Surah Al-Ma’idah 5:35

Verses and Translation

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَٱبۡتَغُوٓاْ إِلَيۡهِ ٱلۡوَسِيلَةَ وَجَـٰهِدُواْ فِى سَبِيلِهِۦ لَعَلَّڪُمۡ تُفۡلِحُونَ (٣٥)

“O you who have believed, fear Allah and seek the means [of nearness] to Him and strive in His cause that you may succeed.”

Commentary

That is, You should seek all those means that help obtain Allah’s nearness and His pleasure.

“Strive in His cause” does not fully convey the meaning of Jahidu. It implies that the Believers should struggle against all the forces that stand in the way of Allah, as if to say, “You can please Allah and win His favor only if you exert your utmost in the way of Allah: struggle hard against all the persons, parties and forces which stand in Allah’s way, which hinder you from Allah’s way to turn you away from it, which do not let you follow Allah’s way as His servants and force you to become their servants or servants of others. Such exertion and struggle will lead you to true success and become the means of obtaining your nearness to Allah..”

Thus, this verse exhorts the Believer to fight his enemies on all fronts. On one side, he confronts Satan and a host of his followers, and on the second, his own self and its alluring’ temptations. On the third side, he has to fight many people who have swerved from the way of God, and with whom he is bound by close social, cultural and economic relations. On the fourth side, he is required to oppose all those religious, cultural and political systems that are founded on rebellion against God and force people to submit to falsehood instead of the Truth. Though these enemies employ different weapons, they all have one and the same object in view, that is, to subdue their victims and bring them under their own subjection. It is obvious that true success can only be achieved if one becomes wholly and solely a servant of God and obeys Him openly and also secretly, to the exclusion of obedience to all others. Thus there is bound to be a conflict with all the tour enemies: Therefore the Believer cannot achieve his object unless he engages himself with all these hostile and opposing forces at one and the same time and at all events, and removing all these hindrances marches onwards on the way of Allah. [Maududi]


Allah commands His faithful servants to fear Him in taqwa, which if mentioned along with acts of obedience, it means to refrain from the prohibitions and the prohibited matters.

“Seek the Wasilah to Him” – It is reported that Ibn Abbas said that Wasilah means “the means of approach”. Qatadah said that the verse means, “Seek the means of approach to Him by obeying Him and performing the acts that please Him.”

“Those whom they call upon seek a means of access to their Lord (Allah).” [Quran; 17:57]

Wasilah is a means of approach to achieve something, and it is also used to refer to the highest grade in Paradise, and it is the grade of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), his residence and the nearest grade in Paradise to Allah’s Throne.

Al-Bukhari recorded that Jabir bin `Abdullah said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Whoever, after hearing to the Adhan says, “O Allah! Lord of this perfect call and of the regular prayer which is going to be established! Grant Muhammad the Wasilah and superiority and send him ﴿on the Day of Judgment﴾ to the praiseworthy station which You have promised him,” then intercession from me will be permitted for him on the Day of Resurrection.”

Muslim recorded that Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-As said that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saying, “When you hear the Mu’adhdhin, repeat what he says, and then ask for salah (blessing, mercy from Allah) for me. Verily, whoever asks for salah for me, then Allah will grant ten salah to him. Then, ask for the wasilah for me, for it is a grade in Paradise that only one servant of Allah deserves, and I hope that I am that servant. Verily, whoever asks (Allah) for wasilah for me, he will earn the right of my intercession.”

“And strive hard in His cause as much as you can. So that you may be successful.” After Allah commanded Muslims to avoid the prohibitions and to work towards obedience, He commanded them to fight against their enemies, the disbelievers and idolators who have deviated from the straight path and abandoned the correct religion. Allah encouraged the believers by reminding them of the unending success and great happiness that He prepared for them for the Day of Resurrection, which will never change or decrease for those who join Jihad in His cause. They will remain in the lofty rooms of Paradise that are safe and beautiful. Those who live in these dwellings will always be comfortable and will never be miserable, living, never dying, and their clothes will never grow thin, nor will their youth ever end. [Ibn Kathir]

 

Foundational Attributes

piety, perseverance, persistence