The divine covenant (al-ahd)

العهد الإلهي

Sha'rawi holds that the divine covenant can mean three things: the covenant of the fitra to believe and be grateful for God's favours; the covenant of the prophets to believe in and support the final messenger; and the covenant of the scholars of the Children of Israel not to conceal what is in their books. He holds that God fulfils His covenant with the promise of Paradise to those who keep theirs 1 2 3 4.

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Era
The Prophetic Era
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Global / Diaspora
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Scripture and its sciences

Summary

Sha'rawi sets out three possible meanings of the covenant that people were commanded to keep: the covenant of the fitra, the covenant of the prophets, and the covenant of the scholars of the Children of Israel 2 3. He holds that keeping God's covenant is worshipping and thanking Him, and that God keeps His covenant with the promise of Paradise 4. See al-Baqara 40 and Al 'Imran 187.

Covenant of the fitra

He gives the example of someone who lands in an empty place and finds a laden table, and asks who made it. He holds that thanking the favours and remembering the Giver is the sound fitra and needs no complication 2.

Covenant of the prophets and the scholars

He notes that the prophets' covenant was to believe in the final messenger and support him, and that the scholars' covenant was not to conceal what the Torah says of his description 3.

Keeping and reward

He says God keeps the covenant of those who keep theirs: Paradise is the promise to those who believe and follow, and one who does not believe has no covenant with God 4.

Remembrance

He holds that remembrance is guarding against forgetting, since the routine of life makes us forget the Cause of the favours. The sun rises daily and rain falls, and God is remembered in the heart and the tongue 1.

Not yet checked

This is Sha'rawi's reading of the three meanings. No study of the concept of covenant in the text and no other tafsir readings are set out here, and none is checked.

Opinions on the question

The question: Which covenant is meant in the verses that command fulfilling God's covenant: the covenant of the fitra, the covenant of the prophets, or the covenant of the scholars of the People of the Book?

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference

Three meanings are possible, and he takes all of them as possible, beginning with the covenant of the fitra

Sha'rawi sets out three meanings of the covenant: the covenant of the fitra, the covenant of the prophets to believe in the final messenger, and the covenant of the scholars of the Children of Israel not to conceal what is in the Torah, and he says all of them are possible {cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan p.290} {cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan p.291}.

Held by: Muhammad Mutawalli al-Sha'rawi

More opinions (2)

Academic viewSecondary opinion

A study of the concept of covenant in the text is not yet added

No study of the concept of covenant in the Qur'an is set out in these pages; it needs a named source.

Other viewOther opinion

Other tafsir readings of the covenant are not yet added

No other tafsir readings of the covenant are set out here; none is checked.

People and things also explored

The seven ahruf· Hadith· Shama'il Muhammadiyya· The Prophetic sira· The Prophetic Sunna· Command, prohibition and capacity· The Sunna as explanation of the Qur'an· Bid'a (religious innovation)

Sources

  1. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.289
  2. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.290
  3. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.291
  4. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.292
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The divine covenant (al-ahd)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/al-ahd-al-ilahi/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Related

The seven ahruf

The Prophet's saying 'the Qur'an was revealed in seven ahruf, so read of it what is easy' — narrated through Umar's dispute with Hisham ibn Hakim over Surat al-Furqan; its exact meaning is one of the widest debates in Qur'anic sciences.