Al-Fath · Madani · ayah 17 of 29

Al-Fath 48:17

لَّيْسَ عَلَى ٱلْأَعْمَىٰ حَرَجٌ وَلَا عَلَى ٱلْأَعْرَجِ حَرَجٌ وَلَا عَلَى ٱلْمَرِيضِ حَرَجٌ ۗ وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ يُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّـٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ ۖ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّ يُعَذِّبْهُ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا

“There is not upon the blind any guilt or upon the lame any guilt or upon the ill any guilt [for remaining behind]. And whoever obeys Allāh and His Messenger - He will admit him to gardens beneath which rivers flow; but whoever turns away - He will punish him with a painful punishment.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The blind, the lame and the sick are each named and released, and the door of obedience stays open to all of them.

A reflection

The people with real reasons were the ones who worried

The commentaries record how this ayah came to be. When the warning of the ayah before it came down, a group of people spoke up. They were people with lasting conditions: the blind, the disabled, the chronically ill. What about us, Messenger of Allah? Then this ayah was revealed.

Notice who was anxious. Not the stayers with hollow excuses. They had a speech ready: our wealth and families kept us busy. The people who were genuinely unable were the ones lying awake, afraid the threat included them.

That pattern has not changed. A woman on dialysis three days a week rings the organiser of her mosque's Ramadan meal rota. She apologises for not cooking this year, twice, at length. Meanwhile a healthy man who has never once signed up sleeps soundly. The tender conscience is often in the body that has the best excuse.

This ayah is Allah's answer to that tender conscience. He does not leave it to the Prophet ﷺ to reassure them privately. He sends down a public verse, recited ever since, to say there is no blame on them. Their worry was heard in heaven.

If you are someone who cannot do what others do, and you keep apologising to Allah for it, read this ayah slowly. Your anxiety may itself be a sign of a living heart. The people who most feared falling short were the ones Allah moved to reassure.

And if you are healthy and untroubled, the mirror turns the other way. Is your calm the calm of a clear conscience? Or is it the calm of someone who has stopped hearing the call at all? The worried disabled man asked, 'what about us?' Perhaps the healthy should ask it too.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.