Surah Al-A‘raf: Whisperings, Awareness, and Returning to Reality

27 June 2021

Can We Expect Change Without Looking at Ourselves?

When the same issue confronts us repeatedly with different people in our lives, we usually look at those around us. The job changes, the friend changes, the person we speak to changes; yet the hurt, unease, or feeling of being misunderstood within us remains. Of course, others make mistakes, and we are not responsible for everything we experience. Still, expecting real change without looking at our own part wears us out. What am I failing to notice? Which expectation am I not questioning? Am I expecting a different result while giving the same response? As we read the final verses of Surah Al-A‘raf, let us not keep these questions at a distance from ourselves. The lesson concerns not only people who lived in the past but also the decisions we make today.

One obstacle to learning is treating our position as a reason for superiority rather than a reason to learn. We may own a business, have worked for years, or be a mother or father. None of these, however, means that we think correctly about everything. While experienced in our profession, we may continue the same mistakes in our relationships. When we sit down for a lesson, we should be able to put both our position and our need to be right aside for a while. Being able to say, “There may be something I do not know,” does not diminish us. On the contrary, it shows that we are open to growth. If we prepare our answer before listening, the words we hear do not reach us; we hear only the echo of our own thoughts.

How Do Small Thoughts Grow?

Whisperings do not always arrive as a great call that will change our whole life. A small comparison, a doubt planted within us, or a repeated remark may be enough. Someone else’s car is new; suddenly the vehicle we use begins to look worthless to us. Yet just a day earlier, we were using that same vehicle to do our work, meet our needs, and were content. It is not the vehicle itself that has changed. Our view of it has changed. Are we facing a real need, or are we experiencing the pressure of wanting for ourselves what we see someone else possessing? When we fail to make this distinction, we cannot see the blessing we have; we may also strain our budget and our relationships.

Think of a small malicious file entering a computer. At first, everything seems to be working. If the problem goes unnoticed, it can spread to other files too. A mistaken thought that a person nurtures in their mind is similar. At first it remains simple envy, then it enters our conversations, decisions, and behavior toward others. We are not placing every negative thought in the same category here. What matters is being able to recognize where our thought is taking us. Does it make me more just, more measured, and more responsible? Or does it turn me into someone who constantly compares, blames, and is satisfied with nothing? Questioning a thought at the outset is easier than dealing with the harm it causes after it has grown.

Listening to the Qur’an Means Making Room for Understanding

Verse 204 of Surah Al-A‘raf advises listening and remaining silent when the Qur’an is recited. Let us not think of this merely as ceasing to speak. While our tongue is silent, our mind may continue producing objections. Truly hearing a sentence requires trying to understand what it is saying to us. When we sit with the thought “I already know,” we may miss the reminder placed before us. Listening does not mean asking no questions or accepting every interpretation we hear without examination. It means first trying to understand what is said correctly, then building our question upon it. Such attentiveness makes both learning and healthier conversation with one another easier.

When we separate this verse from the surah as a whole, the purpose of listening may also become narrower. Throughout the surah, people’s choices, arrogance, responses to warnings, and the consequences of their actions are described. At the beginning there is a call to turn toward admonition; at the end, listening, remembering, and worship are emphasized again. We therefore face a responsibility broader than hearing a beautiful voice. Placing the Qur’an somewhere high or preparing a beautiful cover for it certainly does not mean that we have carried its meaning into our lives. If the words we read do not reach honesty in our trade, conversation in our home, or standing behind our promises, we should reconsider that connection.

While trying to understand, we must also remember people’s circumstances. We cannot expect the same attentiveness at every moment from someone who is hungry, unable to rest, or struggling to meet basic needs. The time we can set aside to listen to a lesson and the means we possess are also blessings. Instead of immediately accusing someone of unwillingness because they cannot do something that seems easy to us, let us try to understand their burden. Perhaps we first need to help meet one of their needs. Advice gains meaning when it touches the reality of a person’s life. Ignoring what is missing from someone’s table and discussing only why they do not listen enough may cause us to overlook our own responsibility.

What Does Remembering Morning and Evening Change?

Verse 205 emphasizes remembering our Lord inwardly, with supplication and fear, in a voice that is not loud, morning and evening. Remembering helps us find our direction again amid the noise of daily life. Thinking about what kind of person we will be as we leave for work in the morning, and looking at what we have done when we return in the evening, are pauses that seem small but matter. Did I overlook anyone’s rights today? Is there a heart I hurt? Did I keep my promise? I can ask not only whether I completed my work, but also with what intention and behavior I did it. In this way, reviewing the day does not become merely an accounting of earnings.

Supplication means acknowledging our helplessness. We recognize that we cannot manage everything alone, that our knowledge is limited, and that we need help. Fear here is not a means of frightening others; it means taking seriously the possibility that we have done wrong. Sometimes we hurt someone without noticing. Even when the other person tells us, we defend ourselves by saying, “I did not say anything like that.” Yet we need to listen to how our words affected them. Asking forgiveness in prayer does not remove our responsibility to correct our behavior. We should be able to say, “My Lord, help me see the wrongs I have committed knowingly or unknowingly, make amends, and not return to the same wrong.”

A Claim of Closeness, or Humility?

The final verse of the surah recalls not being too proud to worship, glorification, and prostration. Let us consider this ending together with Iblis’s claim of superiority described near the beginning of the surah. The thought “I am better than him” can close a person’s path. If the knowledge we acquire leads us to belittle others, we should examine our relationship with that knowledge. Continually voicing a claim of closeness to Allah is not the same as being humble. How servitude is reflected in our behavior matters. Can we acknowledge a wrong? Can we listen to a true statement from someone less experienced than us? Can we be present in conversations without putting ourselves at the center?

Gratitude opens another door for us here. When we regard everything we have solely as the result of our own success, we may forget other people’s efforts and the means our Lord has provided. Imagine preparing a simple kuymak dish. The efforts of many people—the person who grew the corn, prepared the flour, produced the milk, made the butter, manufactured the pan, and supplied the fuel for the stove—come together in that meal. Saying “I made it” does not erase those efforts. Our own contribution is real, but it is not alone. Gratitude likewise means recognizing the means that made our efforts possible, rather than denying our own effort. Viewed this way, giving thanks ceases to be a burden.

When explaining thankfulness, the example of a child’s bicycle is also worth considering. How would you feel if a friend frequently borrowed your bicycle, left it at your door after using it, and never valued your help? Moreover, if you reminded them and they said, “Did I take it by force? You should not have lent it,” how would your relationship be affected? A person may sometimes forget to give thanks; we cannot judge their character from a single lapse. But continually dismissing another person’s contribution may show that we are putting our own wishes before everything else. So we are not merely evaluating someone else here. We also ask, “How do I respond to what is done for me?” Let us not regard a meal prepared at home, a task completed at work, or the time of someone who listens to us on a difficult day as things that appeared by themselves. Let us not wait for an extraordinary kindness before giving thanks. Noticing the small acts of support we encounter every day also lightens the burden of living together. Gratitude thus becomes more than a word we say; it becomes an attentiveness that changes how we approach people.

Learning Requires Effort and Practice

Why do we trust a skilled craftsperson? They have worked for years, recognized their mistakes, encountered different problems, and gained experience. When a new vehicle model arrives, even if they do not know every detail beforehand, they can approach the issue more soundly through their previous knowledge. Learning in relationships requires such effort too. We cannot expect to listen once and never struggle again. Today we recognize our anger, tomorrow we choose our words more carefully, and another day we learn to apologize. Growing does not mean that no tests remain. It may mean handling the issues we face more consciously and recognizing sooner where we need to ask for help.

We must also remember that the person teaching is not the owner of this path, but a person who helps make learning possible. We can benefit from a speaker, but tying our entire understanding to a single person can leave us dependent. We should be able to ask: What is the context of the verse I am reading? How does it relate to other verses? What is the basis for this interpretation? Learning does not mean making a name unquestionable. We continue returning to the source, investigating, and honestly stating what we do not understand. Someone helping us is valuable; regarding them as indispensable, however, may distance us from our own responsibility. There is an important difference between receiving guidance and handing the task of thinking over to someone else.

The Effort Is Ours; the Outcome Is Not Entirely in Our Hands

When we experience a problem with someone close to us, we can change our own attitude, speak more appropriately, act fairly, and seek help. But we cannot entirely determine the other person’s decision. Accepting this does not mean giving up. It means letting go of the desire to force the outcome while doing what we can. Wanting to preserve a family is valuable; this desire should not normalize anyone being hurt or placed under pressure. Patience does not mean doing nothing in the face of wrongdoing. Setting necessary boundaries, receiving trustworthy support, and seeking a just solution are also parts of the effort. Supplication and submission have a meaningful place alongside these responsibilities.

The example of the kettle on the stove teaches us to take small warnings seriously. Everything seems normal as the water heats; it begins to boil and gradually decreases. If it is not watched, the kettle is damaged. In relationships too, postponed conversations, broken promises, and unheard objections can accumulate. We cannot say there is no problem simply because no major rupture has occurred yet. At the same time, it would not be right to explain every harm through one person’s neglect. The lesson to take from the example is not to dismiss the warnings available to us. Not postponing until tomorrow something we can repair today, seeking support in a matter we do not understand, and listening to what lies behind a situation that is calm only on the surface are concrete steps that fall to us.

Hope, Responsibility, and Compassion

Throughout the lesson, scenes of the Hereafter also invite us to reflect on our lives today. Surah Al-A‘raf recalls the accounting of our deeds and the weight of good actions. Recognizing our past wrongs should not drive us into complete despair. Saying, “I have already done so much wrong; there is no point in correcting myself now,” prevents a new step. Today we still have the opportunity to repent, uphold rights, try to repair the harm we have caused, and increase goodness. Let us not deny this opportunity to others either. Knowing a person’s past cannot justify passing final judgment on their future or regarding ourselves as flawless.

Let us not limit compassion only to those close to us either. At the end of the lesson, questions about helping someone who is hungry and thirsty are discussed. The reminder here is that when we see someone’s urgent need, we should not attempt to judge their entire life ourselves. Helping does not mean approving their wrongdoing; forgiving does not mean abandoning safety and rights. Circumstances may differ, and boundaries may be necessary; but we should consider not ignoring someone’s hardship simply because of our anger. Let us ask our Lord not only for our own peace, but also to be able to live without harming others. We need His help to practice what we know, recognize our mistakes, and persist in goodness. That is why a small, honest step we take today is valuable.