Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:186
And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the interpretation of His word, exalted is He: وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا لِي وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا بِي لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ (And when My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near. I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me, that they may be rightly guided.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means by it, exalted is His mention: and when My servants ask you, O Muḥammad, about Me: where am I? — indeed I am close to them, I hear their supplication, and I answer the supplication of the one among them who supplicates.
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There is disagreement concerning the occasion for which this verse was sent down.
Some of them said: it was sent down because of a questioner who asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said: O Muḥammad, is our Lord near so that we may confide in Him, or is He far away so that we must call out to Him? Then Allah sent down: "And when My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near, I answer" — the verse.
2904 – This was related to us by Ibn Ḥumayd, he said: Jarīr related to us, from ʿAbda al-Sijistānī, from al-Ṣulb ibn Ḥakīm, from his father, from his grandfather.
2905 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān informed us, from ʿAwf, from al-Ḥasan, he said: The companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked the Prophet (peace be upon him): Where is our Lord? Then Allah, exalted is His mention, sent down: "And when My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near, I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me" — the verse.
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Others said: rather it was sent down as an answer to the question of a group who asked the Prophet (peace be upon him): at what hour should we call upon Allah?
Mention of those who said that:
2906 – Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: my father related to us, from Sufyān, from Ibn Jurayj, from ʿAṭāʾ, he said: When there was sent down: وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ (And your Lord said: Call upon Me, I will answer you) [sūra Ghāfir: 60], they said: At what hour? He said: Then there was sent down: "And when My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near" up to His word: "that they may be rightly guided."
2907 – Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Ahwāzī related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, from Ibn Jurayj, from ʿAṭāʾ concerning His word: "I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me" — they said: If only we knew at what hour we should call! Then there was sent down: "And when My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near" — the verse.
2908 – Al-Qāsim related to me, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, from Ibn Jurayj, he said: ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ claimed that it had reached him: When there was sent down: وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ (And your Lord said: Call upon Me, I will answer you), the people said: If only we knew at what hour we should call! Then there was sent down: "And when My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near, I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me, that they may be rightly guided."
2909 – Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to us, he said: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: "And when My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near, I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me" — he said: There is no believing slave who calls upon Allah but that He answers him. If that for which he supplicates is destined for him as provision in the worldly life, then Allah grants it to him. And if it is not destined for him as provision in the worldly life, then He stores it up for him until the Day of Resurrection and thereby wards off harm from him.
2910 – Al-Muthanná related to me, he said: Al-Layth ibn Saʿd related to us, from Ibn Ṣāliḥ, from the one who related to him: that it had reached him that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: No one has been granted prayer and been denied the answer, for Allah says: ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ (Call upon Me, I will answer you).
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The meaning, according to the expositors of this interpretation, is: And when My servants ask you about Me: at what hour do they call upon Me? — indeed I am near to them at every moment, I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me.
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Others said: rather it was sent down as an answer to the word of a group who — when Allah said to them: ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ (Call upon Me, I will answer you) — said: Toward where should we call upon Him!
Mention of those who said that:
2911 – Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, from Ibn Jurayj, he said: Mujāhid said concerning ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ (Call upon Me, I will answer you) — they said: Toward where? Then there was sent down: فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ (Wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah. Indeed, Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing) [sūra al-Baqara: 115].
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Others said: rather it was sent down as an answer to a group who said: How should we call?
Mention of those who said that:
2912 – Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda, he said: It was related to us that when Allah sent down: ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ (Call upon Me, I will answer you), men said: How do we call, O Prophet of Allah? Then Allah sent down: "And when My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near" up to His word: "that they may be rightly guided."
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As for His word: "So let them respond to Me" — that means: so let them respond to Me through obedience. One says concerning that: "istajabtū lahū" and "istajabtuhū", with the meaning of "I answered him", as Kaʿb ibn Saʿd al-Ghanawī said:
وَدَاعٍ دَعَا يَا مَنْ يُجِيبُ إلَى النَّدَى فَلَمْ يَسْتَجِبْهُ عِنْدَ ذَاكَ مُجِيبُ
He means: no one answered him.
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In agreement with what we have said concerning this, Mujāhid and a group of others spoke.
2913 – Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Al-Ḥajjāj related to me, from Ibn Jurayj, he said: Mujāhid said concerning His word "So let them respond to Me": that is to say: let them obey Me. He said: "al-istijāba" is obedience.
2914 – Al-Muthanná related to me, he said: Ḥibbān ibn Mūsā related to us, he said: I asked ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak about His word "So let them respond to Me" — he said: Obedience to Allah.
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Some of them said: the meaning of "So let them respond to Me" is: let them call upon Me.
Mention of those who said that:
2915 – Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Manṣūr ibn Hārūn related to me, from Abū Rajāʾ al-Khurāsānī, he said concerning "So let them respond to Me": let them call upon Me.
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As for His word "and let them believe in Me" — that means: and let them affirm. That is to say: and let them believe in Me, when they respond to Me through obedience, that I stand as guarantor for them, behind their obedience to Me, regarding the reward for it, and My generous bestowal of honor upon them for it.
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As for the one who interpreted His word "So let them respond to Me" as: let them call upon Me — he interpreted His word "and let them believe in Me" as: and let them believe that I will answer them.
Mention of those who said that:
2916 – Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Manṣūr ibn Hārūn related to me, from Abū Rajāʾ al-Khurāsānī concerning "and let them believe in Me" — he says: that I will answer them.
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As for His word "that they may be rightly guided" — that means: so let them respond to Me through obedience, and let them believe in Me, so that they affirm that upon their obedience to Me there follows reward from Me to them, and let them thereby be guided to the right path in their conduct, so that they become rightly guided. As:
2917 – Al-Muthanná related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Saʿd related to us, he said: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, from al-Rabīʿ concerning His word "that they may be rightly guided" — he says: that they may be guided to the right path.
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If someone were to say to us: What is the meaning of this word of Allah, exalted is His mention? For you see that many among the people call upon Allah and their supplication is not answered, while He said: "I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me"?
The answer is: there are two aspects of meaning for that:
The first is that by "the supplication" is meant acting according to that which Allah has urged and commanded. The interpretation of the word is then: And when My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near to the one who obeys Me and acts according to what I have commanded him; I answer him with reward for his obedience to Me, when he obeys Me. Then the meaning of "the calling" is: the servant's request to his Lord for that which He has promised His faithful as reward for their obedience, through their acting in obedience to Him. And the meaning of "the answering" by Allah which He has guaranteed to him is: the fulfillment of His promise to those who work for Him according to what He has commanded them. As is related from the Prophet (peace be upon him) in his saying: "Indeed, the calling [supplication] is the worship."
2918 – Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Juwaybar related to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Dharr, from Yusayʿ al-Ḥaḍramī, from al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Indeed, the calling [supplication] is the worship. Then he recited: وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ (And your Lord said: Call upon Me, I will answer you. Indeed, those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell debased) [sūra Ghāfir: 60].
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Thus he (peace be upon him) reported that calling upon Allah is nothing other than His worship and petitioning Him through working for Him and obedience to Him.
In agreement with what we have said concerning this, it was reported that al-Ḥasan used to say:
2919 – Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Manṣūr ibn Hārūn related to me, from ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak, from al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, from al-Ḥasan that he said concerning this: ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ (Call upon Me, I will answer you) — he said: Act and rejoice, for it is a right upon Allah that He answer those who believe and perform righteous deeds, and that He increase them out of His bounty.
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The second aspect is that the meaning is: I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me, if I will it. This would then, although it is phrased in general terms in the recitation, be specific in meaning.
