Taha · Makki · ayah 13 of 135

Taha 20:13

وَأَنَا ٱخْتَرْتُكَ فَٱسْتَمِعْ لِمَا يُوحَىٰٓ

“And I have chosen you, so listen to what is revealed [to you].”

Saheeh International

Essence

Being chosen came with one immediate duty: not to speak, not to act, but to listen closely to what was about to be revealed.

A reflection

Chosen, so listen

A woman is promoted to run a large hospital department. On her first morning she does not hold a meeting or announce a plan. She spends two weeks on the wards with a notebook, asking porters, nurses and cleaners one question: what gets in your way? Her deputy thinks she is wasting time. A year later, the department runs better than it has in a decade.

The ayah joins two things with a small word. I have chosen you, fa: so listen. One commentator explains that the fa links the command to what came before. Being chosen is itself the reason for the command to listen.

We might expect the opposite. Chosen, so speak. Chosen, so lead. Chosen, so act. Surely the one selected for a great task should be the first voice in the room. The ayah says the first duty of the chosen is attention.

That makes sense once you see what Musa was chosen for. He was not chosen to have his own ideas about Pharaoh. He was chosen to carry what was given to him. A messenger who stops listening starts improvising, and then the message is lost.

The same is true in smaller callings. A new manager who talks before listening builds on guesses. A parent who lectures before hearing a teenager answers questions nobody asked. A new imam who preaches before knowing his congregation speaks to people who are not in the room.

If you have been given responsibility for anything, a team, a class, a household, a cause, treat the choosing as a summons to listen. First to Allah: what has He revealed about this? Then to the people in your care. Speak later, and less.

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.