Surah Al-Anfal, Verse 23/24

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 *Surah Al-Anfal, Verse 23:*

وَلَوْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًا لَّأَسْمَعَهُمْ وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ لَتَوَلَّوا وَّهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ

Had Allah known of any good in them, He would indeed have made them listen, and even if He had made them listen, they would but have turned away, averse (to the truth).

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*Surah Al-Anfal, Verse 24:*

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَأَنَّهُ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ

O you who believe! Answer Allah (by obeying Him) and (His) Messenger when he (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) calls you to that which will give you life, and know that Allah comes in between a person and his heart (i.e. He prevents an evil person to decide anything). And verily to Him you shall (all) be gathered.

#COMMENTARY

There are two points to note:

1. Note that after Almighty ALLĀH and His Messenger are mentioned, the pronoun and verb in the next clause are singular: everything that Almighty ALLĀH's Messenger put forward as an injunction came by inspiration from Almighty ALLĀH: the Messenger made his will coincide completely with Almighty ALLĀH's will.

2. We are asked actively to give our response in deed and life to the call of duty and conscience, for that call leads to real life, the life eternal, even though it may apparently mean in this world the loss of things that make life dear or the loss of life itself. If we refer this to jihād, i.e, fighting in and for the Cause, both literally and metaphorically, the meaning becomes quite clear.

If the human heart is refractory and refuses to obey the call of Almighty ALLĀH, that is not the end of the matter. Almighty ALLĀH has to be reckoned with. The refusal may be because there was some pet human scheme which the heart of man was not willing to give up for ALLĀH's Cause. Will that scheme come to fruition by refusing to serve the higher Cause? By no means. Man proposes, but God disposes. If the scheme or motive was perfectly secret from men, it was not secret from Almighty ALLĀH (Sub-haanahu wata'aala). The heart is the innermost seat of man's affections and desires: but Almighty ALLĀH intervenes between man and his heart.