The Complete Life Covenant: Worship, Kindness, Prayer, and Charity

The Arabic Text

وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ لَا تَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا وَذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَقُولُوا لِلنَّاسِ حُسْنًا وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنكُمْ وَأَنتُم مُّعْرِضُونَ

Transliteration

Wa-idh akhadhnā mīthāqa banī isrāʾīla lā taʿbudūna illā Llāha wa-bi-l-wālidayni iḥsānan wa-dhī l-qurbā wa-l-yatāmā wa-l-masākīni wa-qūlū li-n-nāsi ḥusnan wa-aqīmū ṣ-ṣalāta wa-ātū z-zakāta thumma tawallaytum illā qalīlan minkum wa-antum muʿriḍūn

Simple English Translation

"And [remember] when We took the covenant from the Children of Israel: 'Worship none but Allah; be excellent to parents, relatives, orphans, and the needy; speak kindly to people; establish prayer and give zakah.' But you turned away, except a few among you, and you were refusing."

Full Explanation in Easy English

This verse recounts the foundational moral and spiritual covenant Allah made with the Children of Israel. It presents a complete, balanced framework for a righteous life that connects vertical worship of Allah with horizontal social justice and excellent character. It then laments their widespread abandonment of this covenant.

1. The Past: The Comprehensive Covenant

• The Covenant (Mithaq): A solemn, binding pact taken at Mount Sinai, establishing their identity and purpose as a community.

• The Six-Point Framework of the Covenant:

  1. Exclusive Worship (Tawhid): "Worship none but Allah." The foundation of all morality.

  2. Family & Social Justice: A cascade of obligations:

     • "Be excellent (Ihsan) to parents": The highest degree of kindness and respect.

     • "…and relatives": Maintaining family ties (silat ar-rahim).

     • "…and orphans": Protecting the most vulnerable.

     • "…and the needy": Ensuring social welfare.

  3. Universal Good Speech: "Speak kindly to people." This governs all human interaction, promoting a civil and compassionate society.

  4. Ritual Worship: "Establish prayer (Salah)." The pillar connecting the individual to Allah.

  5. Economic Worship: "Give zakah." The pillar purifying wealth and redistributing it to sustain the community.

• The Great Betrayal: Despite this clear, balanced covenant, the majority "turned away... and were refusing." Only a small minority remained steadfast. This was their fundamental failure: abandoning the comprehensive system Allah gave them.

In the past, this established that true religion is not just rituals, but a complete system of belief, worship, social justice, and ethics. Their story is one of accepting the covenant then neglecting its terms.

2. The Present: The Muslim's Covenant and Our Compliance

For Muslims today, this is not just history; it is a mirror for our own covenant and our performance:

1. Our Mithaq: When we said "La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur Rasulullah," we accepted the same core principles, now perfected in Islam. The Quran and Sunnah elaborate on this exact framework.

2. A Complete Life System: The verse shows Islam is holistic. It rejects:

   • Spiritualism without social duty: Praying in a mosque while neglecting family or cheating in business.

   • Activism without worship: Doing social work while abandoning prayer.

   • Rudeness in Da'wah: Speaking harshly to people while calling them to Islam.

3. Self-Audit Against the Six Points: A Muslim must ask:

   • Is my worship purely for Allah? (Point 1)

   • Am I excellent to my parents? Do I uphold family ties? Do I care for the vulnerable? (Point 2)

   • Is my speech consistently kind, honest, and constructive? (Point 3)

   • Do I establish prayer with devotion? (Point 4)

   • Do I give Zakat and charity willingly? (Point 5)

4. "Except a Few Among You": This is a sobering reality check. Will we be among the compliant few, or the turning-away majority?

Today, this verse asks: Are you upholding the full covenant you made with Allah, or have you selectively taken parts and turned away from others? Is your Islam balanced and complete?

3. The Future: Accountability for the Covenant

The taking of the covenant points directly to our final accountability:

• Covenant as the Basis of Judgment: On the Day of Judgment, nations and individuals will be asked about the covenants they were given. This covenant—in its Islamic form—is what Muslims will be held to account for.

• "You Were Refusing" (Mu'ridun): This describes a state of conscious aversion. To die in that state—refusing to worship Allah alone, refusing kindness, refusing prayer—is a recipe for divine displeasure and severe consequences in the Hereafter.

• The Reward for the Steadfast Few: For the minority who uphold the covenant—the "qalil" (few)—the reward is immense: inclusion in the promise of Verse 82, to be among the "Companions of Paradise." Their steadfastness in the face of communal neglect is what earns them eternal success.

For the future, this verse teaches that our eternal fate hinges on whether we lived as upholders of Allah's comprehensive covenant or as those who turned away from its terms. It is a call to conscientiousness: to live a life where worship, family, social justice, kind speech, and financial purity are all integrated, fulfilling the trust we undertook when we declared our faith.

Summary for a Contemporary Audience

Imagine signing the most comprehensive contract for a perfect life: the Founder (Allah) provides the blueprint for spiritual health (worship), family health (kindness to parents/relatives), social health (care for orphans/needy), community health (kind speech), and economic health (Zakat). Then, you ignore most clauses and only occasionally glance at one or two.

Your takeaway: Your Islam is that contract. Don't be among the majority who "turned away" by:

• Praying but backbiting.

• Fasting but severing family ties.

• Giving charity but being rude to people.

• Claiming faith but neglecting the rights of parents and the poor.

Strive to be among the steadfast few who uphold the entire covenant—worshipping Allah alone and being a force of comprehensive good in the world. This balanced, complete practice is your preparation for standing before the One with whom you made this covenant, ready to account for how well you kept your word.