IOK Ramadan 2025: Asking for Evil | Sh Mudassir Mayet

This Ramadan, MuslimMatters is pleased to host the Institute Of Knowledge‘s daily Ramadan series: Ramadan Reflections. Through this series, each day we will spend time connecting with the Qur’an on a deeper, more spiritual, uplifting level.

Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12, Episode 13, Episode 14, Episode 15, Episode 16, Episode 17, Episode 18, Episode 19

Transcript

Al-Naml (27): 46 

قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ لِمَ تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ قَبْلَ الْحَسَنَةِ
لَوْلا تَسْتَغْفِرُونَ اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ 

“Prophet Ṣāliḥ addressed his people saying, ‘My people! Why are you asking for harm and punishment instead of forgiveness and goodness? If you were to ask Allāh for forgiveness, you might be shown kindness.’” 

 Prophet Ṣāliḥ (ع) wants to help and guide his people. He encourages them to worship Allāh alone and ask for His forgiveness in hopes of reward and Paradise. He warns them about rejecting Allāh’s Oneness and being engrossed in sin and oppression lest they be punished in Hell. Yet, upon hearing this, those who were too arrogant to believe started to mock Prophet Ṣāliḥ (ع).

They say ridiculous things similar to what other disbelieving nations have said, “قَالُوا اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كَانَ هَذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ أَوِ ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ – They said, ‘If this message and claim of yours is true, go ahead and rain down rocks upon us from the sky, or just straight up bring us a painful punishment!”

And similar statements were said to the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ. Allāh says, “يَسْتَعْجِلُونَكَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ قَبْلَ الْحَسَنَةِ وَقَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمُ الْمَثُلاتُ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى ظُلْمِهِمْ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَشَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ – My Prophet! They ask you to bring punishment against them instead of goodness and forgiveness – even though people before them were swallowed up into the earth! But, no doubt, your Master is extremely forgiving of people despite their evil and oppression, but He’s also extremely severe in punishment.”

Allāh mentions three times in The Qurʾān that the disbelievers asked the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ to hasten to coming of punishment, “يَسْتَعْجِلُونَكَ بِالْعَذَابِ – They ask you, O Prophet, to hasten the coming of punishment.” The ignorance and arrogance of such a request does not need to be discussed here. 

We probably do not find ourselves asking Allāh to rain down punishment upon us. However, many humans do constantly ask to hurt things or comment about their potential ruin. Many of us say things like, “dang it”, “damn this”, “eff this”, “screw you” and so on. In reality, these are actually subtle “prayers”, or wishing for the harm or destruction of something or someone. We say these out of anger, and/or when things do not go as planned, and/or when we do not like a certain thing or person. This is not the way of a believer. And we should not ask Allāh, or make comments to have things be damned. Especially when it comes to human beings, and even more so our own selves or loved ones. People, in their frustration, may say something against their own self! 

 This does not mean that we cannot ask Allāh to exact his justice on the tyrannical oppressors. That is justified, and reflects us putting our trust in Allāh. Rather, we should refrain from constantly praying against ourselves and our surroundings. A beautiful way to alter our mindset, and actually come out better, is to simply pray for the goodness in whatever it is we are not pleased with. If I failed to meet my own personal goal, instead of damning myself, let me ask Allāh to help me and make me better. Instead of cursing at the dishwasher because it is causing problems, let me ask Allāh to fix it or help me replace it. The same applies to my loved ones and all the items we use everyday. They will not always be perfect, but I can pray Allāh keeps them and us running long and healthy, and replace the items when the time comes.