وَأَطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ وَلَا تَنَٰزَعُواْ فَتَفۡشَلُواْ وَتَذۡهَبَ رِيحُكُمۡ ۖ وَٱصۡبِرُوٓاْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ
And obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute and [thus] lose courage and [then] your strength would depart; and be patient. Indeed, Allah is with the patient.
وَأَطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ
And obey Allah and His Messenger.
وَلَا تَنَٰزَعُواْ
And do not dispute.
Notice that Allah does not say, “Do not argue with Allah and His Messenger”; rather, He says do not argue with one another.
At Uhud, the Muslims fell into disagreement among themselves over strategy, and this is an example of exactly this situation. Some wanted to defend from within Madinah, while others argued for going out to meet the enemy.
These internal disagreements paved the way for the difficulties that were faced afterward.
فَتَفۡشَلُواْ
And [thus] lose courage.
Although in Modern Arabic the word فَشِلَ simply means “to fail”, in Classical Arabic it carries a deeper meaning, such as losing motivation completely.
Imagine attending your first meeting to volunteer at an Islamic organization and witnessing nothing but arguments, a setting where people keep cutting each other off. Two hours pass in this chaos. So, what state is your motivation in afterward?
All your enthusiasm is crushed, and your energy is drained.
When people start quarreling with one another —especially over religious matters— motivation vanishes.
The real purpose of coming together should not be to drain one another’s energy; rather, it should be to strengthen resolve and to encourage one another in doing good works.
وَتَذۡهَبَ رِيحُكُمۡ
And [then] your strength would depart.
The word رِيح (rih) here means wind or breath. The expression brings to mind someone running with all their might, breathing heavily, running out of breath.
Picture a ship moving along with the wind, its sails spread; suddenly the wind dies, and the ship is left motionless on the water, simply stuck there.
This is exactly what internal conflicts do to a community’s momentum.
وَٱصۡبِرُوٓاْ
And be patient.
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ
Indeed, Allah is with the patient.
His special closeness and support are with those who clothe themselves in patience.
This ayah teaches us a vital lesson about preserving motivation in Islamic work. The ayah begins with obedience to Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him); but right after that, it turns to what destroys motivation the most: internal quarrels and disagreements.
If arguments break out among you while you are part of a positive effort, keep doing the work but stay away from the arguments. Do not trap yourself inside these quarrels.
Conflicts like these will destroy that small spark of motivation you carry within you.
That motivation is like a faint candle burning on a windy day; it could go out at any moment. Protect it.
Satan is a master at setting personalities against one another in Islamic work. People tend to take things personally when their own views are not adopted.
But here is the difference: what you should truly be concerned about is disobedience to Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him); that is what is worth being saddened and worried about.
Disagreements over matters such as which textbook to use, whether to hold the meeting on Monday or Tuesday, or which method to follow are not worth creating division over. Let such things go; they are not the end of the world.
If these matters bother you so much that they drag you into conflict, you will end up at odds with one another, and that entire collective effort will collapse.