Holding onto the rope of Allah
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ (102) وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنْتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُمْ بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا وَكُنْتُمْ عَلَى شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ فَأَنْقَذَكُمْ مِنْهَا كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ (103)
O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allah. (Aali Imran 3:102)
And hold fast, all of you together to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Qur’an) and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah’s Favor on you, for you were enemies one to another, but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren (in Islamic Faith) and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.,) clear to you, that you may be guided. (Aali Imran 3:103)
*** A Basic Understanding ***
<O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared> This means – fear Allah the way he has the right to be feared. Ibn Mas’ood said, “It is that he should be obeyed and not disobeyed, that he is remembered and not forgotten, and that he should be thanked and we should not be ungrateful.”
<as He should be feared> This is done by staying far away from everything that is considered disobedience.
<and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allah> Meaning hold on firmly to the religion of Islam and bite down it with your molar teeth until death finds you and you are still holding onto this beautiful religion. So that which is meant by all of this is that we establish true Islam.
<And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Qur’an), and be not divided among yourselves> – Meaning it is upon the Muslims all together to hold onto the religion of Islam and his book, and not be divided in it. Also we have been commanded not to differ in it the way that the Jews and Christians did with that which was sent to them.
<and remember Allah’s Favor on you> – Meaning remember Allah’s favor upon you.
<for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together> – Before Islam you were starch enemies towards one another, then Allah tied your hearts together by way of Islam and bringing you together in emaan (belief).
<and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it> – Meaning you were on the verge of being in the hell fire, and Allah saved you from it by way of Islam.
<Thus Allah makes His Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.,) clear to you> – Meaning that just like this is the way that Allah explains clearly his rest of His verses.
<that you may be guided> – So that you may be guided by way if it to happiness in both worlds.
