Contributed by Amatullah
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Bismillah.
Allah azza wa jal continues to describe the successful believers, what is it they do next?
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ
And those who guard their private parts. (5)
Allah ta’ala says they are “haafidhoon”, those who guard, protect and to look after, from hifdh, ha fa dhaa (ح ف ظ). What does it mean they guard/do hifdh? It means that these believers abstain from the haraam and do not seek unlawful enjoyment.
إِلَّا عَلَىٰ أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ
Except from their wives or (the captives and slaves) that their right hands possess, for then, they are free from blame; (6)
Allah ta’ala says for those who seek the halaal means, they are not “maloomeen”, ones who are blamed. Maloomeen is from lawm, (ل و م). Lawm is to blame someone, criticize and condemn them for an action that is unacceptable and wrong. In other words, seeking the halaal is not blameworthy under any circumstance.
فَمَنِ ابْتَغَىٰ وَرَاءَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْعَادُونَ
But whoever seeks beyond that, then those are the transgressors; (7)
Whoever looks for and seeks beyond the halaal means, Allah calls them al-‘aadoon, the transgressors. ‘Aadoon is plural of ‘aadin, from ‘ayn daal wow (ع د و) and an ‘aduww is means enmity and hatred, and is used for an enemy. ‘Aadin is a transgressor, one who goes beyond the halaal. These people exceed the bounds of the sharee’ah, cross the limits and seek the haraam.
Allah ta’ala continues:
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَانَاتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَاعُونَ
Those who are faithfully true to their trusts and to their promises; (8)
The believers are those who protect their amaanaat, plural of amaanah, from hamza meem noon (ء م ن). An Amaanah is used for every kind of responsibility that a person is given and entrusted with, and this responsibility can be of deen and dunya, and can be from Allah and also from the people. For example, an amaanah from Allah ta’ala is praying the salah five times a day. An amaanah from people would be if a person gives us something to keep secure for a time.
We have amaanaat in matters of deen and dunya as well, children are amaanaat to parents, a person’s wealth is an amaanah, their position is an amaanah, their body is an amaanah. So to fulfill an amaanah would be to look after the trust completely and use it and fulfill it as it should be.
Furthermore, they protect ‘ahdihim, their promises, from ‘ayn ha da (ع ه د) and an ‘ahd is used for every responsibilty that a person himself takes, a committment that they take to fulfill something. What is the difference between amaanah and ‘ahd? An amaanah is given to a person, and an ‘ahd is taken upon the person themselves. For example, an appointment, a treaty, an oath one swears to Allah and even the contract of marriage come under ‘ahd.
How does Allah ta’ala describe them with their trusts and promises? they are: raa’oon, ones who are attentive. Raa’oon is plural of raa’in from raa ayn ya (ر ع ي). According to Imam Raaghib, raa’i is to protect and take care of a living being, specifically a living being is not taken care of properly, it will die. A ra’ee is a shepherd, which the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam mentions in a hadeeth: kulukum raa’in, you are all shepherds, and all of you will be questioned about your flock. (Agreed upon) When a person is a ra’ee, they can never be neglectful of what they are watching. A mother cannot take a week vacation from her baby, she has to be there continuously. So the believers are raa’oon: they are never negligent of their promises and trusts, they take care of them, they properly keep and discharge them.
Furthermore these successful people are:
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَوَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ
And those who strictly guard their prayers (9)
Again we see the word, “haafidhoon”, those who guard and maintain. What does it mean to guard and maintain the salah? It means to perform the salah properly, to pray at the correct time and to not waste the salah by committing sins afterward that wipe away the good deeds. These believers guard their good deeds from destruction.
What do these people receive?
أُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْوَارِثُونَ
Those are indeed the inheritors. (10)
olaa’ika, those, is referring to the believers with all of these qualities. In Arabic grammar, this word, which is plural of thaalika, is an “ism ishaarah ba’eed”, it is a word used to point to something far away. Why does Allah use olaa’ika? It is used for ta’dheem: honor and respect, and to add further emphasis Allah ta’ala says “hum”, they, which is a pronoun. So “Olaa’ika hum” means: those they. So if olaa’ika already denotes the meaning of ‘those’, why does Allah say again, ‘they’? It is used for emphasis and exclusivity: only those people who have these traits are the waarithoon, the inheritors, no one else.
What do they inherit?
الَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ الْفِرْدَوْسَ
Who shall inherit the Firdaws,
These people, these believers with all of these qualities, are inheritors of Firdaws. Firdaws is a very beautiful word with a few opinions on its meaning. The first opinion is that Firdaws is an ism a’lam, a proper name, it is the name of the highest level of Jannah. Originally it is a Roman word “pirdaas” which the English word “paradise” is dervied from. Secondly, if we look at the word literally, Firdaws is used for a garden that not only has fruits and flowers, it has everything that a garden should have. Fruits, flowers, plants, trees, grass, a stream–it is a full blooming perfect garden. Specifically, Firdaws is used for a garden that has grapevines. And if we take this word to be from the root fa-ra-daal-seen (ف ر د س), faradasan, it means to be broad and ample. So if we combine all of these meanings: Firdaws has everything people would want, it is ample in what it contains, it is large and comfortable.
How will they be in Firdaws?
هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ
They shall dwell therein forever. (11)
They will be in Firdaws, the highest level of Jannah, khaalidoon, eternally.
In these last two ayaat, Allah ta’ala says these believers will be “waarithoon”, inheritors. Allah could have said, they will be given Firdaws, yet He the Most Knowing says they will inherit Firdaws. Why has inheritance (wiraathah) been used for these believers? Firstly, it is figuratively used to show that this is what these believers deserve, because inheritance is a fixed share by Allah so if a person is an heir, it is their right to receive it. Firdaws is these believers right. Secondly, an inheritance is something that is received at the end–after a person dies, their funeral arrangements are taken care of and they are buried. So these believers will get Firdaws at the end: after they’ve lived in this dunya and did what they were supposed to do.
So there it is! Your gateway, your map, your guide to attain Firdaws inshaAllah. Eleven short and simple verses that if fulfilled and implemented lead to ultimate success in this life and the next. How much easier can it get?
May Allah ta’ala make us among these true believers and make our inheritance Jannatul Firdaws, Ameen.