Allah tested Sulayman Alaihissalaam,then made Things easy for Him
(34. And indeed, We tried Sulayman and We placed on his throne Jasad (a body), and he returned.)
He turned back to Him and asked for forgiveness
(35. He said: “My Lord! Forgive me, and bestow upon me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me. Verily, You are the Bestower.”)
(36. So, We subjected to him the wind; it blew gently by his order wherever he willed,)
Al-Hasan Al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “When Sulayman, peace be upon him, slaughtered the horses out of anger for the sake of Allah, Allah compensated him with something better and swifter, the wind whose morning was a month’s (journey), and its afternoon was a month’s (journey).”
Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:
(An `Ifrit from among the Jinn came and bothered me last night- or he said something similar -Trying to stop me from praying. Allah enabled me to overpower him, and I wanted to tie him to one of the pillars in the Masjid so that you could see him this morning. Then I remembered what my brother Sulayman said, (My Lord! Forgive me and bestow upon me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me)) he said, “so he let him go, humiliated.” ) This was also recorded by Muslim and An-Nasa’i.
Allah Subhaanahu wataa’la says in the Holy Quran:-
(69. And recite to them the story of Ibrahim.)
Here Allah Subhaanahu wataa’la tells us about His servant, Messenger and Close Friend, Ibrahim, upon him be peace, the leader of the pure monotheists.
Allah commanded His Messenger Muhammad (Peace be upon him) to recite this story to his Ummah so that they could follow this example of sincerity towards Allah, putting one’s trust in Him, worshiping Him Alone with no partner or associate, and renouncing Shirk and its people.
Allah granted guidance to Ibrahim Alaihissalaam before, i.e., from a very early age he had denounced his people’s practice of worshiping idols with Allah, may He be exalted.
(70. When he said to his father and his people: “What do you worship”) (71. They said: “We worship idols, and to them we are ever devoted.”) (72. He said: “Do they hear you when you call”) (73. “Or do they benefit you or do they cause harm”) (74. They said: “(Nay) but we found our fathers doing so.”) (75. He said: “Do you observe that which you have been worshiping –”) (76. “You and your ancient fathers”) (77. “Verily, they are enemies to me, save the Lord of Al-`Alamin,”)
(78. Who has created me, and it is He Who guides me.) (79. And it is He Who feeds me and gives me to drink.) (80. And when I am ill, it is He Who cures me.) (81. And Who will cause me to die, and then will bring me to life. ) (82. And Who, I hope, will forgive me my faults on the Day of Recompense.)
Here Ibrahim Alaihissalaam mentions Allah Subhaanahu wataa’la‘s Kindness towards Him
Ibrahim Alaihissalaam said,
(And when I am ill, it is He Who cures me.) meaning, `when I fall sick, no one is able to heal me but Him, Who heals me with the means that may lead to recovery’. Here he attributed sickness to himself, even though it is Allah Who decrees it, out of respect towards Allah Subhaanahu wataa’la.
Shirk is the worst form of wrong, its practitioner shall never succeed,they will not prosper or be saved.
Allah Subhaanahu wataa’la says in the Holy Quran:-
(117. And whoever invokes besides Allah, any other god, of whom he has no proof; then his reckoning is only with his Lord. Surely, disbelievers will not be successful.) (118. And say : “My Lord! Forgive and have mercy, for You are the Best of those who show mercy!”)
Here Allah Subhaanahu wataa’la is teaching us to recite this supplication, for forgiveness, in a general sense, means wiping away sins and concealing them from people, and mercy means guiding a person and helping him to say and do good things.
As soon as Musa Alaihissalaam came from Madyan, he called Fir`awn to Allah and demonstrated tremendous miracles and clear proofs for the Truth that he brought.
Fir`awn then sent emissaries to various cities of his kingdom and collected magicians who were scattered throughout Egypt. Fir`awn and his people chose from them, summoned them, and Fir`awn promised them great rewards. These magicians were very eager to prevail over Musa Alaihissalaam in front of Fir`awn, so that they might become closer to him. Musa Alaihissalaam neither knew any of them nor saw or met them before.
“Musa Alaihissalaam met the leader of the magicians and said to him, `If I defeat you, will you believe in me and bear witness that what I brought is the truth’
The magician said, `Tomorrow, I will produce a type of magic that cannot be defeated by another magic. By Allah! If you defeat me, I will believe in you and testify to your truth.’
After witnessing the signs of Allah,they fell in prostration.
Pharoah threatened them by saying:
(123. Fir`awn said: “You have believed in him (Musa Alaihissalaam) before I gave you permission. Surely, this is a plot which you have plotted in the city to drive out its people, but you shall come to know.”) (124. “Surely, I will cut off your hands and your feet from opposite sides, then I will crucify you all.”)
but they said, `We are now sure that we will go back to Allah. Certainly, Allah’s punishment is more severe than your punishment and His torment for what you are calling us to, this day, and the magic you forced us to practice, is greater than your torment. Therefore, we will observe patience in the face of your punishment today, so that we are saved from Allah’s torment.’
Then they made this supplication
(“Our Lord! pour out on us patience”), with your religion and being firm in it,
Allah tells us that after He helped His close friend Ibrahim, peace be upon him, against his people, and after Ibrahim peace be upon him gave up hoping that they would ever believe despite all the mighty signs that they had witnessed, he emigrated away from them, and said:
(Verily, I am going to my Lord. He will guide me! My Lord! Grant me (offspring) from the righteous.) meaning, obedient children, in compensation for his people and relatives whom he had left.
Allah said:
(So We gave him the glad tidings of a forbearing boy.) This child was Isma`il, peace be upon him, for he was the first child of whom glad tidings were given to Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and he was older than Ishaq Alaihissalaam. The Muslims and the People of the Book agree, and indeed it is stated in their Book, that Isma`il, peace be upon him, was born when Ibrahim, peace be upon him, was eighty-six years old, and Ishaq Alaihissalaam was born when Ibrahim Alaihissalaam was ninety-nine years old.
Rabbanaa walaa tahmil ‘alaynaa isran kamaa hamaltahu ‘alal-latheena min qablinaa
It can be recited for
Protection from afflictions and calamities
Word-by-word Meanings:-
Transliteration
Arabic
Translation
Rabbanaa
رَبَّنَا
Our Lord
walaa
وَلَا
and (do) not
tahmil
تَحْمِلْ
lay
‘alaynaa
عَلَيْنَا
upon us
isran
إِصْرًا
a burden
kamaa
كَمَا
like that
hamaltahu
حَمَلْتَهُ
(which) You laid
‘ala
عَلَى
upon
al-latheena
الَّذِينَ
those who
min
مِن
(were) from
qablinaa
قَبْلِنَا
before us
Our Lord, and lay not on us a burden greater than we have the strength to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so Help us against the disbelieving people.”
Allah said, (mentioning what the believers said) while directing His servants to supplicate to Him, all the while promising them that He will answer their supplication:
“Our Lord! Push us not if we forget or fall into error,” meaning, “If we forgot an obligation or fell into a prohibition, or made an error while ignorant of its ruling.”
Muslim collected, wherein Allah said, “I shall (accept your supplication).” There is also the Hadith by Ibn `Abbas that Allah said, “I did (accept your supplication).”
“Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians)” means, “Even if we were able to perform them, do not require us to perform the difficult deeds as You required the previous nations before us, such as the burdens that were placed on them. You sent Your Prophet Muhammad Sallal laahoo alaihi wassallam , the Prophet of mercy, to abrogate these burdens through the Law that You revealed to him, the Hanifi (Islamic Monotheism), easy religion.”
There is the Hadith recorded through various chains of narration that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said,
“Our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear” of obligations, hardships and afflictions, do not make us bear what we cannot bear of this.
“Pardon us and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Mawla (Supporter and Protector) and give us victory over the disbelieving people.”
Allah said, `I shall.”’
“Pardon us” meaning, between us and You regarding what You know of our shortcomings and errors.
“And grant us forgiveness” concerning what is between us and Your servants. So do not expose our errors and evil deeds to them.
“Have mercy on us” in what will come thereafter. Therefore, do not allow us to fall into another error.
They say that those who commit error need three things: Allah’s forgiveness for what is between Him and them, that He conceals these errors from His other servants, and thus does not expose them before the servants, and that He grants them immunity from further error.” We mentioned before that Allah answered these pleas, “I shall,” in one narration and, “I did,” in another narration.
“You are our Mawla” meaning, You are our supporter and helper, our trust is in You, You are sought for each and every type of help and our total reliance is on You. There is no power or strength except from You.
“And give us victory over the disbelieving people” those who rejected Your religion, denied Your Oneness, refused the Message of Your Prophet , worshiped other than You and associated others in Your worship. Give us victory and make us prevail above them in this and the Hereafter. Allah said, “I shall,” in one narration, and, “I did,” in the Hadith that Muslim collected from Ibn `Abbas.
Further, Ibn Jarir recorded that Abu Ishaq said that whenever Mu`adh would finish reciting this Surah (Al-Baqarah),
(And give us victory over the disbelieving people), he would say “Amin.”
The Hadiths on the virtue of these last two ayats of surah Al-Baqarah:
Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Mas`ud said that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said,
“Whoever recites the last two Ayat in Surat Al-Baqarah at night, they will suffice for him.”
The rest of the six also recorded similar wording for this Hadith. The Two Sahihs recorded this Hadith using various chains of narration, and Imam Ahmad also recorded it.
Muslim recorded that `Abdullah said, “When the Messenger of Allah went on the Isra journey, he ascended to the Sidrat Al-Muntaha in the sixth heaven, where whatever ascends from the earth ends at, and whatever descends from above it ends at.
The Messenger of Allah was then given three things: the five prayers, the last Ayat in Surat Al-Baqarah and forgiveness for whoever did not associate anything or anyone with Allah from his Ummah.”
Ibn `Abbas stated ‘’While the Messenger of Allah was with Jibil Alaihissalaam, he heard a noise from above. Jibil Alaihissalaam lifted his sight to the sky and said, `This is a door that was opened just now in heaven, and it was never opened before.’ An angel came down through the door to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and said, `Receive the good news of two lights that you have been given and which no Prophet before you was given: the Opener of the Book (Al-Fatihah) and the last Ayat in Surat Al-Baqarah. You will not read a letter of them, but you will be granted its benefit.”
This Hadith was collected by Muslim and An-Nasa’i, and this is the wording collected by An-Nasa’i.
”My Lord, forgive me and my parents and whoever enters my house as a believer and the believing men and the believing women. And do not increase the wrongdoers except in destruction.”
To seek forgiveness for your parents and all the believers
To invoke Allah for the destruction of the wrong-doers
This is the supplication of Nuh Alaihissalaam.
Listen to the recitation of this dua.
Allah destroyed all of those on the face of the earth who were disbelievers. Allah even destroyed Nuh Alaihissalaam’s (biological) son from his own loins, who separated himself from his father.
He (Nuh Alaihissalaam’s son) said,
(I will betake myself to some mountain, it will save me from the water. Nuh Alaihissalaam said: “This day there is no savior from the decree of Allah except him on whom He has mercy.” And waves came in between them, so he (the son) was among the drowned.)
(11:43) Allah saved the people of the ship who believed with Nuh Alaihissalaam, and they were those whom Allah commanded Nuh Alaihissalaam to carry with him.
Then he said,
(My Lord! Forgive me, and my parents, and him who enters my home as a believer,) Ad-Dahhak said, “This means, my Masjid.” However, there is no harm in understanding the Ayah according to its apparent meaning, which would be that he (Nuh Alaihissalaam) supplicated for every person who entered his house who was a believer.
Then he said,
(and all the believing men and women.) He supplicated for all of the believing men and women, and that includes those of them who were living and those of them who were dead. For this reason, it is recommended to supplicate like this, in following the example of Nuh Alaihissalaam, and that which has been reported in the narrations and well-known, legislated supplications.
Then, he said,
(And to the wrongdoers, grant You no increase but destruction!) As-Suddi said, “But destruction.” Mujahid said, “But loss.” This means in both this life and in the Hereafter.
