Piety to What Extent - the Extent Possible or the Extent Befitting Allah’s Right?
Brief description of the dubiety
In verse 102 of Surah Ale Imran, the believers have been commanded to fulfill their duty towards piety to an extent that is befitting of having given Allah His due right; however in verse 16 of Surah al-Taghabun, the necessary requirement of piety is to maintain it to one’s extent possible. These two verses appear to be in conflict with one another, since two different expectations for piety have been demanded.
Detailed description of the dubiety
Contradictory Verses
Verse where believers have been asked to maintain piety to the extent befitting Allah’s right
Verse 102 of Surah Ale Imran says: “O you who have faith! Be wary of Allah with the wariness that is due to Him and do not die except as Muslims.”
According to this verse, the believers are required to fulfill their requirements of piety to an extent that is due to Allah.
Verse where believers have been asked to maintain piety to their own extent
Verse 16 of Surah al-Taghabun says: “So be wary of Allah, as far as you can, and listen and obey, and spend [in the way of Allah] - that is better for yourselves. Those who are saved from their own greed - it is they who are the felicitous.”
In this verse the believers are only asked to maintain piety to the extent that they are able to.
Summary
In one verse of the Holy Quran, the believers have been asked to maintain piety that is due to Allah as His right; however, in another verse, they have been asked to maintain piety to the extent that they are able to. These two verses appear to be contradictory since the command to maintain piety is related to two different expectations which cannot be reconciled.
A summarized response
Given that no one can truly fulfill the rights of Allah the way in which He truly deserves, yet at the same time everyone is responsible to maintain His rights, verse 16 of Surah al-Taghabun is essentially defining the extent of piety demanded in verse 102 of Surah Ale Imran. If an individual maintains piety to the extent that they are capable of doing so by obeying the commands of Allah and remaining on the path of purification of one’s soul and having sincerity, then they have essentially fulfilled the right of Allah with respect to maintaining piety. Therefore, these two verses are not in contradiction, rather one of them clarifies the goal that is expected, and the second one outlines how a person can reach this goal.
A detailed response
Meaning of piety in the Quran
Piety (taqwa) is from the root-word wa-qa-ya, which means ‘to preserve, to be wary and to protect.’ [1] In the Quran, piety is used to refer to the act of abstaining from those actions which are disliked by Allah, and not just being fearful of Him. In other words, the command tense “be pious” or “be wary” in the Quran, indicates that in all aspects of a person’s life, one should take Allah’s satisfaction into consideration. Verse 13 of Surah al-Hujarat says: “Indeed the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most God conscious among you.”
The word taqwa has a meaning inclusive of being wary and abstaining from the fire of hell, as it appears in verse 131 of Surah Ale Imran where it says: “And beware of the fire which has been prepared for the faithless.” In Surah al-Baqarah, verse 24 Allah says: “Then beware of the fire whose fuel will be humans and stones, (it is) prepared for the faithless.” As well in verse 25 of Surah al-Anfaal it says: “And beware of a punishment which shall not visit the wrongdoers among you exclusively.” [2]
Meaning of Allah’s right to piety
In brief, it can be said that piety as a right of Allah should be at the highest degree of wariness - taking into consideration His greatness and glory. This is inclusive of being conscious in all types of sins, rebellion, aggression, and deviation from the truth - in both belief and actions. [3]
The command of maintaining Allah’s right to piety is to introduce direction and purpose
Verse 102 of Surah Ale Imran demands believers to maintain piety in a way that fulfills the right of Allah. Naturally, because this piety is in relationship to the Almighty One, it should be proportional to His glory and greatness. On the other hand, the human being who has been commanded to maintain this piety does not have the capacity to fulfill this right to such an extent, and no matter how much effort a person puts in, one will still not be able to fulfill Allah’s real rights. Therefore, verse 16 of Surah al-Taghabun explains that the maintenance of piety should be to the extent that is possible for an individual.
In reality, piety has two aspects. One aspect is Allah Himself, and a person should have piety in relation to Him; and the other aspect is a pious individual. From the perspective that Allah is on one side of piety, piety must be in relation to His Divinity and Lordship; whereas from the perspective of a human being whose capacities are limited, one cannot be pious to the extent that befits the divinity of the Almighty. Therefore, in the Quran, these two verses were revealed considering both of these perspectives: one looking at the notion of piety from the perspective of Allah’s greatness, and the other from the perspective of human capacity. The first is in the state of describing the real goal, while the second is describing the method of achieving this goal. When both verses are put together, we determine that when fulfilling Allah’s right to piety, an individual should be pious to the extent of one’s capacity. Therefore in conclusion, these two verses are not contradictory, rather they explain one another. [4]
Common example
In order to encourage and motivate the students, a teacher says to them: “You need to study and try hard to achieve the top mark on the exam.” It is obvious that not all of the students can achieve the top grade on an exam, and therefore in order to clarify this statement, the teacher says, “Study as hard as you can.” From these two sentences, it is understood that the teacher does not expect everyone to attain the top mark, but all of the students should study hard as if they will be achieving the top position.
In the query concerning the two verses, Allah as well does not expect that everyone will worship and obey Him as He Himself deserves to be worship – because it is outside of the capacity of the human beings – but He wants the believers to observe piety in a way that they are truly endeavouring to fulfill His right, albeit to the extent that is possible for them.