Al-Jathiyah · Makki · ayah 19 of 37

Al-Jathiyah 45:19

إِنَّهُمْ لَن يُغْنُوا۟ عَنكَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيْـًٔا ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَآءُ بَعْضٍ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ وَلِىُّ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ

“Indeed, they will never avail you against Allāh at all. And indeed, the wrongdoers are allies of one another; but Allāh is the protector of the righteous.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Wrongdoers hold each other up because none of them can stand alone; the mindful need no such scaffolding, because Allah Himself is their ally.

A reflection

Taqwa is a careful step, not a frightened one

The ayah ends with a promise to al-muttaqīn, usually translated 'the God-fearing' or 'the righteous'. Many people hear in that word a nervous, anxious kind of religion: people constantly afraid of getting something wrong.

The root says something different. The lexicons give it one picture: pushing harm away by putting something between you and it. A wiqāya is a shield. A good saddle was wāq when it did not rub the camel's back raw. A horse with a sore hoof steps carefully on hard ground, guarding its foot. The image is established. Taqwa is care, not panic.

The commentaries describe what that care looks like: carrying out what Allah has made obligatory and staying away from what He has forbidden. One adds: keeping clear of associating partners with Him and of disobedience.

Picture a young mother carrying her sleeping baby down a flight of icy steps outside a block of flats. She is not terrified. She is careful. She tests each step with her foot before putting her weight on it, holds the rail, keeps the baby close. She is fully alive to the danger and completely calm. That is taqwa.

And look at what the ayah promises the careful: Allah is their walī, their protector and ally. One commentator explains: He suffices them and defends them against whoever intends them harm.

This is why taqwa is for you, not for Him. He gains nothing from your care; He is free of need of all the worlds (29:6). You gain a life lived carefully, without dread, with Someone at your side.

Many people today live with low-level anxiety: about money, health, the future, what others think. Taqwa does not add another fear. It replaces scattered fears with one careful attention, and in return offers a Protector who never leaves.

Where in your life could a careful step replace a frightened one?

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.