23:61 Al-Muminoon (The Believers)

{ أُولَئِكَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ } أي: في ميدان التسارع في أفعال الخير، همهم ما يقربهم إلى الله، وإرادتهم مصروفة فيما ينجي من عذابه، فكل خير سمعوا به، أو سنحت لهم الفرصة إليه، انتهزوه وبادروه، قد نظروا إلى أولياء الله وأصفيائه، أمامهم، ويمنة، ويسرة، يسارعون في كل خير، وينافسون في الزلفى عند ربهم، فنافسوهم. ولما كان السابق لغيره المسارع قد يسبق لجده وتشميره، وقد لا يسبق لتقصيره، أخبر تعالى أن هؤلاء من القسم السابقين فقال: { وَهُمْ لَهَا } أي: للخيرات { سَابِقُونَ } قد بلغوا ذروتها، وتباروا هم والرعيل الأول، ومع هذا، قد سبقت لهم من الله سابقة السعادة، أنهم سابقون.

" أولئك يسارعون في الخيرات " وقال الترمذي وروى هذا الحديث من حديث عبد الرحمن بن سعيد عن أبي حازم عن أبي هريرة عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم نحو هذا وهكذا قال ابن عباس ومحمد بن كعب القرظي والحسن البصري في تفسير هذه الآية وقد قرأ آخرون هذه الآية " والذين يؤتون ما آتوا وقلوبهم وجلة " أي يفعلون ما يفعلون وهم خائفون وروي هذا مرفوعا إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قرأها كذلك قال الإمام أحمد حدثنا عفان حدثنا صخر بن جويرية حدثنا إسماعيل المكي حدثنا أبو خلف مولى بني جمح أنه دخل مع عبيد بن عمير على عائشة رضي الله عنها فقالت مرحبا بأبي عاصم ما يمنعك أن تزورنا أو تلم بنا؟ فقال أخشى أن أملل فقالت: ما كنت لتفعل؟ قال جئت لأسألك عن آية من كتاب الله عز وجل كيف كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقرؤها؟ قالت أَيَّةُ آيةٍ؟ قال " الذين يؤتون ما آتوا " " والذين يأتون ما أتوا " فقالت أيتهما أحب إليك ؟ فقلت والذي نفسي بيده لأحدهما أحب إلي من الدنيا جميعا أو الدنيا وما فيها قالت وما هي ؟ فقلت " الذين يأتون ما أتوا " فقالت أشهد أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كذلك كان يقرؤها وكذلك أنزلت ولكن الهجاء حرف. فيه إسماعيل بن مسلم المكي وهو ضعيف والمعنى على القراءة الأولى وهي قراءة الجمهور السبعة وغيرهم أظهر لأنه قال " أولئك يسارعون في الخيرات وهم لها سابقون " فجعلهم من السابقين ولو كان المعنى على القراءة الأخرى لأوشك أن لا يكونوا من السابقين بل من المقتصدين أو المقصرين والله أعلم.

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.

those are the ones who hasten to perform good works and they are the ones who shall come out ahead in them according to God’s knowledge.

أُولَـٰئِكَ يُسَارِ‌عُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَ‌اتِ وَهُمْ لَهَا سَابِقُونَ

Those people are accelerating towards the (real) good things, and they are the foremost to attain them. - 23:61

The meaning of مُسَارَعَت فِی الخَیرَات is that just as ordinary human beings run after worldly gains and try to leave other competitors behind, these good and virtuous people strive to gain spiritual reward and try to excel others in their efforts to fulfill their religious obligations.

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?”