إِنَّمَا كَانَ قَوْلَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذَا دُعُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ أَن يَقُولُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ
All the response of the faithful, when they are summoned to Allah and His Apostle that He may judge between them, is to say: ‘We hear and obey.’ It is they who are the felicitous.
EXEGESIS
Qawl literally means speech, however here it is speech which involves commitment and obligation.[1]
Mufliḥūn (felicitous) is the plural of mufliḥ, and comes from the root of falaḥa, which is said to have two main meanings; one is to cleave apart (the earth), and the other is to succeed and prevail.[2] The two meanings are connected to each other, because the one who reaches success cleaves a path towards it.[3] The farmer is called fallāḥ as he cleaves open the earth. The one who succeeds is called mufliḥ because like the skilled farmer he too plants seeds, which will yield an output that far exceeds the tiny seed.[4]
EXPOSITION
After dealing with what is not faith, and exposing that selective faith is simply self-serving hypocrisy, God now describes what actual faith is.
All the response of the faithful: the word innamā (All the) has a restrictive function. In other words, they do not say anything but this.[5] A believer does not add anything to that, does not question the word of God or His Messenger, nor does He protest it in any way, O you who have faith! Do not venture ahead of Allah and His Apostle (49:1).
When they are summoned to Allah and His Apostle that He may judge between them: this summoning refers to the call of some of the believers to some others when they have a disagreement about something, telling them: ‘Come, let us go and allow the Messenger of God to judge between us.’[6] It may, more generally, be applied to the law of God in the absence of the Messenger.
Is to say: ‘We hear and obey’: this is not meant to inform how the Muslims behaved, but rather how they should behave if they have true faith.[7] They should obey the call as soon as they hear it. It is also worth noting that the verbs samʿinā wa aṭaʿnā are in the past tense (lit. we heard and we obeyed), perhaps alluding to the fact that they have heard the call of God before and have chosen to obey it and they declare that they understand that their faith requires that they must obey any command that comes to them, for they have already earlier made the decision to submit obediently.
Also note the use of the verb hear. Hearing is not used here to simply mean to hear the speech, but to hear in the sense of comprehension.[8] The Quran speaks of this in many other verses, such as, Do not be like those who say: ‘We hear,’ though they do not hear (8:21). When a believer declares that he has heard God’s call, it means he has understood it is from God and has accepted it.
Hence in Sūrat al-Nisāʾ we read that faith and submission is more than just outward obedience; it is a full and complete inward submission as well: But no, by your Lord! They will not believe until they make you a judge in their disputes, then do not find within their hearts any dissent to your verdict and submit in full submission (4:65). The statement that they do not find within their hearts any dissent is very significant. To fully embrace and submit to the command of God so that one does not find even the slightest amount of dissent with regards to it is no small task.
Does all of this mean that a believer is simply a mindless drone? He simply hears and obeys without applying reason? Is this what is meant by the verse A faithful man or woman may not, when Allah and His Apostle have decided on a matter, have any option in their matter, and whoever disobeys Allah and His Apostle has certainly strayed into manifest error (33:36)? No, it does not mean that. Rather, as we said, a believer enters into the covenant of faith after applying reason. The companions even gave advice to the Prophet based on their own reasoning. However, it means once the command of God or His Prophet has been issued and made clear – when Allah and His Apostle have decided on a matter – then reason cannot be used to supersede that.
It is they who are the felicitous: a juxtaposition to the ending of the previous verse which was it is they who are the wrongdoers.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- 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.[9]
[1] Raghib, p. 688, q-w-l.
[2] Maqayis, 4/450, f-l-ḥ.
[3] Nemuneh, 14/522-523.
[4] Sharawi, pp. 10308-10309.
[5] Nemuneh, 14/521.
[6] Mizan, 15/148. See also Alusi, 9/389.
[7] Baghawi, 3/424.
[8] Sharawi, p. 10308, who goes even further, saying that hearing has the meaning of responding (ijābah), likening it to the statement made in prayer: samiʿa allāhu li man ḥamidah (God has heard the one who praises Him).
[9] Proverbs 3:5-6.