Ghafir · Makki · ayah 14 of 85

Ghafir 40:14

فَٱدْعُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ ٱلدِّينَ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ ٱلْكَـٰفِرُونَ

“So invoke Allāh, [being] sincere to Him in religion, although the disbelievers dislike it.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Call on Allah with a devotion cleared of every other claim, and keep calling even when those who reject Him resent it.

A reflection

Words the Prophet ﷺ said after every prayer

This ayah did not stay on the page. The Prophet ﷺ carried its words into his daily life.

ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr reports what the Prophet ﷺ used to say at the end of each obligatory prayer. There is no god but Allah, alone, without partner. His is the dominion and His the praise, and He has power over all things. There is no might nor power except by Allah. There is no god but Allah, and we worship none but Him. His is the blessing, His the favour, and His the beautiful praise. There is no god but Allah, mukhliṣīna lahu al-dīn wa-law kariha al-kāfirūn: making our religion sincerely His, even if the disbelievers dislike it. Sahih Muslim records it.

Ibn al-Zubayr himself kept saying it after every prayer, a classical commentary notes, because he had heard it from the Prophet ﷺ.

Think about where these words were placed. Not at a rally or in a debate. After prayer, in the quiet moment when a person turns from the prayer mat back to the world. Five times a day, the Prophet ﷺ renewed the ayah's commitment just before stepping back into a city that resented it.

That placement is a lesson in itself. Sincerity is not a feeling you achieve once. It is a stance you renew, every time you return to a world full of other claims on your heart.

Picture a taxi driver finishing the afternoon prayer at a roadside mosque between fares. In ten minutes he will be back in his cab, where some passengers sneer at the prayer beads on his mirror. He says these words, slowly, before he stands. He is not preparing an argument. He is settling whom he is doing all of this for.

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.