17:19 Al-Israa (The Night Journey)

{ وَمَنْ أَرَادَ الْآخِرَةَ } فرضيها وآثرها على الدنيا { وَسَعَى لَهَا سَعْيَهَا } الذي دعت إليه الكتب السماوية والآثار النبوية فعمل بذلك على قدر إمكانه { وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ } بالله وملائكته وكتبه ورسله واليوم الآخر. { فَأُولَئِكَ كَانَ سَعْيُهُمْ مَشْكُورًا } أي: مقبولا منمى مدخرا لهم أجرهم وثوابهم عند ربهم.

وقوله "ومن أراد الآخرة" أي أراد الدار الآخرة وما فيها من النعم والسرور "وسعى لها سعيها" أي طلب ذلك من طريقه وهو متابعة الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم "وهو مؤمن" أي قلبه مؤمن أي مصدق موقن بالثواب والجزاء "فأولئك كان سعيهم مشكورا".

The Reward of Those who desire this World and Those who desire the Hereafter

Allah tells us that not everyone who desires this world and its luxuries gets what he wants. That is attained by those whom Allah wants to have it, and they get what He wills that they should get. This Ayah narrows down the general statements made in other Ayat. Allah says:

عَجَّلْنَا لَهُ فِيهَا مَا نَشَآءُ لِمَن نُّرِيدُ ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَا لَهُ جَهَنَّمَ

(We readily grant him what We will for whom We like. Then, afterwards, We have appointed for him Hell) meaning, in the Hereafter,

يَصْلَـهَآ

(he will burn therein) means, he will enter it until it covers him on all sides,

مَذْمُومًا

(disgraced) means, blamed for his bad behaviour and evil deeds, because he chose the transient over the eternal,

مَّدْحُورًا

(rejected.) means, far away (from Allah's mercy), humiliated and put to shame.

وَمَنْ أَرَادَ الاٌّخِرَةَ

(And whoever desires the Hereafter) wanting the Hereafter and its blessings and delights,

وَسَعَى لَهَا سَعْيَهَا

(and strives for it, with the necessary effort due for it) seeking it in the right way, which is following the Messenger .

وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ

(while he is a believer,) means, his heart has faith, i.e., he believes in the reward and punishment,

فَأُولَـئِكَ كَانَ سَعْيُهُم مَّشْكُورًا

(then such are the ones whose striving shall be appreciated, (rewarded by Allah).)

And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it with the necessary effort that is he performs the deeds worthy of it being a believer wa-huwa mu’minun is a circumstantial qualifier — for such their effort will find favour with God that is their effort will be accepted and rewarded.

A self-opinionated deed and an act of religious innovation, no matter how appealing, is not acceptable

In this verse (19), by adding the word: سَعْيَهَا (as due), it has been made explicit that every deed and every effort is not necessarily beneficial or acceptable with Allah. Instead, the only deed or effort credible is that which is appropriate to the essential objective (of the Hereafter). And whether or not it is appropriate can only be found out from the statement of Allah Ta’ ala and His Messenger ﷺ . Therefore, even well meaning efforts made by insisting on bland personal opinion and self-invented ways - which includes common customs of Bid'ah (innovations in established religion) - no matter how good and beneficial they may appear at their face, but are not appropriate to the effort made for the Hereafter. Consequently, they are neither acceptable with Allah nor are they of any use in the Hereafter.

Explaining the word: سَعْيَهَا (as due), Tafsir Ruh al-Ma’ ani says that the 'effort' should be in accordance with 'sunnah.' Along with it, it adds that this effort or deed should also have uprightness and firmness. In other words, this deed should be beneficial in accordance with the Sunnah as well as it should be upright and constant. Doing it haphazardly or doing it in a cycle of doing and not doing is not good. It never yields the maximum benefit.