Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:52
And do not send away those who call upon their Lord morning and afternoon, seeking His countenance. Not upon you is anything of their account and not upon them is anything of your account. So were you to send them away, you would [then] be of the wrongdoers.
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement: وَلا تَطْرُدِ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ مَا عَلَيْكَ مِنْ حِسَابِهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ وَمَا مِنْ حِسَابِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَتَطْرُدَهُمْ فَتَكُونَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ (52) (And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His Face. Nothing of their account rests upon you, and nothing of your account rests upon them, that you should drive them away and so become one of the wrongdoers.) (52)
Abū Jaʿfar said: It is mentioned that this āyah was revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ concerning a group of the weak Muslims. The polytheists (mushrikīn) said to him: "If you would drive these away from yourself, then we would come to you and attend your gathering!"
* Mention of the narration concerning that:
13255 - Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, saying: Abū Zubayd related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Kardūs al-Thaʿlabī, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, who said: The leading men of the Quraysh passed by the Prophet ﷺ, while with him were Ṣuhayb, ʿAmmār, Bilāl and Khabbāb, and others of their sort among the weak Muslims. They said: "O Muḥammad, are you content with these from your people? Are these the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed favor from among us? Should we become followers of these? Drive them away from yourself! Perhaps, if you drive them away, we will follow you!" Then this āyah was revealed: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His Face" = وَكَذَلِكَ فَتَنَّا بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ (And thus We have tried some of them by means of others), to the end of the āyah.
13256 - ......... Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Kardūs al-Thaʿlabī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, who said: The leading men of the Quraysh passed by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and then he mentioned something similar.
13257 - Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Kardūs, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The leading men of the Quraysh passed by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and then he mentioned something similar.
13258 - Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnqazī related to me, saying: My father related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Saʿd al-Azdī = who was the reciter of the Azd =, on the authority of Abū al-Kanūd, on the authority of Khabbāb, concerning the statement of Allah, exalted is His mention: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His Face" up to His statement: "and so become one of the wrongdoers." He said: Al-Aqraʿ ibn Ḥābis al-Tamīmī came, together with ʿUyaynah ibn Ḥiṣn al-Fazārī, and they found the Prophet ﷺ sitting with Bilāl, Ṣuhayb, ʿAmmār and Khabbāb, amid some of the weak believers. When they saw them around him, they disdained them. They came to him and said: "We would like you to set up for us a gathering with you by which the Arabs may recognize our excellence, for the delegations of the Arabs come to you, and we are ashamed that the Arabs should see us with these slaves (al-aʿbud). So when we come to you, make them rise from beside us, and when we are finished, sit with them if you wish!" He said: "Yes!" They said: "Then write us a document concerning that under your guarantee." He said: So he called for the leaf and called ʿAlī to write it down. He (Khabbāb) said: And we were sitting in a corner, when Jibrīl descended with this āyah: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His Face. Nothing of their account rests upon you, and nothing of your account rests upon them, that you should drive them away and so become one of the wrongdoers." Then He said: وَكَذَلِكَ فَتَنَّا بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ لِيَقُولُوا أَهَؤُلاءِ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ بَيْنِنَا أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِأَعْلَمَ بِالشَّاكِرِينَ (And thus We have tried some of them by means of others, that they may say: "Are these the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed favor from among us?" Is not Allah most knowing of the grateful?). Then He said: وَإِذَا جَاءَكَ الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِآيَاتِنَا فَقُلْ سَلامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ كَتَبَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ الرَّحْمَةَ (And when those who believe in Our signs come to you, say: "Peace be upon you; your Lord has prescribed mercy upon Himself"). Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ threw the leaf from his hand, and then he called us. We came to him while he was saying: "Peace be upon you; your Lord has prescribed mercy upon Himself!" We would then sit with him, and when he wished to rise, he would rise and leave us behind. Then Allah, exalted, revealed: وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ وَلا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا (And keep yourself patient in the company of those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His Face, and let not your eyes turn away from them, desiring the adornment of the worldly life) [Surah Al-Kahf: 28]. He said: Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to sit with us, and when the hour came at which he used to rise, we would rise and leave him until he rose.
13259 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Azdī, on the authority of Abū al-Kanūd, on the authority of Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt = to the import of the narration of al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr, except that in his narration he said: "When they saw them around him, they drove them away, and they came to him and secluded themselves with him." And he also said: "and so become one of the wrongdoers," after which he mentioned al-Aqraʿ and his companion and said: وَكَذَلِكَ فَتَنَّا بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ (And thus We have tried some of them by means of others), the āyah. And he also said: Then he called us, and we came to him while he was saying: سَلامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ (Peace be upon you). We drew near to him that day until we placed our knees upon his knees = and the rest of the narration is similar.
13260 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda = and Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda and al-Kalbī: that some people of the disbelievers (kuffār) of the Quraysh said to the Prophet ﷺ: "If it pleases you that we should follow you, then drive away from beside us so-and-so, some of the weak Muslims!" Then Allah, exalted is His mention, said: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His Face."
13261 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening" up to His statement: وَكَذَلِكَ فَتَنَّا بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ (And thus We have tried some of them by means of others), the āyah. He said: And some people said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: "O Muḥammad, if it pleases you that we should follow you, then drive away from beside us so-and-so" = meaning people who were, in worldly terms, beneath them and whom the polytheists deemed insignificant. Then Allah, exalted is His mention, revealed this āyah to its end.
13262 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening" = those were Bilāl and Ibn Umm ʿAbd, who used to sit with Muḥammad ﷺ. The Quraysh said, belittling them: "Were it not for these and their like, we would sit with him!" Thereupon he was forbidden to drive them away, up to His statement: أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِأَعْلَمَ بِالشَّاكِرِينَ (Is not Allah most knowing of the grateful?). He said: "Say: peace be upon you" pertains to this, in between.
13263 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfah related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Miqdām ibn Shurayḥ, on the authority of his father, who said: Saʿd said: This āyah was revealed concerning six of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, among them Ibn Masʿūd. He said: We used to hasten to the Prophet ﷺ and draw near to him and listen to him. Then the Quraysh said: "He lets these come nearer than us!" Thereupon was revealed: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening."
13264 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿIkrimah, concerning His statement: وَأَنْذِرْ بِهِ الَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ أَنْ يُحْشَرُوا إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ (And warn thereby those who fear that they will be gathered to their Lord), the āyah. He said: ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah, Shaybah ibn Rabīʿah, Muṭʿim ibn ʿAdī, al-Ḥārith ibn Nawfal and Qaraẓah ibn ʿAbd ʿAmr ibn Nawfal came, amid the notables of the Banū ʿAbd Manāf among the disbelievers, to Abū Ṭālib and said: "O Abū Ṭālib, if the son of your brother would drive away from himself our clients and confederates — for they are nothing but our slaves (ʿabīd) and our lowly hired laborers — then that would be greater in our breast, and more conducive to obedience to him among us, and it would bring us nearer to following him and believing in him!" He said: Then Abū Ṭālib came to the Prophet ﷺ and told him what they had said to him. Thereupon ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: "What if you were to do that, until you see what they want and to what their statement leads?" Then Allah, exalted is His mention, revealed this āyah: وَأَنْذِرْ بِهِ الَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ أَنْ يُحْشَرُوا إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ لَيْسَ لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ وَلِيٌّ وَلا شَفِيعٌ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ * وَلا تَطْرُدِ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ (And warn thereby those who fear that they will be gathered to their Lord — there is for them besides Him no protector nor intercessor — that they may become God-fearing. And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His Face) up to His statement: أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِأَعْلَمَ بِالشَّاكِرِينَ (Is not Allah most knowing of the grateful?). He said: And they were: Bilāl, ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, Sālim the freedman of Abū Ḥudhayfah, and Ṣubayḥ the freedman of Usayd = and of the confederates: Ibn Masʿūd, al-Miqdād ibn ʿAmr, Masʿūd ibn al-Qārī, Wāqid ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥanẓalī, ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd ʿAmr Dhū al-Shimālayn, and Marthad ibn Abī Marthad = and Abū Marthad was of Ghanī, a confederate of Ḥamzah ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib = and their like among the confederates. And concerning the leaders of disbelief among the Quraysh, and the clients and confederates, was revealed: وَكَذَلِكَ فَتَنَّا بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ لِيَقُولُوا أَهَؤُلاءِ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ بَيْنِنَا (And thus We have tried some of them by means of others, that they may say: "Are these the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed favor from among us?"), the āyah. When it was revealed, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb came forward and apologized for his statement. Then Allah, exalted is His mention, revealed: وَإِذَا جَاءَكَ الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِآيَاتِنَا فَقُلْ سَلامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ (And when those who believe in Our signs come to you, say: "Peace be upon you"), the āyah.
13265 - Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: A man said to the Prophet ﷺ: "I am ashamed before Allah that He should see me with Salmān, Bilāl and their like. So drive them away from yourself, and sit with so-and-so!" He said: Then the Qurʾān descended: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His Face." He recited on until he reached: "and so become one of the wrongdoers" — there is between you and being one of the wrongdoers nothing other than your driving them away. Then He said: وَكَذَلِكَ فَتَنَّا بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ لِيَقُولُوا أَهَؤُلاءِ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ بَيْنِنَا أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِأَعْلَمَ بِالشَّاكِرِينَ (And thus We have tried some of them by means of others, that they may say: "Are these the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed favor from among us?" Is not Allah most knowing of the grateful?). Then He said: And to these who commanded you to drive them away, convey to them the greeting from me, and give them the glad tidings and inform them that I have forgiven them! And he recited: وَإِذَا جَاءَكَ الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِآيَاتِنَا فَقُلْ سَلامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ كَتَبَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ الرَّحْمَةَ (And when those who believe in Our signs come to you, say: "Peace be upon you; your Lord has prescribed mercy upon Himself"), and he recited on until he reached: وَكَذَلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الآيَاتِ وَلِتَسْتَبِينَ سَبِيلُ الْمُجْرِمِينَ (And thus We expound the signs, that the way of the criminals may be made clear). He said: that you may recognize it.
* * *
The scholars of exegesis differed concerning the call by which this group — whom Allah forbade His Prophet ﷺ to drive away — used to call upon their Lord.
Some of them said: it is the five prayers.
* Mention of who said that:
13266 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiyah ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his statement: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening," that means: they worship their Lord = "in the morning and the evening," that means: the prescribed prayers.
13267 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥamza, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning his statement: "who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His Face." He said: They are the five obligatory prayers. And if it were as the storytellers (al-quṣṣāṣ) say, then everyone who did not sit with them would have perished.
13268 - Hannād ibn al-Sarī and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, both saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His Face." He said: It is the prayer.
13269 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfah related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening" = the obligatory prayer, the morning prayer (al-Ṣubḥ) and the afternoon prayer (al-ʿAṣr).
13270 - Muḥammad ibn Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Kindī related to me, saying: Ḥusayn al-Juʿfī related to us, saying: Ḥamza ibn al-Mughīra informed me, on the authority of Ḥamza ibn ʿĪsā, who said: I entered upon al-Ḥasan and asked him, saying: "O Abū Saʿīd, what is your opinion concerning the statement of Allah: وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ (And keep yourself patient in the company of those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening) [Surah Al-Kahf: 28] — are these the storytellers (al-quṣṣāṣ)?" He said: "No, rather they are those who faithfully perform the prayers in congregation (in jamāʿah)."
13271 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us = both together, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah: "who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening." He said: the prescribed prayer.
13272 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say, concerning his statement: "who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening." He said: they worship their Lord = "in the morning and the evening," by which the obligatory prayer is meant.
13273 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ (And keep yourself patient in the company of those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening) [Surah Al-Kahf: 28] — they are the two prayers: the morning prayer (al-Ṣubḥ) and the afternoon prayer (al-ʿAṣr).
13274 - Ibn al-Barqī related to me, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, concerning this āyah: وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ (And keep yourself patient in the company of those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening), the āyah: that they are those who attend the prescribed prayers.
13275 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid and Ibrāhīm: وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ (And keep yourself patient in the company of those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening). They both said: the five prayers.
13276 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar.
13277 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening." He said: the praying believers, Bilāl and Ibn Umm ʿAbd = Ibn Jurayj said: And ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr informed me, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: I performed the morning prayer with Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, and when the imam had given the taslīm, the people hastened to the storyteller (al-qāṣṣ). Saʿīd said: "How quick they are to this gathering!" Mujāhid said: I said: they explain what Allah, exalted is His mention, has said. He said: And what has He said? I said: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening." He said: And does that pertain to this? That pertains only to the prayer that we have just left; that pertains only to the prayer.
13278 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī ʿAmra, who said: the prescribed prayer.
13279 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of ʿĀmir, who said: it is the prayer.
13280 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of ʿĀmir, who said: it is the prayer.
13281 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His Face." He says: the morning prayer (al-Ṣubḥ) and the afternoon prayer (al-ʿAṣr).
13282 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī ʿAmra prayed in the mosque of the Messenger. When he had prayed, he stood up and leaned against the chamber of the Prophet ﷺ, and the people crowded around him. He said: "O people, away from me!" It was said: "May Allah have mercy upon you; they have only come because they intend this āyah: وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ (And keep yourself patient in the company of those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening) [Surah Al-Kahf: 28]." He said: "And is this what is meant by it? It pertains only to the prayer."
And others said: it is the prayer, but the people did not ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to drive these weak ones out of his gathering, nor to place them at the back of his gathering. They only asked him to move them from the first row to the back, so that they would be behind them in the row.
* Mention of who said that:
13283 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, my father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his statement: وَكَذَلِكَ فَتَنَّا بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ (And thus We have tried some of them by means of others), the āyah: those were people who were with the Prophet ﷺ among the poor. Then some people among the notables said: "We will believe in you, but when we pray, place these who are with you at the back so that they pray behind us!"
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And others said: no, the meaning of "their call" was their remembrance of Allah, exalted is His mention.
* Mention of who said that:
13284 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us = and Hannād related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us = on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning his statement: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening." He said: the people of remembrance (ahl al-dhikr).
13285 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening." He said: they are the people of remembrance (ahl al-dhikr).
13286 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening." He said: do not drive them away from the remembrance.
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And others said: no, that was their teaching of the Qurʾān and its recitation.
* Mention of who said that:
13287 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, concerning his statement: وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ (And keep yourself patient in the company of those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening) [Surah Al-Kahf: 28]. He said: he used to teach them the Qurʾān. Who would relate stories (al-qaṣaṣ) to the Prophet ﷺ?!
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And others said: no, by their call upon their Lord was meant their worship of Him.
* Mention of who said that:
13288 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say, concerning his statement: "who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening." He said: that means: they worship. Do you not see that He has said: لا جَرَمَ أَنَّمَا تَدْعُونَنِي إِلَيْهِ (There is no doubt that that to which you call me) [Surah Ghāfir: 43], by which is meant: you worship.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct word concerning that is that one says: Allah, exalted is His mention, forbade His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ to drive away a people who used to call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening. And "calling upon Allah" occurs through His remembrance, glorifying Him and praising Him with word and speech = and it also occurs through performing for Him with the limbs the works whose obligation rested upon them, and the remaining voluntary works (nawāfil) by which He is pleased with the one who performs them for Him, on account of what he does for Him. And it is possible that this people combined all these meanings together, so that Allah described them thus as those who call upon Him in the morning and the evening, for Allah has named "worship" "calling." He said, exalted is His mention: وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ (And your Lord said: call upon Me, and I will respond to you; indeed, those who arrogantly turn away from My worship will enter Hell (jahannam) in humiliation) [Surah Ghāfir: 60]. And it is also possible that it refers to a particular form of calling.
And no statement is more deserving to be deemed correct concerning that than describing the people with that by which Allah has described them: that they call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening. So one takes the description in general as their Lord has described them, and one does not restrict it to one aspect to the exclusion of the other.
The explanation of the word is then: O Muḥammad, warn with the Qurʾān which I have sent down to you those who know that they will be gathered to their Lord = so that, out of fear of their coming before Allah, before whom there is for them no intercessor nor helper besides Him, they may be diligent in working for Him = when those of your people who deny Allah and the Last Day, out of arrogance toward Allah, turn away from your warning and from listening to what Allah has sent down to you = then do not drive them away nor repel them, lest you become one of those who has put repelling in the wrong place, and who has repelled and removed those whom he ought not to have repelled and removed, and has brought near those whom he ought not to have favored and brought nearer. For those whom I have forbidden you to drive away are those who call upon their Lord and ask Him for His pardon and forgiveness by means of their good works, the fulfillment of what He has imposed upon them of obligations, and their voluntary additional deeds, and their remembrance of Him with their tongues in the morning and the evening, thereby seeking nearness to Allah and the approach to His good pleasure = "nothing of their account rests upon you," He says: nothing of the account of the provision (rizq) that I have bestowed upon them rests upon you = and nothing of the account of the provision that I have bestowed upon you rests upon them = "that you should drive them away," out of fear that I would call you to account for what I have granted them in this world of provision.
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And His statement "that you should drive them away" is the response to His statement "nothing of their account rests upon you, and nothing of your account rests upon them."
And His statement "and so become one of the wrongdoers" is the response to His statement "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord."
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