Memorize Surah al-Mulk Ramadan 2021 | Verse 12

Verse 12
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُم بِٱلْغَيْبِ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ وَأَجْرٌكَبِيرٌ

Allāh says: إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُم بِٱلْغَيْبِ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ وَأَجْرٌكَبِيرٌ
Surely those who fear their Lord in private, or in regards to the Unseen, will have forgiveness and a great reward.
We are now shifting gears. The previous few verses were about those who disbelieve, their punishment, and why we should protect ourselves from being like them and earning their outcome. Now, we are going to talk about those who do believe, their reward, and why we should strive to be them and earn their outcome.

This is a common stylistic phenomena we find time and time again in the Quran, wherein Allāh mentions punishment, sin, and bad people, bad examples, the wrong things they did in this life to earn them an awful destination in the Hereafter. And then, immediately following, Allāh mentions the complete opposite: reward, good deeds, Paradise, role models, and praiseworthy examples of people we should strive to be like, what they did in this life to earn them a beautiful destination in the Hereafter.
This stylistic choice, regardless of the content, just the literary technique used, really shows how the Quran is the perfect book of teaching and guidance.

This book functions to guide us, to help us live our lives in the best manner possible. And in order to do so, it has to take our human psychology into account. It has to present information in a manner that will actually inspire us towards action.
One of those ways, is to mention bad and good hand-in-hand; punishment and reward, fright and joy. Allāh tells us about punishment so that we are inspired to do whatever we can to protect ourselves from it, and He tells us about reward so that we are inspired to do whatever we can to attain it.
We have to have both, human beings would not do well with just one or the other. So, after we talked about the disbelievers and their punishment, we now shift to talking about the believers, those who fear Allāh , and the reward that they get.

Before we jump into the commentary, let us take a moment to unpack the translation and some difference of opinion regarding what بِٱلْغَيْبِ means.
Some commentators opine that بِٱلْغَيْبِ means that these people fear Allāh , they are in awe of Allāh , they revere Allāh , even when they are all alone and no one else is watching. There is an extra level of sincerity there, because they have nobody to impress except Allāh . No one else is watching them, but they know Allāh is watching them, so they fear Him and do not do anything that would earn His displeasure and anger.
Other commentators opine that بِٱلْغَيْبِ means that these people fear Allāh despite not being able to see Allāh , despite not being able to see the Hellfire. These people fear Allāh as though they can see Him, as though they can visualize the Fire of Hell right in front of them, even though they cannot actually see. Their fear is strong and real, even though it is in regards to matters of the Unseen.
Regardless of what opinion we take on what بِٱلْغَيْبِ means, the main idea behind this description of people who will attain forgiveness and a great reward is that — they fear their Lord. And not just any type of plain old fear; but positive, productive, and beneficial fear that inspires one’s actions. A fear that is inspired by awe and reverence. Oftentimes, when we think of ‘fear’ we think of things that are scary: spiders, clowns, taxes. But Allāh is not “scary.”
The fear we as Muslims have of Allāh is a completely different category from the routine things that people are usually afraid of.  Our fear of Allāh is borne of respect, veneration, and honor. We fear Allāh because of His Majesty, His Grandeur, His Power.
This fear is also different because it has a practical manifestation on the person’s actions and behavior.
Because this type of person fears Allāh , he or she does whatever Allāh has commanded and stays away from whatever Allāh has prohibited.
This positive fear of Allāh inspires a person to rectify themselves, improve their lives, and get better and better with each day. And when people do fear Allāh , fear Allāh as He deserves to be feared, fear Allāh such that it affects their behavior and actions, what do they get? Forgiveness and a great reward.

One possible reason why forgiveness is mentioned first, is that, when people truly fear Allāh , earning His forgiveness is their top priority before anything else; before Paradise, before castles and palaces, before all the most delicious food in existence, they just want to be forgiven first. They want their records of mistakes and errors wiped clean.
This teaches us that, hey, even those who fear Allāh as He deserves to be feared, even those whose fear of Allāh is so strong that it inspires their actions, even they are going to make mistakes.

We are human, mistakes are going to happen. But so long as we pick ourselves up after a sin, repent and seek forgiveness from Allāh , and then strive to rebuild the strength of our productive fear of Him, then He will give us forgiveness. He will forgive us, and at the end of day, those who truly fear Allāh want forgiveness more than anything else. But Allāh is so kind and generous, that He does not give these beautiful individuals only what they want.

These people fear Allāh , and so forgiveness is the #1 thing they want. He gives it to them. But on top of that, He goes above and beyond and gives them even more than what they could possibly dream of. A great reward.
Paradise, gardens of bliss and comfort, everlasting, permanent happiness, joy, and delight that our minds cannot even fully understand.

And this is a common theme in the Quran wherein Allāh will mention something in very broad, general language, because the specifics are just too good for us to even comprehend. He mentions something vague so that our minds and imaginations are left to wonder.
What could a great reward from Allāh possibly entail?! Something so magnificent that words cannot describe it.

May Allāh help us to fear Him in a manner that He is deserving of, to forgive us, and to honor us with a great reward.

So again, our verse for today is:إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُم بِٱلْغَيْبِ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ وَأَجْرٌكَبِيرٌ
Surely those who fear their Lord in private, or in regards to the Unseen, will have forgiveness and a great reward.