Al-Mumtahanah · Madani · ayah 5 of 13

Al-Mumtahanah 60:5

رَبَّنَا لَا تَجْعَلْنَا فِتْنَةً لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا رَبَّنَآ ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ

“Our Lord, make us not [objects of] torment for the disbelievers and forgive us, our Lord. Indeed, it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Having just given up everything their people relied on, they asked to be shielded not from hardship but from ever becoming proof for the people who doubted.

A reflection

A fear that needed real Might to answer

The prayer closes on two names, al-ʿAzīz, the Mighty, and al-Ḥakīm, the Wise, and they are not decorative. Ibrahim and his companions had just told their own people exactly where they stood, at real cost, with no army and no protection beyond this prayer. Asking not to be overpowered by people who held every visible advantage only makes sense addressed to someone whose power genuinely exceeds theirs.

The root of ʿAzīz pictures an eagle's nest set on the highest crag, out of every hand's reach, never overpowered. A person who has just burned every bridge to the comfort their community offered has nothing left to stand on except that kind of unreachable strength, and the prayer names it plainly rather than pretending bravery alone will be enough.

This is where ego quietly has nowhere left to stand. A person who has genuinely admitted I cannot protect myself from this, only You can, has stopped performing strength for anyone watching. The fear of looking weak in front of people, the need to appear in control, the private vanity of believing one's own resolve is sufficient, all of it has to be set down before a prayer like this can be prayed honestly at all. His Might does not need declaring for His own sake; He is al-Ghanī, free of all need, and gains nothing from being called Mighty. The declaring is for the one praying, who finds, in naming a strength greater than their own, that they no longer have to carry the illusion of being strong enough alone.

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.