The tafsīr
of the Exalted’s statement:
“Remember
Me and I will remember you. Be grateful to Me and do not be ungrateful.” [al-Baqarah 2:152]
This noble ayāh means whoever remembers Allah with his heart, by pondering on
Allah’s signs, the manifestations of divine perfection in this unique creation
and the organisation that forces doubters to yield and submit while increasing
those who are guided in their guidance.
It means whoever remembers Allah with his tongue, with the various form of
dhikr that have reached us, such as subhān Allah, la ilāha
illa Allah, Allahu Akbar[1]
and sending blessings upon the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace.
It is also means whoever remembers Allah with his limbs, by carrying out his Lord’s
commands and refraining from what He has prohibited, emanating from a heart
that is alive and feelings that are awake.
Allah will
reward all of the above by raising their rank and improving their standing, and
other elevated stations that are beyond bounds and limits. Allah expressed this
with the word ‘remember’ because when one remembers something one knows its
truth and understands what is for it and what is against it. Because of this, a
human being must always, and especially a Muslim, remember Allah in every
circumstance and in every moment, so that he is not denied Allah’s grace and
bounty.
The ayāh
thus encourages remembrance and calls to it based on what we’ve mentioned.
And after
commanding to remembrance and explaining its benefit comes the command to be
grateful. The command to remember takes precedence over the command to be
grateful because the one who remembers is preoccupied with Allah the Exalted
while the one who is grateful is preoccupied with Allah’s blessings, and being
preoccupied with Allah is more important than being preoccupied with blessings.
And whoever
doesn’t thank Allah is ungrateful for His blessings, and Allah’s blessings are
many…they cannot be counted: “If you tried to number Allah’s blessings, you
could never count them.” [an-Naḥl 16:18], and whoever is persistent in
thanking Allah, Allah, Glorified is He, will increase him in blessings.
“If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more.” [Ibrāhīm
14:7]
The one who
is grateful and remembers is content, and thus he is happy in this life until
he meets Allah the Glorified, and then he rejoices at meeting his Lord.
[Translated
from Fatāwā al-Imām ʿAbdul Ḥalīm Maḥmūd (Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1979,
5th edition), v.1, p.178]
[1] (tn): The imam uses the
word taqdīs, the noun of the verb nuqaddisu, which is found in
Surat al-Baqarah 2:30. One of the meanings of taqdīs, according to Ibn ʿAbbās,
may Allah be pleased with both of them, is takbīr. Please see Zād
al-Masīr fī ʿIlm at-Tafsīr by Imam ʿAbdur Raḥmān ibn al-Jawzī (Beirut: Dār
al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1422/2002), v.1, p.30.
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