Az-Zumar (The Groups)

10. Say: “O My servants who believe! Stand in awe of your Lord and keep your duty to Him. Good is for those who do good in this world and Allah’s earth is spacious [so if you cannot worship Allah at a place, then emigrate to another]! Only those who are patient shall receive their reward in full without reckoning.”

Having faith is not sufficient and it is supposed to be accompanied with fear of God Almighty and abstention from committing sins:

(“O My servants who believe, stand in awe of your Lord and keep your duty to Him”).

The Noble Prophet of Islam (S) said:

“There shall be no reckoning for a group of people and they will be admitted to Paradise without answering questions.”

Then he recited the blessed Verse:

“Only those who are patient shall receive their reward in full without reckoning.”

Following the discussion concerning the comparison between vain disbelievers and believers obedient to Divine Command and also the one between

“those who know”

and

“those who do not know,” this Verse and the following Verses treat of the main guidelines of sincere and devout servants in the form of “seven injunctions” included in a number Verses each opening with: “say” (qul).

The Verse opens with fear of God and asks the Prophet (S):

“Say: O My servants who believe! Stand in awe of your Lord and keep your duty to Him.”

The first guideline is fear of God and abstention from committing sins and the sense of obligation and responsibility at Divine Threshold. Fear of God serves as a shield against fire protecting man against deviation from the Straight Path. It is the main possession on the Day of Resurrection, and the standard for human character and dignity at Divine Threshold.

The second injunction is concerned with

“doing righteous good deeds”

in this world which is the abode of deeds and encourages people to act upon it through making mention of the consequences of doing good, saying:

“Good is for those who do good in this world.”

Doing good in this world through good words and deeds, in thoughts regarding friends and strangers leads to great rewards in this world and the Hereafter. Fear of God is a preventive factor and doing good is a moving one and the composite of which is abstention from committing sins and carrying out obligatory and preferable religious duties.

The third injunction is encouraging believers to

“emigrate”

from the centers of polytheism, disbelief, and sin:

“Allah’s earth is spacious [so if you cannot worship Allah at a place, then emigrate to another]!”

It is a response to those people of frail faith who sought pretexts and said that they were not able to carry out our Divine obligations under polytheist rule at Mecca.

The Holy Qur’an says that God’s earth is not limited to Mecca; Emigrate to Medina, the earth is spacious. Move from centers polluted with polytheism, disbelief, and suppression hindering your freedom and carrying out your obligations to another place.

The question of emigration constitutes one the most significant issues that not only played the most fundamental role in the triumph of the Islamic rule as a consequence of which served as the starting point of the history of Islam but also enjoys an extraordinary significance at all times thereby believers do not surrender against pressure and suppression prevalent in their environment and on the other hand leads to the dissemination of the Islamic faith to different regions of the world.

In this vein, the Holy Qur’an¹ says:

“Indeed, as for those whom the angels take [in death] while they are wronging themselves they [angels responsible for taking away their souls] ask [them]: ‘in what [conditions] were you?’ They reply: ‘We were weak and oppressed on the earth.’ They ask: ‘Was not the earth of Allah spacious enough for you to emigrate therein?’ Such men will find their abode in Hell - what an ominous place!”

The Verse clearly indicates that where emigration is possible, no pretext as to pressure and suppression is to be acknowledged at Divine threshold.²

Since emigration usually entails many a problem in different aspects of life, the fourth injunction is thus expressed regarding patience and perseverance:

“Only those who are patient shall receive their reward in full without reckoning.”

The verbal form:

yuwaffa (“shall receive in full”)

deriving from w-f-y on the one hand and the phrase:

bi-ghayri hisabin (“without reckoning”)

on the other clearly demonstrates that the perseverant patient shall receive the best reward at Divine Threshold and patience and perseverance are above any other act.

A well known Prophetic tradition narrated by Imam Sadiq thus bears testimony to the significance of perseverance and patience:

“When the scrolls of deeds are unrolled and the scales of Divine Justice are installed, there shall be neither of the twain for those who were perseverant despite being entangled with hardships and vicissitudes.”

Then the Noble Prophet (S) recited the Verse in question according to which God Almighty shall reward the patient without reckoning.

Some maintain that the occasion of revelation of the blessed Verse was the emigration of a large number of Muslims to Ethiopia led by Ja’far ibn Abi Talib. It has been reiterated above that occasions of Revelation provide further exposition for the Verses rather than restrict their significance.