Ar-Ra'd 13:19–24

Commentary

Truth and Falsehood were explained through parables in verses appearing previous to those cited above. Now, in the present verses, there is a description of the distinguishing marks and attributes of the people of Truth and the people of Falsehood, along with a description of their good and bad deeds, and their reward and punishment.

The first verse (18) carries a description of the good return reserved for those who obey Divine injunctions and act in accordance with them, and conversely, of the severe punishment for those who disobey them and act negatively.

In the second verse (19), the two groups have been identified as the sighted and the blind through a parable and, at the end, it was said: إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ‌ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ that is, 'only the people of understanding respond to the advice.' It means what has been exemplified here is, though, fairly clear and obvious, yet it can only be understood and appreciated by those who have their essential reason intact with them. Those who have their faculty of reason all impaired by heedlessness and disobedience cannot understand a difference so great.

From the third verse (20) begins a description of particular deeds and marks which distinguish the two groups. Taken up first are the attributes of those who believe in and obey Divine injunctions. The initial at-tribute mentioned is:

الَّذِينَ يُوفُونَ بِعَهْدِ اللَّهِ (those who fulfill [ their ] pledge with Allah). It covers all promises and pledges taken by Allah Ta` ala from His servants, the very first of which was the Divine Covenant taken in eternity before an assembly of all spirits, that is: اَلَستُ بِرَبِّکُم (Am I not your Lord?) in answer to which, everyone had unanimously said: بَلٰی (Yes, why not? Surely, You are our Lord). Similarly, the different pledges taken by Allah Ta` ala regarding the obedience of Divine injunctions, fulfillment of assigned duties, abstinence from things impermissible as ordered by Allah have been mentioned in different verses of the Qur’ an.

The second attribute mentioned here is: وَلَا يَنقُضُونَ الْمِيثَاقَ (and they do not break the covenant). It includes all covenants, including pledges between Allah and His servants which have been pointed out right here in the first sentence as: عَهْدِ اللَّهِ (their pledges with Allah). Also included here are the pledges given by the people of a religious community to their prophet or messenger, as well as the contracts and pacts which one human being enters into with the other.

Based on a narration by Sayyidna ` Awf ibn Malik ؓ ، Abu Dawud has reported that the Holy Prophet ﷺ took a pledge (Ahd and Bay'ah) from the noble Sahabah that they would not associate anyone with Allah, and perform Salah punctually five times every day, and obey their authorities, and would never stretch their hands for anything before any human being.

People who were parties to this solemn pledge were so true to their word of honour that, should they happen to drop their whip from their hand while riding, they would never ask anyone to pick up and hand over that whip to them. Instead of that, they would get down from their mount and pick it up themselves.

That the noble Sahabah did so was the result of the great feeling of love and the passionate desire to obey their master in their hearts. Otherwise, it was fairly obvious that he had never intended to stop them from making a request of this nature. This is very much like what happened when Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ was entering the Masjid on a certain occasion. He saw that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was addressing a gathering. It was only by chance that, at the time he was entering the Masjid, the words: 'Sit down' happened to have been uttered by the Holy Prophet ﷺ as part of his address. Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ knew that this never meant that anyone, no matter where, should sit down on the street, passage way, or a spot not suitable for the purpose. But, such was his passion for obedience that it did not allow him to take even one step forward from outside the Masjid gate where he was. Just as these words of his master struck his ears, he sat down right there.

The third attribute of the obedient servants of Allah Ta’ ala stated here is: وَالَّذِينَ يَصِلُونَ مَا أَمَرَ‌ اللَّهُ بِهِ أَن يُوصَلَ (and those who maintain the relations Allah has commanded to be maintained). According to the well-known explanation of this verse, it means that these people maintain relationships and keep doing what needs to be done in this matter as commanded by Allah Ta` ala. Some commentators have explained it by saying that these people conjoin righteous deeds with faith, or synchronize their initial faith in the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the Qur’ an with faith in

past prophets and their books.

The fourth attribute has been identified as: وَيَخْشَوْنَ رَ‌بَّهُمْ (and fear their Lord). The use of the word: خَشیَہ (khashyah) rather than خَوف - (khawf) indicates that their 'fear' of Allah is not the kind of fear one naturally has when facing some beast or dangerous man. Instead of that, this fear is like the habitual fear children have of their parents, and students of their teacher, for that is no fear of being harmed or hurt by them. In-stead, such fear is grounded in love and esteem because of which one apprehends lest something said or done may become displeasing and repugnant in the sight of Allah Ta ala. Therefore, whenever the fear of Allah finds mention in an occasion of praise and glorification, generally the word used there is Khashyah because Khashyah is the name of the fear which emerges out of love and esteem. Therefore, in the next sentence, where the fear of strict reckoning has been mentioned, the word used is not Khashyah, instead the word used there is fear as such. It was said: وَيَخَافُونَ سُوءَ الْحِسَابِ (and they are frightful of evil reckoning). 'Evil reckoning' denotes reckoning which is strict and minute. Sayyidah A’ ishah ؓ has said: It is Divine Mercy alone which can bring salvation for human beings when things are forgone and forgiven summarily at the time the reckoning of deeds takes place. Otherwise, anyone who is made to account for everything said and done, cannot escape from punishment. It is virtually impossible because who is there to claim that he or she has never made a mistake or committed a sin? So, this fear of having to face strict reckoning of deeds is the fifth attribute of righteous and obedient people.

The sixth attribute has been stated as: وَالَّذِينَ صَبَرُ‌وا ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ رَ‌بِّهِمْ (and those who observe patience in order to seek the pleasure of their Lord).

The meaning of: صَبر (Sabr) in the Arabic language is fairly general as compared with the sense which has become popular in the Urdu language (in which this Commentary was originally written). There it means to be patient under distress. (Regretfully, the common counterpart, patience, used for صَبر 'Sabr' in English is also not free of its limitations, and does not carry the full and rich sense of the original Arabic). The reason is that the real meaning of صَبر Sabr is that one does not become upset under the stress of what is temperamentally unpalatable and, in fact, keeps doing what must be done resolutely and steadfastly. Therefore, it is divided into two kinds. One of them is Perseverance with Obedience صَبر عَلَی اَلطَّاعَۃ ، that is, being steadfast while observing and implementing the injunctions of Allah Ta’ ala. The other kind is Perseverance against Disobedience and Sin صَبر علٰی الَمعصِیَۃِ , that is, being steadfast in refraining from and staying safe against sins.

The restriction of: اِبتِغَآءِ وَجہِ رَبِّھِم (in order to seek the pleasure of their Lord) tells us that Sabr or patience, in its general sense, is no matter of merit by itself because there comes a time when even the most impatient person somehow gets to become reconciled with his or her lot after all. So, Sabr or patience which is not willful has no worth or merit, nor does Allah Ta` ala ever obligate anyone with something which is beyond his control. Therefore, in Hadith, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said: اَلصَّبر عِندَ الصَّمَدۃِ , that is, 'the real and trustworthy Sabr is none but the one which is taken to immediately at the initial stage of shock. Otherwise, later on, sooner or later, one is left with no choice but to become reconciled and patient. As against this, the Sabr which is worthy of all praise is the Sabr under which one elects, by choice, to tolerate and be patient about what is contrary to his or her liking - whether it is the fulfillment of what one is obligated with, or is the abstinence from what is unlawful or reprehensible.

Therefore, if someone entered the house of somebody else with the intention of theft, but did not find the opportunity to do so, thus, having been left with no other choice but to observe patience, he returned back. Now, this Sabr or patience, non-voluntary as it is, is no act deserving praise or reward. It brings Thawab or reward only when one abstains from sin because of the fear of Allah and the desire to seek His pleasure.

The seventh attribute is: أَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ (establish Salah). The Qur’ anic expression for 'establish Sa1ah means to perform Sa1ah with all its attending conditions and rules of etiquette and the essential humbleness of heart. It is not just the 'saying' of prayers as a matter of routine. Therefore, speaking generally, the command to perform, offer, or make prayers appearing in the Holy Qur'an has been given with the specific word: Iqamah, usually rendered as 'establish' in English, though still wanting.

The eighth attribute is: وَأَنفَقُوا مِمَّا رَ‌زَقْنَاهُمْ سِرًّ‌ا وَعَلَانِيَةً (and spend from what We have given to them secretly and openly). The hint given here is that the amount of Zakah prescribed by Allah Ta` ala is not something He is asking of you, in fact, what He is asking for is a certain portion of what He has given to you, and that too is limited to the insignificant measure of 2-1/2 percent. Naturally, giving this much should naturally be no cause of reluctance for you.

The adverb of: سِرًّ‌ا وَعَلَانِيَةً (secretly and openly) with the command to spend wealth in the way of Allah tells us that concealment is not always the only Sunnah method in charities - instead, on occasions, doing it openly is also correct and sound. Therefore, religious scholars have said that the giving of obligatory Zakah and charities openly is better and more merit-worthy. Doing it secretly is not appropriate so that other people could be pursuaded and prompted to do the same. However, the giving of voluntary charities (Sadaqat) secretly is certainly better and more merit-worthy. Ahadith in which giving secretly has been commended are concerned with such optional and voluntary charities.

The ninth attributes stated here is: وَيَدْرَ‌ءُونَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ السَّيِّئَةَ (and repel evil with good). The sense is that these people repel evil with good, enmity with friendship and injustice with forgiveness, and do not retaliate by doing what is evil in return for evil done. Some commentators have explained the meaning by saying that these people repel sin by acting righteously, that is, if some sin gets to be committed by them, they follow it up by repentance, obedience and worship so punctually and abundantly that the past sin is obliterated. According to Hadith, the Holy Prophet ﷺ advised Sayyidna Mu’ adh ؓ : If, after evil, you do good, it will obliterate evil. It means that should a person reflect, feel ashamed of having committed a sin, repent and make amends by following it up with a good deed, then, this good deed will wash off his or her past sin. Just going ahead and doing something good without first having felt ashamed and having repented after the commitment of sin is not sufficient for the forgiveness of that sin.

After having recounted these nine attributes of the obedient servants of Allah Ta` ala, the reward promised for them is: أُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمْ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ (Those are the ones for whom there is the ultimate abode). The word: الدَّارِ (ad-dar: abode, home) refers to the abode of the 'Akhirah or Hereafter, that it, the prosperity and success of the 'Akhirah is for them. Some com-mentators have said that 'abode' at this place means the abode of the mortal world the sense of which is that good people, though they have to face hardships too in this mortal world, but, finally, they are the ones who succeed in this mortal world as well.

Onwards from this point there comes the description of the same 'ultimate abode' when it is said that these shall be eternal gardens they shall enter. The word: عَدن ('Adn) means to abide, settle down permanently. The sense is that no one shall ever be expelled from these gardens, instead, they shall be there eternally. Some commentators have said that ` Adn is the name of the midmost of the Paradise which is also the most superior of its many stations.

After that, mentioned there is yet another reward for these people and this reward shall not remain restricted to those people in person. In fact, even their fathers, wives and children shall get their share in it - subject to the condition that they be good in deeds, the lowest degree of which is that they be Muslims. It means that the personal conduct of their fathers and wives was, though not good enough to have enabled them to arrive at this level of success, yet it would be because of the consideration and barakah of the accepted servants of Allah that they too shall be admitted to that high station.

After that, the text states the additional honour they shall have in their 'ultimate abode' of the Hereafter when the angels emerge from each of its doors greeting them with Salam and telling them that their Sabr brings to them eternal security from all hardships and that they can themselves see how good is the ultimate abode of the 'Akhirah.