Beyond Endurance: Rethinking the Meaning of ‘Allah Does Not Burden a Soul Beyond Its Capacity’10/13/2025 By: Ubaydullah EvansResident Scholar, ALIM 
My wife recently shared a short video with me of a dear friend and colleague discussing the Quranic verse “Allah does not place upon any soul more than it can bear…” [2:286]
In his commentary, the erudite Shaykh Jamal Diwaan highlighted our tendency to read into the verse a meaning for which it wasn’t intended. Namely, he clarified that we often include this verse among the battery of scriptural references that encourage fortitude in the face of adversity. Thus making the connotation of the verse: “It is within your capacity to endure any hardship you’re experiencing. Indeed, God wouldn’t place upon you a hardship you couldn’t bear.”
After examining the context of this verse and other similarly worded verses, Shaykh Jamal clarified that the verse is actually saying the opposite of its popular reading: “You are not responsible for whatever is beyond your capacity. Indeed, God only holds you accountable for what you can do.” He went on to say that in his estimation the correct understanding of the verse highlights the mercy of God whereas the previous misreading could potentially alienate someone, who, in fact, is experiencing a hardship they cannot endure. Though only a brief video aimed at correcting a popular misconception, it forced me to think critically about Quranic exegesis, the creation of meaning within interpretive communities, and the exigencies and limits of effective preaching. 
Many things have been said about the miracles of the Qur’an. The most evident of those miracles, to my mind, is the polyphonic relevance of the Qur’an. Indisputably, the Qur’an is among a handful of texts (religious and non-religious) whose currency has not been limited by chronology or geography. At times, I’m nearly moved to tears thinking about the trans-cultural and -historical impact of the Qur’an.
I first encountered the Qur’an at the age of sixteen in the late (ahem…) nineties. Reading the translation of Yusuf Ali (may God have mercy on him), I sat spellbound in the basement of my childhood home. As a translator, Ali offered some commentary on the verses, but most of what I encountered in the Qur’an I interpreted by my own lights. Although I later learned about Quranic exegesis (Tafsir), I wouldn’t substitute my initial engagement with the Qur’an for one more informed by formal training. In fact, the open-endedness of my reading allowed me to connect with the scripture. One particularly illuminating example of this was the 4th and 5th verses of Surah at-Tin in which God says, “We have certainly created the human being in the best stature (4) Then we return him to the lowest of the low.(5)” [95:4-5] Somehow, in the mind of a teenager, these verses referred to a literal stature of uprightness. I concluded that a righteous, square-dealing person stood upright with their head held high and their shoulders back. While an unrighteous person–having been denied this proper stature by God–-always had bad posture (try to imagine the posture a stage actor might adopt if playing a two-bit con artist)! I’m unaware of any exegete that has mentioned anything like this. As a matter of fact, in his book al-Isabah fi Tamyiz as-Sahabah, Imam Ijiluni mentions that Abu Bakr (may God be pleased with him), the revered first Caliph of Islam, was known to be ahdab or hunchbacked! However, for a sixteen year old in 98’ trying to connect with the Qur’an, this was the best I could come up with. 
My reading of those verses might have been sophomoric and just straight up wrong. However, I later learned that some of the most creative and dynamic exegetes in Islam’s past and present also “pushed the envelope” where they could.
Tafsir invariably involves looking at the asbab an-nuzul (the occasion of revelation), the ma’thur (any statements about the verses that can be attributed directly to the Prophet or his Companions) and as Shaykh Jamaal deftly demonstrated, looking at the verses in the context of the Qur’an itself. I would refer to these as the “brakes” of Quranic interpretation. These keep us tethered to the original intent of the scripture and prevent us from far-flung interpretations. But Quranic interpretation also has an “accelerator.” “Al-’ibra bi ‘umum al-lazf wa laysa bi khusus as-sabab.” “The applicability of a verse is not limited to the particular occasion of its revelation. Rather consideration should be given to the general import of the language used therein.” This axiom of Qur’anic interpretation makes a bold assertion. Namely, that the applicability of a verse of the Qur’an can be explored to the extent permitted by the language. In that connection, it’s fascinating to observe the different ways in which scholars across time/space have interpreted various verses of the Qur’an. As long as the verse in question is not a nass (completely unambiguous text for which interpretation is inadmissible), scholars have interpreted them according to the dictates of both their unique intellectual/creative horizons and the demands of their respective contexts. 
Take for instance, the Qur’anic verse “and the male is not like the female” [3:36]. If one peruses works of Tafsir written in earlier time periods, this ayah is treated as self-evident. Further, the verse is understood to be God’s narration of the words of Hannah (the mother of Mary) (upon them both be peace). As the verses which precede it make clear, Hannah anticipated giving birth to a boy that she had vowed to dedicate to rabbinical training. When she learned that she’d given birth to a girl, she said “and the male is not like the female.” Hannah’s words might be interpreted: “the vow that I made anticipating a boy child can’t be fulfilled by a girl.” I’ve yet to read a classical work of Tafsir that mentions more than this.
However, in the present, this verse has been made into a bulwark against gender fluidity. Those of us more familiar with the corpus know this verse has never been understood as an abstract statement on gender. However, we are also forced to acknowledge that the language admits that interpretation. When a scholar, preacher, or Muslim public intellectual uses this verse as an axiomatic statement about the primordial masculine and feminine, they’re exercising interpretive prerogative. And there is nothing disingenuous about this. But there is also nothing definitive about it. Inasmuch as the language admits a particular interpretation, it can be indexed into the myriad interpretations of verses of the Qur’an. This is not only something that preserves the relevance of the Qur’an, it highlights the miraculousness of the Qur’an. It is a great blessing and an opportunity for growth when a deeply moored religious thinker is referencing their training to correct our understanding of a verse of the Qur’an. However, as opposed to seeing it as an objective process of clarifying the meaning of revelation, I’m also interested in how the scholar is utilizing their interpretive prerogative. In this case–as in most cases!– I think Shaykh Jamal is correct. The verse he cited is referring to “taklif shar’i” or legal responsibility and isn’t a statement about emotional or spiritual “burdens.” Nonetheless, what I find even more intriguing is the tension between the alternate approaches to managing emotional and spiritual burdens that Shaykh Jamal’s intervention highlights. Some of us look to the Qur’an and see references that suggest “Be resilient. God has not burdened you with anything you cannot handle,” while others maintain “This verse isn’t about that. In fact, people do experience many hardships that they cannot handle. And that is ok.” Is the source of the disagreement here Tafsir or larger cultural trends about trauma, vulnerability, stoicism, etc? ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ustadh Ubaydullah Evans is ALIM’s first Scholar-in-Residence. He converted to Islam while in high school. Upon conversion, Ustadh Ubaydullah began studying some of the foundational books of Islam under the private tutelage of local scholars while simultaneously pursuing a degree in journalism from Columbia. Since then, he has studied at Chicagoland’s Institute of Islamic Education (IIE), in Tarim, Yemen, and Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, where he is the first African-American to graduate from its Shari’a program. Ustadh Ubaydullah also instructs with the Ta’leef Collective and the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) at times. As the ALIM Scholar-in-Residence, Ustadh Ubaydullah is a core instructor at the ALIM Summer Program. He teaches History of Islamic Law, Shama'il, and Aphorisims of Ibn Ata'illah along with other courses.
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