Chapter 3: Surat Aal-'Imran (The House 'Imran), verse 113-117

Translation:

Yet they are not all alike. There are among the People of the Book some upright men who all night long recite the revelations of God and worship Him; who believe  in God and the Last Day; who enjoin justice and forbid and vie with each other in good works. These are righteous men: whatever good they do, its reward shall not be denied them. God well knows the righteous. As for the unbelievers, neither their riches nor their children shall in the least protect them from God's scourge. They are the heirs of the Fire, and there they shall remain for ever. The wealth they spend in this world is like freezing wind that smites the tillage of men who have wronged themselves, laying it waste. God is not unjust to them; they are unjust to their own souls.   (113-117)

Commentary:

‘Hastening in good works’ here refers to the action of the People of the Book (believers in former revealed scriptures) of their immediate recognition and acceptance, in all humility, of the divine truth as proclaimed from the lips of the Last Prophet. At that time there was the religion of Moses, on the one hand, invested with all the strength of historical grandeur and sanctity of traditions. On the other hand stood the religion of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) which had yet to receive the force of argument and historical grandeur and traditional sanctity to support it. This difference between their religion and the religion of the Prophet of the time posed the greatest obstacle to the acknowledgment of the contemporary Prophet’s religion. Yet they managed to succeed in overcoming this obstacle and welcomed the religion of the contemporary Prophet.

The love of wealth and children becomes an obstacle in accepting a religion which entails all kinds of sacrifices. However, by demonstrating some showy/ostentatious kinds of actions he thinks/presumes that he has been adhering to the religion of God. But just as a gust of chill air/frost ravages the whole harvest so the tempest of Qiyamah (Last Day) will render their ostentatious acts valueless. There were some people among the Jews who had believed in the Prophet of Islam. A few God-fearing people are more precious in the eyes of God than a crowd (of ungodly people). This is not enough for salvation, joining a community ,being a member of a community formed of one race in the name of a Prophet, is not enough for earning salvation. What is actually required is for man to bind himself from the covenant of God. By the covenant is meant faith, the sacred pledge/bond between God and man. That is to say, personal actions and not community relationship makes one deserving of God’s mercy and blessings. All responsibilities that faith implies include in this pledge. Remembering God in one’s solitude, worshipping Him, leading life keeping in view the Hereafter, enjoining goodness to people around him, discouraging people from committing evil, working for the cause of God with full interest, those who follow all this have, as if, fulfilled the divine pledge/covenant. They are the upright people in the eyes of God. God has full knowledge of their actions and He will reward them for their actions and will greatly honor them on the Day of Judgment.

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