23:57 Al-Muminoon (The Believers)

لما ذكر تعالى الذين جمعوا بين الإساءة والأمن، الذين يزعمون أن عطاء الله إياهم في الدنيا دليل على خيرهم وفضلهم، ذكر الذين جمعوا بين الإحسان والخوف، فقال: { إِنَّ الَّذِينَ هُمْ مِنْ خَشْيَةِ رَبِّهِمْ مُشْفِقُونَ } أي: وجلون، مشفقة قلوبهم كل ذلك من خشية ربهم، خوفا أن يضع عليهم عدله، فلا يبقى لهم حسنة، وسوء ظن بأنفسهم، أن لا يكونوا قد قاموا بحق الله تعالى، وخوفا على إيمانهم من الزوال، ومعرفة منهم بربهم، وما يستحقه من الإجلال والإكرام، وخوفهم وإشفاقهم يوجب لهم الكف عما يوجب الأمر المخوف من الذنوب، والتقصير في الواجبات.

يقول تعالى " إن الذين هم من خشية ربهم مشفقون " أي هم مع إحسانهم وإيمانهم وعملهم الصالح مشفقون من الله خائفون منه وجلون من مكره بهم كما قال الحسن البصري: إن المؤمن جمع إحسانا وشفقة وإن الكافر جمع إساءة وأمنا.

Description of the People of Good Deeds

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ هُم مِّنْ خَشْيةِ رَبِّهِمْ مُّشْفِقُونَ

(Verily, those who live in awe for fear of their Lord;) means, even though they have reached the level of Ihsan and have faith and do righteous deeds, they are still in awe of Allah and fear Him and His hidden plans for them, as Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "The believer combines Ihsan with awe, while the disbelievers combine evil deeds with a sense of security."

وَالَّذِينَ هُم بِـَايَـتِ رَبَّهِمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ

(And those who believe in the Ayat of their Lord;) means, they believe in His universal and legislative signs, as Allah says about Maryam, peace be upon her:

وَصَدَّقَتْ بِكَلِمَـتِ رَبَّهَا وَكُتُبِهِ

(and she testified to the truth of the Words of her Lord, and His Scriptures) 66:12, meaning that she believed that whatever existed was by the will and decree of Allah, and that whatever Allah decreed, if it was a command, it would be something that He liked and accepted; if it was a prohibition, it would be something that He disliked and rejected; and if it was good, it would be true. This is like the Ayah:

وَالَّذِينَ هُم بِرَبِّهِمْ لاَ يُشْرِكُونَ

(And those who join not anyone (in worship) as partners with their Lord;) meaning, they do not worship anyone or anything else besides Him, but they worship Him Alone and know that there is no god except Allah Alone, the One, the Self-Sufficient Master, Who does not take a wife or have any offspring, and there is none comparable or equal unto Him.

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَآ ءاتَواْ وَّقُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ أَنَّهُمْ إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ رَجِعُونَ

(And those who give that which they give with their hearts full of fear, because they are sure to return to their Lord.) means, they give in charity, fearing that it may not be accepted from them because of some shortcoming or failure to meet the required conditions of giving. This has to do with fear and taking precautions, as Imam Ahmad recorded from `A'ishah: I said: "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ,

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَآ ءاتَواْ وَّقُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ

(And those who give that which they give with their hearts full of fear...) Are these the ones who steal and commit Zina and drink alcohol while fearing Allah" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied:

«لَا، يَا بِنْتَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ يَا بِنْتَ الصِّدِّيقِ، وَلَكِنَّهُ الَّذِي يُصَلِّي وَيَصُومُ وَيَتَصَدَّقُ وَهُوَ يَخَافُ اللهَ عَزَّ وَجَل»

(No, O daughter of Abu Bakr. O daughter of As-Siddiq, the one who prays, fast and gives in charity, fearing Allah.) This was recorded by At-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Abi Hatim recorded something similar in which the Prophet said:

«لَا يَا بِنْتَ الصِّدِّيقِ، وَلَكِنَّهُمُ الَّذِينَ يُصَلُّونَ وَيَصُومُونَ وَيَتَصَدَّقُونَ وَهُمْ يَخَافُونَ أَلَّا يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُمْ:

أُوْلَـئِكَ يُسَـرِعُونَ فِى الْخَيْرَتِ»

(No, O daughter of As-Siddiq, they are the ones who pray and fast and give in charity while fearing that it will not be accepted from them, (It is these who hasten in the good deeds.)) This is also how Ibn `Abbas, Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi and Al-Hasan Al-Basri interpreted this Ayah.

Surely those who for fear of their Lord are apprehensive are fearful of His chastisement

فَتَقَطَّعُوا أَمْرَهُم بَيْنَهُمْ زُبُرًا But they split up ways from one another (dividing themselves) into factions - 23:53). The word زُبُر is the plural of زُبُور meaning a book, and the verse would mean that Allah had commanded all prophets and their followers to adhere to the one and only faith revealed by Him in all matters relating to the basic principles and beliefs. But the followers of different prophets split up into groups and sects and each one of them chose a different way of life and adopted a different book in which the beliefs of each group and sect were recorded. Sometimes زبر is used for the plural of زُبرَہ (zubrah) meaning "fragment" or "group". This meaning is more appropriate here and the meaning of the verse would be that these people were divided into sects even in the matter of fundamental beliefs of their religion. It should be noted that the difference of opinion among the mujtahidin (competent Shari` ah Scholars) in some minor issues is not included in this division which is condemned in this verse, because these differences do not cause a division of the religion, nor do the people maintaining these differences become separate sects. Giving these interpretative and subsidiary differences a sectarian colour is the height of ignorance and no religious scholar would support it.

Surely those who tremble in fear of their Lord… it is they who hurry to good deeds. When an intelligent man ponders the meaning of these verses, he will come to know that the obedi- ent are more fearful in their obedience than the disobedient are fearful in their disobedience. Just as the disobedient need His curtaining, so also the obedient need His curtaining. The Real says, “And repent all together to God, O you who have faith! [24:31]. O faithful, you who are obedient and you who are disobedient! All of you return to Our threshold with the attribute of pleading! In the state of poverty and brokenness ask for Our forgiveness, so that We may cover you with the curtain of Our mercy.” I wonder at the empty-headed Qur'an-reciter who makes two cycles of prayer at night and the next day knits the knot of self-seeing on his brow and places the favor of his own being on heaven and earth. All the motes of existence say to him, “What a simpleton you are! It is here that they make a Kaabah into an idol-temple, turn a seven hundred thousand-year worshiper into the forever accursed Satan, and bind Balaam son of Beor-who had God's greatest name in his breast and whose every prayer was answered-in a kennel for dogs. But you make two cycles of prayer one night and the next day you want the whole world to be full of talk of your prayer!” You poor wretch! The realizer fills the east and the west with prostrations of self-purification. Then he dips everything into the water of unneediness and returns with two empty hands to the end of the street of Muhammad MuṣṬafā's intercession and says, “O exalted man, harm has touched us and our folk, and we come with scant goods” [12:88]. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, I have come with two empty hands. I have burned in the hope of better days. What harm if You place a balm on this wounded heart of mine?”