At-Tawba (The Repentance)

112. “(The believing strivers are those who) turn repentant (to Allah), worship (Him), make a journey, bow, prostrate (in prayer), bid what is right and forbid what is wrong, and keep the limits of Allah, and give good news to the believers.”

Besides the aforementioned attribute, i.e. striving in the way of Allah, the Qur’ān defines nine epithets for such believers, who have bargained with their Lord. Thus, counting that one, they will be totally ten attributes. These nine epithets are as follows.

1. “(The believing strivers are those who) turn repentant (to Allah)…”

Whenever they commit a fault, they immediately regret and turn to Allah and repent.

2. “…worship (Him)…”

They always worship the Lord and assume worshipping as an obligatory manner upon themselves. Worshipping Allah is a sign of good Faith in a high level. It trains the soul of man and furnishes his heart and spirit with a peculiar serenity and luminosity.

3. “…praise (Him)…”

They always praise Allah for the bounties He has bestowed upon them, and they do perform His praise and tribute.

4. “…make a journey…”

That is, in the way of Allah and for fulfilling their religions duties, they are always busy moving and endeavouring. For instance, they pave a distance to go into a mosque to establish their prayer, or, in order to settle reconciliation between two Muslims, they go to their houses. Or, even for taking an example from the traces of the ancient people, they make a journey.

It must also be noted that some of the commentators have taken the Qur’ānic word /sā’ihūn/ in the sense of ‘fasting’.

5. “…bow…”

They bow down in the prayer before Allah. It is such as bowing, humility, and veneration.

6. “…Prostrate (in prayer)…”

They put their foreheads on the ground of abjectness before Allah, and this is the utmost humiliation in front of Him. The Qur’ān has referred to only these two acts from the whole acts of prayer, because the most distinguished actions in prayer are ‘bowing and prostration’.

7. “…bid what is right…”

Besides that they themselves are generally good, they invite others to goodness, too. They are always the encouragers of others in doing good deeds.

8. “…and forbid what is wrong…”

They not only themselves do not approach committing sins, but also dissude others from perpetration of vices and becoming polluted with wrong actions.

9. “…and keep the limits of Allah…”

They ceaselessly try to protect the limits of the ordinances of Allah and not to transgress them. This epithet is one of the important qualities of a believer.

He must be careful of his own deeds and treatment, so that never he violates the religious laws and that the limits of religion not to be broken. This subject is of great importance, and it has been referred to in the Qur’ān, too. For example, Surah At-Talāq,No. 67 ,verse 1 says:

“…and whoever goes beyond the limits of Allah, he indeed does injustice to his own soul…”

Therefore, in order to protect the limits of Allah, we must both fight against the outward enemy and struggle for effacing the inward corruptions.

However, the first six epithets, out of the nine epithets mentioned in this verse, relate to the personal private life of a believer, which he ought to individually create in himself. Two epithets concern the social life of a believer; and the last epithet envelops all the duties of a believer, whether they are personal and social, including giving the obligatory rights.

Next to mentioning these nine epithets, in order to make the believers happy, the Qur’ān implies that such believers are always in goodness and felicity, and they have a good end. They will enter Paradise in the Hereafter. The verse continues saying:

“…and give good news to the believers.”