“Those Who Are With Him”
مُّحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ مَعَهُۥٓ أَشِدَّآءُ عَلَى ٱلْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَآءُ بَيْنَهُمْ ۖ تَرَىٰهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرِضْوَٰنًا ۖ سِيمَاهُمْ فِى وُجُوهِهِم مِّنْ أَثَرِ ٱلسُّجُودِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ مَثَلُهُمْ فِى ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ ۚ وَمَثَلُهُمْ فِى ٱلْإِنجِيلِ كَزَرْعٍ أَخْرَجَ شَطْـَٔهُۥ فَـَٔازَرَهُۥ فَٱسْتَغْلَظَ فَٱسْتَوَىٰ عَلَىٰ سُوقِهِۦ يُعْجِبُ ٱلزُّرَّاعَ لِيَغِيظَ بِهِمُ ٱلْكُفَّارَ ۗ وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ مِنْهُم مَّغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًۢا
(48:29) Muhammad, the Apostle of Allah, and those who are with him are hard against the faithless and merciful amongst themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating [in worship], seeking Allah’s grace, and [His] pleasure. Their mark is [visible] on their faces, from the effect of prostration. Such is their description in the Torah and their description in the Evangel. Like a tillage that sends out its shoots and builds them up, and they grow stout and settle on their stalks, impressing the sowers, so that He may enrage the faithless by them. Allah has promised those of them who have faith and do righteous deeds forgiveness and a great reward.
The question
Does 48:29 promise forgiveness and a great reward to everyone who was with the Prophet, or only to those of them who kept faith and did good?
Views answered: the reading of “min” as expository, so the promise covers them all, the argument from 48:25, the objection that the verse testifies they met the condition
Al-Mizan's argument
Al-Mizan reads “of them” (minhum) in “God has promised those who have faith and do righteous deeds of them forgiveness” as partial: the promise depends on continuing faith and good deeds, the same condition laid down in 48:10 for whoever breaks his oath and in 24:55. It rejects the reading of “min” as expository, which would make the promise include all who were with him, since an expository “min” is not followed by a pronoun; answers the argument from 48:25; and shows that unconditional forgiveness, whatever they did, would make religious duties pointless. To the objection that the verse itself testifies to their faith and deeds, it replies that “of them” refers to the category, and that “you see them bowing and prostrating” describes what had happened until then, not the future.
Reading guide
Each part opens the commentary at that point.
- “Of them”: the promise is for those who believe and do good
- The same condition in 48:10 and 24:55
- Is “min” expository? The reading that includes them all
- The argument from 48:25
- Unconditional forgiveness would make religious duties pointless
- Objection: the verse testifies that they met the condition
- Reply: “of them” refers to the category
- Reply: their prayer describes the past, not the future