Overview (Verses 95 - 96)

What Elevates People in Rank
 
Those of the believers who remain passive, other than the disabled, are not equal to those who strive hard in God’s cause with their possessions and their lives. God has exalted those who strive hard with their possessions and their lives far above the ones who remain passive. To each God has promised the ultimate good, yet God has preferred those who strive hard over those who remain passive with a mighty reward: degrees of honour, forgiveness of sins and His grace. God is Much-Forgiving, Merciful. (Verses 95-96)
 
This statement addresses a special case within the Muslim community wherein some elements had demonstrated their reluctance to meet the obligations required in striving for God’s cause, requiring sacrifice of both possessions and lives. This may be a reference to those who preferred to stay at home and not migrate to Madinah, so that they could hold on to their property and possessions. The unbelievers did not allow anyone who migrated to Madinah to take any part of their wealth. They had to abandon all their possessions. Others may have preferred to stay at home to spare themselves the hardship and risks of migration. Rarely did the unbelievers allow the Muslims to migrate. In the majority of cases, they imprisoned and ill-treated them, or, more accurately, they intensified their ill-treatment when they suspected that they intended to leave. We are more inclined to this view with regard to what is meant by the reference to those believers who “remain passive”. It may also refer to some people within the Muslim community who did not readily show their willingness to sacrifice their possessions and their lives for God’s cause. This obviously excludes the hypocrites who were mentioned in the preceding passage and who tried to dissuade the Muslims from striving for God’s cause. The description could mean both groups of people in both lands who were not ready to make the necessary sacrifices.
 
Although this verse addresses a special case, it is phrased in the form of a general principle that is not restricted to a particular time or a particular community. What we have in this verse, then, is a principle, describing how God views the believers at any time or place. A distinction is clearly made between true believers and those who remain passive, reluctant to sacrifice themselves or their possessions for God’s cause despite having no disability to prevent them from joining in the jihād and making the necessary sacrifices. These are certainly unlike those who come forward and strive hard with all they have.
 
The principle is stated in the most general of terms: “Those of the believers who remain passive, other than the disabled, are not equal to those who strive hard in God’s cause with their possessions and their lives.” (Verse 95) This is followed by a clarification which leaves no room whatsoever for ambiguity: “God has exalted those who strive hard with their possessions and their lives far above the ones who remain passive.” (Verse 95)
 
The Prophet gives us a feeling of what this distinction in rank actually means. Both al-Bukhārī and Muslim relate, on the authority of Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, that God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “There are one hundred ranks in heaven which God has prepared for those who strive hard for His cause. The distance between each two ranks is equal to the distance between the earth and the heavens.” `Abdullāh ibn Mas`ūd, a Companion of the Prophet, quotes him as saying: “He who throws an arrow [to serve God’s cause] will be recompensed for it with the advancement of one rank.” One man asked him what he meant by a rank? He answered: “It is certainly unlike a step in your mother’s home. Between each two ranks is a hundred years.”
 
Now that we, in our modern times, know something of the distances which separate planets in the universe, and understand that it takes hundreds of light years for the rays of light to travel from one star to one planet, we are perhaps better able to imagine the distances to which the Prophet alludes. The Prophet’s Companions who heard him making these statements believed him without question. We obviously believe in the truthfulness of his words in addition to our being in a better position now to understand what these distances mean.
 
Having stated that there is a distinction among the believers between those who remain passive and those who strive hard in God’s cause with their possessions and their lives, this Qur’ānic verse states that God has promised a great reward for both: “To each God has promised the ultimate good.” (Verse 95) The very fact of believing in God has its value which must not be underestimated. Nevertheless, the believers have their ranks according to their willingness to fulfil the duties of faith, especially in respect of sacrifice of self and property. It is this last statement which tells us that those who remain passive are not the hypocrites. They are a group of good believers who have taken their positions alongside the other Muslims but have been complacent with regard to this particular duty. They are urged here to overcome their complacency, since they are genuine believers.
 
This is followed by a restatement of the original principle which is here reaffirmed and expanded by way of encouragement to seek the great reward which is promised to those who strive hard: “Yet God has preferred those who strive hard over those who remain passive with a mighty reward: degrees of honour, forgiveness of sins and His grace. God is Much-Forgiving, Merciful.” (Verses 95-96)
 
The Philosophy of Jihād
 
Those who strive hard for God’s cause are certain, by God’s promise, to achieve real glory, while those who remain passive cannot aspire to anything similar. Moreover, the prospect of great reward, the forgiveness of sins by God and abundant mercy is raised high. All this points to two important facts.
 
The first is that these verses were dealing with real cases within the Muslim community. This should make us better aware of human nature. An individual or a community may achieve a high standard of faith, but remain, nevertheless in need of constant care to deal with any weakness or complacency which may hamper the fulfilment of duties, especially those of striving hard to serve God’s cause with complete dedication, sacrificing life and wealth. That such feelings of weakness, complacency or failure to come forward with dedicated service should overtake a person or a community need not cause us to lose hope of their positive response later on or make us look down on them. As long as sincerity and serious willingness to remain with the Muslim community and to deal positively with God remain, we must not give up on them. Yet we cannot just accept that such weakness, complacency and failure are part of human nature without doing anything about it. We still have to motivate that nature to seek the sublime and to reach for the highest standard. Such motivation can take all possible ways and forms as we see in the Qur’ānic method that, itself, reflects Divine wisdom.
 
The other fact is the value which Islam assigns to striving hard to serve God’s cause and what that may involve of sacrificing wealth and life. God gives it such a high value because He is fully aware of what such a dedicated service means in practical terms and He knows human nature and the nature of the forces which are always hostile to Islam.
 
Jihād, or striving hard in God’s cause, was not something accidental to the particular period which witnessed the advent of Islam. It is a permanent need, inherent in the nature of the Islamic faith. Some people, influenced by the existing situation when great empires ruled the world, have mistakenly expressed the view that the early Muslims thought that it was essential for them to be truly powerful, in a military sense. Such views betray, to say the least, a total failure to understand the true nature of Islam.
 
Had jihād been an accidental development, necessitated by temporary circumstances, it would not have merited such a lengthy exposition in a large number of sūrahs and passages in the Qur’ān and the Sunnah and it would not have been treated in such an emphatic style. The Prophet would not have made such a comprehensive statement, addressed to every Muslim in every period of history, as long as human life on earth continues. “He who does not take part or at least contemplates taking part in a campaign of jihād until the end of his life meets his death holding to a branch of hypocrisy.”
 
It is true that the Prophet turned back certain individuals who wanted to join jihād campaigns because of their particular family situation. It is authentically reported, for example, that a man sought the Prophet’s permission to go on jihād. The Prophet asked him whether his parents were alive. When the man answered in the affirmative, the Prophet said to him: “Go and strive hard in their service.” This, however, was an individual case that does not contradict the general rule. For one man to be withdrawn from an army does not weaken that army. The Prophet was always aware of the circumstances of his Companions. He might have known enough of the particular family circumstances of that man to warrant giving him this directive.
 
The assumption must never be made that jihād was only incidental to a particular situation in a particular place, and that that situation no longer exists. It is not that Islam loves to draw its sword and chop off people’s heads with it. The hard facts of life compel Islam to have its sword drawn and to be always ready and careful. God knows that those who hold the reigns of power are hostile to Islam and that they will always try to resist it, because it points to a way and a method different from theirs. This does not apply to a particular period of past history. It applies to the situation today and tomorrow, in all places and throughout all generations.
 
God also knows that evil is arrogant and can never be fair. It cannot allow the seeds of goodness to grow. It does not matter which peaceful tactics the advocates of goodness adopt, the very fact that goodness begins to grow represents a threat to evil. The very existence of the truth endangers falsehood. Evil will always tend to be aggressive and to defend its existence by attempting to smother the truth, never hesitating to use brute force. This is part of nature, not something incidental to a particular situation.
 
Hence, jihād, in every form, is essential. It must start in people’s hearts and emerge into the real world. This points the way to the inevitable confrontation between armed evil and armed goodness. The forces of falsehood, in their great numbers and heavy armament, must be countered with the properly equipped forces of goodness. Otherwise it would be a suicidal situation or one that is lacking seriousness. Either attitude is unbecoming of believers. Proper preparation for a serious confrontation requires sacrificing possessions and lives, as God required the believers to do, purchasing all these from them in return for admitting them into heaven. He either gives them victory or martyrdom. It is all within His prerogative and He makes His decision on the basis of His wisdom. As for them, He has promised them one of the two best achievements. All people die when the time comes, but only those who fight for God’s cause can be martyrs.
 
There are a number of basic principles upon which the foundation of the Islamic faith, its practical method and line of action are built. These have nothing to do with changing circumstances. They must not be overlooked or underestimated by believers in any situation. One of these principles is jihād, or striving hard for God’s cause and under His banner. It is the one that earns martyrdom for the one who falls in combat. They are the only martyrs honoured by God.