Knowledge and Action

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate 

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam. 

The saying of Allah Ta’ala,

 

وَٱلْعَصْرِ ﴿١﴾ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ لَفِى خُسْرٍ ﴿٢﴾ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ ﴿٣﴾

 

By time, (1) Indeed, mankind is in loss, (2) Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience. (3)

 

Ash-Shafi'e – may Allah be pleased with him – said: ‘If all the people reflected over this Surah it would be sufficient for them.’

 

The explanation of this is that this Surah has four levels, and by completing these, a person can achieve the highest goal in being complete.

 

The first is: Knowing the truth.

 

The second: his acting upon the truth.

 

The third: Him teaching the one who is deficient in the truth.

 

The fourth: Being patient in learning the truth, and acting upon it, and teaching it.

 

Allah Ta’ala mentioned these four levels in this Surah, and Allah Subhanahu testified in this Surah by al-Asr (the time) that everyone is in loss, except those who believe and do righteous, good deeds and they are those who knew the truth, and they testified to the truth. So the above is a level.

 

They did righteous, good deeds and they are those who performed worship with what they knew about the truth. So this is a level.

 

They advise with the truth; they advise one another, teaching and guiding each other. So this is the third level.

 

They advise with patience; they were patient with the truth, and they advised each other with patience upon the truth, and to be steadfast. And this is the fourth level.

 

This is the end of completeness; indeed completeness is that a person is complete in himself, and completes others. His completeness is by correcting his two strengths, the strength of knowledge and the strength of actions. 

 

Correction of the strength of knowledge is with Imaan, and correction of the strength of actions is by doing righteous deeds, and by completing people other than himself, and by learning this knowledge, and being patient upon it, and his recommending with patience upon knowledge and action.

 

So this Surah, even though it is brief, is one of the most collective Surrahs of the Quran for goodness from all its different angles.

 

Praise be to Allah Who has made the Quran sufficient for everything, a cure from every disease, a guidance to all that is good.

 

By Shaykh ul–Islaam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

Translated by: Abbas Abu Yahya

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam. 

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all. 

Wassalaam