In the name of Allah, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful.
I miss my Quran. A lot. Decided to do a random look up based on today’s date, 13/11. So I looked up Chapter 13 Verse 11 on quran.com:
لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِّن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ ۗ وَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ سُوءًا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُ ۚ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِ مِن وَالٍ – 13:11
ABDUL HALEEM
each person has guardian angels before him and behind, watching over him by God’s command. God does not change the condition of a people [for the worse] unless they change what is in themselves, but if He wills harm on a people, no one can ward it off–– apart from Him, they have no protector.SAHIH INTERNATIONAL
For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allah . Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron.
I find this very apt to describe this point of my life where I’m at and it is even more befitting that the name of the chapter, Ar-Ra’d, means ‘The Thunder’, when there is thunder and rain here in Tampines at about 3am now. I enabled more than one translation of the verse so that the meaning can be clearer for those of us, especially myself, who struggle to understand ye olde English.
I can’t exactly pen into words how I relate so much to this verse right now but let’s just say, whenever I’m looking for answers, I’ve been Spoken to. When He answers, I really need to take the time to reflect.
Actually, I feel the entire chapter is relatable right now. Feel free to have a read if you’re bored at https://quran.com/13. Especially the accompanying verses to verse 11. Like 10, 12, and 13. I really like how the chapter started off with tapping on your faith (“most of the people do not believe”) before tapping onto your intellect (“for people who reflect”), your sound judgement (“for people who reason”) and then your ability to make sense of things (“only those with understanding will take it to heart)”.
That shows, very importantly, that Muslims should not believe blindly but they should reaffirm their faith through reflecting and comprehending the signs of God’s presence.
But I think the best one is verse 24, especially after being patient with life struggles for so long. That one is just, wow, like struggling in life is actually worthwhile.
So here’s to struggling a bit more. Just a little bit more patience needed.
And Allah is Al-Wasi’, the Vast, the All-Encompassing. – MM
Metropolitan Muslimah 