يا بُنَيَّ أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ وَأمُر بِالمَعروفِ وَانهَ عَنِ المُنكَرِ وَاصبِر عَلىٰ ما أَصابَكَ ۖ إِنَّ ذٰلِكَ مِن عَزمِ الأُمورِ
O my son! Establish the prayer and bid what is right and forbid what is wrong, and be patient through whatever may visit you. That is indeed from the resolute undertakings.
EXEGESIS
Al-maʿrūf (that which is right) when it appears in opposition to al-munkar, as it does in this verse, means goodness, virtues, actions the goodness of which is established by the accepted norms, particularly from a religious perspective. Ṭūsī and Ṭabrisī define the word al-maʿrūf to mean obedience (of God), while the latter adds that al-maʿrūf is also what the intellect and the shariah call to.
Al-munkar (that which is wrong), in opposition to al-maʿrūf, means wrongs and wrongdoings, deeds that are commonly recognised, particularly from a religious perspective, to be wrongdoings. Ṭūsī and Ṭabrisī define it as abominations and offences irrespective of whether these are rational wrongs, or wrongs deemed as such by the shariah, while the latter adds that just as al-maʿrūf is what the intellect and the shariah call to, al-munkar is what the intellect and the shariah discourage and restrain from.
ʿAzm (resolute) occurs in this verse as part of a possessive construct phrase, which is ʿazm al-umūr. Rāghib defines ʿazm to mean strengthening the heart or rendering it resolute for executing a matter or accomplishing a task, to strengthen one’s willpower in favour of a thing. Ṭūsī (and following him Ṭabrisī) defines it as firm determination in favour of a matter (preferably a good one rather than a bad one) in order to prepare or ready the self to carry it out. He then adds that irresoluteness or fickleness contradicts firm determination. Therefore it means resoluteness, determination, willpower, fortitude. The word umūr is the plural of amr and means affairs, matters, conditions, situations. The phrase ʿazm al-umūr is essentially explained in two ways: 1. It can mean resoluteness of actions/undertakings or resolute undertakings; seriousness of undertakings or serious matters, in the sense that the relevant undertaking or matter requires resoluteness, steely determination, seriousness, and willpower from a person. 2. It can also mean here determined essential matters which God has positively affirmed and asserted; matters decided and resolved upon by God and rendered incumbent, and from which there is no escape. These two meanings are mentioned repeatedly in Quranic commentary literature. Perhaps it could be argued that these two meanings for this phrase are mutually inclusive in that ʿazm al-umūr can mean both determined essential matters which God has positively affirmed, asserted, and rendered incumbent, and from which there is no escape, and consequently these are matters that are incumbent on the person who needs to determinedly resolve to undertake them, and that s/he is not permitted to take liberties or make compromises with them. Both definitions indicate the significance of the matters/undertakings.
The phrase has also been understood to mean a reference to matters which require constancy and fortitude.
EXPOSITION
Having finished elucidating the first of four teachings, which was a call to correct belief in God (verse 13) and the Day of Resurrection (verse 16), Luqmān embarks on elucidating the second teaching which forms part of his counsel, which is a call to virtuous deeds. This includes establishing the ritual prayer, which is the pillar of the faith, bidding right, forbidding wrong, and patience in the face of adversities. There now follows their explanation.
O my son! Establish the prayer: there is a difference between establishing the ritual prayer and merely performing it. Establishing the ritual prayer means endeavouring to enjoin it to others and urging society in favour of this seminal devotion, which serves as a link between God and the human being. This is while performing the ritual prayer means engaging in it at a personal, individual level. However, it is possible that the meaning of establishing the ritual prayer is to perform it constantly in line with its required conditions, accompanied with submission to God and reverence to Him, such that during the prayer nothing occupies the mind and heart of the one praying save God.
Indeed, the ritual prayer is the best deed to which a number of prophets called, such as the prophets Abraham (14:37), Ishmael (19:55), and Jesus (19:35). Thus the ritual prayer is the most ancient worship that God’s prophets and messengers encouraged and established, although its form differed, till came the time of the last of them, Muhammad (s), who encouraged its performance and establishment by means of revealed verses which formed the glorious Quran.
The ritual prayer has its rules and secrets. It helps remind of God (20:14), while God’s remembrance is the peak of all knowledge. It leads to tranquillity of the heart (13:28), and so whoever wishes to refine and cultivate his soul and return to God should therefore engage in God’s remembrance for it serves like a shield in the face of personal whims, desires, and the tyranny of the self. And if God has claimed in the Quran that the ritual prayer prevents a person from abomination and evil (29:45) then that is because the ritual prayer is God’s remembrance and is strongly tied to it. If performed soundly, it remedies every psychological and spiritual sickness and contends against every satanic desire.
Bid what is right and forbid what is wrong: when a person lives alone rather than in a society, the effects of his good or bad deeds are felt by him alone and others are not affected by them, however if he lives as part of society then society is affected by both kinds of deeds. As a result, it is observed how the Messenger of God compares a society to a ship sailing at sea: all passengers aboard it have one common destiny and fate. If the ship reaches ashore, all the passengers are saved, but if it sinks, all of them perish. Al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr relates from the Messenger of God, who said: ‘The example of an evil person in society is like that of a group aboard a ship. They divide the space in the ship among themselves and so every person has a spot for him or herself on it. Suddenly, one of them takes hold of an axe and begins to make a hole in his spot. His co-passengers exclaim: “What are you doing? Do you wish to drown yourself and us too?” He replies: “This is my spot [and I can do whatever I wish in my spot].” Hence, if his co-passengers take hold of his hand and stop him, he will be saved, and so will they. However, if they leave him be, he will certainly break up the ship, drown, and drown them too!’ In another version of this report, it concludes with the imperative: ‘So take hold of the hands of your foolish ones before you all perish!’
Since social life is a life of social responsibilities and engagements, the Quran pays special attention to it. It places on a Muslim many responsibilities towards his society. Consequently, bidding right and forbidding wrong is a responsibility of every Muslim, male and female. It is public oversight for everything that occurs in a society that serves as a deterrent to evil and corruption, which aim to corrupt and spoil society. You are the best nation [ever] brought forth for mankind: you bid what is right and forbid what is wrong, and have faith in Allah (3:110). Imam al-Bāqir (a) is attributed to have said: ‘Bidding right and forbidding wrong is the way of the prophets and the course of the virtuous. It is a great duty by which [other] duties are established, roads are rendered safe, commerce is rendered possible, wrongs are thwarted, the world flourishes, revenge is exacted from enemies, and matters are rendered upright.’ Admittedly, the oversight duties of an individual are different from those of a government. The former carries out public oversight duties by means of speech and pen, while a government carries it out in light of the power and strength at its disposal, by applying the penalties and restricting the tyranny of people.
Rāzī shares an interesting observation here. He observes that the injunction to bid right and forbid wrong occurs after the imperative to give thanks to God, the imperative to ascribe no partners to Him, and the imperative to establish the prayer. This suggests the principle that individuals can help others perfect their lives after having perfected their own beliefs and worship of God. This is what prophets and the scholars who succeed them do; they perfect themselves first and then perfect others.
And be patient through whatever may visit you: this imperative could be understood generally as an individual teaching to mean have patience in the face of all adversities and afflictions suffered during the course of life, and it could be understood contextually, thereby rendering it specific, as a teaching associated with and as a consequence of the immediately previous teaching of bidding right and forbidding wrong. The second interpretation is ascribed to Imam Ali (a) who explained: ‘And be patient through whatever may visit you from the people, of hardship and injury in the course of bidding right and forbidding wrong.’
The natural world is a world composed of causes and effects. Whoever wishes an effect must seek it from its cause. This is clear and unambiguous, however getting to an effect requires deep-rooted determination in the course of obtaining it. If deep-rooted determination is absent, the human being shall not achieve what he desires. The Quran expresses this principle with the term ‘patience’, which is tenacity and perseverance in the course of achieving the desired goal. That is why we observe that the Quran couples patience with self-fortification which is intimately tied with exerting effort and bearing difficulties. God says: O you who have faith! Be patient, vie in endurance, close [your] ranks, and be wary of Allah so that you may be felicitous (3:200). Thus, this verse puts together patience, competing with others in patience, fortification, and God-consciousness, while what ties these four together is firm and deep-rooted determination.
In a similar manner, the bliss of the hereafter is subject to patience in obeying God and patience in abstaining from His disobedience. Consequently, we observe the angels congratulating the believers when they shall enter paradise due to their patience, and the angels will call on them from every door: ‘Peace be to you, for your patience.’ How excellent is the reward of the [ultimate] abode! (13:23-24). The Quranic revelation further clarifies that twenty believers having donned the armour of patience would overcome two hundred of God’s enemies: O Prophet! Urge on the faithful to fight: if there be twenty patient men among you, they shall overcome two hundred; and if there be a hundred of you, they shall overcome a thousand of the faithless, for they are a lot who do not understand (8:65).
In the foregoing, the strength of Luqmān’s thought becomes evident where he counselled his son of the peak of nobility and the keys to happiness. Finally, he concludes with the words, That is indeed from the resolute undertakings. This part of the verse has two parts to it, which have garnered a couple of differing interpretations. These two parts are the demonstrative pronoun That (dhālika), and the phrase resolute undertakings. The following are some of the interpretations for the demonstrative pronoun That in this verse: 1. It refers to all four items mentioned in this verse, together, which are establishing prayer, bidding right, forbidding wrong, and patience in the face of suffering. 2. It refers to bidding right and forbidding wrong. 3. It refers to patience. Thereafter, the phrase resolute undertakings is understood to either mean undertakings that God has determined and rendered necessary and from which there is no escape, or that these undertakings require determination and fortitude as elucidated in the Exegesis. However, as it was suggested there, both these meanings for resolute undertakings can plausibly be taken together as mutually inclusive. See the Review of Tafsīr Literature section for a brief discussion regarding these varied interpretations.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- Imam Ali (a) said the following in the course of recommending the ritual prayer to his companions: ‘Devote yourselves to the ritual prayer and keep to it. Say it excessively and draw near [to God] by it … for the prayer is indeed a timed prescription for the faithful [4:103]. Have you not heard the reply of the inhabitants of hellfire when they will be asked: ‘What drew you into hell?’ They will answer: ‘We were not among those who prayed’ [74:42-43]? The ritual prayer certainly scraps away sins like the removal of leaves [from a tree], and it turns them loose the way a noose is loosened. The Messenger of God (s) compared it to a hot spring at the door of a person’s house. He washes in it five times every day and night. What filth would then remain on him? This is while the Quran says that [some] believing men have recognised its worth. These are those whom neither the lure of possessions nor a child who is the apple of their eye, or wealth, distracts from the ritual prayer. God says: men whom neither trading nor bargaining distracts from the remembrance of Allah, and the maintenance of prayer and the giving of zakāh [24:37]. The Messenger of God (s) used to exert himself to the utmost in ritual prayer even after having been informed of the good news of paradise, and this was because of God’s speech, And bid your family to prayer and be steadfast in its maintenance [20:132]. Consequently, he used to instruct his family to pray and would himself be patient with it.’
- Muʿāwiyah ibn Wahab relates: ‘I asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) about the best thing by which God’s servants can draw closer to their Lord and the most beloved of that to God, the mighty and majestic. He replied: “I do not know of anything better than this ritual prayer (ṣalāh), after knowledge [of God] (maʿrifah).”’
- Muhammad ibn al-Fuḍayl relates from Imam al-Riḍā (a), who said: ‘The ritual prayer is the offering of every pious person [to God, by which s/he draws near to Him].’
- Imam Ali (a) said the following about the importance of bidding right and forbidding wrong. After having praised and glorified God, he said: ‘Thereafter, surely those before you perished because whenever they committed wrongs the rabbis and priests [among them] did not forbid them from that. And when they persisted and went to extremes in committing wrongs, and the rabbis and priests did not stop them from that, the retribution descended. So bid the right and forbid the wrong and know that bidding right and forbidding wrong has never brought death near nor severed sustenance.’
- Masʿadah ibn Ṣadaqah relates that he heard Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) say the following in response to a question regarding bidding right and forbidding wrong. The question was whether this practice was obligatory on the entirety of the Muslim community, to which the Imam replied in the negative. When asked why, he said: ‘It is a duty for the strong and the powerful, for the one who is obeyed, for the one who is sufficiently learned in the difference between right and wrong. It is not obligatory on the weak, nor on the one who is unable to distinguish the right way from the wrong, and mixes up truth with falsehood.’
- Imam Ali (a) describes the establishment of this serious responsibility in a unique way. He asked: ‘What are good deeds in their entirety, and struggling in God’s way, compared to bidding right and forbidding wrong, save like an emitted drop in a deep and tumultuous sea!’ This assessment demonstrates the great significance of this duty and the role it plays in establishing the various duties in society, for had it not been for public oversight, many of the laws would break down at both the individual and societal level. The report attributed to Imam al-Bāqir (a), cited in the Exposition section, elaborates on this assessment.
- Although abandoning the practice of bidding good and forbidding wrong is a deplorable matter, more deplorable than that is when right is turned into wrong and vice versa. Masʿadah ibn Ṣadaqah relates from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) who said: ‘The Prophet (s) once asked: “How will you feel when your womenfolk shall become depraved and your youth shall lead immoral lives while you will not bid good and forbid wrong?” He was asked [in disbelief]: “Will that really happen, O Messenger of God?!” He replied in the affirmative and added: “Worse than that! How will you feel when you will be bidden to evil and stopped from the good?” He was asked again [in disbelief]: “Messenger of God, will that happen too?” He replied in the affirmative, and added: “Worse than that! How will you feel when you will consider good to be evil and evil to be good?”’
- The Messenger of God said: ‘Patience serves as a veil from suffering and anguish, and it is a help against trouble and misfortune.’
- Imam Ali (a) said: ‘The best patience is in the face of bitter calamity.’
- Imam Ali (a) said: ‘Patience in the face of lust is chastity, and in the face of anger is bravery, while patience as one struggles to turn away from [God’s] disobedience is piety.’
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
As noted earlier, the demonstrative pronoun That, and the phrase resolute undertakings (ʿazm al-umūr) in this verse have a number of competing understandings.
One of these is the one espoused by, for example, the contemporary scholar Subḥānī, or espoused by the Quran commentary prepared under his supervision, where it says about this verse: ‘Thereafter, God describes all these matters – establishing prayers, bidding right, forbidding wrong, and patience – as being from the definitive, enjoined undertakings for His creatures; matters which are inescapable for God’s servants.’ At another place, relevant to this verse, the commentary says: ‘Finally, God describes what went before by the words, That is indeed from the resolute undertakings. The demonstrative pronoun That refers to establishing prayer, bidding right, forbidding wrong, and patience in the face of suffering, and then He describes all that as being from the resolute undertakings, meaning matters that God has determined and rendered necessary.’
Hence, That refers to all four deeds together, while resolute undertakings refers to these four deeds as being those that have been determined and decreed by God. Fayḍ Kāshānī, for example, also understood the phrase resolute undertakings to mean deeds that have been determined and decreed by God.
Another understanding is the one favoured by Ṭūsī. He writes: ‘The pronoun That is a reference to what God mentioned of bidding good and forbidding wrong, which is from the resolute undertakings. The latter is firm or sound determination in favour of a good deed rather than an evil one. Al-ʿazm is to resolve oneself in favour of a deed, in order to ready the self to carry it out. Irresoluteness or fickleness contradicts firm determination.’
Hence, here, That refers to bidding good and forbidding wrong, while resolute undertakings means undertakings requiring fortitude and resoluteness.
Yet another understanding, which is the one espoused by Tabatabai for example, (and apparently also by Mughniyyah), is: ‘The demonstrative pronoun That, which is the demonstrative pronoun of distance [as opposed to the demonstrative pronoun of nearness, which is “this (hādhā)”), is used to denote magnificence and elevation and actually refers to “patience” here. This is because God describes “patience” in the Quran as being from the resolute undertakings, such as in 42:43 and 3:186. In addition, the word al-ʿazm is defined by Rāghib as “the resolute setting of the heart in favour of accomplishing a task”. Patience (al-ṣabr), which is the restraining of the self from something, is a form of resoluteness and firmness (al-ʿazm). It is so in the sense that as long as the resoluteness of the heart [on a matter] remains, and is not weakened or broken, it allows a person to remain enduringly steadfast on that matter which he has [firmly] set himself. Thus patience, which is from the abilities of the soul and from its noble aspects, is resolute diligence and perseverance on a matter and guarding over such resolute diligence.’
Therefore, for Tabatabai, the pronoun That refers to patience (which also appears to be the understanding of Fayḍ Kāshānī, and certainly that of Makārim Shīrāzī), while resolute undertakings means undertakings requiring firmness and resolution. This is while Tabatabai categorically disagreed with the entirety of the first interpretation mentioned earlier, yet Makārim Shīrāzī admits the plausibility of That referring to all four imperatives together just as he admits to the plausibility that resolute undertakings can either mean matters that God has determined and rendered necessary, or undertakings requiring firmness and resolution.
Although Tabatabai’s interpretation is sounder for both parts due to the persuasive manner in which he argues his case, it could perhaps still be argued that in light of both definitions of ʿazm al-umūr described in the Exegesis section, all four matters – establishing prayers, bidding right, forbidding wrong, and patience – could validly be identified as ʿazm al-umūr for all four matters require resolution, determination, and willpower, and all four matters are determined essential matters, which God has positively affirmed and asserted in the Quran and from which there is no escape. Thus all three understandings outlined above are potentially plausible.
[1] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 614.
[2] Tibyan, 8/279; Tabrisi, 8/499-500.
[3] Tabrisi, 8/499-500.
[4] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 964.
[5] Tibyan, 8/279; Tabrisi, 8/499-500.
[6] Tabrisi, 8/499-500.
[7] Cited in Mizan, 16/218, and in Munyah, 21/130.
[8] Tibyan, 8/280; Tabrisi, 8/500.
[9] Razi, 9/455; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 619.
[10] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 619.
[11] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 619.
[12] Razi, 9/455.
[13] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 46.
[14] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 619.
[15] Tibyan, 8/280; Tabrisi, 8/500; Mizan, 16/218; Razi, 9/455; Kashif, 6/162; Amthal, 13/46.
[16] Tabrisi.J, 3/281; Safi, 4/146; Razi, 25/122; Munyah, 21/130, 137, 140.
[17] Safi, 4/146; Munyah, 21/130, 137, 140.
[18] Safi, 4/146; Razi, 9/455; Amthal, 13/46.
[19] Amthal, 13/46.
[20] Tabrisi, 8/500; Tabrisi.J, 3/281.
[21] Munyah, 21/137.
[22] Munyah, 21/137.
[23] Tibyan, 8/279; Tabrisi, 8/499; Munyah, 21/137.
[24] Munyah, 21/137.
[25] Munyah, 21/137.
[26] Munyah, 21/137; Razi, 25/121.
[27] Razi, 25/121.
[28] Munyah, 21/137-138.
[29] Munyah, 21/138.
[30] Munyah, 21/138.
[31] Munyah, 21/138.
[32] Munyah, 21/138.
[33] Munyah, 21/138.
[34] Munyah, 21/138.
[35] Munyah, 21/138.
[36] Munyah, 21/138.
[37] Munyah, 21/139.
[38] Munyah, 21/139.
[39] Munyah, 21/139.
[40] Razi, 25/121.
[41] Tabrisi, 8/500; Safi, 4/146; Munyah, 21/140.
[42] Tibyan, 8/280; Tabrisi, 8/500.
[43] Tabrisi, 8/500.
[44] Munyah, 21/140.
[45] Munyah, 21/140.
[46] Munyah, 21/140.
[47] Munyah, 21/137, 140; Amthal, 13/46.
[48] Tibyan, 8/280.
[49] Amthal, 13/46.
[50] Nahj, sermon 199.
[51] Mizan, 16/220.
[52] Mizan, 16/220.
[53] Munyah, 21/139.
[54] Munyah, 21/139.
[55] Nahj, saying 374.
[56] Munyah, 21/139.
[57] Munyah, 21/139.
[58] Munyah, 21/140.
[59] Munyah, 21/140.
[60] Munyah, 21/140.
[61] Munyah, 21/137.
[62] Munyah, 21/140.
[63] Safi, 4/146.
[64] Tibyan, 8/280.
[65] Tibyan, 8/280; Tabrisi, 8/500.
[66] Tibyan, 8/280; Tabrisi, 8/500.
[67] Kashif, 6/162.
[68] Mizan, 16/218.
[69] Safi, 4/146.
[70] Amthal, 13/46.
[71] Amthal, 13/46.