Faith, Righteous Deeds, and the True Standard of Success

اِنَّ الَّـذِيْنَ اٰمَنُـوْا وَالَّـذِيْنَ هَادُوْا وَالصَّابِئُـوْنَ وَالنَّصَارٰى مَنْ اٰمَنَ بِاللّـٰهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْاٰخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْـهِـمْ وَلَا هُـمْ يَحْزَنُـوْنَ (69) لَقَدْ اَخَذْنَا مِيْثَاقَ بَنِىٓ اِسْرَآئِيْلَ وَاَرْسَلْنَـآ اِلَيْـهِـمْ رُسُلًا ۖ كُلَّمَا جَآءَهُـمْ رَسُوْلٌ بِمَا لَا تَـهْوٰٓى اَنْفُسُهُـمْ فَرِيْقًا كَذَّبُوْا وَفَرِيْقًا يَّقْتُلُوْنَ (70)

Previously, the People of the Book were invited that if they desired success and progress in this world and the Hereafter, then its means is اقامت — establishing the divine law that Allah Almighty has sent from the heavens, implementing that law upon the earth, and bringing it into practice.

Now glad tidings are being given that success cannot be achieved through groupism and titles. The real matter is the reformation of both the inward and outward self. If a person merely uses the title of “Muslim” and says, “I am Muslim,” yet has not reformed his inner self nor aligned his outward character with the Shari‘ah, then merely claiming faith does not benefit him.

Likewise, if a person takes pride in the names of Judaism, Christianity, or Sabianism and believes salvation lies merely in these names, thinking that through them he will succeed and gain worldly progress, then this thinking is incorrect. Success is not dependent upon titles and names. Rather, success depends upon character. The foundation must be correct, the creed and faith must be sound and firm, and actions must conform to that faith. Character must be shaped according to it — and this is what is called “عمل صالح.” Only then will success come.

A person merely calling himself a believer does not attain success through that alone. علامہ اقبال says in one place:

تم سراپا گفتار وہ سراپا کردار
تم ترستے ہو کلی کو وہ گلستاں بہ کنار

You are entirely speech, while they were entirely character. You still long for a single bud, while they lived among gardens.

تمھیں اپنے آباء سے کوئی نسبت ہو نہیں سکتی
کہ تم گفتار وہ کردار
تم ثابت وہ سیارا

You cannot truly claim connection with your forefathers, because they taught and demonstrated faith and righteous deeds, whereas you have merely made religion an adornment of speech. Faith is neither visible in society nor in your character. Mere names are insufficient; character is necessary.

Secondly, there is an indication in the verse regarding what the establishment of Torah and Gospel means:
“من اٰمَنَ وعمل صالح”

Meaning, religion is not merely study, but practical manifestation of Islam. It is not enough that Islam only becomes a subject of study and research. Rather:
“اٰمَنَ وعمل صالح”
Correct the foundation and make actions and character righteous. Through this, goodness spreads in society.

Thirdly, glad tidings are being given to those who establish religion. It is being said: do not be deceived by group labels and names. Often people belonging to heavenly scriptures possess faith in the Qur’an, or in earlier times faith in the Torah and Gospel, yet eventually only names and stories remain. They become deceived, thinking: “I am from the Ummah of the Prophet ﷺ and among the people of the Qur’an.” But salvation is not attained merely through such labels.

اِنَّ الَّـذِيْنَ اٰمَنُـوْا وَالَّـذِيْنَ هَادُوْا وَالصَّابِئُـوْنَ وَالنَّصَارٰى مَنْ اٰمَنَ بِاللّـٰهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْاٰخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْـهِـمْ وَلَا هُـمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

Indeed, those who believe — meaning those carrying the title of believers — and those who are Jews who associate themselves with Musa عليه السلام, and Christians, and whoever among them truly believes and performs righteous deeds, then there shall be no fear upon them nor shall they grieve. The same applies to the صابیئون.

The word “الصابیئون” appears in the nominative form in the middle, whereas the surrounding words are accusative because they are connected to the noun of “اِنّ”. Grammatically, it would appear that “الصابیئن” should have been used. However, it came as “الصابیئون”. Direct conjunction upon the grammatical position of the noun of “اِنّ” before completion of the predicate is generally not permissible. It becomes correct only after the predicate has already been completed, as in:

وَ اِذَا قِیْلَ اِنَّ وَعْدَ اللّٰهِ حَقٌّ وَّ السَّاعَةُ لَا رَیْبَ فِیْهَا

Here “ان وعد الله حق” is complete, and then “والساعة” is connected afterward. Thus both “والساعةُ” and “والساعةَ” are permissible, though the nominative reading is considered stronger because conjunction upon the محل of the noun of “اِنّ” after completion of the predicate is preferred.

Similarly:

فان احسن الحدیث کتاب الله وخیرُ الھدی

“خیرُ” is preferable, although “خیرَ” is also permissible because the predicate has already passed.

Therefore, “والصابیئون” here is treated as an independent clause, meaning:
“والصابیئون کذلک”
And the same ruling applies to the Sabians.

Though logically delayed after “لایحزنون”, they were mentioned earlier for a subtle reason. The Jews and Christians possessed heavenly scriptures and many aspects of divine religion still remained among them, so they were directly invited toward faith and righteous action.

However, the صابیئون were much more astray than those previous groups. They practiced idol worship, angel worship, and star worship, and shirk was widespread among them. Therefore, the Qur’an mentioned them separately to show that faith and righteous action are so powerful that whoever truly believes and corrects his character and actions, Allah Almighty forgives his past and grants him salvation.

If Allah forgives even the صابیئون, then He will forgive the others even more readily — the Jews and Christians as well.

مولانا سندھی رحمہ اللہ states that the Aryan nations are included among the صابیئون. The descendants of Isma‘il عليه السلام became the Arabs, while the descendants of Ishaq عليه السلام became Bani Israel, namely the Jews and Christians. Apart from them, the remaining Aryan nations such as those in India, Afghanistan, and Khurasan were referred to as صابیئون.

These peoples existed before Isa عليه السلام, some by five hundred years or more. Allah Almighty had also sent Prophets among them:
“وَ اِنْ مِّنْ اُمَّةٍ اِلَّا خَلَا فِیْهَا نَذِیْرٌ”

Before Isa عليه السلام, Prophets had come to those nations as well. Because of this, Imam Abu Hanifah رحمہ اللہ held the view that the صابیئون are also a category among the People of the Book. However, Jews and Christians became more widely known as “Ahl al-Kitab” because they still possessed scripture and teachings and also directly encountered the Prophet ﷺ.

As for the Aryan nations, much time had passed since their Prophets, and the teachings of their Prophets had largely disappeared, with only scattered remnants remaining.

For this reason, one opinion states that Zoroaster was a Prophet and that his teachings bear traces of prophethood. Likewise, regarding Buddha, one opinion says he was a Prophet because his teachings correspond in some ways with prophetic teachings. Similarly, regarding Krishna and Lal Chandar, مجدد رحمہ اللہ and مظہر جان جاناں said that the fragrance of prophethood appears in some of their sayings. Prophets had also come to those regions, and those peoples too were originally under prophetic teachings.

Thus the Qur’an is inviting the entire world.
“ان الذین آمنوا” refers to the Arabs,
“ھادو والنصاری” refers to Bani Israel,
and “الصابیئون” refers to the rest of the world.

So the entire world is invited to believe in Allah and His Messenger and to correct their character.

اِنَّ الَّـذِيْنَ اٰمَنُـوْا وَالَّـذِيْنَ هَادُوْا وَالصَّابِئُـوْنَ وَالنَّصَارٰى مَنْ اٰمَنَ بِاللّـٰهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْاٰخِرِ

This does not mean that belief in only these two matters is sufficient. Rather, all beliefs are included because:
“لأنہما قطرا الإیمان، فمن حازھما فقد حاز الإیمان” عرائب

These two are the foundations of faith: belief in Tawhid and the Hereafter. Once these are sound, the remaining beliefs naturally follow. Whoever truly believes in Allah will also believe in His Books, His Messengers, angels, destiny, and the other revealed scriptures.

Thus the creed becomes sound. When certainty becomes firm, actions also become correct, because actions follow what a person truly believes in. A man convinced about business spends his whole day at the shop. One convinced about employment spends his day in the office. One convinced about farming spends his day farming. Therefore:
“وعمل صالحا”
was mentioned to indicate that faith must become so strong that it transforms character.

وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا
Performed righteous deeds consistent with faith.

فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْـهِـمْ
There will be no fear upon them regarding what may happen in the future. No danger will remain for them.

وَلَا هُـمْ يَحْزَنُـوْنَ
Nor will they grieve over anything left behind.

Whoever attains faith and righteous deeds becomes free from all future fears, and he will not remain worried that he missed something valuable.

لَقَدْ اَخَذْنَا مِيْثَاقَ بَنِىٓ اِسْرَآئِيْلَ وَاَرْسَلْنَـآ اِلَيْـهِـمْ رُسُلًا

This is a rebuke to them, because they frequently opposed the callers toward truth. Allah Almighty had taken a firm covenant from them to obey, but whenever a داعی came to them, they opposed him, and whenever they gained power, they even killed him. This is consolation for the داعی: if people oppose you, then do not grieve, because the Prophets and callers before you were also opposed.

لَقَدْ اَخَذْنَا مِيْثَاقَ بَنِىٓ اِسْرَآئِيْلَ

Indeed, We took a covenant from Bani Israel regarding acting upon the Torah and implementing the divine law. This was already mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah:

خُذُوۡا مَآ اٰتَيۡنٰكُمۡ بِقُوَّةٍ وَّ اذۡكُرُوۡا مَا فِيۡهِ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَتَّقُوۡنَ

And in Surah Al-A‘raf:

وَ اِذْ نَتَقْنَا الْجَبَلَ فَوْقَهُمْ كَاَنَّهٗ ظُلَّةٌ وَّ ظَنُّوْۤا اَنَّهٗ وَاقِعٌۢ بِهِمْۚ-خُذُوْا مَاۤ اٰتَیْنٰكُمْ بِقُوَّةٍ وَّ اذْكُرُوْا مَا فِیْهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُوْنَ۠

Not only was the covenant taken, but Prophets were repeatedly sent to remind them of that covenant:

وَاَرْسَلْنَـآ اِلَيْـهِـمْ رُسُلًا

Yet despite this, they opposed the Prophets.