An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 87 of 176

An-Nisa 4:87

ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ لَيَجْمَعَنَّكُمْ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ ۗ وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ حَدِيثًا

“Allāh - there is no deity except Him. He will surely assemble you for [account on] the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. And who is more truthful than Allāh in statement.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The only One worth worshipping has sworn to gather everyone, and no word is sounder than His.

A reflection

The One who needs no oath swears one

The ayah opens with the shortest creed there is: Allah, there is no god but He. Then it does something surprising. The grammar of the next words is an oath. The la- at the front and the doubled n at the end mark it, the commentators explain. In effect: by Allah, He will surely gather you.

One commentary says why. The ayah came down concerning people who doubted the raising of the dead, so Allah swore by Himself.

Pause on that. The One whose word needs no support lends His word an oath. Not because His statement was weak without it, but because the listener was. The oath is a kindness to the doubter.

Set that beside a very human reflex. Picture a builder who is offended when a customer asks for the guarantee in writing. 'My word is my bond,' he says, a little hurt. His pride wants trust without evidence. Yet his word has failed before, as everyone's has.

Allah's word has never failed, and still He meets the doubter halfway. That shrinks the ego from both sides. It humbles the person who demands to be taken on trust. And it humbles the person who thinks his doubt is too sophisticated to be addressed. It has already been addressed, on oath.

Is this God needing to be believed? He is free of all need (35:15). Belief or disbelief changes nothing in Him. 'There is no god but He' is not a request for applause. It is a statement of how things are. The oath that follows is for our sake, so that nobody stands on that Day saying he was never told plainly.

The first line names the only One worth worshipping. The second promises that everyone will stand before Him. Between them, every rival object of devotion quietly disappears.

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.