Righteous Family and Leadership
رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا، وَذُرِّيَّاتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ، وَاجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا.
رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّاتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَاجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا
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“Our Lord, grant us from among our spouses and offspring comfort to our eyes, and make us leaders for the righteous.”
Forms: the verbs “hab lana” (لَنَا هَبْ) and “ij‘alna” (اجْعَلْنَا). An outstanding supplication for family happiness, the righteousness of spouses and children, and leadership in god-consciousness.
Tafsir of Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Saadi
Sheikh Abdurrahman as-Saadi writes in his complete tafsir: “The Arabic word zawj (pl. azwaaj) means ‘a pair’, ‘a spouse’, ‘a wife’. Reflect on the beautiful qualities of the believers. They perform righteous deeds, yet they still feel their need for the support of their Lord. They ask Him to grant them righteous spouses, children and friends, that is, in effect they ask Him to show mercy to them themselves, because righteous relatives bring great benefit to the person himself. Comfort of the eyes (qurrata ‘ayun) is when you see your near ones obedient to Allah.”
Tafsir of Imam Ibn Kathir
Imam Ibn Kathir reports: “Ibn Abbas said: ‘Offspring that would obey Allah in their deeds and thereby gladden the eye in this life and in the life to come.’ Imam Ahmad reports that Jubayr ibn Nufayr related about the Companion Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, who thanked Allah for having believed and rejoiced in the righteousness of his family.”
Tafsir al-Baghawi
“…And (the righteous servants of the Most Merciful are) those who say (in supplication to Allah): ‘Our Lord! Grant us from our wives and offspring the comfort of our eyes…’ that is, righteous and pious children. They say: Make them righteous, and let our eyes be comforted by this.
Al-Qurazi said: For a believer, there is nothing more pleasing than seeing his wife and children obeying Allah, Exalted is He.
Al-Hasan said: Here, the word “comfort” is singular because it is a verbal noun, and the root of this word is “bard” (coolness), because the Arabs suffer from heat and enjoy coolness. They say “comfort of the eyes” when speaking of joy, and “hot eyes” when speaking of sorrow. They say that a tear from the eyes is cool when shed for joy, and hot when shed because of sorrow.
Al-Azhari said: The meaning of “comfort of the eyes” is that when a person’s heart is in accord with what pleases him, his eyes look only at that and at nothing else.
“…and make us an example for those who are mindful (of Allah’s punishment)!”… that is, make us such that others take us as an example in goodness.
Al-Hasan said: Make us such that we take those who are mindful as our example, and that those who are mindful take us as their example.
Ibn ‘Abbas said: Make us an example who follow the true path. This is like the words of Allah, Exalted is He: “And We made them leaders who guide by Our command” (Surah al-Anbiya, verse 73); and do not make us an example of misguidance, as Allah, Exalted is He, said: “And We made them leaders who (by their deeds) call (others) to the Fire…” (Surah al-Qasas, verse 41).
There is an opinion that the meaning here is reversed: that is, make those who are mindful an example for us, and make us among those who take them as an example and follow them. This is the opinion of Mujahid.
In Sahih al-Bukhari (No. 5065) it is reported from the Prophet: “The worldly life is a temporary enjoyment, and the best of its goods is a righteous wife.”