The Quran about God’s appeal to believers
In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful
The main tool for information transfer is a method such as appealing to an object. This is true both in single cases and on a mass scale. Appeal is usually addressed and directed to the prepared soil, so that the addressee was, at least, in the course of events.
In the Quran, God, in addition to general laws and restrictions, personally refers to different categories of people. One such category is believers.
In Arabic, the phrase sounds: “yya ayuhal-lazina amanu” – and translated as “O those who believed.”
The very expression indicates the existence of faith in people, thus logical is:
- the call to faith
O you who have believed! Believe God and His messenger and the Prescription that He sent down upon His messenger and the Prescription which He sent down before. And whoever closes himself from God, His maintainers, His Prescription, His messengers, and the last day has certainly gone far astray! (4:136)
Simple faith is not enough, because faith without deeds is dead. Hence the call to
2. to humility
O you who have believed! Enter into humility completely and do not follow the footsteps of disobedient. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy! (2:208)
Humility must have conditions of fulfillment. In order to know them, you need to listen, which implies the call to:
3. the call for obedience
O you who have believed! Obey God and obey the messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to God and the messenger, if you should believe God and the last day. That is the better and greater in interpretation! (4:59)
O you who have believed! Obey God and His messenger and do not turn from him while you hear! (8:20)
O you who have believed! Respond to God and to the messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life! And know that God is between courage and heart and that to Him you will be gathered! (8:24)
O you who have believed! Obey God and obey the messenger and do not invalidate your deeds! (47:33)
A person must be firm in his endeavour; therefore the following call is very important
4. To loyalty
O you who have believed! Do not betray God and the messenger or betray your trusts while you know! (8:27)
As you know, the Quran is focused on thinking people, therefore, the call to
5. to circumspection
O you who have believed! Beware of God and give up what remains of usury, if you should be believers! (2:278)
O you who have believed! Beware of God with true awareness and do not die except as humble! (3:102)
O you who have believed! Do not consume usury, doubled and multiplied, but beware of God that you may be successful! (3:130)
O you who have believed! Take your precaution and go forth in companies or go forth all together! (4:71)
O you who have believed! Remember the favor of God upon you when a people determined to extend their hands against you, but He withheld their hands from you. Beware of God, and upon God let the believers rely! (5:11)
O you who have believed! Beware of God and seek to achieve His favour and strive in His way that you may succeed! (5:35)
O you who have believed! If you beware God, He will grant you a criterion and will remove from you your misdeeds and forgive you. And God is the possessor of great bounty! (8:29)
O you who have believed! Beware of God and be with those who are true! (9:119)
O you who have believed! Beware of God and speak words of appropriate justice! (33:70)
O you who have believed! Do not put yourselves forward before God and His messenger but beware of God. Indeed, God is Hearing and Knowing. (49:1)
O you who have believed! Avoid much assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it. Beware of God! Indeed, God is Accepting of repentance and Merciful! (49:12)
O you who have believed! Beware of God and believe His messenger, He will give you a double portion of His mercy!
He will make for you a Light by which you will walk and forgive you! God is Forgiving and Merciful! (57:28)
O you who have believed! When you converse privately, do not converse about sin and aggression and disobedience to the messenger but converse about circumspection and righteousness. Beware of God, to whom you will be gathered! (58:9)
O you who have believed! Beware of God! And let every personality look to what it has put forth for tomorrow. Beware of God! Indeed, God is Acquainted with what you do! (59:18)
O you who have believed! Indeed, among your wives and your children are enemies to you, so beware of them! But if you pardon and overlook and forgive – then indeed, God is Forgiving and Merciful. (64:14)
O you who have believed! Protect yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are maintainers, harsh and severe; they do not disobey God in what He commands them but do what they are commanded. (66:6)
For the efficiency, stimulus for actions occurs at the expense of figurative expression:
6. requesting assistance
O you who have believed! If you support God, He will support you and plant firmly your feet! (47:7)
We perfectly understand our human limitations, and the following call is natural:
7. to repentance
O you who have believed! Repent to God with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow!… (66:8)
The fulfillment of the appeals of the Most High is necessary for the harmonious development of society, which explains the call
8. to serve
O you who have believed! Eat from the good things which We have provided for you and be grateful to God if it is Him that you serve! (2:172)
O you who have believed! Bow and prostrate and serve your Lord and do good – that you may succeed! (22:77)
Service to God requires great responsibility and
9. persistence in justice
O you who have believed! When you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down. And let a scribe write between you in justice. Let no scribe refuse to write as God has taught him. So let him write and let the one who has the obligation dictate. And let him be aware of God, his Lord, and not leave anything out of it.
But if the one who has the obligation is of limited understanding or weak or unable to dictate himself, then let his patron dictate in justice. And bring to witness two witnesses from among your men. And if there are not two men, then a man and two women from those whom you accept as witnesses – so that if one of the women errs, then the other can remind her.
And let not the witnesses refuse when they are called upon. And do not be weary to write it, whether it is small or large, for its term. That is more just in before God and stronger as evidence and more likely to prevent doubt between you.
Except when it is an immediate transaction which you conduct among yourselves. For there is no offence upon you if you do not write it. And take witnesses when you conclude a commercial transaction. Let no scribe be harmed or any witness. For if you do so, indeed, it is an apostasy for you! Beware of God, for God teaches you. And God is Knowing of all things! (2:282)
O you who have believed! Do not consume one another’s wealth in vainness but if only it is a trade by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves. Indeed, God is to you ever Merciful! (4:29)
O you who have believed! Be persistently firm in balance witnesses for God, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, God is more worthy of both. So follow not passions, lest you not be just. And if you distort or refuse then indeed God is ever, with what you do, Acquainted. (4:135)
O you who have believed! Be persistently standing firm for God, witnesses in balance, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to circumspectness. Beware of God! Indeed, God is Acquainted with what you do. (5:8)
O you who have believed! Testimony among you when death approaches one of you at the time of bequest there should be two just men from among you or two others from outside. If you are traveling through the land and the disaster of death should strike you, detain them after the prayer. Let them both swear by God if you doubt, “We will not exchange it for a price, even if he should be a near relative, and we will not withhold the testimony of God. Indeed, we would then be of the sinful!”(5:106)
Achievement of results is impossible without sacrificial attitude, but it must also be correct, which was expressed in the call to
10. the correct expenses
O you who have believed! Spend from that which We have provided for you before there comes a day in which there is no exchange and no friendship and no intercession. And those who closed themselves – they are the obscurantists! (2:254)
O you who have believed! Do not invalidate your charities with reminders or injury as does one who spends his wealth to be seen by the people and does not believe God and in the last day. His example is like that of a smooth stone upon which is dust and is hit by a downpour that leaves it bare. They are unable to keep anything of what they have earned. And God does not guide the closed people! (2:264)
O you who have believed! Spend from the good things which you have earned and from that which We have produced for you from the earth. And do not aim toward the defective therefrom, spending while you would not take it except with closed eyes. And know that God is Free of need and Praiseworthy! (2:267)
Without reliance on the Creator, it is difficult to stay on the right path, so He directs us
11. to the remembrance
O you who have believed! Remember God with much remembrance! (33:41)
O you who have believed! Let not your wealth and your children divert you from remembrance of God! And whoever does that – then those are the losers! (63:9)
Unfortunately, not all believers have the necessary qualities, which are evident from:
12. appeal with reproach
O you who have believed! What is with you that, when you are told to go forth in the way of God, you adhere heavily to the earth? Are you satisfied with the life of this world rather than the hereafter? But what is the enjoyment of worldly life compared to the hereafter except a little! (9:38)
O you who have believed! Why do you say what you do not do? Great is hatred in the sight of God that you say what you do not do! (61:2-3)
For believers to be able to correct their actions, God appeals
13. with the guidance
O you who have believed! Say not, “Take care of us!” but say, “Look after us” and listen. And for those who closed themselves is a painful punishment! (2:104)
O you who have believed! Seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, God is with the patient. (2:153)
O you who have believed, if you obey a party of those who were given the Prescription, they would turn you back, after your belief, [to being] closed ones! (3:100)
O you who have believed! Do not take for intimate friends anyone except those from among your own selves. They will not miss a chance to hamper you. They would like to have what you have. Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, and what their breasts conceal is greater. (3:118)
O you who have believed! If you obey those who closed themselves, they will turn you back on your heels, and you will become losers! (3:149)
O you who have believed! Do not be like those who closed themselves and said about their brothers when they traveled through the land or went out to fight, “If they had been with us, they would not have died or have been killed,” so god makes that opinion a regret within their hearts. And it is God who gives life and causes death, and God is Seeing of what you do. (3:156)
O you who have believed! Do not take those who closed themselves as patrons instead of the believers. Do you wish to give God against yourselves a clear case? (4:144)
O you who have believed! Do not take the jews and the christians as patrons. They are patrons of one another. And whoever takes them as patrons, he is one of them. Indeed, God guides not the obscurant people! (5:51)
O you who have believed! Take not those who have taken your duty in ridicule and amusement among neither the ones who were given the Prescription before you nor the closed ones as patrons. Beware of God, if you are believers! (5:57)
O you who have believed! Upon you is yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided. To God is your return all together; then He will inform you of what you used to do! (5:105)
O you who have believed! Indeed many of the scholars and the monks devour the wealth of people unjustly and avert from the way of God! And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of God – give them tidings of a painful punishment! (9:34)
O you who have believed! Remember the favor of God upon you when armies came to you and We sent upon them a wind and armies you did not see. And ever is God, of what you do, Seeing! (33:9)
O you who have believed! Accompany the prophet and agree to accept him! (33:56)
O you who have believed! Be not like those who abused Musa (Moses). Then God cleared him of what they said. And he, in the sight of God, was distinguished. (33:69)
O you who have believed! If there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful. (49:6)
O you who have believed! Let not a people ridicule people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by offensive nicknames. Wretched is the name of apostasy after one’s faith. And whoever does not repent – then it is those who are the obscurantists! (49:11)
O you who have believed! When you wish to privately consult the messenger, present before your consultation a charity. That is better for you and purer. But if you find not the means – then indeed, God is Forgiving and Merciful! (58:12)
O you who have believed! Do not take My enemies and your enemies as patrons! Extending to them affection while they have closed themselves in what came to you of the truth. They expel the prophet and you because you believe God, your Lord.
If you have come out for striving in My way and seeking means to My approval, confiding affection to them, but I am most knowing of what you have concealed and what you have declared. And whoever does it among you has certainly strayed from the straight way. (60:1)
O you who have believed! Do not make patronage people with whom God has become angry. They have despaired of the hereafter just as the closed ones have despaired of the inhabitants of the graves! (60:13)
O you who have believed! Shall I guide you to a transaction that will save you from a painful punishment? (61:10)
Forms of upbringing are different, thus for a single standard of behaviour, the Lord acquaints believers
14. with the rules of etiquette
O you who have believed! Do not enter houses other than your own houses until you ascertain welcome and greet their inhabitants. That is best for you; perhaps you will be reminded! (24:27)
O you who have believed! Do not enter the houses of the prophet except when you are permitted for a meal, without awaiting its readiness. But when you are invited, then enter; and when you have eaten, disperse without seeking to remain for conversation. Indeed, that was troubling the prophet, and he is shy of you. But God is not shy of the truth.
And when you ask his women for something, ask them from behind a veil. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts. Do not cause the messenger of God unpleasant feelings and never enter into an intimate relationship with his spouses after him. Indeed, that would be in the sight of God an enormity. (33:53)
O you who have believed! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the prophet or be loud to him in speech like the loudness of some of you to others, lest your deeds become worthless while you perceive not! (49:2)
O you who have believed! When you are told, “Space yourselves” in assemblies, then make space; God will make space for you.
And when you are told, “Arise,” then arise; God will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees. And God is Acquainted with what you do! (58:11)
This is also true of the preparation for prayer, so
15. the rules of ablution
O you who have believed! Do not approach prayer while you have intoxicated mind until you know what you are saying or in a state of sexual defilement, until you have washed, except those journeying. And if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the toilet or you have touched women in intimacy and find no water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and your hands. Indeed, God is ever Pardoning and Forgiving! (4:43)
O you who have believed! When you rise to prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of sexual defilement, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the toilet or you have contacted women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it. God does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful. (5:6)
The Most High, demanding justice from us, Himself is a model of justice, so He pre-acts
16. with warnings
O you who have believed! Fulfill agreements. Lawful for you are the animals of grazing livestock except for that which is recited to you – hunting not being permitted when it is forbidden. Indeed, God ordains what He intends.
O you who have believed, seeking bounty from their Lord and [His] contentment! Do not violate the rites of God: the month forbidden for battles or the sacrificial animals and garlanding or secure house forbidden for battles. But when you come out of ban, then you may hunt. And do not let the hatred of a people for having obstructed you from forbidden for battles place for earthly worship lead you to transgress. And cooperate in circumspection and righteousness, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. Beware of God, indeed, God is severe in penalty! (5:1-2)
O you who have believed! Do not prohibit the good things which God has made lawful to you and do not transgress. Indeed, God does not like transgressors! (5:87)
O you who have believed! Indeed, substances that cover the mind, gambling, stone alters and divining arrows are but abomination from the work of the disobedient. So avoid it that you may be successful! (5:90)
O you who have believed! God will surely test you through something of the hunting prey that your hands and spears reach, that God may make evident those who fear Him unseen. And whoever transgresses after that – for him is a painful punishment!
O you who have believed! Do not kill the hunting prey while you are banned. And whoever of you kills it intentionally – the penalty is an equivalent from sacrificial animals to what he killed, as judged by two just men among you as an offering delivered to the cubic structure (Ka’bah), or an expiation: the feeding of needy people or the equivalent of that in fasting, that he may taste the consequence of his deed. God has pardoned what is past; but whoever returns, then God will take retribution from him. And God is Exalted in Might and Owner of Retribution! (5:94-95)
O you who have believed! Do not ask about things which, if they are shown to you, will distress you. But if you ask about them while the Literature (Quran) is being revealed, they will be shown to you. God has pardoned that which is past; and God is Forgiving and Forbearing! (5:101)
O you who have believed! Do not follow the footsteps of disobedient. And whoever follows the footsteps of disobedient – indeed, he commands excessiveness and wrongdoing. And if not for the favor of God upon you and His mercy, not one of you would have been pure, ever, but God purifies whom He wills, and God is Hearing and Knowing! (24:21)
As the saying goes: “forewarned is forearmed,” – therefore, in order to get acquainted with the consequences, the Creator comes forward
17. with a threat
O you who have believed! Whoever of you should revert from his duty – God will bring forth a people He will love and who will love Him, who are humble toward the believers, powerful against the closed ones; they strive in the way of God and do not fear the blame of a critic. That is the favor of God. He bestows it upon whom He wills. And God is all-Encompassing and Knowing! (5:54)
The duty before the Creator is not forcibly imposed, and therefore there are people who refuse to fulfill it. For such God acts
18. with the announcement
O you who have believed! Indeed those who associate others with God are unclean, so let them not approach forbidden for battles place for earthly worship after this their year. And if you fear hardship, God will enrich you from His bounty if He wills. Indeed, God is Knowing and Wise! (9:28)
Believers, being members of society, inevitably come into contact with the society, which implies observance of certain rules. Therefore, the Almighty appeals
19. with precepts
O you who have believed! Prescribed for you is legal retribution for those murdered – the free for the free, the servant for the servant, and the female for the female. But whoever overlooks from his brother anything, then there should be a suitable follow-up and payment to him with good conduct. This is an alleviation from your Lord and a mercy. But whoever transgresses after that will have a painful punishment. (2:178)
O you who have believed! When you go forth in the way of God, investigate; and do not say to one who gives you a greeting of peace “You are not a believer,” aspiring for the goods of worldly life; for with God are many acquisitions. You were like that before; then god conferred His favor upon you, so investigate. Indeed God is ever, with what you do, Acquainted. (4:94)
O you who have believed! Do not take your fathers or your brothers as patrons if they have preferred closed nature over faith. And whoever does so among you – then it is those who are the obscurantists. (9:23)
O you who have believed! Let those who are dependent on you and those who have not reached puberty among you ask permission of you at three times: before the dawn prayer and when you put aside your clothing at noon and after the night prayer, – three times of privacy for you. There is no blame upon you nor upon them, for they continually circulate among you. You are for each other. Thus does God make clear to you the signs! God is Knowing and Wise! (24:58)
O, you who have believed! When you are going to have an intimate relationships with believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them, then there is not for you any waiting period to count concerning them. So provide for them and give them a gracious release! (33:49)
O you who have believed! When the believing women come to you as emigrants, examine them. God is most knowing as to their faith. And if you know them to be believers, then do not return them to the closed ones; they are not lawful for them, nor are they lawful for them. But give them what they have spent. And there is no sin upon you if you enter into intimacy with them when you have given them their due compensation. And hold not to marriage bonds with closed women, but ask for what you have spent and let them ask for what they have spent.
That is the judgement of God. He judges between you. And God is Knowing and Wise. (60:10)
O you who have believed! When you are called for the prayer on the day of gathering, then proceed to the remembrance of God and leave trade. That is better for you, if you only knew! (62:9)
Contacts in the society, observance of the prescriptions of God, cause people’s opposition, which sometimes results in the fighting clashes. For such a case, the Creator appeals
20. with rules for battle
O you who have believed! When you meet those who closed themselves advancing for battle, do not turn to them your backs. (8:15)
O you who have believed! When you encounter a company [from the enemy forces], stand firm and remember God much that you may be successful! (8:45)
O you who have believed! Fight those adjacent to you of the closed ones and let them find in you harshness! And know that God is with the circumspect! (9:123)
All appeals of the Creator to the believers are not accidental, because the present unattractive position of Muslims in the world has developed largely due to ignoring the Lord’s appeals.