Safa and Marwah: Effort, Trust, and Not Concealing the Truth
20 December 2021
What does a person do when they feel helpless? Do they sit and wait, or do they ask Allah for help while making whatever effort they can?
When Safa and Marwah are mentioned, a particular act of worship often comes to mind. But these two places also bring to mind a person’s effort in hardship.
Question: When I cannot find a way out, do I lose hope, or do I do what I can while trusting Allah?
Al-Baqarah 158–161 bring up both striving for good and the responsibility not to conceal truth that has been made clear.
Safa and Marwah: Waiting or Striving?
Al-Baqarah 158 states that Safa and Marwah are among Allah’s signs. It says there is no harm in someone performing Hajj or Umrah going between these two places.
This expression may lead us to consider that a visible movement is more than merely an outward walk.
Let us recall Hajar’s search for water. Her young child is with her; water and resources are limited where she is.
Hajar goes back and forth between the two hills. While experiencing the weight of her need for help, she does not remain still and wait without doing anything.
In this account, we see two important aspects together: making an effort in the face of need and not expecting the outcome solely from our own strength.
Question: Do I abandon effort when I pray, or do I keep moving through effort without forgetting Allah’s help?
Sometimes a person immediately feels helpless in the face of a problem. The solution is not before their eyes, and the paths ahead seem closed.
Yet even in a situation that seems closed, there may be a step that can be taken. A person should not belittle that step.
Running, searching, and striving in the midst of hardship do not have to conflict with trust in Allah.
Making use of the available means may be our duty. Assuming that we know with absolute certainty how the outcome will unfold is another matter.
Trusting Allah does not mean abandoning what you can do.
What Is Our Intention in Doing Good?
The verse reminds us that the reward of someone who willingly does good is known to Allah.
Why do we do a good deed? So people will see it, so they will think well of us, or because we truly desire goodness?
Sometimes a person may do something in a way that looks good from the outside. Yet the calculation within their intention may be different.
Question: Would I continue doing the same good deed if no one were to know?
Gratitude to Allah is not limited to recognizing a blessing that has been given. Using that blessing for good also shows a person’s direction.
The effort a person makes for themselves has one aspect. The effort they make for the benefit of others has another.
Meeting someone’s need, supporting a relative, or sharing what we know to be right can be opportunities for goodness.
But if, while doing good, we turn it into a means of elevating ourselves, we need to question our intention again.
Seeking the reward for goodness entirely in people’s praise can leave us easily hurt. Sometimes people do not notice; sometimes they misunderstand.
Remembering that Allah knows and sees teaches us not to tie our hearts solely to people’s judgments.
The Cost of Concealing the Truth
Al-Baqarah 159 speaks of those who conceal clear proofs and guiding explanations after they have come.
There is a very weighty responsibility here. Deliberately withholding knowledge can also prevent others from finding their way.
Giving someone false information and concealing true information for personal gain can lead to the same outcome by different paths.
Sometimes knowledge is seen as power. A person does not share what they know because they want others to remain dependent on them.
Question: Why am I hiding the truth I know: out of fear, for my own interest, or because of other people’s reactions?
A person may fear the cost of telling the truth. They may not want to face a reaction from their family, workplace, or those around them.
The existence of fear is understandable. But that fear does not make deliberately reversing the truth right.
The Qur’an needs to be reflected upon and understood. Being content merely to know certain words may prevent its counsel from reaching our lives.
To avoid concealing the truth, we must first try to learn it correctly. Speaking as though we know about something we do not know can also mislead people.
Instead of conveying only the part of a verse that suits us, we need to attend to the context and the whole of what is said.
Not concealing the truth also requires trying to understand it correctly.
Is Repentance Only a Matter of Words?
An important exception appears in Al-Baqarah 160: those who repent, reform themselves, and make the truth clear.
This means that admitting one has done wrong is a beginning; reform and clarification are also part of the responsibility.
If someone has given false information, reflecting on it privately with regret may not be enough on its own. They should also try to correct the effects of the error.
Question: If I concealed a truth, what am I doing now to make it clear?
Sometimes we apologize but continue the same behavior. Sometimes we say, “I regret it,” but never consider what the person harmed has experienced.
Repentance concerns a person’s change of direction. Recognizing a wrong requires effort not to act in the same way again.
Making the truth clear may mean speaking again where we once remained silent.
A person can question themselves not only about the wrongs they have committed, but also about the good they could have done and did not.
We may have overlooked a need somewhere. We may have acted as though we had not heard someone’s call for help even though we could have helped.
This reflection is not for blaming ourselves, but for no longer postponing the responsibility we have recognized.
To Whom Do We Attribute the Remedy and the Cause?
In hardship, a person sometimes ties deliverance to a single cause. They say, “If only that person had been there,” “If only I had that money,” or “If only I had not missed that opportunity.”
Evaluating the past is useful. But imprisoning our entire life within one lost possibility is not useful.
Remembering that Allah creates both causes and outcomes keeps us from seeing our own effort as absolute power.
The idea of running between Safa and Marwah gains meaning again here. A person does what they can, but does not consider themselves the sole possessor of deliverance.
Question: What do I forget in hardship: the effort that falls to me, or the true source of help?
Something not happening immediately does not mean that prayer is meaningless or that the effort has been entirely wasted.
In life, we investigate causes, recognize our responsibilities, and take the steps available to us. We do not imagine the outcome to be wholly under our control.
The reminder at the end of the verses about the consequences of disbelief and remaining in that attitude until death also makes us consider the value of today’s decisions.
What matters is trying to correct our direction while we have time. We do not have an endless opportunity to postpone things into the future.
What Step Will We Take Today?
Safa and Marwah make us think about effort. The warning against concealing the truth makes us question how we convey knowledge. The call to repentance reminds us of the possibility of change.
We do not have to separate these three subjects. A person learns what is right, does the good they can, and corrects their mistakes when they recognize them.
Sometimes we cannot change our entire life. But we can make clear a truth we need to explain today.
If there is help we need to give today, we can take a step according to our means. If we have an opportunity to correct a mistake today, we can choose not to postpone it.
Question: In what matter am I merely waiting, and in what matter am I avoiding fulfilling my responsibility?
Trust in Allah is not passivity. Respect for the truth is not merely speaking beautiful words either.
When trust, effort, and openly living by the truth come together, a person’s direction becomes clearer.
Even when the path seems closed, taking the right step, not concealing the truth, and turning to Allah are within our power.
Now let us think of a matter that makes us feel helpless. Perhaps the first step is not seeing the entire outcome, but doing the right thing we can do today.