home. May my journey be marked by joyous reunions, fond memories, and a heart full of gratitude. As I journey homeward, may Your peace accompany me and Your grace lead the way.

In Your name, I ask for safe travel back home, under Your loving care.

Prayers for Safe Travelling Mercies for My Husband

As my husband embarks on this journey, I lift up prayers for his safe travels and well-being. Watch over him as he navigates through unfamiliar places and experiences. Guide his steps, shield him from harm, and bring him back to us safely.

May his journey be marked by smooth passages, favorable conditions, and moments of inspiration. Surround him with Your protective angels, ensuring that his path is free from danger. As he travels, may he feel Your presence as a source of comfort and reassurance.

Grant him the wisdom to make sound decisions and the strength to overcome any challenges that may arise. In Your name, I entrust my husband’s journey to Your loving care.

Prayers for Safe Travelling Mercies for Students

As students embark on journeys for learning and exploration, I lift up prayers for their safe travels. Watch over them as they travel to and from schools, colleges, or educational excursions. Keep them under Your protective wings, ensuring their safety and well-being.

As they journey for education and personal growth, grant them safe arrivals and safe returns. May their time away from home be marked by fruitful learning, meaningful interactions, and memorable discoveries.

In Your name, we ask for Your traveling mercies for students as they embark on their educational journeys.

“I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.”

Conclusion 

In times of travel, the act of seeking prayers for traveling mercies connects us to a higher power that watches over us on our journeys. These prayers, whether for ourselves, loved ones, or others, serve as a reminder of our vulnerability in the face of uncertainties. 

They also remind us of the compassion and guidance available to us as we navigate through unfamiliar paths. Through these prayers, we acknowledge that even in the midst of bustling airports, winding roads, or open seas, we are not alone.

We find solace in the belief that a greater force is guiding our steps, protecting us from harm’s way, and ensuring our safe arrivals.

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Fall under the reign of god’s mercy 4 min read.

By: Habeeba Husain

Embracing The Infinite Grace Of Allah In Your Journey

It is always on those long solo drives that the gears of self reflection start turning in my mind. Earlier this month, I was on my way before sunrise to a familiar destination, alone. It was about a two hour trek the morning after heavy rainfall. As my car started and warmed up, my Bluetooth device connected automatically as it usually does, and a lecture started playing at random from a lengthy playlist of insightful talks. One specific zinger stuck with me: “Allah is infinite in His mercy. And the beauty of it is, at any point in your life when you decide to fall under the reign of this mercy, Allah leaves the door open. Look at your deen (religion). Excuse, after excuse, after excuse, after excuse! Drag you by the head and put you in Jannah (Heaven)!”

Unveiling The Immense Rewards In Islam

The speaker then explains what he means by this last intense line quoted above. From one ablution to the next, God says He will wash away the minor sins committed between them. Same thing between prayers, between Fridays, and the list goes on. Very small actions in Islam that take less than minutes at times weigh extremely heavy on the scale of good deeds. The speaker says God is making excuse after excuse to put us in Heaven, and yet as oftentimes lazy human beings, we do not take advantage of the opportunities to cash in on the rewards. The trade-in value for something as simple as reciting a single ten-second supplication in the morning is immense, equivalent to hours and hours of worship according to a narration of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). And yet, we still do not do it.

Embracing Self-Improvement With The Mercy Of Allah

As this year of 2018 winds down, all of the world is reflecting back on their 2018 on a global scale, but also on a personal level. Have I improved as a person? Did I accomplish what I wanted to professionally, personally, spiritually? If I did not, where did I mess up? Most importantly, how can I actually move forward full speed ahead into the new year and avoid another slump?

While humanity seems to ponder this question every December, Muslims are encouraged to take time out for this self-reflection much more often. We have to check ourselves daily and become better than we were the previous day. Instilling good habits and breaking bad ones are constants on the to-do list for a Muslim. It can seem like a trying task, but as the speaker reiterates, “Over and over and over again, the mercy of Allah is an excuse to take you by your head and put you into Jannah .”

Unlocking Immense Rewards

In other words, God makes it easy! He wants us there in Heaven. He wants us to be successful. For such small actions, He promises immense reward. God does not work on a one-to-one ratio. One good deed seldom equals one reward from the Islamic understanding of the equation. A simple intention before even acting out the good deed is enough to earn reward. As the speaker reminds, “The only thing it takes— the only thing it takes —is for you to make that intention that you will turn to Allah.”

Rededicating Your Life To God For A Fulfilling Journey

As the talk and my drive (and really, 2018) came to a close, I took away what I had to do next. I needed to “decide to fall under the reign of God’s mercy.” In short: make an intention. An intention to refocus and rededicate my life and time to God. Be productive, invest time in good acts. With a sincere intention, there is so much potential to turn life around and get set on the right track. God wants to see us take that initial step and then, He creates excuse after excuse to bestow His mercy on us and ultimately land us into that wonderful abode of Heaven.

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13 Good Prayers for Traveling Mercies

“Traveling mercies” are prayers for safe and smooth travel. From a time in the late nineteenth century when travel was more dangerous, the Lord would provide “traveling mercies” to those heading out on missions for their safe passage. If you are embarking on a similar state of travel, here are some good prayers for traveling mercies.

Traveling Mercies Prayer Heavenly Father, thank you that you will never leave me or forsake me. Please give me traveling mercies on my journey. Your word says that you will never leave me or forsake me, you are always with me. Please help me to travel safely knowing that you will never leave my side. May I reach my destination in peace and security. May your Holy Spirit surround me, and those I love. May I rest in your calm embrace, let my heart be warmed by the sound of your voice. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Safe Journey Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that you are my protector and provider. As I set off on this journey, I ask that you protect me from danger and provide for all my needs. You have promised that you will make all things work together for my good. Remind me that I am loved by you and that you are always working for me. May your love surround me, your Spirit guide me, your voice cheer me, your peace calm me, your shield protect me, your wisdom arm me, wherever you may lead me. In your mighty name, Amen.

Peaceful Trip Prayer King of Kings, Lord of Lords, thank you that you hear and answer my prayers. Hear my prayer today and grant me traveling mercies on this trip. The Bible says that I do not need to be anxious about anything, but in every situation, I should present my requests to God. Give me assurance that I have nothing to fear with you by my side. May your peace be in my heart, your grace be in my words, your love be in my hands and your joy be in my soul. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Guide My Steps Prayer Faithful Father, thank you that you are my creator, you know me better than anyone else. You know exactly what I need for this journey. You have said that if I trust in you with all my heart and do not lean on my own understanding, submitting to you in all my ways, then you will make my paths straight. Guide my steps, Lord. May I find the comfort I desire in you and the strength I need in your name. May your presence be with me every hour of the day. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Supply My Needs Prayer Mighty God, thank you that you are faithful to fulfill all your promises. You have promised that, even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. As I set out on this journey, I ask that you give me traveling mercies. Give me the strength to reach my destination. May your love be the passion in my heart. May your joy be my strength when times are hard. May your presence be my peace that overflows. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Bless My Journey Prayer O Lord my God, thank you that you can satisfy my every desire and need. Please bless my journey today and keep me safe from harm. May I feel your presence with me. You have said that you are near to all who call on you, to all who call on you in truth. Hear my prayer and watch over me as I travel. May the peace of God reign in my life, the love of God surround me, the Spirit of God empower me and the joy of God uphold me. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Travel Safely Prayer Lord, my Rock and Redeemer thank you that you have plans for me that are for my good and your glory. You know the journey I am taking and you know everything that happens to me. Your word says that when I call on you in prayer, you will listen to me. Hear my prayer and allow me to travel safely. Let me be filled with the peace and joy that comes from your spirit. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, and power and strength, be unto you my God, forever and ever. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Peaceful Journey Prayer Creator God, thank you that you are my strength and my song, you fill my heart with joy. Help me to have a joyful and peaceful journey. You have promised that whoever follows you will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Please help me to walk in your light everywhere that I go. May you, the God of all grace, who has called me into eternal glory by Christ Jesus, make me holy, strong and filled with peace. To you be glory and honor, forever and ever. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Protection Prayer Loving Father, thank you that you are the light of the world, guiding my steps on your path. As I set off on this journey, please guide my steps. You have said that in all things at all times, you will supply all that I need. Please give me the mercy and grace I need as I travel. Remind me that you are with me everywhere that I go. Deliver me from every evil work, and preserve me towards your heavenly kingdom. To you be glory, forever and ever. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

God’s Presence Prayer Heavenly Father, thank you that there is nowhere I can go that is beyond your presence. Please watch over me as I travel today. Your word says that, to those who ask, it will be given, to those who seek, it will be found and to those who knock, the door will be opened. Guide my steps. Let the majesty of the Father be the light that guides me, the compassion of the Son be the love that inspires me and the presence of the Spirit be the strength that empowers me. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Prepare My Journey Prayer Everlasting Father, thank you that I am never alone, your presence calms the troubled sea of my life and speaks peace to my soul. Your word says that you will never leave me or forsake me, you are always with me. Bless me with traveling mercies as I set off on this journey. Let me be conscious of your presence with me. May God the Father prepare my journey, Jesus the Son guide my footsteps and the Holy Spirit watch over me, on every path that I follow. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Safe Travels Prayer Compassionate Father, thank you that your word enlightens my eyes, purifies my soul and preserves me for eternal life. Please ensure my safety as I travel today. Your word says that when I pass through the waters, you will be with me, the rivers will not sweep over me, the fire will not burn me. Please help me to trust you. May the love of the Father, the tenderness of the Son, and the presence of the Spirit, gladden my heart and bring peace to my soul, today and for all days. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Watch Over Me Prayer Heavenly Father, thank you that you make known your love and that your purposes will stand, your plans will not fail. Please give me traveling mercies on my journey. You have said that you are good to all. You have compassion for all you have made. Remind me that you are always watching over me and I am safe in your care. You are able to do far more abundantly than all that I ask or imagine, according to the power at work within me. To you be glory throughout all generations, forever and ever. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

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Prayers for Traveling Mercies: 15 Powerful

Traveling can be a scary reality for many of us because there’s always the possibility of meeting with an accident when we embark on a journey.

Whether you’re taking a road trip, a family vacation, or simply taking a trip to visit a loved one, there’s hardly a guarantee for safety.

So often, what is supposed to be a fun time with friends and family becomes a time to worry. The uncertainty of entrusting your life in the hands of a pilot, driver, or sailor can take its toll on most travelers.

But this does not have to be the case. We should not allow ourselves to be ruled by fear . We may not know the future, but we have a God who knows and sees the future.

So let’s not be afraid to embark on trips because we have not been received the spirit of fear.

Instead of being anxious about your next trip, it’s best to entrust your safety into the hands of the Lord.

Hence, I urge you to calm your fears on your next journey by engaging God with these prayers for traveling mercies.

Here are Prayers for Traveling Mercies

A prayer for traveling mercy..

2 Samuel 22: 20 (NIV) – He brought me out into a spacious space; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Heavenly Father, the earth is yours and all its fullness. More so, I believe that you are the creator and maker of all things.

That’s why I know that you are in control of all things. Therefore, I commit my journey into your hands because everything placed in your hands stays secured.

Lord, I ask that you make me enjoy your mercy as I embark on this journey. Lead me safely and protect my every move.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Prayer for Traveling Grace and Mercy.

Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) – Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Holy Father, you said you had given all who believe in you the power to be called your own. So I come confidently as your child to your throne of mercy. I pray, Lord, that you will show me mercy in all my travels.

Father, I come to you in this time of need, asking for your protective covering over me. Let my steps be blessed on this journey. Establish my path and lead me safely to my destination.

Above all, let me experience the newness of your mercy always.

Prayer for Traveling Mercy D uring Difficult Times.

Lamentation 3:22 (NIV) – Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassion never fails.

Almighty God, thank you because you are a faithful God. You are also my help in ages past and my hope for years to come.

I’m grateful for your faithfulness in difficult times, especially in these past years. My heart is glad because you are always there to help me.

Dear Lord, I ask that you satisfy me with your mercy through this troubling time. Order my steps and uphold me in faith that I may not grow weary.

I pray that I will wait on you, dear Jesus, until my change comes. Lead me through this arduous journey to a place of rest and peace.

Prayer for Traveling Mercy Every Day.

Psalm 34:4 (NIV) – I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Awesome God, thank you because I see your mercies morning by morning. I’m also amazed by your steadfast love; I know this for sure because you are always there when I call on you. You do not hide your face from me, neither do you forsake me.

Father, I ask that you will lead me throughout this day. Deliver me from every evil today and bless my going and my coming to the praise of your name.

In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

Traveling Mercy Prayer for Family.

Isaiah 45:2 (NIV) – I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.

Gracious Father, you are my refuge and stay and help in trouble. I ask that you go ahead of my family members as they embark on this journey together. Keep us safe in your mercy, and let us rest under your protective wings.

Lord, I also request that you go ahead of them and bless this journey. Take away fears and uncertainties from their hearts and fill them with peace.

Prayer for Protection and Traveling Mercies.

Hebrews 13:6 (NIV) – So we say with confidence, the Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me.

Dear God, I pray that you guard and protect me on this journey. Keep me from all the dangers on the road. Let me dwell continually in the safety of your divine presence.

Abba Father, I commit my ways to you; give your angels charge over me.

In all, I pray that your mercies will see me through, and your faithfulness will preserve me.

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Prayer for Traveling Mercies for a Friend.

Deuteronomy 31: 8 (NIV) – The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

Merciful Father, I ask for your mercy upon my friend as he makes this trip. Please be with him and go before him this day. I also ask that you be gracious to him. Cause the light of your countenance to shine upon him that he may find favor in your sight.

Surround him with your loving care and preserve him from all harm. Lastly, I ask that you will lead him back safely.

In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen.

Morning Prayer for Safe Journey.

Psalm 23:2 (NIV) – He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters.

Faithful God, thank you for your presence in my life; that’s very refreshing. I’m also grateful to you for your mercy; that’s like the morning dew. So I’m not afraid as I embark on this journey because I know that you have gone ahead of me.

I thank you in advance for traveling mercies.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.  

Prayer for Safe Family Trip.

2 Samuel 23: 5 (NIV) – Is not my house right with God? Has he not made me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring into fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire.

Almighty and Everlasting God, thank you for the gift of family and for the time you have given us together. As we travel together today, cause us to be mindful of your presence. Please help us know that you are always with us to guide and guard us.

Protect us as we travel and keep us safe from every danger in our path. In all, let your watchful eyes be upon us to keep us protected in the shelter of your arms.

Also See: How to Pray: A Step by Step Guide .

Prayer for Safe Flight Journey.

Psalm 91:11 (NIV) – For he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.

Heavenly Father, you know how terrifying I find traveling by air. I’m always nervous whenever I have to use airplanes. So I ask that you give me peace in this journey. Remind me of your promises and let your word quieten the voice of the fear in my head.

Please help me see the gift you have given us with the invention of airplanes. So I can look beyond my fears and appreciate the miracle of flying.

Lord, I place myself in the hollow of your hands. Calm my fear and the fears of other passengers like me. Bless the flight attendants and bless those in the cockpit. Direct their actions and give them wisdom where they need it most.

Prayer for Safe Mission Trip.

Romans 10;15 (NIV) – And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

Abba Father, you have commanded us to preach the gospel to all nations. In obedience to your word, we embark on this mission trip. We are not sending ourselves; instead, we are going because you are sending us. Therefore, lead us safely as we go about doing your work.

You have called us away from our homes; therefore, prosper your work in our hands. We pray for protection over us. Protect us and bless every step we take in obedience to your word.

Most importantly, may doors that have resisted the gospel before now be opened to us.

Prayer for Safe Sea Travel.

Psalm 32:6 (NIV) – Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.

Merciful God, thank you because I know that you have given your angels charge over me. Let them accompany me on this journey as we set out, even till we arrive at our destination. By the authority in the name of your son Jesus, I speak calm over the sea; and I decree by faith that there shall be no loss of life or property on this journey.

Dear Father, let your hand of mercy rest upon us as we sail. I pray that you give wisdom and insight to the sailor and captain. Direct them aright that our lives may be preserved in this voyage.

Thank you because your covering is upon us, and we will not be victims of sea accidents.

In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.

Prayer for Safe Travel Back Home.

Psalm 32:8 (NIV) – I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.   

Faithful Father, thank you for leading me safely on my journey here. As I return, I ask that your mercy will lead me back home. You have preserved me throughout my stay here and have kept a constant watch over my family in my absence.

Now please go before me and avert every evil in my way so that I may arrive home safely to the praise of your name.

Prayer for S afe Travel for my Husband.

Psalm 121: 7-8 (NIV) – The Lord will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Good Shepherd, you are a God who sees the future and has control of the world in your hands. Therefore, I pray that you will go before my husband on this trip. Be the captain on this journey and lead him to safety.

Lord, your eyes are upon the righteous to keep them safe wherever they go. So I request that you sustain and keep him in your mercy.

Above all, bless the purpose of his journey.

Prayer for Safe Travel for Students.

Proverbs 16:9 (NIV) – In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

Loving Father, you are our source and sustained. Thank you for the academic excellence you have made possible in our lives. I also thank you for blessing the plans of our hearts and for causing us to flourish in all our academic pursuits.

As we embark on this journey, be our protector. May we be free from all harm and uphold us by your grace when we are tired.

We always forget the readiness of the Lord to help us. This is the reason we are always anxious about our lives and safety. So we must learn to pray about every aspect of our lives and trust in the ability of the Lord to save us.

Only then will we enjoy life in full. So whether you are traveling for a vacation or a business trip, commit it to God. And watch Him work miracles through these prayers for traveling mercies.

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Prayer For Safe Journey Mercies

Heavenly Father, thank you that you will never leave me or forsake me. Please give me traveling mercies on my journey. Your word says that you will never leave me or forsake me, you are always with me. Please help me to travel safely knowing that you will never leave my side. May I reach my destination in peace and security. May your Holy Spirit surround me, and those I love. May I rest in your calm embrace, let my heart be warmed by the sound of your voice. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that you are my protector and provider. As I set off on this journey, I ask that you protect me from danger and provide for all my needs. You have promised that you will make all things work together for my good. Remind me that I am loved by you and that you are always working for me. May your love surround me, your Spirit guide me, your voice cheer me, your peace calm me, your shield protect me, your wisdom arm me, wherever you may lead me. In your mighty name, Amen.

Mighty God, thank you that you are faithful to fulfill all your promises. You have promised that, even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. As I set out on this journey, I ask that you give me traveling mercies. Give me the strength to reach my destination. May your love be the passion in my heart. May your joy be my strength when times are hard. May your presence be my peace that overflows. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Lord, my Rock and Redeemer thank you that you have plans for me that are for my good and your glory. You know the journey I am taking and you know everything that happens to me. Your word says that when I call on you in prayer, you will listen to me. Hear my prayer and allow me to travel safely. Let me be filled with the peace and joy that comes from your spirit. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, and power and strength, be unto you my God, forever and ever. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Lord, please provide me with traveling mercies and keep me safe from all evil on my journey. Watch over my life and preserve my soul. Be with me from the time I step out the front door and until I return. Both now and forevermore. Amen.

Lord, you are so gracious and full of compassion. Please be with me if encounter misfortune on my journey. Thank you for being slow to anger and overflowing with mercy if I make a wrong turn along the way. You are good to all. Everything you do is full of grace. Amen.

O almighty and merciful God, Who hast commissioned Thy angels to guide and protect us, command them to be our assiduous companions from our setting out until our return; to clothe us with their invisible protection; to keep us from all danger of collision, of fire, of explosion, of falls and bruises; and finally, having preserved us from all evil, and especially from sin, to guide us to our heavenly home. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lady of the Highway, be with us on our journey, for all your ways are beautiful and all your paths are peace. O God, who with unspeakable providence does rule and govern the world, grant unto us, your servants, through the intercessions of our watchful mother, to be protected from all danger and brought safely to the end of our journey. Amen.

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Powerful Prayers for Journey Mercies in 2024

Journeys most times are fun-filled and adventurous, but for one reason or the other, most people panic before embarking on a journey especially if they are going to an entirely different place where they have never been before. Well, it’s cool to feel this way because the body, soul and mind have to sync with its new environment.

Travelling can be through road, water, rail or air and most times, the unexcepted can occur before or during the journey like flight cancellation and cars break down on the road but with a lovely journey mercy prayer from loved ones, the journey can become less stressful and memorable.

So, therefore, you can see how significant a powerful prayer for journey mercies is needed when your loved ones, husband, wife, brother, sister, girlfriend, boyfriend, friend or colleague is embarking on a journey. It will be kind of you to send them safe journey wishes and prayers.

I’m super excited because you are here today. It shows you really care for your loved one and this gesture will help you build a strong relationship with your loved ones. You’re a rare gem!

These powerful prayers for journey mercies in 2024 will make your loved ones feel loved and relax all through their journey, so, browse through them and come back thanking me!

Powerful Journey Mercies Messages

I pray for you as you set out on your journey this morning, the powerful Lord will be your Alpha and at the end of the journey, He will be your Omega and you will have every course to bless His holy name. Do have journey mercy.

1. With God all things are possible. I pray for you as you go on this journey, the Lord will keep you safe and His divine protection will be upon you and everything will work in your favour and at the end of the journey you will have the course to glorify the name of the Lord. I wish you journey mercies.

2. Dear Lord, I pray to your name this morning as I go on this journey, save me from all the evils that may be on the way. No weapon fashioned against me shall prosper. Let your name alone be praise at the end of this journey. Journey mercies.

3. As you go on this trip the protection of the Lord, will be on you and he will take away from your way all evils. No evil will befall you to and fro of the journey. Be rest assured your journey is accident-free in Jesus name.

4. The Lord, the great Shepard, will be your guide and your guardian angel all through this journey. You will not lack and all things will work for your good. Favour from all angles will locate you and at the end of the journey, the praise of the Lord will fill your mouth. I wish you journey mercies .

5. Dear friend, I declare into your life and the journey you are about to embark on, that, the presence of the Lord will go with you and his protection will not cease over you. No evil eyes will behold you and the will of the Lord alone will be done in your life and on the journey. Remain blessed and do have journey mercies.

6. As you go this morning, the Lord will go before you and take away from your way all the stumbling blocks and he will keep you safe and sound all through your journey. Do have journey mercy, dear.

7. Dear, Lord, I pray to you this morning, that the journey my lovely brother is about to embark on will be accident-free and all through the journey you will be with him and you will not forsake him and let him down. I wish you journey mercies in Jesus’ name.

8. Sweet Lord, in you alone I put my trust and as I embark on this journey. Lord, take preeminence, be the beginning and the end. Lord at the end of this journey, I will have the full cause to worship your name alone.

9. Lord, I praise you for always being there for me and my friend over the years and I come before you today to ask for your protection upon my friend as he is about to embark on this journey. Lord be with him and show yourself worthy of our praises at the end of the journey. I wish you journey mercy.

10. As you go on this journey, the face of the Lord will shine on you and protect you from all the evil that may be on your way. His mighty hand will be upon you and your journey will be accident-free in Jesus name. Do have a safe trip and journey mercies .

11. Dear, because you are God elect, the presence of God will be upon you and go before you and go with you. No evil will come near you. At the end of the journey, your testimony shall be perfect in Jesus, name. Do have journey mercies.

12. Sweet Lord, in a time like this I put my trust in you alone because it is you alone that can do it and I pray to you that this journey we are about to embark on will be to your glory alone and no scheme of the devil will come to manifestation on us.

13. Everlasting daddy, I call on you today that as my sister is about to go on this journey, at the beginning be the alpha and at the end be the omega and no evil will befall her. I praise you for her journey will be accident-free. I wish you journey mercies.

14. Lord, I commit into your able hands, my mother and her journey because you know the end from the start. Dear Lord, please keep her safe from all evil that may be on her way and let your presence be on her all through her journey. Do have journey mercies.

15. I declare into your life as you go this morning, the protection of the Highest will be on you and the reason for embarking on this journey will come to manifestation and you will have reasons to bless the name of the Lord at the end of the journey. I wish you journey mercies.

16. Lord, I put into your hands all the routes my friend is going to take in his journey today, Lord, take control and have your way. Let his journey be accident-free and your presence will be with him all through the journey.

17. Dear Lord, I pray for your presence as I go on this journey to keep me safe from all evil and the reasons for going on this trip will come to fulfilment in Jesus’ name.

18. Lord, you have never for one day let me down and I come before you this morning to ask for your divine presence for my dear friend as she embarks on her journey. Keep her free from any form of accident and let your favour locate her. Do have a safe trip and journey mercies.

19. If God is for us, who can be against us? As you embark on this journey, no evil will come near you and the presence of God will be your protector and your trip will be stress and accident-free. Do have journey mercies.

20. Because you have made the Lord your rock and refuge, no scheme of the devil will come to manifestation upon your journey. The will of the Lord alone will be done in your life. You shall be for signs and wonders. Do have journey mercy.

Prayers for Journey Mercies with Bible Verses

Psalm 27:11; on this your journey, I pray that the Lord will point you down His highway, he will direct you along a well-lighted street and he will show your enemies that he is always on your side. Do have journey mercies.

Secure your loved one’s journey with the bible verses and prayers for journey mercies below.

21. I know you are already on your way and I will like to pray for you with Psalm 121:7-8 that says the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil in Jesus, name. Do have journey mercy.

22. Exodus 33:15 says and he said unto him, if thy presence goes not with me, carry us not up hence. I pray as you journey today, may the presence of the Lord go with you. Do have journey mercy.

23. Ephesians 2:4-5 say “because of Your great love upon me, let your grace save me”. I pray throughout your travelling, may the Lord save you, in the name of Jesus. Do have journey mercy.

24. Psalm 121 vs 3-5; I pray may the Lord keep you safe and may He also grant you journey mercy.

25. Psalm 24:1; the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness of it, I pray as you go back to your destination, may the Lord guide you and grant you a journey mercies.

26. Rev 12:11 says “and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” As you journey out today, may you overcome all obstacles. Do have journey mercy.

27. Psalm 23; The Lord is my shepherd, I pray as you journey out today, may the Lord be your shepherd and guide you from all evils. Do have journey mercy.

28. Psalm 23:4; though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me. I pray as you journey back to your destination today, the Lord will protect you from all road dangers. Do have journey mercy.

29. Psalm 25:4; I pray as you embark on your journey may the Lord show you his path and give you a smooth trip. Do have journey mercy.

30. Deuteronomy 28:6; God’s blessing in your coming in, God’s blessing in your going out. Do have journey mercy.

31. Zechariah 2:5; as you go on this journey the Lord will be a wall of fire around you and a radiant presence with you. Do have a safe trip.

32. Proverbs 3:23; in this journey, you’ll travel safely and you will neither be tired nor trip. Do have journey mercy.

33. Psalms 91:4-5; as you go on this trip, the Lord’s huge outstretched arms will protect you, under them, you’re perfectly safe; his arms will fend off all harm. Have a safe journey.

34. Psalm 4:8; at the end of this trip, you will have the course to give God all the glory. Do have journey mercy.

35. Luke 4:10; fear not for it is written that he has placed you in the care of the angels to protect you, no evil will come near you in this journey and beyond. I wish you a safe trip.

36. Joshua 1:5; in this trip and beyond, the Lord, will be with you, he won’t give up on you and he won’t leave you. Do have a safe journey.

37. Joshua 1:9; don’t be timid and don’t be discouraged, the Lord God is with you in every step you take. Do have journey mercy.

38. Proverbs 2:7-8; because you have set the Lord before you, his eyes will be on you and he will pay special attention to all your needs in this journey. Do have a journey mercies.

39. Psalms 139:9-10; as you fly on the morning’s wings today, the Lord will find you because he’s already waiting for you. Do have a safe trip.

40. Number 6:24-26; in this your journey, the Lord will bless you, protect you, smile on you and make you prosper. Do have journey mercy.

Prayers for Safe Journey Mercies

As you go on this Journey, mercy will encompass you, grace will locate you and the presence of the Lord will overshadow you and guide you aright in this journey so that no danger will come near you. Do have safe journey mercies.

41. I pray God in his utmost mercy to guide and protect you and keep you safe in your journey till you return unscathed because I can’t wait to see you. Do have safe journey mercy.

42. May God go ahead of you in this journey and also behind you, may God also keep you safe from troubles. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

43. Mercy shall go before you as you embark on your journey. Favour will follow you and the canopy of God shall shield you from above. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

44. As you embark on your journey today, all I can say is, may the Lord guide and protect you, because I’m seriously missing you. I wish you safe journey mercy, handsome.

45. I pray you have a safe trip on this journey and I will be waiting to hear from you as soon as you get to your destination. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

46. I pray for you as you set out for your journey, the powerful hands of God will take away all dangers that might be in your paths. Do have safe journey mercy, darling.

47. I decree into your life, the main reason of this your journey will come to manifestation and God is in control in Jesus, name. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

48. As you go on this journey, things shall be divinely positioned for your benefit. You will be strengthened from within and stress will lay no hold on you. Do have safe journey mercy, big brother.

49. As you embark on your journey, I pray, may mercy speak for you and may every plan of the wicked ones concerning your journey be cancelled by the mercy of God. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

50. I pray as you embark on your journey today, may it be fruitful and be free from all forms of danger. Do have safe journey mercy.

51. As you journey out today, your best is coming, beyond your heart desires, beyond your countless prayer, beyond your sure connections. I pray may the best come your way. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

52. I don’t have anything to give you as you return to your abode today but I pray may the goodness and mercy of the most high go with you. Do have a safe trip.

53. As you go on this journey, all things will work together for good. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

54. On this journey because you have God as your backbone, no evil will befall you and you will return home in peace. Do have safe journey mercy, darling.

55. On this journey you are embarking on, the Lord will be with you and His will alone will be done in your life. Do have safe journey mercy, sister.

56. I pray for you, as you start your trip, may the Lord start with you and also end with you in good comfort. I wish you a stress-free and safe trip.

57. I pray for you this morning, your journey will be hitch-free and you will come back home rejoicing. I wish you safe journey mercy.

58. On this journey, you will enjoy God’s presence and goodness like never before and his banner over you will be love. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

59. Hey dear, because you serve the living God, on this journey no evil will come near you and the peace of God will be with you. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

60. I pray as you embark on your journey today, may trouble never locate you or be on your way. Do have a safe trip, damsel.

Prayers for Safe Traveling Mercies

I declare into your life as you embark on this much-needed journey, the presence of the Lord will illuminate your path and it shall be well with your soul and your journey will be a safe one. Do have a safe journey and travelling mercies.

61. Dear sister, on this your trip, journey mercy is all I ask for you and also cover you with the blood of Jesus. Do have journey mercy, sister.

62. As you embark on your journey, I pray may the Lord go before you, your journey full of fun and His protection will not cease over you. Do have a safe trip.

63. I pray for a blissful and danger free journey for you as you go this morning. Do have a safe journey.

64. On this journey and beyond, may the Lord protect you and keep you away from all danger. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

65. Hey brother, I wish you a safe journey back home and thank you for checking on me. Do have a journey mercies.

66. I pray for you, on this journey, the Lord will light your path and no darkness will have power over you. Do have a safe trip, brother.

67. I pray may the spirit of the Lord lead you, protect you and guide you as you go back to your destination. Thanks for coming around. Do enjoy your travelling.

68. On this journey, I pray, lines will fall for you in pleasant places. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

69. Hey buddy, don’t be afraid, the Lord of Hosts will be with you on your journey and you will come back rejoicing. Do have a safe journey.

70. Hello dear, though I don’t know the purpose of your journey notwithstanding I will keep praying for you to return safely and may your journey be blissful.

71. The Lord will keep you safe on this journey and his presence will never leave you. Do have a safe trip.

72. I pray for you, on this journey, the Lord will protect you and all your heart desires will come to reality and you will have the cause to thank God at the end of the journey. Do have a safe trip.

73. I declare into your life as you travel this morning, no weapon fashioned against you shall come to pass. Do enjoy your trip back home.

74. On your journey today, the Lord will direct and guide your path and all forms of danger are cleared from your path. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

75. The sun shall not smite you by day nor moon by night. The Lord’s hand will be on you, now and forever. Do have an accident free journey back home.

76. I pray for you, at the end of your journey today, hallelujah will be your song. Do have a safe trip.

77. I declare into your journey, whatever you lay your hands on shall prosper and the purpose of this travelling will be established. Do have a safe journey.

78. I decree into your life as you journey out this morning, the Lord will not pass you by, he will keep and protect you from all evil. Do have a lovely journey.

79. I pray for you as you go in peace this morning, you will not return home in pieces. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

80. On every route, may you encounter no harm. Favour and joy will come your way, you’ll get back to us safe and sound. Do have safe journey mercy, honey.

81. Hello darling, as you journey out today, you will reflect God in all you do and the purpose of this journey will manifest. Do have a safe journey.

82. May God’s protection be on you and may you be favoured by everyone you meet. This will be a safe trip, darling. Do have a journey mercies.

83.The tender mercy of God will be on you as you set out on this journey today and the Lord will preserve your life. Do have a safe journey.

84. As you journey out today, may the lovingkindness of God never depart from you. May you have all cause to appreciate God at the end of the journey. Do have a safe journey, darling.

85. I wish you better days ahead, dear and also wish you have a smooth landing without any form of accident. Have a safe trip, dear.

86. The lovingkindness and the truth of God will guide and direct your paths on this journey. Do have a safe journey mercies.

87. I pray for all you need to make this journey a blissful one, the Lord will provide for you and he will grant you journey mercies.

88. On this journey, the Lord will abide with you till the end and he will also comfort and help you. Do have a safe journey.

89. I declare into your life on this journey, you will not stumble, you will walk in your way safely and no evil will come near you. Do have a safe journey.

90. I pray for you; on this journey, the Lord will go before you and take away the dangers in your way and all you have to do is trust in his name alone. Do enjoy your journey.

91. On this journey, I pray for you, the mighty hand of God will uphold you till the end and you will have the full course to bless his name at the end of the journey. Do have journey mercies.

92. I pray for you on this journey, the Lord will cover you with grace and he will preserve you from all troubles. Do have a safe journey.

93. The Lord will lead you and protect you so that no danger will come near you on this journey you are about to embark on. Do have journey mercies.

94. I pray for you, on your journey today, the Lord will not forsake you and you will have every reason to bless his name at the end of the journey. Do have safe journey mercy, dear.

95. As the Lord has promised in the book of Joshua 1: 5 that says There shall not be any man, that will be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. So, keep calm, your journey is safe already.

96. On this journey, I pray for you, the Lord will be your shield and your buckler and under his wings will you dwell. Do have a safe journey back home.

97. As you set out this morning, the Lord will fight for you and all those who are against this travelling will be scattered. Your journey is safe, dear.

98. I pray for you on this journey and beyond, the face of the Lord will shine on you and he will be gracious to you and all you will do throughout the journey. Do have a safe journey.

99. As you go this morning, I pray may the protection of the most high be with you and keep you safe from all evils. Do have a safe journey back to your destination.

100. As you embark on this journey, cast all your cares on Him and rest on his love for he is faithful till the end. Do have a safe journey.

Wow! I must really commend you for coming this far and stick with me till the very end, you are simply the best! And one thing I bet you don’t know is how much these Powerful Prayers for Journey Mercies means to your loved ones until you receive one.

I can’t thank you enough for being that awesome and amazing person because, with these messages, you will surely make the journey of that your loved ones a memorable one.

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Kindly make use of the comment box to share your thoughts so as to serve you better.

Written by Olalekan Adebumiti

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