Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 132 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:132

وَوَصَّىٰ بِهَآ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمُ بَنِيهِ وَيَعْقُوبُ يَـٰبَنِىَّ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱصْطَفَىٰ لَكُمُ ٱلدِّينَ فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ

“And Abraham instructed his sons [to do the same] and [so did] Jacob, [saying], "O my sons, indeed Allāh has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except while you are Muslims."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Ibrāhīm, and Yaʿqūb after him, left their sons one charge: Allah has chosen this religion for you, so let death find you only in submission.

A reflection

The only thing in the letter

The night before heart surgery, a father sits up in his hospital bed writing three short letters, one for each son. He does not mention the house or the savings. Each letter says, in different words, the same single thing.

'Ibrāhīm charged his sons with it, and so did Yaʿqūb.' A major theologian finds five details in this sentence that show how much it mattered to Ibrāhīm.

First, the word is waṣṣā, to give a parting charge, not simply to command. A charge given when death is near is weightier than an order. That is when a person guards his religion most carefully. Second, he gave it to his sons, the people he loved most. Third, he gave it to all of them, leaving none out. Fourth, he set no time or place on it. Fifth, he mixed nothing else into it. There was no other bequest beside this one.

The form of the verb adds more. Waṣṣā has a doubled middle letter, which the theologian says suggests emphasis and repetition. He did not say it once. He kept saying it.

If you were to leave your children one sentence, what would it be? Many of us, if we are honest, would talk about exams, careers, money and safety. Those are real concerns. But the prophets' last words were about the One their children would meet.

A later commentary adds that Ibrāhīm was first praised for his own completeness, and then for completing others. A whole life of faith ended with the work of passing it on.

The father came through the surgery. He kept the letters anyway, and one day his sons will read them.

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.