Al-A‘raf, Verse 50: Distinguishing Truth from Falsehood and Honesty in Difficult Times
24 January 2021
Is It Right if Everyone Does It?
Is a behavior’s being very widespread enough for us to trust that it is right? People sometimes follow the crowd without asking this question. They look at the method used by an apparently successful businessperson and think they must follow the same path to earn as they do. Yet two things need to be distinguished: the result obtained and the path chosen to reach it. Someone’s wealth may have increased; this does not show that every transaction they made was just. Majority approval cannot replace our conscience and knowledge either. Normalizing a wrong does not remove the harm it causes to others and ourselves.
Mixing truth with falsehood often does not begin with an outright lie. We place a wrong justification beside a real need. We say that we want to grow, then accept that every method can be used for growth. We want peace, then consider violating someone else’s rights reasonable for our own peace. The first sentence may be right, but the second does not automatically become right. In the account of Adam and his wife, we also reflect on how misleading information can affect a person’s choice. If we regard this account only as an event in the past, we struggle to notice similar justifications we construct in our minds today.
What we need here is not suspicion of everyone, but understanding what we do and why. Recognizing that a practice is widespread and investigating its rightness are different things. Where people lack knowledge, they easily turn to familiar formulas. They decide by saying that people in similar situations do this, then are surprised when they experience the same problems those people faced. The Qur’an’s accounts of past communities and prophets do not merely place historical information before us. They enable us to reflect on the consequences of choices. Learning a lesson is more than knowing how a story ends; it means recognizing in our own lives the thinking that leads to the same mistake. We can then pause and evaluate our direction before the crowd carries us along.
The Effort Behind a Mouthful
One example emphasized in the lesson is cornbread seen in village life during childhood. That bread reaching the table is not merely the result of a purchase. The field is prepared, seeds are sown, the crop is awaited, the harvest is gathered, and the corn is dried and taken to the mill. Bread emerges after all these stages. Being within this process allows people to see more closely the effort behind a mouthful. Waiting, working, and acknowledging others’ contributions become natural parts of life. Remembering how something we easily buy today was produced in the past helps us appreciate what we have.
That is why the example of communal labor is not only about farming. Neighbors working in the same field make people’s need for one another visible. Today I help with your work; tomorrow you ease my burden. While working together, people talk, learn how one another is doing, and develop solidarity. Of course, we cannot consider every aspect of past life flawless, nor deny the value of today’s conveniences. The question here is whether we preserve the value we give to effort and people within an easier life. Are we growing apart while completing tasks more quickly? As our means increase, do we imagine that we need no one? The answers appear in our relationships.
The desire to obtain great results with little work sometimes shapes not only our understanding of money but all our expectations. We think that obtaining one project will put life entirely right, or catching one opportunity will end every problem. This haste can lead us to belittle the preparation a result requires. Yet becoming trustworthy and building a sound relationship both require time and effort. Neighborliness, marriage, friendship, and servitude do not mature by themselves through a good intention alone. Intention needs to be nourished through behavior. Expecting lasting peace while avoiding effort resembles wanting a harvest without sowing the seed. Our faithfulness to the process matters as much as our desire for the result.
What Water and Provision Remind Us Of
Verse fifty of Surah Al-A‘raf describes a scene in which the inhabitants of Hell ask the inhabitants of Paradise for water and some of the provision Allah has granted them. The reply states that these have been forbidden to the disbelievers. While reflecting on this scene, we should not reduce it to the language of an everyday argument. What is described is a revelation concerning the Hereafter. The lesson for us today is to remember that our choices have consequences and that we will not always have the same access to blessings. The water we drink every day, the food on our table, and the opportunities we consider ordinary suddenly draw our attention. We see again the place in our lives of things we dismiss because we have grown accustomed to them.
As we reach for a glass of water, let us ask how many people’s efforts, how great a need, and what a blessing we consider. If gratitude remains only words on our tongues, this awareness will not take root in our behavior. Reducing waste, sharing, and considering those in need are also expressions of gratitude in our lives. The scene of the Hereafter in the verse cannot justify refusing to help a thirsty person today. Passing judgment on others’ ultimate fate is not our task. Our responsibility is to use our means rightly and not become insensitive to people’s needs. The heart of someone who recognizes a blessing should also be more open to another person’s deprivation.
Equating differences in worldly means with a person’s worth before Allah would also be wrong. Living in a comfortable country, having a good income, or being born healthy does not show that the test has been passed. Being in difficult circumstances, experiencing poverty, or living with a disability does not mean that a person is being punished either. The lesson draws attention to the danger of this comparison. Alongside what we possess, we need to consider what we do with it. Instead of belittling another person’s hardship, we can ask how to ease their burden. When we do not regard our own comfort as a certificate of superiority, both our gratitude becomes more sincere and our view of people rests on a more just foundation.
When the Waters Are Calm and When the Waves Come
When the sea is calm, everyone may look composed. When the waves rise, what people cling to becomes clearer. Through this comparison, the lesson invites us to consider our daily lives. Speaking of honesty is easy when everything goes well. Preserving the same standard when business deteriorates, money becomes tight, or disagreements arise at home requires greater effort. The principles we believe in should therefore not be merely sentences for comfortable times. When we change them completely under pressure, we also reveal what we truly take as our foundation. At such moments, pausing instead of deciding immediately, understanding the issue, and seeking fair paths are especially valuable.
Imagine that we own a business. As it grows, we speak of justice, lawful earnings, and others’ rights. Then a loss occurs. This time, we may begin making a path we previously considered wrong right for ourselves by saying, “I have no choice.” The lesson’s warning concerns this mental shift. Belittling the difficulty or making easy judgments from outside is not a solution. But pressure does not automatically legitimize every behavior either. We need to evaluate our situation honestly, change our expectations and the scale of the business when necessary, seek advice, and look for ways out that do not harm others. We try not to lose our moral standard while apparently gaining.
The same issue arises in family relationships. A marriage may have lasted years, then the parties may decide to separate. The pain of separation can make people angry, but anger does not grant authority to disregard the rights of the person with whom they lived. Justice is not achieved by saying, “It is my property; I will give nothing.” Can we preserve at the ending the respect we showed at the beginning? Do we consider the other person’s continuing life, the children’s needs, and the responsibilities we undertook? A relationship not continuing does not end the obligation to act honestly. Even when we consider ourselves right, we should separately evaluate our hurtful behavior and the responsibility that falls to us.
We should also learn not to confuse knowledge with behavior. Being able to give the correct answer about a subject does not mean that I live according to that answer. While explaining justice in a disagreement, I may evade that same justice when my own interests are involved. Evaluating ourselves only by what we know therefore remains incomplete. At the end of the day, we should also look at the choice we made, whose burden we increased, and which responsibility we avoided. The test described in the lesson enters life precisely here. Seeing the distance between what we have memorized and our behavior may upset us, but recognizing it is an important beginning for reducing it. We can devote some of the energy we spend defending ourselves to making corrections.
Adam and his wife acknowledging that they wronged themselves after their mistake is also meaningful in this respect. We need to recognize our own part instead of shifting all responsibility for an error outward. Of course, the pressures, deprivation, and injustices people experience are real; we cannot disregard them. Yet considering how we will behave in the area we can change still matters. Someone else’s wrongdoing does not justify ours; acknowledging our own wrong does not mean approving another person’s injustice either. Preserving this distinction allows us both to seek justice and to take care that anger does not govern our hearts. People can thus turn toward the goodness within their ability without denying their circumstances, and not hesitate to seek help. They do not close the door to returning to what is right for themselves.
Turning Back from Wrong and Ending Rightly
None of us is flawless. We may hurt our spouse, argue with a sibling, wrong our child, or upset a friend. What matters is the justification with which we continue a mistake after it becomes clear. If we postpone talking because of pride, a small issue can gradually become a heavy burden. Repentance requires correcting behavior alongside turning to Allah. If we have hurt someone, we need to try to repair our relationship, apologize, and, where possible, remedy the harm. This does not mean declaring ourselves guilty in every disagreement. It means acknowledging the wrong we actually did and showing the will to correct it. Being right in one matter does not mean that all our behavior is right.
Another standard recalled in the lesson is being able to enter a task truthfully and leave it truthfully. Let us not consider this only for major decisions. The same need exists when producing an item, establishing a partnership, making a promise, and resolving a family issue. Does our honesty diminish once the initial excitement fades? Do we forget our promises when we no longer have something to gain? When completing a task, do we leave trust behind, or hurt and uncertainty? People shape their lives not only through one great decision but also through these small choices. As truthfulness becomes a habit, a firmer foundation develops for holding onto it in difficult moments.
Returning to our old attitude after escaping hardship is another danger that deserves attention. In difficulty, we pray, ask for help, and promise to change our lives. Once comfortable, we forget the need that led us to that prayer. Yet feeling safe does not mean that everything is under our control. People are limited both at sea and on land; they need Allah both in scarcity and abundance. Remembering this reality is for learning to live without arrogance, rather than living in fear. Instead of relying on our means and belittling people, being grateful and taking responsibility while knowing those means are temporary gives us a more appropriate direction.
We can now ask ourselves sincerely: Is what is right for me right only as long as it benefits me? Do I stop questioning when everyone does the same thing? When under pressure, do I more readily sacrifice another person’s rights? The aim of these questions is not to drive us into despair. It is to correct our direction during these days when we can still choose. Distinguishing truth from falsehood is not completed by memorizing a concept. We learn to live this distinction while recognizing the blessings on our table, making an effort, resolving disagreements, and turning back from our mistakes. An honest step we take today does more than solve today’s issue; it also clarifies what kind of person we want to become.