Tafseer Al-Baqara: 62 | Sheikh 'Ata Abu Al-Rashtah

Extract from the book 'At-Tayseer Fee Usool At-Tafseer' written by the Ameer of Hizb ut Tahrir, Sheikh Ata Ibn Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah.

Contributed translation by a brother May Allah Ta’Aalaa reward him with goodness.

َذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالنَّصَارَىٰ وَالصَّابِئِينَ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ (62)

(62) Those with Imaan, those who are Jews, and the Christians and Sabaeans, all who have Imaan in Allah and the Last Day and act rightly, will have their reward with their Lord. They will feel no fear and will know no sorrow.

The one who scrutinises this verse cannot but become humble before Allah (سبحانه), as he grasps completely that this is Allah’s speech (سبحانه) and the great miracle of Rasool Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم).
This verse explains a promise from Allah – جل ثناؤه – to all humans with their differing deens, with a condition.
فَلَهُمْ i.e. if they fulfil the condition, then the conditional matter is realised.
All of that is in a short verse of a few words in number, but great in value.

الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا

includes the doctrinal meaning for al-Iman, which is decisive belief in the aqeedah of Islam, and it includes everyone who believes in what the Prophets of Allah came with in every age and place since Adam (عليه السلام) and whoever believed in him, until Nooh (عليه السلام), and whoever believed in him, and those who believed in Ibrahim (عليه السلام) … until the seal of the messengers Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

الَّذِينَ هَادُوا

includes everyone associated with Judaism, since it was founded until Allah inherits the earth and those on it.

النَّصَارَىٰ

includes everyone associated with Christianity, since its beginning until its end.

الصَّابِئِينَ

are those who have no deen. It comes from الصَّبوةَ which is to incline away from the true path, or those of left the deen of their people for another.
It comes from صبأ to come out of something that it was inside.
صبأت النجوم : the stars came out, so became apparent after they weren’t.
صبأ علينا فلان موضع كذا i.e. he appeared in that place after he wasn’t there.
So, الصَّابِئِينَ are those people who have no deen, or the one who has left his deen for another deen, or to having no deen.

Therefore,
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالنَّصَارَىٰ وَالصَّابِئِينَ
“Those with Imaan, those who are Jews, and the Christians and Sabaeans” includes all types of people, whether having a Deen or not.

Here, the following is explained:

1.
The verse is general, as الَّذِينَ is from the general styles.
النَّصَارَى and الصَّابِئِينَ both have ال at the beginning, which is a general style, so their generality includes all people, as we have already mentioned.

2.
This verse came after Allah (سبحانه) had explained in the previous verses the severe punishment for the Jews, as a result of what they fell into of kufr, killing and disobedience.
As though the noble verse is an answer to the question about those Jews, who indulged and indulged…
Is it possible for good to come after them, such as accepting Islam, or that some of them are rewarded for what came before or after?
So Allah (سبحانه) explains in this noble verse that the Jews and others of those mentioned in the verse will have a reward if the established the good that Allah – جل ثناؤه – explained, as a condition for getting the reward.

3.
مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

So those who believe, if they remain firm on their Iman and do good actions, and those who are jews, Christians or Sabi’een, if they believe in Allah and the day of judgement and do good actions, all of the them فَلَهُمْ and this is the conditional matter جواب الشرط i.e. if they are as Allah explained, then

فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
“will have their reward with their Lord. They will feel no fear and will know no sorrow.”

4.
صَالِحًا came indefinitely (عَمِلَ صَالِحًا) i.e. not (عَمِلَ الصَّالِحات), while the indefinite (نكرة) carries the meaning of multiples and not from one type. As for الصَّالِحات, it is general in the good that Islam came with.
This includes those who believed before Islam and did good actions according to their deen of that time, and those who believed with Nooh (عليه السلام) and acted according to his shari’ah, and so on with the later Prophets, so all of them have their reward with allah and there is no fear on them and they will not grive.

If the condition on the reward was acting according to the good explained by Islam, then the situation of the believers with the previous Prophets would be outside of the promise of reward. So, those previous believers who acted according to the good of the legislation of their Prophets, will have their reward as promised by allah and they will not fear.
Rasool Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, addressing Salman al-Farisi, about the preists that Salman used to accompany before his Islam:
من مات على دين عيسى قبل أن يسمع بي فهو على خير، ومن سمع بي ولم يؤمن فقد هلك
i.e. whoever was on the true Deen that Esa (عليه السلام) came with and died before Islam, so he is on the good, with Allah’s permission.
As for the one who lived after Islam and did not believe in Islam, then he is a disbeliever (كافر) and will have a terrible punishment.
5.
وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
As we said about the previous verse (38)
فَلاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

i.e. they will not fear what will happen to them in the future and they will not grieve about what happened in the past, so the meaning is:
No fear for them from what will be brought before them on the day of judgement, and they will not grieve for what they left behind them of the dunya and its life when they see what Allah has prepared for them of reward and blessings that He has.