“]
After asking for guidance along the straight path, the one praying beseeches God to keep him along that path which has been the path of those who have earned divine grace. In Sūrah an-Nisā’, verse 69 and Sūrah Maryam, verse 58, the Qur’an describes this group. Here, we shall cite below the former reference:
وَ مَن يُطِع اللَّهَ وَ الرَّسولَ فَأُولَئك مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ ﴿
﴾ عَلَيهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَ الصدِّيقِينَ وَ الشهَدَاءِ وَ الصالِحِينَ
“Whoever obeys Allah and the Apostle—they are with those whom Allah has blessed, including the prophets and the truthful, the martyrs and the righteous.”[1]
The person praying is invoking God to include him in the ranks of the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs and the righteous. Aspiring for this path of the upright and pure ones protects from the peril of deviation and aberration, and their memory and reminiscence are always alive in the heart of the one praying.
Who are those who are astray and have incurred the divine wrath?
In the Qur’an, individuals such as the Pharaoh, Qārūn (Korah) and Abū Lahab, as well as communities such as the peoples of ‘Ād and Thamūd and the Children of Israel have been described as those who have incurred the divine wrath. In every prayer, we ask God for us not to be like these individuals and communities that have incurred divine anger and wrath in belief, morality and deeds.
The Children of Israel whose account and civilization have been most frequently mentioned in the Qur’an, they were once superior to all the people of their time. Concerning them, God says: ﴾ فَضلْتُكُمْ عَلى الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿ “I gave you an advantage over the nations.”[2] But in spite of this advantage and superiority, they incurred the anger and wrath of God because of their reprehensible thoughts and actions. In this regard, the Qur’an states: ﴾ وَ بَاءُو بِغَضبٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ ﴿ “And they earned Allah’s wrath”[3] That is, this change in their fate was caused by the change in their behavior.
The Jewish scholars distorted the heavenly commandments of the Tawrah (Torah):[4] ﴾ يحَرِّفُونَ الْكلِمَ ﴿ “They pervert words (from their meanings).”[5] The traders and the wealthy among them engaged in usury [ribā’] and profiteering: ﴾ وَ أَخْذِهِمُ الرِّبَوا ﴿ “And for their taking usury…”[6] And in reply to the call for jihād and struggle, the common people refused to go to the battlefront out of self-preservation and fear, thus saying to Mūsā (‘a):
﴿ فَاذْهَبْ أَنتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِلا إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ ﴾
“Go ahead, you and your Lord, and fight! We will be sitting right here.”[7]
