and the recompense awaiting those who uphold it and those who neglect it. “We shall facilitate for him the path to hardship” (Al-Layl 92:10), meaning every distressing circumstance he will face in both his worldly life and his Hereafter.

Benefit: The Quran’s addresses to people—whether informative, commanding, or prohibitive—fall into two divisions:

• The first—and by far the most common—is a universal address directed to all people alike. The statement or ruling applies to them in one and the same way. This includes what the Quran reports about Allah, His angels, His scriptures, His messengers, and the Last Day, as well as its commands to establish prayer, give alms, fast, perform pilgrimage, strive in Allah’s cause, show kindness, maintain family ties, and act with justice, and its prohibitions against the opposites of these acts. The Quran is guidance and clarification for humankind, and all people stand equal with respect to these rulings unless some incapacity prevents a person from fulfilling a given obligation—in which case a separate ruling applies to him.

• The second division comprises addresses that are universal from one angle yet particular from another. These are commands whose performance is tied to specific times—such as the injunction to observe the five daily prayers at their appointed times: “Maintain the prayer from the decline of the sun until the darkness of night, and the dawn recital” (Al-Isrāʾ 17:78); or the order to abstain from things that break the fast: “Eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread; then complete the fast until nightfall” (Al-Baqarah 2:187). From the standpoint that every legally responsible person is addressed, these verses are universal: people in both East and West are equally commanded. Yet each place has its own specific ruling, for the moment the sun rises or sets, dawn breaks, or the sun passes its zenith for one group is not the same moment for another. Thus everyone is addressed according to his own circumstances and the location in which he lives—without question.

Comparable to this is the command to face the qibla in prayer: it is directed to everyone on earth, yet every region and locale has its own bearing that enables its inhabitants to face the Kaʿbah. For this reason Allah made the point explicit, saying, “Wherever you may be, turn your faces toward it” (Al-Baqarah 2:144). The objective is one, but the paths and means that lead to that objective vary, and every individual is required to follow the path specific to his situation.