Surah Al Baqarah Tafseer

لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللّهُ نَفْسًا إِلااَّ وُسْعَهَا

Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope,

means, Allah does not ask a soul what is beyond its ability.

This only demonstrates Allah's kindness, compassion and generosity towards His creation.

This Ayah is the Ayah that abrogated the Ayah that worried the Companions, that is, Allah's statement,

وَإِن تُبْدُواْ مَا فِي أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ يُحَاسِبْكُم بِهِ اللّهُ

(And whether you disclose what is in yourselves or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it), (2:284).

This indicates that although Allah will question His servants and judge them, He will only punish for what one is able to protect himself from.

As for what one cannot protect himself from, such as what one says to himself - or passing thoughts - they will not be punished for that.

We should state here that to dislike the evil thoughts that cross one's mind is a part of faith.

Allah said next,

لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ

He gets reward for that which he has earned,

of good.

وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ

And he is punished for that which he has earned,

of evil, that is, concerning the acts that one is responsible for.

Allah then said, (mentioning what the believers said) while directing His servants to supplicate to Him, all the while promising them that He will answer their supplication:

رَبَّنَا لَا تُوَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا

"Our Lord! Push us not if we forget or fall into error,"

meaning, "If we forgot an obligation or fell into a prohibition, or made an error while ignorant of its ruling."

We mentioned the Hadith by Abu Hurayrah, that Muslim collected, wherein Allah said, "I shall (accept your supplication)."

There is also the Hadith by Ibn Abbas that Allah said,

"I did (accept your supplication)."

رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا

Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians),

means, "Even if we were able to perform them, do not require us to perform the difficult deeds as You required the previous nations before us, such as the burdens that were placed on them. You sent Your Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of mercy, to abrogate these burdens through the Law that You revealed to him, the Hanifi (Islamic Monotheism), easy religion."

Muslim recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that;

the Messenger of Allah said that Allah said, "I shall (accept your supplication)."

Ibn Abbas narrated that the Messenger of Allah said that Allah said,

"I did (accept your supplication)."

There is the Hadith recorded through various chains of narration that;

the Messenger of Allah said,

بُعِثْتُ بِالْحَنِيفِيَّةِ السَّمْحَة

I was sent with the easy Hanifiyyah way.

رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ

Our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear,

of obligations, hardships and afflictions, do not make us bear what we cannot bear of this.

رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ

(Our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear),We mentioned that Allah said,

"I shall (accept your supplication)" in one narration,

and,

"I did (accept your supplication)," in another narration.

وَاعْفُ عَنَّا

Pardon us,

meaning, between us and You regarding what You know of our shortcomings and errors.

وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا

And grant us forgiveness,

concerning what is between us and Your servants. So do not expose our errors and evil deeds to them.

وَارْحَمْنَأ

Have mercy on us,

in what will come thereafter. Therefore, do not allow us to fall into another error.

They say that those who commit error need three things:

Allah's forgiveness for what is between Him and them,

that He conceals these errors from His other servants, and thus does not expose them before the servants, and

that He grants them immunity from further error."

We mentioned before that Allah answered these pleas, "I shall," in one narration and, "I did," in another narration.

أَنتَ مَوْلَانَا

You are our Mawla,

meaning, You are our supporter and helper, our trust is in You, You are sought for each and every type of help and our total reliance is on You. There is no power or strength except from You.

فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ

And give us victory over the disbelieving people.

those who rejected Your religion, denied Your Oneness, refused the Message of Your Prophet, worshipped other than You and associated others in Your worship. Give us victory and make us prevail above them in this and the Hereafter.

Allah said, "I shall," in one narration, and, "I did," in the Hadith that Muslim collected from Ibn Abbas.

Further, Ibn Jarir recorded that Abu Ishaq said that;

whenever Mu`adh would finish reciting this Surah,

فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ

(And give us victory over the disbelieving people), he would say "Amin."

This is the end of the Tafsir of Surah At-Baqarah, and all praise and thanks are due to Allah.

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