Ala-Maududi
(90:17) and, then besides this, he be one of those who believed,[13] and enjoined uponone another steadfastness and enjoined upon one another compassion.[14]
13. That is, in addition to these qualities it is essential that one should be a believer, forwithout faith no act is an act of virtue, nor acceptable in the sight of Allah. At numerousplaces in the Quran it has been stated that only such an act of virtue is appreciable andbecomes a means of salvation as is accompanied by faith. In Surah An-Nisa, for example, it hasbeen said: The one who does good deeds, whether man or woman, provided that the one is abeliever, will enter Paradise (Surah An-Nisa, ayat 124). In Surah An-Nahl: Whosoever does righteous deeds, whether male orfemale, provided that he is a believer, We shall surely grant him to live a pure life in thisworld, and We will reward such people (in the Hereafter) according to their best deeds (Surah An-Nahl, ayat 97). In SurahAl-Momin: Whoever does good, whether man or woman, provided that he is a believer, all suchpeople shall enter Paradise wherein they shall be provided without measure. (Surah Al-Momin, ayat 4). Whoeverstudies the Quran, will see that in this Book wherever the good reward of a righteous act hasbeen mentioned, it has always been made conditional upon the faith, a good act without faith hasnowhere been regarded as acceptable to God, nor has any hope been given for a reward for it.
Here, the following important point should also not remain hidden from view: In this verse it hasnot been said: Then he believed, but: Then being among those who have believed. This means thatmere believing as an individual and remaining content with it is not what is desired; what isdesired is that every new believer should join those who have already believed so as to form aparty of the believers, to bring about a believing society, which should work for establishingthe virtues and wiping out the vices as demanded by the faith.
14. These are two of the important characteristics of the believing society, which have beenexpressed in two brief sentences. The first characteristic is that its members should exhort oneanother to patience, and the second that they should exhort one another to compassion and mercy.
As for patience, we have explained at many places that in view of the extensive meaning in whichthe Quran has used this word, the entire life of a believer is a life of patience. As soon as aman steps on to the path of the faith, test of his patience starts. Patience is required to beexercised in performing the acts of worship enjoined by Allah; patience is needed in carryingout the commands of Allah; abstention from the things forbidden by Allah is not possible withoutpatience; patience is needed in abandoning the moral evils and in adopting the pure morals.Temptations to sin faced at every step can be resisted only by recourse to patience. Oncountless occasions in life obedience to God’s law entails losses, troubles, hardships anddeprivations, and disobedience to the law seems to bring benefits and pleasures. Withoutpatience no believer can fare well on such occasions. Then, as soon as a believer has adoptedthe way of the faith, he has to meet with resistance not only from his own self and personaldesires but also from his children, family, society, country and nation, so much so that he iseven required to abandon his country and undertake Jihad in the cause of God. Under all theseconditions only the quality of patience can cause a man to remain steadfast to principles. Now,obviously, if every believer individually was put to such a hard test, he would be faced withthe danger of defeat at every step and would hardly be able to pass through the testsuccessfully. On the contrary, if there existed a believing society, every member of which wasnot only himself possessed of patience but all its members also were supporting one anothermutually in the test of patience, successes would fall to its lot, a tremendous power would begenerated to face the evil, a mighty force of good individuals would be ready to help bring theentire society on to the path of virtue and righteousness.
As for mercy and compassion, it is the distinctive feature of the society of believers that theyare not a merciless and unjust people but a society whose members are merciful and compassionateto humanity at large and sympathetic and friendly among themselves. A believer as an individualis an embodiment of Allah’s quality of mercy and the group of the believers as a party also is arepresentative of Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him), who has been described thus: O Muhammad(peace be upon him), We have sent you to be a real blessing for the people of the world. (Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayat 107). Thehighest moral quality which the Messenger (peace be upon him) tried his utmost to inculcateamong his followers was this very quality of mercy. Consider the following of his sayings, whichshow what importance he attached to it. Jarir bin Abdullah says that the Messenger (peace beupon him) said: Allah does not show mercy to him who does not show mercy to others. (Bukhari,Muslim).
Abdullah bin Amr bin al-aas says that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The Rahman (Merciful)shows mercy to those who show mercy (to others). Show mercy to those who live on the earth, theOne who is in heaven will show mercy to you. (Abu Daud, Tirmidhi).
Abu Saeed Khudri has reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The one who does notshow mercy, is not shown mercy. (Bukhari in Al-Adab al-Mufrad). Ibn Abbas says that the Prophet(peace be upon him) said: The one who does not treat our young ones mercifully and does nottreat our elderly ones respectfully, does not belong to us.(Tirmidhi).
Abu Daud has related this same saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him) on the authority ofAbdullah bin Amr, thus: The one who did not feel pity on our young and did not respect ourelderly does not belong to us.
Abu Hurairah says: I have heard Abul-Qasim, the truthful (peace be upon him), say: The heart ofthe wretched one is deprived of the quality of mercy altogether. (Musnad Ahmad, Tirmidhi).
Iyad bin Himad relates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Three kinds of men belong toParadise, one of whom is the person who is kind and compassionate to every relative and everyMuslim. (Muslim).
Numan bin Bashir has reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: You will find thebelievers like a body in the matter of mutual kindness, love and sympathy, so that if one partof the body suffers the whole body suffers and becomes restless because of it. (Bukhari,Muslim).
Abu Musa al-ashari says that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The believer is for the otherbeliever like a wall each part of which supports and strengthens the other part. (Bukhari,Muslim).
Abdullah bin Umar has reported that the Prophet said: A Muslim is a brother of the other Muslim:neither treats him unjustly, nor withholds his help from him. The person who works to fulfill aneed of his brother, Allah will seek to fulfill his need; and the one who rescues a Muslim froman affliction, Allah will rescue him from an affliction of the afflictions of the ResurrectionDay; and the one who conceals the fault of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his fault on theResurrection Day. (Bukhari, Muslim).
These traditions indicate what kind of a society is envisaged by the Quranic instruction given inthis verse, which exhorts the righteous people to join the group of the believers after theyhave affirmed the faith.