> Allah's Guarantee of Protection for our Children

Brother Tanweer,

In one of our recent conversations, we talked about wisdom of stories of Moosa (AS) mentioned in Surah Kahf. I was reading Surah An-Nisa and discovered something amazing that I wanted to share with you.

In the start of this Surah  , Allah (SWT)  talks about guarding the rights and trusts of the orphans under one's protection. Ayat 9  comes with a  beautiful twist in the narration.

وَلْيَخْشَ الَّذِينَ لَوْ تَرَكُوا مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّةً ضِعَافًا خَافُوا عَلَيْهِمْ فَلْيَتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلْيَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا

"And let those [executors and guardians] fear [injustice] as if they [themselves] had left weak offspring behind and feared for them. So let them fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice."

(QS. An-Nisaa: Verse 9)

It is commonly understood that Ayat 9 is addressed to the executors and guardians responsible for the orphans. While this understanding is perfectly correct, there is no harm in considering the address is broader than that, and is for all. Allah (SWT) says if they fear injustice for their children in the event of their death, then they should do two things to protect them from any injustice or harm , those are -

1. They should fear Allah (have 'Taqwaa')
2. And they should speak appropriate and righteous words (قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا)

If we look at these two asks, these are key qualities of a righteous person - so in other words Allah (SWT) is saying, if we fear injustice against our own children (should they become orphan), then we should become  'righteous' (صَالِحً) in our characters for the sake of Allah. I see this as a guarantee from Allah (SWT) for the protection from any injustice or harm to our children we leave behind. 

Now going back to Surah Al-Kahf, in the last of 3 stories of Moosa (AS) and Al-Khidr (Allah knows his name best),  Al-Khidr restored a wall in a town whose inhabitants had refused them hospitality.  Moosa (AS) wondered why Al-Khidr did not take a payment for this work. Al-Khidr explained the reason behind this,

وَأَمَّا الْجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلَامَيْنِ يَتِيمَيْنِ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنزٌ لَّهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَن يَبْلُغَا أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا كَنزَهُمَا رَحْمَةً مِّن رَّبِّكَ ۚ وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَأْوِيلُ مَا لَمْ تَسْطِع عَّلَيْهِ صَبْرًا

"And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. And I did it not of my own accord. That is the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience.""

(QS. Al-Kahf: Verse 82)

He said beneath the restored wall was a treasure for two orphans whose father was 'righteous' man ! All the praises are for Allah (SWT). Here are two of the highly blessed men of Allah (SWT), one of them is his أُولُو الْعَزْم messenger with whom Allah (SWT) talked directly- without any intermediary, while the other is a man of greater wisdom and knowledge (Al-Khidr). They travelled distances to the city and ended up restoring the wall in order to protect the treasure of helpless orphans -  whose father happened to be a righteous man. This story is the perfect explanation of Ayat 9 of Surah An-Nisa. It is with Allah (SWT) mercy that he not only gave us a guarantee on two conditions,  but also showed in practical way how he provides his protection, by means that we can't even imagine can work in our favour.

--Shaikh Obaid