BismiLlah
On Quranic Oxymorons
and Two Powerful Messages in the Quran
An Oxymoron is a literary tool used to communicate concepts/ideas by combining two apparently contradictory words (or phrases). In its inimitability and eloquence, the Quran uses many literary tools – and oxymorons are one of them. Today's goal is to discuss two oxymoronic verses, look at the relationship between them, and derive principles/lessons that we can use to approach life. The first verse?
يَـٰٓأَبَتِ إِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ أَن يَمَسَّكَ عَذَابٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ فَتَكُونَ لِلشَّيْطَـٰنِ وَلِيًّۭ
O my father, indeed I fear that there will touch you a punishment from the Most Merciful so you would be to Satan a companion [in Hellfire]."
— Maryam 19:45, Saheeh International
The phrase that we need is this: “A punishment from The Most Merciful.” Normally, as the scholars of Tafsir would teach us, the names of Allah that occur within or at the end of the Quranic verses have an intricate relationship with the message in these verses. However, I was stunned when I pondered about this verse. Why would Allah cite Ibrahim AS mentioning His name Ar-Rahman when the topic of discussion is punishment?
A person might be expecting other names such as Al-Azeez, Al-Qahhar, Al-Hakam or attributes such as justice (adl), just retribution (zhu-ntiqaam), severity in punishment (shadid al-iqaab), and others like these. From these names and attributes, one would show the emphasis on that fact that whoever associates partners with Allah – as the father of Ibrahim AS was doing – should be afraid of these names of Allah that evoke awe, fear, and the desire to correct one’s misdeeds.
The name mentioned was Ar-Rahman, The Most-Merciful, and there are many benefits that we can extract from the fact that Allah mentioned this name (forgive me for not extensively citing the corresponding pieces of evidence):
Allah’s mercy is closer to us than His anger (or punishment). As such, even in situations when we want to warn ourselves and others of the evil consequences of sins, we shouldn’t forget to mention Allah’s attribute of mercy, how He is more interested in showing mercy, and how Allah’s punishment is like a last strategy.
When a wise person who is always kind to people gets angry, then the general expectation is that the one who evoked the anger is in the wrong. If Allah, the possessor of infinite mercy, perfect wisdom, and untainted justice, decides to punish a person, that person has done great wrong. Sometimes, we tend to think that the most fundamental attribute of Allah is His mercy. However, the primary attribute of Allah is His Uloohiyah – and this entails His oneness, His exclusive right to worship, His essential attributes (from the perspective of the fitrah), and other things best known to Allah. As such, His true mercy comes after Tawheed has been established, and relying on His mercy doesn’t save a person from the consequences of associating partners with Him.
When running from Allah, there is nowhere to run to except back to Him. We run from His anger to His mercy, from disobeying Him to seeking His forgiveness, from the evil in His creation to the bliss of His bounties, and from the fear of the fire of hell to the promises of paradise. It is at this junction that we move to the next verse.
وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱلْحَىِّ ٱلَّذِى لَا يَمُوتُ وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِهِۦ ۚ وَكَفَىٰ بِهِۦ بِذُنُوبِ عِبَادِهِۦ خَبِيرًا
And rely upon the Ever-Living who does not die, and exalt [Allāh] with His praise. And sufficient is He to be, with the sins of His servants, [fully] Aware -
— Al-Furqan 25:58, Saheeh International
The first thing that I want to mention is that this verse carries the same message as this other verse:
قُلْ يَـٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allāh. Indeed, Allāh forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."
— Az-Zumar 39:53, Saheeh International
In the verse from al-Furqan, Allah asks us to rely upon Him – and the thing that He mentions about us our sins, our sins! Allah calls us to have husn adh-dhan (good thoughts) of Him – that He would forgive our sins when we ask for forgiveness.
This concept was put into practice by Yunus AS:
وَذَا ٱلنُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَـٰضِبًۭا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ فَنَادَىٰ فِى ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ أَن لَّآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنتَ سُبْحَـٰنَكَ إِنِّى كُنتُ مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
And [mention] the man of the fish [i.e., Jonah], when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers."
— Anbiyaa 21:87, Saheeh International
These two main verses that I sought to discuss (Maryam 19:45 and Al-Furqan 25:58) have an inverse type of relationship. The first one mentions Allah’s mercy and the possibility that a servant could be punished. The other mentions Allah and how He calls His servants to rely on Him despite their sins. May Allah protect us from doing those deeds that would block us from receiving His mercy, aameen. May Allah always have us seeking His face even after we err, aameen.
Whatever I have said that is correct is from Allah. May Allah forgive the errors, grant us a better understanding, guide us to internalize the message, and externalize the truth in our actions, aameen.
– Umar Hfe
Ramadan 9th, 1445
March 19th, 2024
subhanallah, your insights are always a pleasure to read. may Allah bless and reward you, aameen.
Nice read!
One such example that comes to mind is from Surah Ya-Sin. It tells the story of a man from the farthest reaches of a city — its only believer. Three messengers were sent to this town steeped in disbelief. He said:
"How could I take besides Him other gods whose intercession would not be of any benefit to me, nor could they save me if the Most Compassionate intended to harm me?" - Quran 36, Ayah 23
Truly mind-boggling how quickly Iman fosters wisdom and eloquence.