61:1. All that is in the heavens and all that is on earth glorifies Allah, for He is the Almighty, Most Wise.

61:2. O you who believe, why do you say that which you do not do?

61:3. It is most loathsome to Allah that you say that which you do not do.

This highlights the greatness and dominion of Allah, and the submission of ail of creation to Him. All those who are in the heavens and on earth glorify and praise Allah, worship Him and ask Him for their needs.

﴾for He is the Almighty﴿ Who has subjugated all things by His might and power﴾Most Wise﴿ in His creation and command.

efO you who believe, why do you say that which you do not do?﴿ That is, why do you speak good words, urge people to do good and perhaps boast of doing it yourselves, when you do not do it; and you forbid evil and declare yourselves above doing it, yet you are contaminated with it and it is part of your regular deeds?

Is such a blameworthy attitude befitting for the believers, or is it something most loathsome before Allah that a person says what he does not do?

The one who enjoins good should be the first one to hasten to do it, and the one who forbids evil should be the furthest removed of all people from it. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says elsewhere:

﴾Do you enjoin righteousness upon people while you ignore your own selves, even though you study the scripture? Will you not then understand?﴿-) (al-Baqarah 2: 44)

And Shu'ayb (sSO said to his people:

﴾...I do not want to do that which I am forbidding you to do...﴿

61:4. Verily Allah loves those who fight in His cause in ranks, as if they were a tightly-fitted, solid structure.

Here Allah is urging His slaves to strive in His cause and teaching them how to arrange their ranks; they should stand in tightly-fitted, solid ranks in jihad, without any gaps in the rows, and their rows should be organised in an orderly fashion, so that the mujahideenmay stand side-by-side and shoulder to shoulder, striking dread into the hearts of the enemy, and offering encouragement to one another.

Hence when the Prophet (ﷺ) was present in battle, he would organise the ranks of his Companions, stationing them for battle in such a way that some would not have to rely on others; rather each group would focus on its own position, doing whatever was needed to protect their station. In this manner goals could be achieved.

61:5. And [remember] when Moosa said to his people: O my people, why do you cause me grief when you know that I am the Messenger of Allah to you? So when they chose to deviate [from the truth], Allah caused their hearts to deviate [from right guidance], for Allah does not guide disobedient people.

And [remember] when Moosa said to his people﴿, rebuking them for their misdeeds and telling him off for causing him grief, when they knew that he was the Messenger of Allah: e(0 my people, why do you cause me grief﴿ in word and deed ﴾when you know that I am the Messenger of Allah to you?﴿

Among the rights of the Messenger (ﷺ) are respect and veneration, compliance with his commands and acceptance of his rulings.

As for causing grief to the Messenger (ﷺ) - whose kindness towards people surpasses all kindness except that of Allah - it is extremely rude and insolent, and it is a deviation from the straight path which they recognise but abandon. Hence Allah says:f(So when they chose to deviate [from the truth]﴿ that is, they deliberately went astray,

﴾Allah caused their hearts to deviate [from right guidance]﴿ as a punishment to them for the deviation that they chose for themselves and were pleased with. Hence Allah did not enable them to be guided, because goodness was not appropriate for them and they were fit only for evil.

t﴾for Allah does not guide disobedient people﴿ that is, those in whom disobedience is inherent, and they have no desire to be guided.

This verse shows us that if Allah allows His slaves to go astray, this is not injustice on His part, and they cannot use that as an argument against Him. Rather it is their own fault, for they are the ones who closed the door of guidance to themselves after they came to know of it, so Allah requites them after that by causing them to go astray and deviate, which they have no way to ward off, and the turning of their hearts away from the truth is a punishment for them and divine justice towards them, as Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says elsewhere:

﴾We will turn their hearts and eyes away [from the truth], since they refused to believe in it the first time, and We will leave them to wander blindly in their misguidance.﴿ (al-An'am 6.110)

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61:6. And [remember] when ‘Eesa ibn Maryam said: O Children of Israel, verily I am the Messenger of Allah to you, confirming what came before me of the Torah, and bringing glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name will be Ahmad. But when he came to them with clear signs, they said: This is obviously magic!

61:7. Who does greater wrong than he who fabricates lies against Allah when he is called to Islam? And Allah does not guide people who are given to wrongdoing.

61:8. They want to extinguish Allah’s light with their utterances, but Allah will perfect His light, even though the disbelievers hate it.

61:9. It is He Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may cause it to prevail over all other religions, even though the polytheists hate it.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) speaks of the stubbornness of the Children of Israel mentioned above, when ‘Eesa ibn Maryam called them, saying:

Children of Israel, verily I am the Messenger of Allah to you﴿ that is, Allah has sent me to call you to goodness and forbid to you evil, and He has supported me with clear proof. What confirms my truthfulness is the fact that I am ﴾confirming what came before me of the Torah}). That is, I have come to you with the same message as that brought by Moosa, of the Torah and divine laws. If I were a pretender to prophethood, I would have brought something other than that which the Messengers brought. I also confirm that which came before me of the Torah, for it foretold my coming and gave the glad tidings thereof. I have come and have been sent in confirmation of it, ﴾and bringing glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name will be Ahmad﴿. He is Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abdul- Muttalib (ﷺ), the Hashimi Prophet.

‘Eesa (عليه السلام), like other Prophets, confirmed the Prophet who came before him and gave glad tidings of the Prophet to come after him, unlike the liars who contradict the Prophets in an extreme manner, and differ from them in attitude, manners, commands and prohibitions.

﴾But when he﴿ namely Muhammad (ﷺ), whose coming was foretold by ‘Eesa (عليه السلام)

﴾came to them with clear signs﴿ that is, clear proof that indicated that he was the one, and that he was a true Messenger of Allah,

﴾they saidi?, stubbornly rejecting the truth and disbelieving in it: ﴾This is obviously magic!﴿ And this is something very strange indeed.

To regard the Messenger (ﷺ), whose message was as clear as day, as a magician who is obviously practising magic, can there be any failure greater than this? Is there any fabrication worse than this, when one denies what is well-established of his message and attributes to him something from which he is the furthest removed of all people?

﴾Who does greater wrong than he who fabricates lies against Allah﴿ by making this and other claims, when in fact he has no excuse and no reason for doing so, because he is ﴾called to Islam﴿ and its proof and evidence have been presented to him.

﴾And Allah does not guide people who are given to wrongdoing﴿ who persist in their wrongdoing, and no exhortation, proof or evidence deters them from it.

This is especially applicable to these wrongdoers who are striving hard to oppose the truth and refute it, and to support falsehood. Hence Allah says of them: ﴾They want to extinguish Allah’s light with their utterances﴿ that is, with what they say of corrupt arguments on the basis of which they reject the truth, when this argument has no solid foundation; rather their arguments increase the one who has insight in awareness of the falsehood to which they adhere.

﴾but Allah will perfect His light, even though the disbelievers hate it(? that is, Allah has guaranteed to support His religion and perfectthe truth with which He sent His Messengers, and to cause His light to shine in all regions, even if the disbelievers hate it and, because of their hatred, they take all measures that they think will help them to extinguish the light of Allah. But they will be defeated.

They are like someone who tries to blow on the disc of the sun in order to extinguish it. They will never achieve what they want and their minds will never be safe from criticism and aspersions.

Then Allah mentions the means by which the Islamic religion will prevail, both physical measures and rational arguments, as He says:

It is He Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth﴿ that is, with beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds.

That is knowledge with which he guides people to Allah and to paradise, and he guides to the best deeds and attitudes, and to that which is in people’s best interests in this world and the hereafter. ﴾and the religion of truths that is, a religion to which to adhere and worship the Lord of the worlds in accordance with its teachings, a religion that is true, in which there are no imperfections or flaws; rather its commands offer nourishment to hearts and souls and physical wellbeing to bodies, and refraining from what it forbids offers protection from evil and corruption. What the Prophet (ﷺ) was sent with of guidance and the religion of truth is the greatest proof and evidence of his truthfulness, and it is proof that will last until the end of time. The more a person reflects upon it, the more he will feel at ease and increase in joy and insight.

﴾so that He may cause it to prevail over all other religions﴿ that is, so that He may cause it to prevail over all other religions on the basis of proof and evidence, and so that He may cause its people who adhere to it to prevail by means of the sword and spear.

With regard to the religion itself, this prevalence is persistent at all times. No one tries to resist it or oppose it but he will be defeated, and Islam will prevail and subdue its opponents. As for those whofollow the religion of Islam, if they adhere to it and follow its light and guidance in all their religious and worldly affairs, then by the same token no one will be able to resist them, and they will inevitably prevail over the followers of other religions.

But if they neglect it and are content merely to claim to belong to it, that will not benefit them, and their negligence towards it will become the cause of their enemies gaining power over them.

Anyone who studies the affairs of the Muslims, and their earlier and later generations, will be well aware of that.

61:10. O you who believe, shall I tell you about a deal that will save you from a painful punishment?

61:11. Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and strive and fight, offering your wealth and your lives in the cause of Allah. That is better for you, if only you knew.

61:12. [If you do that] He will forgive you your sins and admit you to gardens through which rivers flow and fine dwellings in gardens of perpetual abode; that is the supreme triumph.

61:13. And [He will give you] something else that you love: help from Allah [against your enemies] and an imminent victory. And give these glad tidings to the believers.

61:14. O you who believe, be [steadfast] supporters of Allah’s cause, as ‘Eesa son of Maryam said to the disciples: Who will be my supporters in Allah’s cause? The disciples said: We are the supporters of Allah’s cause. So some of the Children of Israel believed and some disbelieved. Then We helped those who believed against their enemies, so they prevailed.

This passage presents advice and guidelines from the Most Merciful of those who show mercy to His believing slaves, pointing out the greatest deal and most sublime objective by means of which one may attain salvation from the painful punishment and attain eternal bliss.

Here He mentions the means of achieving that aim and goal which everyone who has insight will want to achieve. It is as if the question were asked: what is this deal? and He said: ﴾Believe in Allah and His Messenger﴿.

It is well known that perfect faith is to believe with certainty in what Allah has commanded us to believe in, which requires physical actions, one of the most sublime of which is jihad in Allah’s cause. Hence Allah says: ﴾and strive and fight, offering your wealth and your lives in the cause of Allah﴿ by offering your lives and your souls to resist the enemies of Islam. The aim should be to support the religion of Allah and make His word supreme.

And spend whatever you can afford of your wealth for that purpose, for even though it is difficult for people to give that wealth, doing so ﴾is better for you, if only you knew﴿, for in worldly terms it leads to good consequences, namely victory over the enemy, honour that is the opposite of humiliation, abundant provision and great reassurance.

In the hereafter, it leads to attaining the reward of Allah and salvation from His punishment. Hence Allah mentions the reward in the hereafter, saying:

﴾[If you do that] He will forgive you your sins﴿ this includes both minor and major sins. Belief in Allah and jihad in His cause expiate sins, even if they are major.

﴾and admit you to gardens through which rivers flow﴿ that is, the rivers flow between the dwellings, palaces, chambers and trees: rivers of fresh water, rivers of milk of which the taste does not change, rivers of wine, delicious to the drinkers, and rivers of pure honey. And in those gardens they will have all kinds of fruit.

﴾and fine dwellings in gardens of perpetual abode﴿ that is, they combine all good features such as being lofty, high, well-built and beautifully adorned, to the extent that the people of paradise will see the people of the chambers in the highest level thereof as if they are looking at bright stars on the eastern or western horizon.

Some of the buildings of paradise will be made of bricks of gold, and some will be made of bricks of silver. Its pavilions will be made of pearls and coral, and some of its dwellings will be made of emerald and colourful gems with the most beautiful hues. Because of their purity, the outside will be visible from the inside, and the inside will be visible from the outside. It will contain such delightful fragrances and beauty that no one could ever describe and that has never crossed the mind of anyone in any realm; they will not be able to know it until they see it; they will enjoy its beauty and their eyes will delight in it. In that situation, were it not for the fact that Allah will create the people of paradise in the most perfect manner that is not subject to death, they might have died out of joy. Glory be to the One Whom no one can praise sufficiently; rather He is as He has praised Himself, far above the praise that His slaves could give Him.

Blessed be the Most Majestic, the Most Beautiful, Who has created the abode of bliss and placed in it such majesty and beauty that dazzles the minds of His creation.

Exalted be the One Who possesses perfect wisdom, that dictates that if Allah had shown paradise to humankind when He created it, and they had seen what it contains of delights, no one would ever fail to seek it, and they would not have enjoyed life in this world that is full of troubles and whose joy is mixed with pain and its happiness is mixed with sadness.

Paradise is called gardens of perpetual abode because its people will remain in it forever and will never leave it or desire to leave it. This immense and beautiful reward and supreme triumph, that is completely unmatched, is the reward of the hereafter.

As for the reward of this deal in this world, it is mentioned in the words SfAnd [He will give you] something else that you love﴿ that is, you will attain another benefit that you love, which is ﴾help from Allah [against your enemies]﴿, that will lead to honour and joy ﴾and an imminent victory﴿ by means of which the territory of Islam will be expanded and abundant provision will be brought. This is the reward of the believers who strive in jihad.

As for the believers who do not strive in jihad, when others do, Allah te) does not let them despair of His grace and kindness. Rather He says: ﴾And give these glad tidings to the believers﴿ that is, give them glad tidings of reward in this world and the hereafter, each according to his faith, even if they are not going to attain the level of those who strive in jihad in Allah’s cause. As the Prophet said: «In paradise there are one hundred levels, the distance between each two of which is like the distance between heaven and earth. Allah has prepared them for those who strive in His cause.» (Bukhari)

Then Allah says:

﴾jO you who believe, be [steadfast] supporters of Allah’s cause﴿ that is, in word and deed, by upholding the religion of Allah, striving to apply it to oneself and others, striving in jihad against those who stubbornly oppose it and resist it, offering your lives and your wealth, and refuting the arguments of anyone who supports falsehood with what he claims to have of knowledge, and establishing proof against him and warning people against him.

Part of supporting the religion of Allah is learning the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (ﷺ), urging others to do likewise, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong.

Then Allah encourages the believers to follow the example of the righteous who came before them, as He says: ﴾as ‘Eesa son of Maryam said to the disciples: Who will be my supporters in Allah’s cause?﴿ that is, he said to them, making a request of them and encouraging them: Who will help me and stand with me in support of the religion of Allah, following the path that I follow?

The disciples hastened to respond and said: ﴾We are the supporters of Allah’s cause﴿. So ‘Eesa (عليه السلام) persisted in the path as commanded by Allah and supported His religion, along with the disciples who were with him.

﴾So some of the Children of Israel believed﴿ in response to the call of‘Eesa and the disciples ﴾and some﴿ of them ﴾disbelieved﴿, and did not respond to the call, so the believers strove against the disbelievers.

)[Then We helped those who believed against their enemies﴿ that is. We supported them and granted them victory over them ﴾so they prevailed﴿ over them and subdued them.

So you, O Ummah of Muhammad should be the supporters of Allah’s cause and callers to His religion; if you do that, Allah will support you as He supported those who came before you, and will cause you to prevail over your enemies.

This is the end of the commentary on Soorat as-Saff.

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