Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 40 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:40

يَـٰبَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ ٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتِىَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَوْفُوا۟ بِعَهْدِىٓ أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ وَإِيَّـٰىَ فَٱرْهَبُونِ

“O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I have bestowed upon you and fulfill My covenant [upon you] that I will fulfill your covenant [from Me], and be afraid of [only] Me.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah turns to the Children of Israel: remember My favour, keep your pledge and I will keep Mine, and hold Me alone in awe.

A reflection

One fear that cancels the rest

A young imam prepares his first Friday sermon. His theme is honesty in trade, and he has written it plainly. On the day, he looks up and sees three of the mosque's biggest donors in the front row. Two of them own the busiest shops on the high street. He hears himself soften every sentence.

The ayah ends: wa-iyyāya fa-rhabūn, and Me, Me alone, hold in awe. A classical linguist notes the word order. Placing 'Me' first makes it exclusive, even more emphatically than 'You alone we worship' (1:5). Not fear Me as well as others. Fear Me, and no one else in that way.

The word rahba has its own picture. One lexicon defines it as fear joined with wariness and agitation. The Arabs used a related word for driving camels back from the water trough. From the same root comes taraḥhub, devotion: worship that grows out of awe. Another commentary distinguishes two fears here. One is the fear of punishment. The other is the fear of reverence, the awe of those who have glimpsed His majesty.

Our egos are rarely as independent as they feel. We fear a manager's displeasure, a relative's comment, a group chat's verdict, the loss of status. Each fear takes a share of the heart and bends our choices. The young imam did not stop believing in honesty. He was simply afraid of the wrong people.

Why would Allah demand to be feared alone? Is this a ruler insisting on fear? He gains nothing from it. He is free of all need (35:15). One early authority explained that He was reminding them of what had befallen those before them. The command is a warning given in mercy, the way a parent warns a child away from a road.

And there is freedom in it. A heart that holds Allah alone in awe has no room left to be ruled by everyone else. It can speak the truth in front of donors. It can lose approval and still sleep.

The next Friday, the imam gives the sermon as he first wrote it. One of the shopkeepers comes to find him afterwards. 'We needed that,' he says.

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.