Commentary
When He calls you, it is singular in pronoun just as it was singular before, because the response of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, is like His response. One is mentioned with the other for emphasis, and the intended meaning of response is obedience and compliance.
And by calling: it means sending and incitement. Abu Huraira narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, passed by the door of Ubayy ibn Ka'b and called him while he was in prayer. He hurried in his prayer and then came and said: What prevented you from responding to me? He said: I was praying. He said: Did you not hear in what was revealed to me, 'Respond to Allah and to the Messenger'? He said: No doubt, I will not call upon you except that I will respond to you. [Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi and Al-Nasa'i without the phrase: No doubt to the end of it, and narrated by Ibn Mardawayh from the same source as Al-Tirmidhi, and at the end he said: 'Indeed, no doubt, O Messenger of Allah, I will not call upon you except that I will respond to you if I am praying.' And there are other narrations from Abu Sa'id ibn Al-Hakam, narrated by Al-Bukhari in a different context, and Al-Taybi limited himself to it.]
There are two opinions regarding this: the first is that this is something specific to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. The second is that his call was for a matter that could not be delayed. If a similar situation occurs for the one praying, he is allowed to cut off his prayer for what gives you life from the knowledge of religions and laws, because knowledge is life, just as ignorance is death. Some of them said:
Do not let the ignorant be pleased with his garment... for that is a dead man, and his garment is a shroud. [This is from Al-Zamakhshari, a warning to the ignorant against pride and arrogance in his clothing, for he is like the dead in his lack of benefit and understanding. It follows that his garment, which he is proud of, is like a shroud, as it covers a body that has no understanding or benefit. The dead here is in the softened form.]
And before the struggle against the disbelievers, for if they rejected it, they would overpower and kill them, as His saying, 'And for you in retaliation is life.' It is said for martyrdom, as in His saying, 'Rather, they are alive with their Lord.' And know that Allah intervenes between a man and his heart, meaning that He causes him to die, so he misses the opportunity that he is finding. [Mahamud said: 'Its meaning is that He causes him to die, so he misses the opportunity that he is finding... etc.' Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Yes, this is the creed of the people of the Sunnah who borrowed the title of the compellers for themselves. It is the true creed based on piety and entrusting all creatures to the One, the True Creator of creation. If that is injustice, then I am innocent of the group that calls itself the just, insisting on this false opinion and corrupt belief. And Allah is the Guide.]
It is the ability to purify the heart and treat its ailments and flaws and return it sound as Allah wants. So take advantage of this opportunity, and purify your hearts for the obedience of Allah and His Messenger, and know that you will be gathered to Him, and He will reward you according to the soundness of your hearts and the sincerity of your obedience. And it is said: Its meaning is that Allah may take control of a servant's heart, causing his intentions to change, his goals to shift, and replacing fear with safety, and safety with fear, and remembrance with forgetfulness, and forgetfulness with remembrance, and similar things that are permissible for Allah, glorified and exalted is He.
As for what the servant is rewarded for and punished for, [The phrase 'As for what the servant is rewarded for... etc.' refers to the branches of the issue of the creation of the voluntary actions of the servants. According to the Mu'tazila, the one who intends to create them is the servant, and if his obligation is valid due to the appearance of his choice. And according to the people of the Sunnah, the one who intends to create them is Allah, glorified and exalted is He. The servant's obligation is valid due to his earning in them, which is his choice of some over others, as evidenced by experience, contrary to the compellers who claim absolute compulsion, and its place is monotheism.]
Of the actions of the hearts, no, and the compellers say that He intervenes between a man and faith if he disbelieves, and between him and disbelief if he believes, glorified is He above what the wrongdoers say, greatly exalted. And it is said: Its meaning is that He is aware of everything that crosses a person's mind; nothing of his innermost thoughts is hidden from Him, as if He is between him and his heart.
And it was read: between the man, with the raa being emphasized. Its justification is that the hamza has been omitted and its movement has been applied to the raa, like 'khabb,' then intended to pause according to the language of those who say: I passed by 'Amr.'
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