Al-Hadid · Madani · ayah 27 of 29

Al-Hadid 57:27

ثُمَّ قَفَّيْنَا عَلَىٰٓ ءَاثَـٰرِهِم بِرُسُلِنَا وَقَفَّيْنَا بِعِيسَى ٱبْنِ مَرْيَمَ وَءَاتَيْنَـٰهُ ٱلْإِنجِيلَ وَجَعَلْنَا فِى قُلُوبِ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوهُ رَأْفَةً وَرَحْمَةً وَرَهْبَانِيَّةً ٱبْتَدَعُوهَا مَا كَتَبْنَـٰهَا عَلَيْهِمْ إِلَّا ٱبْتِغَآءَ رِضْوَٰنِ ٱللَّهِ فَمَا رَعَوْهَا حَقَّ رِعَايَتِهَا ۖ فَـَٔاتَيْنَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنْهُمْ أَجْرَهُمْ ۖ وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَـٰسِقُونَ

“Then We sent following their footsteps [i.e., traditions] Our messengers and followed [them] with Jesus, the son of Mary, and gave him the Gospel. And We placed in the hearts of those who followed him compassion and mercy and monasticism, which they innovated; We did not prescribe it for them except [that they did so] seeking the approval of Allāh. But they did not observe it with due observance. So We gave the ones who believed among them their reward, but many of them are defiantly disobedient.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah placed tenderness and mercy in the hearts of ʿIsa’s followers; the monasticism they invented for Him had to be truly kept.

A reflection

Two kinds of tenderness

A swimming teacher works with a nervous six-year-old. In the first weeks she keeps one hand under his tummy the whole time, never letting him sink. Weeks later she asks him to put his face in the water, though he cries and does not want to. Both were kindness. They were not the same kindness.

The ayah says Allah placed two things in the hearts of those who followed ʿIsa: raʾfatan wa raḥmatan. Tenderness and mercy.

The lexicons and commentators separate them carefully. One lexicon says raʾfa is more particular and more delicate than raḥma. It hardly ever comes as something unpleasant. Raḥma, on the other hand, can arrive through a hardship, for a person's good. A poet praised a leader who treated people 'like a raʾūf father'.

One commentator adds that when the two appear together, raʾfa is what wards off harm and mends what is broken. Raḥma is what brings good. That is why raʾfa usually comes first: preventing harm takes priority over bringing benefit. Another says raʾfa lightens a burden, while raḥma helps carry its weight.

The swimming teacher's hand under the tummy is raʾfa. The face in the water is raḥma.

Notice the verb: jaʿalnā fī qulūbi, We placed it in their hearts. One commentator links this to the Gospel's call to make peace and avoid harming people. Allah softened their hearts for that. Set beside 57:16, where long years hardened the hearts of earlier communities, this ayah shows the opposite gift.

The lesson for any relationship is to carry both. A parent, friend, carer or teacher needs the protective softness that keeps harm away. They also need the braver mercy that lets someone struggle for their own good. Too much raʾfa and no one grows. Too much hard raḥma and no one feels safe. Ask Allah for both, in the order He placed them.

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.