Al-Isra · Makki · ayah 77 of 111

Al-Isra 17:77

سُنَّةَ مَن قَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِن رُّسُلِنَا ۖ وَلَا تَجِدُ لِسُنَّتِنَا تَحْوِيلًا

“[That is Our] established way for those We had sent before you of Our messengers; and you will not find in Our way any alteration.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The fall of those who drive out their messengers is Allah's settled way, and no one has ever turned it aside.

A reflection

No way round His way

Some people pride themselves on always finding a way round. A man knows the side door at the stadium, the code for the staff car park, the woman in billing who can waive a fee. His motto, said with a grin, is 'there's always a way round'. Usually he is right.

This ayah names the one thing with no way round. Wa lā tajidu li-sunnatinā taḥwīlā: you will not find for Our way any turning aside.

The root of taḥwīl is turning. The year is ḥawl because it turns full circle. A ḥīla, a stratagem, is named from the same root: it goes round a thing to get at it. So the ayah closes the door on every clever route round. Allah's way with history has no side entrance.

Think of who first heard it. The leaders of Makkah were not short of cleverness. One commentator recalls that they met in their council house to settle on a plan against the Prophet ﷺ. They had numbers, alliances and a long memory of winning. Each generation of persecutors believes its own case is the exception. The ayah answers every one of them with the word 'Our'. This is not a law of nature they can study and dodge. It is His way, and it waits on no one's permission.

That is a hard word for the ego. Much of our pride is pride in being the one who finds the gap. Here is something no network, no wealth and no cleverness can route around.

Does a God who never alters His way sound rigid, or proud? Ask what the alternative would be. A way that bent for the clever would be a promise that could be bought. Two commentaries read the clause as 'there is no breaking of Our promise'. The unbending way is what makes His promises safe to stand on, especially for the weak.

The man with a way round everything will one day meet a door with no side entrance. Better to walk in through the front, humbly, while it is open.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.