Quran Commentary 2.8 — True Righteousness and the Dignity of the Soul (2:177–186)

Quran 2:177

177. Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allāh, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakāh; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous. ^*

Good Deeds Done From the Soul, Not for Reward

The verse is true.

It does not matter in which direction one turns during prayer — whether east, west, north, or south. The Almighty sees and hears everywhere, for the entire Universe lies within His sphere.

Do not perform good deeds merely to gain paradise. Actions motivated by self-interest do not arise from a high level of the soul. Instead, strive to feel genuine joy for those you help.

The highest form of a good deed is achieved when the one who receives help does not know that it came from you. Only you and the Almighty know it — and that alone fills the soul with quiet joy.

Blessed are those who do good not for praise, but from the deepest desire of the soul. This is what the Quran teaches.

Quran 2:178–179

178. O you who have believed, prescribed for you is legal retribution for those murdered – the free for the free, the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. But whoever overlooks from his brother [i.e., the killer] anything, then there should be a suitable follow-up and payment to him [i.e., the deceased’s heir or legal representative] with good conduct. This is an alleviation from your Lord and a mercy. But whoever transgresses after that will have a painful punishment.

179. And there is for you in legal retribution [saving of] life, O you [people] of understanding, that you may become righteous.

Justice Exists to Protect Life, Not Feed Revenge

Whoever holds a slave lives in a demonic state, harming others. Whoever kills an innocent person becomes a murderer.

After a global upheaval, when there was no judiciary, strict retributive rules preserved life. If a murderer showed no remorse and lacked empathy for the suffering of the victim’s family, execution was considered necessary. Without such consequences, killing continued, accompanied by mockery of the victim’s weakness.

If the murderer fled and a brother remained indifferent to the grief of the victim’s family, that indifference was also treated as guilt. In a lawless time, this severe rule prevented further bloodshed: everyone knew that murder would cost their own life — and fleeing would endanger their brother’s life.

Yet when vengeance overpowered reason, entire families nearly destroyed one another.

To end this spiral of retaliation, people and authorities formed an agreement: the people renounced personal revenge, and the authorities committed to pursue and punish the guilty. This covenant was wise and effective.

Today, however, in many countries this social contract is broken. Children disappear without trace. In such circumstances, blame does not rest only on authorities. A divided, godless, and irresponsible people share responsibility. Alienation from Allah breeds indifference toward neighbors and submission to tyrants and thieves.

A weak people often accuse rulers of their misfortune, failing to see that power reflects the condition of society itself.

Quran 2:186

186. And when My servants ask you, [O Muḥammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided.

Servants or Children? The Soul Is Not a Slave

Do not reduce yourselves to slaves, and do not keep slaves.

Before the Almighty, you are not slaves but His children. He is not a master who needs submission from slaves, but a Father in the highest spiritual sense.

You do not honor the Almighty by calling yourselves His slaves. You bring joy to the Almighty when you recognize yourselves as His children.

People are conditioned into a servile nature — into blind obedience that weakens the soul and pushes it away from growth toward self-sufficiency, independent thought, personal decision, and honest conclusion.

Through distortions, a false perception of the Almighty is pressed into people: cruel, vengeful, and punishing with eternal fire. This is the image of a lower false god who divides the world into chosen and unchosen peoples.

How do you not see this with your reason and through the voice of the Almighty — conscience?

Is this truly how you imagine the Almighty? Or do you recognize that He is the Absolute of Love, Light, Mercy, and Justice?

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* Selected verses from Quran 2:177–186 are quoted from the Saheeh International translation as presented on Quran.com. ↑ back