Āyah 28

قُلۡ أَرَءَیۡتُمۡ إِنۡ أَهۡلَكَنِیَ ٱللَّهُ وَمَن مَّعِیَ أَوۡ رَحِمَنَا فَمَن یُجِیرُ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِینَ مِنۡ عَذَابٍ أَلِیمࣲ

(My Prophet,) Say (to the disbelievers): “Just think – ask yourself: Whether God chooses to kill me and my followers or He decides to be gentle, loving, and merciful with us — then still, who do you think is going to help save and protect the disbelievers from an agonizing painful punishment?”

Allāh tells the Prophet ﷺ to add to his response against them. Take the Prophet ﷺ out of the picture — how does that help the fate of you disbelievers?

A hypothetical question is asked, if Allāh , God decided to kill me and those with me, my followers, my ṣaḥābah, to remove us, and destroy us — since all of you want me dead anyways, does that change anything? Or if He, Allāh , decided to instead be gentle, merciful, and loving towards us and show us and bless us with His Mercy, does that also have an impact on your fate? … The answer is no.

What Allāh does to us is totally His decision. He gives life and death. He makes this hard and easy for people. Having an easy life or a hard life is God testing us, and our job is to take the test and pass the test by responding to the difficulties in the best way, and by doing what is good.

We take protection in and with Allāh from struggles in this life and the next. And we hope for the shafāʿah of our Prophet ﷺ, angels, pious people, good places so that Allāh shows us extra love, care, mercy, and forgiveness of the Day of Judgement.

قُلۡ أَرَءَیۡتُمۡ

• Say
• Just think, ask yourselves this hypothetical

إِنۡ أَهۡلَكَنِیَ ٱللَّهُ وَمَن مَّعِیَ أَوۡ رَحِمَنَا

• If Allāh , God
• Decided to kill my and those with me, my followers, my ṣaḥābah
  • To remove us, destroy us
  • Since all of you want me dead anyways
• Or if He, Allāh , decided to instead be gentle, merciful, and loving towards us
  • Show us and bless us with His Mercy

فَمَن یُجِیرُ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِینَ مِنۡ عَذَابٍ أَلِیمࣲ

• How does that help you?
• Who else is going to be there, Is anyone else going to come to
• Help, save, protect, defend, speak up for you
• The disbelievers
• From getting a painful, agonizing torment and punishment?
  • It doesn’t at all
  • I (Muḥammad), am not the problem
  • You all need to fix yourself

Takeaways:

• What Allāh does to us is totally His decision
• Having an easy life or a hard life is God testing us
• Or job is to take the test and pass, respond in the best way, do what is good
• We take protection in and with Allāh
• We hope for the shafāʿah of our Prophet ﷺ, angels, pious people, good places