Fussilat · Makki · ayah 45 of 54

Fussilat 41:45

وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَا مُوسَى ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ فَٱخْتُلِفَ فِيهِ ۗ وَلَوْلَا كَلِمَةٌ سَبَقَتْ مِن رَّبِّكَ لَقُضِىَ بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَفِى شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ مُرِيبٍ

“And We had already given Moses the Scripture, but it came under disagreement.[1399] And if not for a word [i.e., decree][1400] that preceded from your Lord, it would have been concluded between them. And indeed they are, concerning it [i.e., the Qur’ān], in disquieting doubt.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Musa's Book was argued over too; judgement waits only because of a word your Lord gave long ago.

A reflection

The word that went ahead

"Were it not for a word that went ahead from your Lord, it would have been judged between them," the ayah says. So the final verdict between believers and deniers is waiting. It is not waiting because Allah is slow, unsure or unable. It is waiting because He has already given His word.

The commentators explain that word as a prior decision to delay the reckoning to an appointed time, the Day of Resurrection. A narration-based commentary links it to a parallel ayah that names "an appointed term" (42:14). Without it, they say, punishment would have been hastened, as it was for earlier peoples.

The root of "went ahead", s-b-q, comes from the racecourse. Riders set off together, and the horse that came in first took the sabaq, the stake. A saying that "went ahead of you" was one spoken before. So Allah's word here is a decision already made, out in front of every event, setting the pace for history.

Now the ego. When we are wronged, or watch truth mocked, we want a verdict now. Our impatience quietly assumes that if judgement does not come on our schedule, it is not coming at all. That is the pride of someone who thinks the timetable of the universe should be theirs.

One commentary records a further reason given for the delay: believers who would yet come from the deniers' own descendants. Picture a woman whose family was bullied for years by a man in her village. For a long time she asked Allah to deal with him. Decades later, in another country, his granddaughter joins her Quran class. She turns out to be the most devoted student she has ever had.

Humility trusts the word that went ahead. It does not need to see the verdict to know that it is coming, at exactly the right time.

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.