“So remind.” Allah commanded him to remind people and did not single out anyone for the reminder. That is, He did not say, “Remind this person and that person.” The command is therefore general, because the Messenger—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace—was sent to all people. In other words: remind everyone, in every circumstance and every place. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did so, as did his successors after him, who succeeded him in his community in knowledge, practice, and calling to Allah.

But does everyone benefit from this reminder? The answer is no. “For indeed, the reminder benefits the believers” [al-Dhāriyāt: 55]. As for the unbeliever, the reminder establishes the proof against him but does not benefit him. Only the believer benefits from the reminder.

We therefore say: if you see that your heart does not take heed when reminded, then fault it, for Allah says, “And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers.” If you are reminded but find no effect or benefit in your heart, then fault yourself and know that your faith is deficient. Had your faith been complete, you would have benefited from the reminder, for the reminder must benefit the believers.

“You are only one who reminds.” This means that Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is only one who reminds and conveys the message. Guidance, however, is in the hand of Allah—Glorious and Exalted. “You are not responsible for their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills” [al-Baqara: 272].

He—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace—fulfilled the duty of reminding and admonishing until the final breath of his life. Even near the end of his life, he would say, “Prayer, prayer, and those whom your right hands possess!” (1), until those words became a faint rattle in his throat—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Thus, Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, he continued reminding people from the time he was commissioned and told, “Arise and warn” [al-Muddaththir: 2], until Allah took him in death.

He spared no effort to remind people in every situation and at all times, despite the harm he suffered from his own people and from others. Anyone who has read history—the Prophetic biography—knows what he endured at the hands of the people of Mecca: his own people, who were the closest of all people to him, who knew him and used to call him