(Madiini)

57:1. All that is in the heavens and on earth glorifies Allah, for He is the Almighty, Most Wise.

57:2. To Him belong the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He gives life and causes death, and He has power over all things.

57:3. He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He has knowledge of all things.

57:4. [It is] He Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then rose over the Throne [in a manner that befits His Majesty], He knows all that goes into the earth and all that comes out of it, and all that descends from heaven and all that ascends to it. He is with you wherever you may be, and Allah sees well all that you do.

57:5. To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and it is to Allah that all things will return.

57:6. He causes the night to encroach upon the day, and the day to encroach upon the night, and He knows well what is in [people’s] hearts.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us of His greatness and majesty, and the all-encompassing nature of His authority. All that is in the heavens and on earth of living beings that speak and those that do not speak, and inanimate objects, glorify and praise their Lord, and declare Him to be above all that is not befitting to His majesty.

They are obedient to their Lord and submit to His might, and the effects of His wisdom are apparent in them. Hence He says:

﴾for He is the Almighty, Most Wise﴿. This highlights the fact that all creatures, in both the upper and lower realms, need their Lord in all situations; that His might subdues all things, and that all of His creation is subject to His wisdom and all His commands are based on divine wisdom.

Then He tells us of the all-encompassing nature of His dominion:

t﴾To Him belong the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He gives life and causes death﴿ that is, He is the Creator of all that. Who grants it provision and controls it by His might, ﴾and He has power over all things﴿.

﴾He is the First﴿ before Whom there is nothing ﴾and the Last﴿ after Whom there is nothing.

﴾the Manifest﴿ above Whom there is nothing﴾and the Hidden﴿ and there is nothing more hidden than Him.

﴾fand He has knowledge of all things﴿ for His knowledge encompasses all that is apparent and all that is hidden, all that is secret and concealed, and all matters, both earlier and later.

﴾[It is] He Who created the heavens and the earth in six days﴿, the first of which was Sunday and the last of which was Friday ﴾and then rose over the Throne [in a manner that befits His Majesty]﴿, above all of creation.

﴾He knows all that goes into the earth﴿ of seeds, animals, rain and so on

﴾fand all that comes out of it﴿ of plants, trees, animals and the like dand all that descends from heaven﴿ of angels, divine decrees and provision dand all that ascends to it﴿ of angels, souls, supplication, deeds and so on.

﴾He is with you wherever you may be﴿ - this is like the verse in which Allah says:

l(...There is no private conversation among three but He is their fourth, or among five but He is their sixth, or among fewer or more than that, but He is with them, wherever they may be...﴿ (al-Mujadilah 58: 7)

This “being with” means that He is with them by means of His knowledge and His being aware of them. Hence He issues a warning and a promise to them of requital for deeds by saying: ﴾fand Allah sees well all that you dob that is, He sees all the deeds that you do, and the intention and attitude behind these deeds, whether it is righteous or evil, and He will requite you for it, for He has recorded it against you.

﴾To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth﴿ that is, He has dominion and control over His creation and His slaves, and He disposes of their affairs however He wills, on the basis of His universal and religious decrees, which are based on divine wisdom.﴾fand it is to Allah that all things will return﴿ both deeds and the doers of the deeds. All people will be presented before Him, and He will separate the evil from the good; He will reward the doer of good for his good deeds, and He will punish the doer of evil for his evil deeds.

﴾He causes the night to encroach upon the day, and the day to encroach upon the night﴿ that is, He causes the night to encroach upon the day, so the night covers people with its darkness so that they may become still and rest.

Then He causes the day to encroach upon the night, so that darkness is dispersed from the land and everything becomes light, so that people may move about and pursue their interests and livelihoods.

Allah continues to wrap the night over the day and wrap the day over the night, alternating between them, making one longer and the other shorter, and then vice versa, so that there will be seasons and time will be regulated, and many interests will be served thereby.

Blessed be Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and exalted be the Most Generous, Most Kind, Who bestows upon His slaves many blessings, both visible and hidden.

﴾and He knows well what is in [people’s] hearts﴿, so He guides those who He knows are deserving of that, and He forsakes those who He knows are not fit to receive His guidance.

57:7. Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and spend [in Allah’s cause] from that of which He has made you trustees, for those among you who believe and spend will have a great reward.

57:8. What reason do you have not to believe in Allah when the Messenger is calling you to believe in your Lord, and when Allah has already taken a covenant from you, if you care to believe?

57:9. It is He Who sends down clear revelations to His slave so that He may bring you forth from the depths of darkness into the light. Verily Allah is to you Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.

57:10. What reason do you have not to spend in Allah’s cause, when to Allah belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth? Not equal among you are those who spent and fought before the victory [and those who did not]. They are of higher rank than those who spent afterwards and fought. But to each Allah has promised the ultimate good, and Allah is well aware of all that you do.

57:11. Who is he that will lend to Allah a goodly loan, so He will multiply it for him, and his will be a generous reward?

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) enjoins His slaves to believe in Him and in His Messenger (ﷺ) and what he brought, and to spend in His cause from the wealth which He has enabled them to attain and has entrusted to them in order to see what they will do.

Having enjoined that. He then encourages and urges them to do it by mentioning the reward that will result from doing so. Hence He says:﴾for those among you who believe and spends, thus combining belief in Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) with spending in His cause ﴾will have a great reward﴿, the greatest and best of which is the good pleasure of their Lord and attaining His paradise and all that it contains of eternal bliss, which Allah has prepared for those who believe and those who strive in jihad.

Then Allah mentions the reason why they should believe, as there is no impediment to doing so:

﴾What reason do you have not to believe in Allah when the Messenger is calling you to believe in your Lord, and when Allah has already taken a covenant from you, if you care to believe?﴿ In other words, what is it that is preventing you from believing, when the Messenger Muhammad (ﷺ), who is the best of the Messengers and the noblest of those who call to Allah, is calling you?

This is something which requires you to hasten to respond to his call and to the truth that he has brought, for Allah has taken from you a covenant and promise to believe, if you are truly believers.

Moreover, as part of His kindness and care, Allah has not only sent you a Messenger who is the noblest of humankind; rather He has also supported him with miracles and the clear signs that he has brought offer proof of his truthfulness and sincerity.

Hence Allah says: (fit is He Who sends down clear﴿ that is, unambiguous ﴾revelations to His slave﴿ which highlight to people of reason the veracity of all that he has brought, and signals that it is indeed certain truth.

﴾so that He may bring you forth﴿ by sending the Messenger (ﷺ) to you, and by means of what Allah has sent down at his hands of the Book and wisdom,

﴾from the depths of darkness into the light﴿ that is, from the darkness of ignorance and disbelief to the light of knowledge and faith.

This stems from divine mercy and compassion, for Allah is more merciful to His slaves than a mother to her child. ﴾Verily Allah is to you Most Compassionate, Most Merciful﴿.

﴾What reason do you have not to spend in Allah’s cause, when to Allah belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth?﴿ That is, what is preventing you from spending in Allah’s cause - which refers to all ways of doing good, and what is making you so miserly ﴾fwhenb in fact you do not own anything; rather ﴾to Allah belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earthy? Hence all wealth will pass from your hands, or you will die and leave it behind, and ultimately dominion will return to its true Owner, may He be blessed and exalted.

So make the most of the opportunity to spend so long as wealth is in your hands.

Then Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) states that deeds vary in virtue, according to circumstances and divine wisdom: ﴾Not equal among you are those who spent and fought before the victory [and those who did not]. They are of higher rank than those who spent afterwards and fought﴿. What is meant by the victory here is the victory of al-Hudaybiyah when a peace deal was concluded between the Messenger (ﷺ) and Quraysh which was one of the greatest of victories, by means of which Islam was spread and the Muslims were able to mix with the disbelievers and call them to Islam without any objection. At that time the people entered the religion of Allah in crowds, and Islam gained a great deal of momentum.

Before this victory, the Muslims were not able to call people to Islam except in places where people had already become Muslim, such as Madinah and its environs.

Those who became Muslim among the people of Makkah and other lands where the polytheists prevailed were persecuted and lived in a state of fear. Hence those who became Muslim before that victory, andspent and fought in Allah’s cause were of higher status and attained a greater reward than those who did not become Muslim and fight or spend until after that, as is dictated by wisdom. Therefore the majority of the foremost and most prominent of the Saftabah became Muslim before that victory.

Because stating that one is more virtuous than the other may give an impression of criticism or undermining the one that is regarded as less virtuous, in order to avoid such misconceptions Allah says: ﴾But to each Allah has promised the ultimate good﴿ that is, to those who became Muslim and fought and spent both before and after the victory to all of them Allah has promised paradise. This is indicative of the virtue of all of the Ṣahabah (as Allah has testified to their faith and promised them paradise.

﴾fand Allah is well aware of all that you do﴿ and He will requite each of you according to what He knows of your deeds.

Then Allah urges them to spend in His cause, because jihad depends on such funding and the spending of wealth on equipment and preparation of fighters. Hence Allah says: ﴾Who is he that will lend to Allah a goodly loan﴿. This refers to spending with good intentions, sincerely for the sake of Allah, in accordance with that which is pleasing to Allah, from permissible and wholesome wealth, giving it willingly. It is by His generosity that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) describes it as a loan, for in fact the wealth belongs to Him and the person who gives it is His slave, and He multiplies the reward for it many times, for He is the Most Generous, the Bestower.

This multiplication of the reward will come on the Day of Resurrection, the day when the extreme need of all people will become obvious and everyone will need even the smallest amount of reward. Hence Allah says:

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57:12. [Remember] the day when you will see the believing men and believing women, with their light streaming ahead of them and on their right. [It will be said to them:] Glad tidings for you this day: gardens through which rivers flow, to abide therein forever. That is the supreme triumph.

57:13. On that day, the hypocrite men and hypocrite women will say to the believers: Wait for us, so that we may have some of your light. It will be said: Go back and seek light elsewhere. Then a wall will be set up between them, which will have a gate, on the inside of which there will be mercy and on the outside there will be punishment.^{1This refers to a wall that will separate the people of paradise from the people of hell.}

57:14. The hypocrites will call out to the believers: Were we not with you? They will say: Yes, but you gave in to confusion and temptation, you kept waiting [for some misfortune to befall us], you doubted, and you were deceived by false hopes, until the decree of Allah came to pass. Thus [Shaytan] the deceiver deceived you concerning Allah.

57:15. So this day no ransom will be accepted from you [O hypocrites] or from those who disbelieved. Your abode will be hell; that is where you belong - a hapless journey’s end.

Here Allah says, highlighting the virtue of faith and how happy the believers will be with their faith on the Day of Resurrection: ﴾[Remember] the day when you will see the believing men and believing women, with their light streaming ahead of them and on their right﴿ that is, on the Day of Resurrection, when the sun is rolled up and the moon is eclipsed, and the people find themselves in darkness, and the sirat is set up over hell, at that time you will see the believing men and believing women with their light streaming ahead of them and on their right. They will walk by virtue of their faith and light in that difficult and frightening situation, each according to the level of his faith, and at that time they will receive the greatest glad tidings, as it will be said to them:

﴾Glad tidings for you this day: gardens through which rivers flow, to abide therein forever. That is the supreme triumph﴿.

By Allah, how sweet and delightful these glad tidings will be, when they attain everything they longed for and are saved from everything they feared.

When the hypocrites see the light of the believers by which they walk, when their own light has been extinguished and they are left confused in the darkness, they will say to the believers: ﴾ Wait for us, so that we may have some of your light﴿ that is, slow down so that we may catch up with you and get some of your light by which we may walk and be saved from the punishment.

But ﴾It will be said﴿ to them: ﴾Go back and seek light elsewhere﴿ that is, if doing so is possible. But in fact that will not be possible; rather it will be quite impossible.

﴾Then a wall will be set up between them﴿ that is, between the believers and the hypocrites; it will be a strong and unbreachable barrier,

﴾which will have a gate, on the inside of which there will be mercy﴿ - that will be the side where the believers will be ﴾and on the outside there will be punishment﴿ - that will be the side where the hypocrites will be.

The hypocrites will call out to the believers, beseeching them and asking them for mercy: ﴾Were we not with you﴿ in the previous world, saying “la ildha ilia Allah (there is no god but Allah)”, praying, fasting, striving in jihad and doing what you did?

﴾They will say: Yes﴿, you were indeed with us in the previous world, appearing outwardly to do the same as we did, but your deeds were the deeds of hypocrites, devoid of faith and sound, sincere intention.

Rather ﴾you gave in to confusion and temptation, you kept waiting [for some misfortune to befall us], you doubted﴿ that is, you doubted what Allah foretold, which was not subject to doubt;

﴾and you were deceived by false hopes﴿ when you hoped to attain the same as the believers although you were not certain in your faith ﴾until the decree of Allah came to pass﴿ that is, until death came to you when you were still in that blameworthy state ﴾Thus [Shaytan] the deceiver deceived you concerning Allah﴿, for it was the Shaytan who made disbelief and doubt fair-seeming to you, and you were content with that doubt, you trusted his promise and believed what he said.

﴾So this day no ransom will be accepted from you [O hypocrites] or from those who disbelieved﴿; even if you offered in ransom an earth’s weight of gold and as much again, it would not be accepted from you.

﴾Your abode will be hell; that is where you belong﴿ and it will take care of you and welcome you﴾a hapless journey’s end﴿ in the fire.

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says elsewhere:

﴾And as for him whose good deeds weigh lightly in the balance, his abode will be the abyss. And how could you know what it is? It is a fire, blazing hot.p (al-Qari'ah 101: 8-11)

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57:16. Has the time not come for the hearts of those who believe to be humbled at the mention of Allah and of what has been revealed of the truth, and they should not be like those who were given the Book before, whose hearts grew hard with the passage of time? And many of them were evildoers.

57:17. Know that Allah gives life to the earth after its death. We have made the signs clear to you so that you may understand.

Having mentioned the situation of the believing men and women, and the hypocrite men and women in the hereafter, which should prompt hearts to humble themselves before their Lord and submit to His greatness, Allah now gently chides the believers for not doing that, and says:

﴾Has the time not come for the hearts of those who believe to be humbled at the mention of Allah and of what has been revealed of the truththat is, has the time not come when their hearts should soften and be humbled at mention of Allah and the reminder which is theQur’an, and to submit to His commands and prohibitions, and what has been revealed of the truth, which has been brought by Muhammad

This is urging the believers to strive hard to make their hearts humble before Allah and to accept what He has sent down of the Book and wisdom, and to pay heed to divine exhortation and Islamic rulings at all times, and to constantly check themselves on the basis of those teachings.

﴾fand they should not be like those who were given the Book before, whose hearts grew hard with the passage of time﴿ that is, they should not be like those to whom Allah sent down scripture that should have caused them to soften their hearts and submit fully to Allah’s will, but they did not persist in following it and were not steadfast in adhering to it. Rather with the passage of time they became heedless, so their faith diminished and their certainty faded.

e(.. .whose hearts grew hard with the passage of time? And many of them were evildoers﴿. For the heart needs to be reminded at all times of that which Allah sent down and it needs to be refreshed with words of wisdom. It is not appropriate to be careless about this matter, for that is the cause of hardheartedness and failing to weep (with fear of Allah).

﴾Know that Allah gives life to the earth after its death. We have made the signs clear to you so that you may understand﴿. The signs inspire minds to attain knowledge of the divine attributes, for the One Who gives life to the earth after its death is able to bring the dead back to life after their death, and then He will requite them for their deeds. The One Who gives life to the earth after its death by means of rainwater is able to give life to dead hearts by means of what He has sent down of truth to His Messenger (ﷺ). This verse indicates that the one who is not guided by the signs of Allah and does not submit to the laws of Allah has no power of reasoning.

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57:18. Verily men and women who give in charity and lend to Allah a goodly loan, it will be multiplied for them and theirs will be a generous reward.

57:19. Those who believe in Allah and His Messengers, it is they who are the strong and true in faith. And the martyrs will have their reward and their light with their Lord. As for those who disbelieve and deny Our revelations, they will be inhabitants of the blazing fire.

﴾Verily men and women who give in charity﴿ - the structure of the words translated here as ﴾men and women who give in charity﴿ refers to those who give a great deal of charity, as prescribed in Islamic teaching, and who spend in ways that earn the pleasure of Allah ﴾and lend to Allah a goodly loan﴿ by giving of their wealth to charitable causes, the reward of which will be stored up for them with their Lord

﴾it will be multiplied for them﴿ because a good deed earns a tenfold reward, up to seven hundredfold, up to many times more.

ffand theirs will be a generous reward﴿ which is what Allah has prepared for them in paradise of that which no one knows.

﴾Those who believe in Allah and His Messengers﴿ - according to ahl as-Sunnah, faith is that which is indicated by the Qur’an and Sunnah, namely belief in the heart that is expressed verbally, and sound attitudes in the heart, good words and righteous physical actions. That includes all the teachings of Islam, both outward and inward.

Those who combine all these things are the strong and true in faith. In other words, their status is higher than that of the ordinary believers and lower than that of the Prophets.

(f And the martyrs will have their reward and their light with their Lord﴿ as is mentioned in the saheeb hadith:

«In paradise there are one hundred levels; the distance between each two levels is like the distance between heaven and earth. Allah has prepared them for those who strive in His cause.» (Bukhari)

This implies that they will be of a very high and sublime status, and very close to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى).

As for those who disbelieve and deny Our revelations, they will be inhabitants of the blazing fire﴿.

These verses mention all categories of people: those who give in charity, the strong and true in faith, the martyrs and the inhabitants of the blazing fire. Those who give in charity are the ones whose main focus in righteous deeds is to show kindness to people and try to benefit them and help them to the best of their ability, especially by helping them financially for the sake of Allah.

The strong and true in faith are those who have reached the highest levels of faith, righteous deeds, beneficial knowledge and certainty of faith.

The martyrs are those who fought in Allah’s cause to make Allah’s word supreme, offering their lives and their wealth, and were killed.

The inhabitants of the blazing fire are the disbelievers who rejected the revelations of Allah.

There remains one more category, which Allah mentions in Soorat Fatir. They are the ones who followed a middle course (35: 32), who did obligatory duties and refrained from prohibited matters, but they fell short with regard to some duties towards Allah and towards other people. Their ultimate abode will be paradise, even though they may face punishment for some of their deeds.

57:20. Know that the life of this world is nothing but play and a distraction, adornment and boasting among yourselves, and rivalry in wealth and children. It is like plants that flourish after rain, pleasing the sowers, then they wither, and you see them turn yellow, then they crumble. And in the hereafter there will be a severe punishment, or forgiveness from Allah and His good pleasure. For the life of this world is nothing but a fleeting vanity.

57:21. Race towards forgiveness from your Lord and paradise which is as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His Messengers. That is the grace of Allah, which He bestows upon whomever He wills, for Allah is the Possessor of abundant grace.

Here Allah tells us about the real nature of this world and how it actually is, highlighting that all that may be said of it, and all that its people can get from it, is that it is play and a distraction for hearts and bodies. This is confirmed by what you find in real life of people who focus only on worldly matters; you will find them spending their lifetimes in distraction, heedless of the remembrance of Allah and of what lies ahead of divine promises and warnings, and you see them taking their religion as a mere game and mockery.

In contrast, those who are aware and strive for the hereafter have hearts that constantly remember Allah, know him and love Him; they fill their time with righteous deeds that will bring them closer to Allah and may benefit them or may benefit them and others.

﴾adornment﴿ - this refers to adornment in clothing, food and drink, means of transportation, houses and palaces, status, and other things

﴾fand boasting among yourselves﴿ that is, each one of its people wants to boast to others and be the one who prevails in worldly matters and the one who is famous in terms of worldly splendour.

﴾fand rivalry in wealth and children﴿ that is, each one wants to be the one who has more than others in terms of wealth and children. This is the case with those who love this world and are content with it.

This is in contrast to those who know how this world really is and regard it as a place to pass through, not a place to settle in. Therefore they compete in that which will bring them closer to Allah, and take measures to help them reach Him, and if they see those who compete with them in accumulating wealth and children, they compete with them in righteous deeds.

Then Allah compares this world to the rain that falls on the ground, by means of which all kinds of plants are brought forth from the earth, from which both people and animals eat. Then when the land is at its loveliest and takes on its fairest appearance, and is pleasing to the sowers whose main focus is worldly gain, there comes to it the decree of Allah that it should be destroyed, so it withers and dries up, and the land returns to its former state, as if nothing green had ever grown there and it had never looked elegant and beautiful.

Such is this world: whilst it is flourishing for the one who focuses on it, and whatever he wants of worldly gains he attains it, and whatever he seeks to achieve of worldly matters, he finds the doors to it wide open, suddenly the divine decree comes to pass and it isall taken away from him; he loses control over worldly matters, or he is taken from this world in death, so he departs from it empty-handed, having taken nothing from it in terms of provisions except his shroud. How doomed is the one for whom this world is the sum of his aspirations, and it is all he works and strives for.

As for striving for the hereafter, that is what is of benefit and is stored up for a person and will stay with him forever. Hence Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says: ﴾And in the hereafter there will be a severe punishment, or forgiveness from Allah and His good pleasure﴿ that is, in the hereafter, there can only be one of these two scenarios:

Either severe punishment in the fire of hell, with its chains, fetters and horrors for those whose only aim and aspiration was worldly gain, so they had the audacity to disobey Allah, reject His revelations and show ingratitude for His blessings;

or forgiveness from Allah for bad deeds, protection from punishment, and the good pleasure of Allah. This is for those who recognised this world for what it was and strove hard for the hereafter.

All of this should prompt people to lose interest in this world and focus on the hereafter. Hence Allah says: ﴾For the life of this world is nothing but a fleeting vanity﴿ that is, it is nothing but something to be enjoyed briefly and benefited from, to meet one’s needs. No one is deceived by it and content with it except people of weak reasoning who are deceived by the Shaytan.

Then Allah enjoins people to race towards His forgiveness, good pleasure and paradise, which is done by striving to take the measures that lead to forgiveness, such as: sincere repentance; asking Allah for forgiveness; keeping away from sins and the places where they may happen; and competing to earn the good pleasure of Allah by doing righteous deeds and being constantly eager to do that which pleases Allah, such as worshipping the Creator properly, and treating people kindly in all ways. Hence Allah mentions the deeds that earn His pleasure, as He says:

﴾and paradise which is as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His Messengers﴿ belief in Allah and His Messengers includes the fundamentals and minor issues of faith.

﴾That is the grace of Allah, which He bestows upon whomever He wills﴿ that is, what We have explained to you and mentioned includes the ways that lead to paradise and the ways that lead to hell. Allah’s grace by bestowing abundant reward is one of the greatest blessings that He bestows upon His slaves.

﴾for Allah is the Possessor of abundant grace﴿, Who cannot be praised enough for it; rather He is as He has praised Himself, and far above the praise that His slaves can offer Him.

57:22. No calamity befalls the earth or your own selves but it is already written in a Book before We make it happen. Verily that is easy for Allah.

57:23. [Know this] so that you do not grieve for what passes you by, nor exult over what He gives you, for Allah does not love anyone who is conceited and boastful,

57:24. those who are stingy, and exhort people to stinginess. And whoever turns away, verily Allah is Self-Sufficient, Worthy of all praise.

Here Allah speaks of the all-encompassing nature of His will and decree:﴾No calamity befalls the earth or your own selves﴿ - this includes everything that happens to people, good or bad, great or small; it is all written in al-Lawh al-Malifoodh.

Allah tells His slaves that so that this principle may be established in their minds, and on that basis they may understand whatever happens to them, good or bad. Thus they will not despair or grieve for what has passed them by of things that they were hoping for and aspired to, because they know that this was written in al-Lawh al-Mahfoodh, and would inevitably come to pass, so there was no way to ward it off. By the same token, they will not exult over whatever Allah gives them, because they know that they did not attain it by their own power and strength; rather they attained it by the grace and blessing of Allah, so they should focus on giving thanks to the One Who bestowed blessings and warded off harm. Hence Allah says:

﴾Allah does not love anyone who is conceited and boastful﴿ that is, everyone who is arrogant, rough, harsh, filled with self-admiration and boasts about the blessings granted to him by Allah, attributing them to himself. Thus these blessings distract him and cause him to transgress, as Allah says elsewhere:

<t[...when We bestow a favour upon him from Us, he says: This has been given to me only because of knowledge [that I possess]. Rather it is a test... )? (az-Zumar 39: 49)

Sfthose who are stingy, and exhort people to stinginess﴿ that is, they combine two blameworthy attitudes, each of which on its own is sufficient evil: stinginess, which means withholding people’s due rights, and exhorting people to do likewise. So it was not enough for them to be stingy themselves; rather they went further and exhorted people to do likewise, urging them to adopt this blameworthy attitude in their words and actions. This stems from their turning away from obedience to their Lord.

﴾And whoever turns away﴿ from obedience to Allah harms no one but himself; he will never harm Allah in the slightest﴾verily Allah is Self-Sufficient, Worthy of all praise﴿ - His self-sufficiency is one of His essential attributes and to Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; it is He Who enriches His slaves and bestows wealth upon them. And He is worthy of all praise, to Whom belong all good names, perfect attributes and beautiful actions, for which He deserves to be praised, lauded and venerated.

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57:25. We sent Our Messengers with clear signs, and sent down with them the Book and the criteria of justice, so that people may uphold equity. And We have sent down iron, in which there is great power [for warfare] and benefits for humanity, so that Allah may make known those who help His cause and His Messengers, although they cannot see Him. Verily Allah is Strong, Almighty.

57:26. We sent Nooh and lbraheem, and conferred upon their descendants prophethood and the scriptures; some of them are rightly guided, but many of them are evildoers.

57:27. Then after them We followed them with other Messengers of Ours, and We sent after them ‘Eesa ibn Maryam; We gave himthe Gospel and instilled kindness and mercy in the hearts of those who followed him. As for monasticism, We did not prescribe it for them; they invented it, seeking thereby the pleasure of Allah, but they did not observe it faithfully. So We granted those among them who believed their reward, but many of them are evildoers.

﴾We sent Our Messengers with clear signs﴿ namely the evidence and proof that pointed to the truthfulness and soundness of what they brought

﴾and sent down with them the Book﴿ namely all the scriptures that Allah sent down in order to guide people and show them the way to that which will benefit them in their spiritual and worldly affairs ﴾and the criteria of justice﴿ or equity in word and deed.

The religion that was brought by the Messengers is completely just and equitable in its commands and prohibitions, in its rulings on interactions among people, in its criminal code and retaliatory and prescribed punishments, in matters of inheritance, and so on.

That is ﴾so that people may uphold equity﴿ as part of the religion of Allah, which also served many of their own interests, which are too many to be counted.

This indicates that the Messengers were in harmony with regard to the foundation of religious laws, which is the upholding of equity, even though concepts of justice may have varied according to time and circumstance.

﴾And We have sent down iron, in which there is great power [for warfare]﴿ namely tools of war such as weapons, armour and so on ﴾and benefits for humanity﴿ which is what is seen of its benefits in all kinds of industry, crafts, vessels and farm implements, to the extent that there are very few things that do not need iron.

﴾so that Allah may make known those who help His cause and His Messengers, although they cannot see Him﴿ that is, so that Hemay test people by means of what He has sent down of the Book and iron, so that it might become clear who will help His cause and help His Messengers when they cannot see Him, which is when faith is of benefit, before seeing the unseen worlds, at which time there will be no benefit in believing in them, because at that point faith will have become inevitable and undeniable.

﴾Verily Allah is Strong, Almighty﴿ that is, nothing is beyond Him and no one can escape Him.

By His strength and might. He sent down iron from which strong tools are made, and by His strength and might, He is able to defeat his enemies. But He tests His close friends with His enemies, so as to make known who will help His cause although they cannot see Him.

Here Allah mentions the Book and iron together, because by means of these two things Allah causes His religion to prevail and makes His word supreme: by means of the Book in which is proof and evidence, and by means of the sword which defends and supports it, by Allah’s leave. Both of them are based on justice and equity, which is indicative of the wisdom and perfection of the Creator, and the perfect nature of the laws which He has prescribed on the lips of His Messengers.

Having mentioned the prophethood of the Prophets in general, Allah now mentions two of the elite Prophets, namely the noble Prophets Nooh and Ibraheem, among whose descendants Allah conferred prophethood and the scriptures. Hence He says:

﴾fWe sent Nooh and Ibraheem, and conferred upon their descendants prophethood and the scriptures﴿ that is, the earlier and later Prophets were all descendants of Nooh and Ibraheem (peace be upon them).

Similarly, all of the scriptures were sent down to descendants of these two noble Prophets.

﴾some of them﴿ that is, some of those to whom We sent the Messengers﴾are rightly guided﴿ and followed their call, submitting to their commands, and were guided by them.

﴾but many of them are evildoers﴿ who failed to obey Allah and obey the Messengers and Prophets, as Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says elsewhere:

﴾But most of humankind will not believe, no matter how eagerly you desire it.﴿ (Yoosuf 12: 103)

﴾Then after them We followed them with other Messengers of Ours, and We sent after them ‘Eesa ibn Maryam﴿. Allah singles out ‘Eesa (عليه السلام) for mention because the context is speaking of the Christians who claim to be the followers of ‘Eesa (عليه السلام).

﴾We gave him the Gospel﴿ which is one of the Books of Allah ﴾and instilled kindness and mercy in the hearts of those who followed him﴿. This is like the verse in which Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

﴾You will surely find that the bitterest among people in enmity towards the believers are the Jews and those who ascribe partners to Allah; and you will surely find that the closest among them to the believers in affection are those who say: We are Christians. That is because among them are scholars and ascetics, and they are not arrogant.﴿ (al-Ma idah 5: 82)

Hence the Christians are more gentle and soft-hearted than others, because they follow the teachings of‘Eesa (عليه السلام)

﴾As for monasticism. We did not prescribe it for them; they invented it﴿ - what is meant by monasticism is extra acts of devotion. They made it up themselves, and imposed it as a duty upon themselves, committing themselves to things that Allah had not prescribed for them or imposed on them. Rather they took it upon themselves on their own initiative, seeking thereby the pleasure of Allah. Yet despite that, ﴾they did not observe it faithfully﴿ that is, they did not do it properly. Thus they fell short on two counts, by inventing it and by not adhering to what they had imposed upon themselves. And this is usually the case with them.

But among them were some who did adhere to the command of Allah, hence He says: ﴾So We granted those among them who believed their reward﴿ that is, those who believed in Muhammad as well as believing in ‘Eesa (عليه السلام). Allah gave to each of them, according to his level of faith.

﴾but many of them are evildoers﴿.

57:28. O you who believe, fear Allah and believe in His Messenger; He will grant you a double share of His mercy, give you a light by which to walk, and forgive you, for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

57:29. [That is] so that the People of the Book may know that they have no power over anything of Allah’s grace, and that grace is in the Hand of Allah alone; He bestows it upon whomever He wills, for Allah is Possessor of abundant grace.

This may be addressed to the People of the Book who believed in Moosa and ‘Eesa (peace be upon them), instructing them to act in accordance with their faith by fearing Allah, refraining from disobedience to Him, and believing in His Messenger Muhammad (ﷺ), for if they do that, Allah will grant them ﴾a double share of His mercy ﴿ that is, two shares of reward, one share for their belief in the earlier Prophets and another share for their belief in Muhammad (ﷺ).

Or it may be that the command is general in meaning and is addressed to both the People of the Book and others, which is what appears to be the case, and that Allah instructed them to believe and to fear Him, which includes all issues of religion, both outward and inward, fundamental and minor issues; if they obey this important command, Allah will grant them ﴾a double share of His mercy﴿, the description and extent of which no one knows but Allah (سبحانه وتعالى).

It may be a reward for believing and a reward for fearing Allah, or a reward for obeying the commands and a reward for heeding the prohibitions; or it may be that referring to a double reward means that the reward will be given repeatedly, time after time.

﴾give you a light by which to walk﴿ that is, He will give you knowledge, guidance and light by which to walk through the darkness of ignorance, and He will forgive you your bad deeds.

﴾for Allah is Possessor of abundant grace﴿ so no one should think that it is too much for the Possessor of abundant grace to give this reward, for His grace encompasses the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth, so there is not a single moment in which created beings are not receiving divine grace and bounty.

﴾[That is] so that the People of the Book may know that they have no power over anything of Allah’s grace﴿ that is. We have explained to you Our grace and generosity towards those who believe, in general terms, and who fear Allah and believe in His Messenger so as to let the People of the Book know that they have no power over anything of Allah’s grace. In other words, they cannot restrict the grace and bounty of Allah in accordance with their whims and desires and corrupt thinking, and say that:

﴾f...No one will enter paradise unless he is a Jew or a Christian...p (al-Baqarah 2: III)

That is wishful thinking about Allah on their part.

Allah tells us that those who believe in His Messenger Muhammad (ﷺ) and fear Allah will have a double share of His mercy, light and forgiveness, despite the People of the Book.

And so that they may know ﴾that grace is in the Hand of Allah alone; He bestows it upon whomever He wills﴿, giving it to those whom His wisdom dictates should be recipients of His grace.

﴾for Allah is Possessor of abundant grace﴿ and no one could estimate the extent of His grace at all.

This is the end of the commentary on Soorat al-Hadeed.

All praise and thanks are for Allah, and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad his family, and his Companions abundantly until the Day of Judgement.