Al-A‘raf 52–53: Knowledge, Choices, and Remembering the Day of Reckoning

24 January 2021

As Knowledge Increases, Does Our Peace Increase Too?

Technology makes many aspects of our lives easier. We can speak with someone far away, reach information quickly, and carry out our work with tools different from those of the past. But changing tools does not automatically solve every problem in human relationships. An argument once held face to face may continue on a screen today. Distance shrinks, while the feeling of being misunderstood can remain. In this lesson, as we reflect on verses 52 and 53 of Surah Al-A‘raf, we examine how knowledge is reflected in our lives. What we do with what we learn matters as much as how much we can access. Does a piece of knowledge bring us closer to acting more carefully, justly, and responsibly? Or does it remain merely another detail accumulating in our minds?

In the future, we may have more advanced tools. Travel may become easier, communication may change, and some tasks that seem difficult today may be completed more quickly. These have value. Still, listening to a spouse, keeping a promise, or respecting an employee’s rights also requires an attitude. A new tool does not automatically give us this responsibility. Without belittling progress, let us therefore ask in which areas we need to develop as human beings. If we think that the next innovation will fill every gap in our lives, we may postpone our behavior today. Yet it is possible to carry the same old hurt through the newest device. As tools change, our intentions and behavior also need consideration.

Which Knowledge Do I Really Need?

Curiosity is a beautiful beginning for learning. But people can sometimes linger among details to distance themselves from their own responsibility. They speak, debate, and investigate extensively, yet do not return to an evident question in their own life. Why does the same conversation at home always turn into a fight? Which promise do I make and fail to fulfill while doing a task? Why do I constantly make hasty decisions at work? Looking at these questions can feel difficult. They take us away from discussing someone else’s mistakes and bring us closer to our own behavior. Seeking beneficial knowledge does not mean narrowing all curiosity. It also means considering where what we learn is useful, which need it touches, and what it helps us do more correctly.

The lesson explains this attentiveness through an example from production. While there is an area they need to develop in their own work, someone may devote all their time to the details of another subject. Of course, we can learn from different fields; many ideas develop in this way. But if we continually move to something else without ever recognizing our own need, we may be postponing what we truly need to resolve. The same question applies in our relationships. While discussing someone else’s family at length, there may be someone we do not listen to in our own home. The usefulness of knowledge is not measured only by its being interesting. Sometimes taking a very familiar truth seriously requires more effort than pursuing new information. Practicing what we know is also part of learning.

Not Keeping the Book’s Guidance at a Distance from Ourselves

Verse 52 recalls a Book explained with knowledge as guidance and mercy for a believing people. This reminder invites us to reflect on how we read. Do we open a text only to find words to say to someone else? Or are we ready to recognize our own mistakes too? Guidance establishes a relationship between where a person stands and where they will go. We can ask where we stand, what we assumed to be right, and which step we need to change. We may not need to resolve every detail of what we read at once. But we should not postpone its invitation to reflect. Reading a verse and closing ourselves to its bearing on our own behavior should not go together.

This approach does not mean accepting every interpretation we hear without question. Distinguishing what the text says from the speaker’s interpretation, consulting reliable sources, and asking about what we do not understand matter. A person may have said something right; this does not show that everything they say is right. Making a mistake somewhere does not require us to disregard their entire contribution either. Neither complete surrender nor dismissing everyone over a single mistake helps us learn. Careful evaluation is needed. Let us apply the same standard to our own interpretation. Correcting our thought when our error becomes clear does not diminish our worth. It shows that we can place seeking truth ahead of personal reputation. This is an important humility to preserve while learning.

What Would We Want to Change Once We Saw the Outcome?

Verse 53 describes the regret of those who previously forgot the announced truths when those truths become manifest. It considers their wish to return so that they could do deeds different from those they did. When reading this scene, let us not think only of a distant future. Today too, when faced with the consequences of a wrong, we may say, “If only I had behaved differently.” We did not listen to someone’s warning, belittled a responsibility, or took refuge in a convenient justification. Then we wanted to undo what happened. We may not be able to reverse everything. But this reminder shows the value of today, when we can still choose. Let us consider regret not only as fear of the result, but also as a call to change behavior.

Recognizing a wrong while it is still small matters. If there is a promise we have not kept, we can talk, complete a task left unfinished, and listen to the person we hurt. These steps may not immediately repair every harm. The other person’s trust may take time, and some consequences may be lasting. Still, these are not reasons to do nothing. Seeking repentance and amends means carrying responsibility for the past, rather than covering it over. Let us not close the whole path by saying, “I have already made too many mistakes.” Likewise, let us not think, “I apologized once; now everyone should forget.” Our own change and another person’s healing may not proceed at the same pace. A sincere turning back requires consistency as well as words.

What Stands at the Center of Our Life?

People can make something they value the measure of their entire life. Their child, spouse, work, or earnings are very precious; but when they begin considering every wrong normal for their sake, they need to pause and reflect. Loving someone and disregarding another person’s rights for them are different things. Taking work seriously and sacrificing every relationship to work are not the same. We are not removing love and work from our lives here. We are examining the standard by which we live them. What am I striving for, where do I lose my boundaries, and which desire takes me away from myself? Answering these questions honestly may not be easy. Still, it can bring us closer to a more balanced and just life.

Looking after a child does not mean indefinitely taking on all their responsibilities either. We can help them learn tasks they can do according to their age and ability. At the same time, we cannot regard every person receiving support as dependent or worthless. Childhood, illness, disability, and different circumstances in life create real needs. The issue is not reducing love or leaving someone in need alone, but making room for their development while helping. The same standard applies to our own lives. Am I continually leaving a task I can do to someone else? Do I recognize the effort behind the support I receive? Can I give thanks? We can find the connection between blessing and responsibility in these small questions too.

Is Justice Merely Fear of Being Caught?

Remembering the Day of Reckoning helps us consider that our behavior is not limited to visible consequences. We cannot regard an injustice as insignificant because no one sees it. If the person we harm does not speak out, that does not mean they have no rights. Nor does a powerful person’s escaping accountability at that moment remove the meaning of justice. The awareness of accountability within our faith is a reminder to examine our behavior even where no one supervises us. At the same time, let us not judge the morality of people of different beliefs with a single verdict. Here we are considering what our own faith asks of us. Instead of judging another person’s inner world, we can question what our own honesty rests upon and how it is lived.

The same responsibility confronts us when we see another person’s pain. We may not know every detail of an injustice occurring far away. We cannot reach everywhere or solve every problem alone. But this does not mean that we must attend only to our own comfort without thinking about anything. We can seek a trustworthy opportunity to help, support a need we know of, and raise awareness without hurting people. Distinguishing what we cannot do from what we can do matters. Instead of seeing our means as proof that we are superior to someone else, let us ask what responsibility we carry with them. Goodness is sometimes taking seriously the need before us, rather than a grand display. Let us not keep this question at a distance from ourselves.

People Forget, So They Need Reminders

The lesson also considers forgetting. People may lose details of a skill they have not used for a long time. When they leave a job they did for years, they may need to practice again to return to it. This also suggests that the connection between the moral reminders we learn and our own lives must be kept alive. Let us not imagine that reading something once means we will live with the same attentiveness for a lifetime. We may lose our direction amid daily haste, desires, and fears. Regular reading, reflection, and prayer can help us remember again what we do and why. Let this repetition be an opportunity to bring meaning together with our lives today, rather than merely saying sounds in the same order.

That is why asking the meaning of what we say during worship is valuable. Memorizing and understanding are not enemies; it is possible to reflect on the words we have memorized. While remembering our Lord’s greatness and perfection in prostration, we can also remember our own limitations. We can say, “I may make mistakes, my knowledge may be incomplete, and my desire may lead me somewhere wrong.” Let this acknowledgment direct us toward seeking help rather than despair. If we recognize a heart we hurt during the day, an injustice we committed, or a promise we forgot, let us be able to turn back. Let us not place a wall between worship and how we treat people. When the meaning we remember touches a daily decision, it finds a clearer expression in our lives. The connection between reading and practicing can remain alive in this way.

Not Making Our Own Choice an Obligation for Others

The example in the lesson concerning a workplace’s working hours is also striking. Someone may voluntarily begin earlier, but presenting their own choice as an obligation for everyone is a different matter. This example helps us distinguish between a personal habit and a shared rule. When speaking about religion too, let us take care not to convey our own interpretation or practice as an unquestionable command. We can investigate the basis of something, what we know, and where different interpretations exist. Where we do not understand, we need to seek reliable information. Both inventing a rule for our own convenience and pressuring someone else because of our preference are responsibilities we need to consider.

We can receive younger generations’ questions with this care. When a child asks why we do something this way, merely becoming angry or silencing them does not produce understanding. Giving an answer we do not know as though we know it also damages trust. It is possible to say, “Let us look together; I need to investigate this.” Let us not equate asking questions with disrespect. While trying to understand, a person can respect both the source and the person before them. We too can speak more clearly by increasing our knowledge. Let us try to explain rather than force, and describe responsibility rather than frighten. Making room for free thought within learning can create a healthier bond than expecting every question to be settled immediately. We can also try to guide while knowing our own limits.

Taking Today’s Choice Seriously

From verses 52 and 53 of Al-A‘raf, we can consider for our own part not postponing the knowledge we read and taking today’s choice seriously. We do not have to know everything immediately, but let us not close our eyes to a wrong we clearly recognize. Let us learn, ask, acknowledge mistakes, and try to correct what we can. Let us ask our Lord for beneficial knowledge, a right intention, and help in practicing what we know. Let us consider gratitude together with responsibility, and repentance together with making amends. We do not need to be flawless today to avoid saying “if only” in the future. We need to take an honest step today. Let us use the time given to us not only to possess more, but also to live more justly and attentively.