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Reward for Long Hard Struggle
By Sayyid Qutb
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Beneficent.
As for those who fear their Lord, theirs shall be gardens underneath which rivers flow, in which they shall abide for ever: a gift of welcome from Allah. That which is with Allah is best for the truly righteous. There are indeed among the people of the scriptures some who believe in Allah and in what has been revealed to you and in what has been revealed to them, humbling themselves before Allah. They do not barter away Allah’s revelations for a trifling price. They shall have their reward with their Lord. Swift is Allah’s reckoning.
(The House of Imran, Aal Imran: 3; 198-199) Commentary by Sayyid Qutb.Translation by A.A.Shamis and Adil Salahi.
We finished our commentary last month with the verse which immediately preceded our present passage. In that verse, we have a reference to the prosperity enjoyed by the disbelievers in this life. We are told that this prosperity must not deceive us. It is no more than a brief enjoyment. The Quranic verse states: “ Let not the disbelievers’ prosperity in the land deceive you. It is but a brief enjoyment. Then, hell shall be their abode. What an evil abode.”
As opposed to this brief enjoyment and fleeting prosperity, there are heavens, eternity and blessings from Allah: As for those who fear their Lord, there shall be gardens underneath which rivers flow, in which they shall abide forever, a gift of welcome from Allah. That which is with Allah is best for the truly righteous. No one who will balance one lot against the other will entertain the slightest doubt about what is with Allah is infinitely better for the truly righteous. No one will entertain any thought that what the God-fearing finally receive is much weightier than what the disbelievers enjoy. Hence, anyone endowed with insight will unhesitatingly choose for himself the share chosen by the people who have been described earlier as being “endowed with understanding.”
At this point, when the context is one of cultivating the characters of the believers and establishing the essential values according to the Islamic concept of life, Allah does not promise the believers victory or that they should triumph over their enemies, or that they should be established in any land. He indeed does not promise them anything in this life,as he promises them elsewhere and as he has undertaken to provide for the believers as they engage in battle against his enemies. He promises them here only one thing, namely, “that which is with Allah.” For this is the basic thing in this message, and the starting point in this faith. Allah wants the believers to totally disown every aim, purpose or aspiration, including their desire to see their faith triumph and the enemies of Allah defeated. Allah wants the believers to free themselves even from this desire. He wants them to leave this matter altogether to Him alone so that they are free from all ambitions, including those which are not personal.
The very basic point in this faith is to be ready to give and sacrifice, fulfill one’s duty and perform one’s obligations. In return, there is nothing of the comforts and enjoyments of this life. Moreover, there is no promise of victory, fulfillment of aims and gaining power. All what is promised relates to the hereafter.
But then victory takes place and the believers are established in the land. This however is not part of the deal. There is nothing in the contract which stipulates any returns in this life. All that it speaks of is fulfillment of obligations, sacrifice and standing up to tests and trials. In these terms, the deal was made when Islam was persecuted in Makkah. The terms were very clear. Allah did not give the Muslims victory and the reins of power to assume the role of leadership of mankind until they rid themselves totally of all ambitions which relate to this life and fulfilled their obligations with total dedication.
Muhammad ibn Ka’ab Al-Qurathi and others relate that when people from the two tribes of Madinah, the Aws and the Khazraj, pledged their loyalty to the Prophet (Pbuh) and asked him to emigrate to Madinah, Abdullah ibn Rawahah said to the Prophet: “ stipulate whatever conditions you wish to make on behalf of your Lord and on your own behalf.” The Prophet (Pbuh) said: “For my Lord, I stipulate that you shall worship Him alone and associate no partners with Him. For myself, I make the condition that you shall protect me in the same way as you protect yourselves and your property.” He asked: “what shall we get if we fulfill our pledge? The Prophet (Pbuh) answered “Paradise.” They said: “It is a profitable deal. We accept no going back and we will never go back on it ourselves.”
The Prophet’s answer must be noted here. All he said was “Paradise.” He promised nothing more. He did not say to them that they will have victory, power, unity of Arabian tribes, leadership, wealth, prosperity or anything else. It is true that Allah gave them all that and allowed them to enjoy it, but nothing of that was part of the deal.
Their attitude is also worth noting. They viewed it as a deal between a buyer and a seller which had been concluded and no more bargaining could be considered regarding any of its details. This was how Allah cultivated and disciplined the community in whose hands it was. His will to place the control of the earth and to whom to assign the leadership of mankind and the custody of the great faith. But he only gave it all that after it had freed itself totally of all desires and ambitions, including those which related to its message, the system it sought to implement and the faith for which it was ready to sacrifice itself. No one deserves to be given the custody of the greatest treasure of all if he continues to care about himself or if he does not surrender himself totally to Allah.
Just before the surah is ended, a new reference is made to the people of earlier revelations to state that some of them do believe in the same way as Muslims. Those have joined the ranks of Muslims and adopted their ways. They also deserve the same reward: “ There are indeed among the people of the scriptures some who believe in Allah and in what has been revealed to you and in what has been revealed to them, humbling themselves before Allah. They do not barter away Allah’s revelations for a trifling price. They shall have their reward with their Lord. Swift is Allah’s reckoning”.
This reference is made in order to bring to conclusion the long account given in the surah of the people of the scriptures.
To those believers among the people of the scriptures, Allah promises the same reward as He gives to Muslim believers. The fact is that Allah does not delay the reward of those who deal with him. Far be it for Him to do so. Swift is Allah’s reckoning.
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