Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 182 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:182

فَمَنْ خَافَ مِن مُّوصٍ جَنَفًا أَوْ إِثْمًا فَأَصْلَحَ بَيْنَهُمْ فَلَآ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

“But if one fears from the bequeather [some] error or sin and corrects that which is between them [i.e., the concerned parties], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Whoever sees a will leaning, by mistake or on purpose, and sets it right between those involved does no wrong.

A reflection

Forgiven, even at the last word

An old man in a hospice asks his granddaughter to read his will back to him. She reads it, then pauses. 'Grandad, this leaves Auntie out completely.' He is silent for a long time. They quarrelled twenty years ago. Then he asks her to call the solicitor in the morning.

The ayah ends with two of Allah's names: 'Forgiving, Merciful'. One commentary records an early explanation of the scene. Someone present sees the dying person about to lean unjustly, and counsels him. If the counsel works, and he turns back from the harm he intended, then Allah is Forgiving towards him.

That is majesty and humility at once. Allah owns every estate and every soul. He could hold a dying person to the unjust words he was about to write. Instead He keeps the door of forgiveness open to the last breath.

The ego finds deathbed correction hardest of all. Pride says: these are my final wishes, and no one will tell me what to do with them. Admitting a lean at the end of a life feels like admitting the whole life was crooked. The old man's long silence was that struggle.

Allah does not need our wills to be fair for His sake. He needs nothing (35:15). His forgiveness here is pure generosity. It reaches the dying who accept correction, the one who dared to offer it, and the family who might have broken apart. If you are still alive enough to change something unjust you have set in motion, the ayah's two names are an invitation. Change it, and be forgiven.

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.