Lesson 4 of 6 · What sabr is, and what it is not
The verse about capacity, and what it is actually about
Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. That verse, 2:286, is the one most often used to tell a person that because she is still standing, the harm must be inside what she can bear, so she should carry on bearing it.
That is not what it says. The verse is about the scope of what Allah obliges a person to do in religion. It is a mercy about obligation. It is not a licence issued to another human being to load as much onto you as you can physically survive.
If it worked the way people use it, then anything anyone did to you would be justified by the fact that you had not yet collapsed. Nobody would accept that reasoning about anything else.
Qur’an and Sunnah
The verse most often used to tell a person that because she is still standing, the harm must be inside what she can bear. It is about the scope of what Allah obliges a person to do in religion. It is not a licence issued to another human being to load as much onto you as you can physically survive.
لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفۡسًا إِلَّا وُسۡعَهَاۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتۡ وَعَلَيۡهَا مَا ٱكۡتَسَبَتۡۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذۡنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوۡ أَخۡطَأۡنَاۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحۡمِلۡ عَلَيۡنَآ إِصۡرࣰ ا كَمَا حَمَلۡتَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِنَاۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلۡنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦۖ وَٱعۡفُ عَنَّا وَٱغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَٱرۡحَمۡنَآۚ أَنتَ مَوۡلَىٰنَا فَٱنصُرۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡكَٰفِرِينَ
God does not burden any soul with more than it can bear: each gains whatever good it has done, and suffers its bad- ‘ Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make mistakes. Lord, do not burden us as You burdened those before us. Lord, do not burden us with more than we have strength to bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our Protector, so help us against the disbelievers.’
Qur’an 2:286
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.