Surah Al-i-‘Imrân 3:8

رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ

3:8 This is the prayer of those who are firmly grounded in knowledge. The more they know, the more they realize how little they know of all the profound Truth of the spiritual world. They also realize that there is no bigger loss than going astray after having found the right path. The prayer is a fitting sequel to the preceding verse. It draws attention to the purification of the heart and intensive prayer that eliminates the error of interpreting any seemingly ambiguous Qur’ânic statement in a manner that is at variance with the nucleus and foundation of the Book. With no ambiguity left, it is clear in meaning and decisive in exposition. “Purification of the heart” is therefore necessary to understand the underlying meanings. The Holy Qur’ân says that only those, who by leading righteous lives achieve purity of heart, are granted true understanding and insight into the real meanings of the Holy Qur’ân (56:79). The verse points out that people often receive a favour from Allâh, which some time later, because of their sins, proves to be an obstacle for them. They misinterpret divine guidance and thus bring about their own ruin, as in the case of some Christians. Muslims are also warned to pay attention to this kind of error. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) while witnessing a dispute over the interpretation of certain verses of the Holy Qur’ân, is reported to have said, “Thus were ruined those who have gone before you. They interpreted certain parts of their Scriptures in such a manner as to make them contradict other parts. However, the Holy Qur’ân has been so revealed that different parts of it should corroborate with one another. So do not reject any truth by making one part contradict the other” (Musnad of ‘Ahmad bin Hanbel).