Translation
Indeed, God had bargained the lives and possessions of the faithful in exchange for the reward of the Garden (heaven). They struggle in God’s way—sometimes they gain the upper hand, other times they lose (even making the ultimate sacrifice with their lives). This is an arrangement (promise) God had committed to in the Torah, the Bible and this Qur’an; and who is more committed to his promise than God? Therefore, be glad at this bargain you had made; this is the source of the greatest achievement. (Such faithful are the ones) who turn to God in repentance, who worship Him, who praise Him, who journeys (in the way of God), who bow down, who prostrate themselves to God, who actively encourage what is good and actively work against all that is evil and who live within the bound of what God had guided them to. (O prophet), inform such faithful of the good outcome (they had bargained for). 448
It is not proper for the Prophet and the faithful to seek forgiveness from God for those polytheists, even if they are from among your relatives, if it had become known that they had indeed been unfaithful [and are destined for the fire of hell]. When Abraham asked for forgiveness for his father, it was because of a promise he made to his father but once it became clear to him that his father was an enemy to God, he distanced himself from his father. Abraham was, as always, soft-hearted and forbearing. 449
It is not godly that God should drive people to disbelief and evil after He has given them guidance and made clear to them what the boundaries are to live by. God is Aware of all things and His is the dominion over the universe and the earth. He controls life and causes death. Besides God, you have no other protectors or helpers (like Him). 450
448 Life and property of human beings are a gift from God and in a sense belong to God always. Yet God makes this bargain: that if we devote our lives and our possessions to benefit others and to preserve the guidance of God for truth and justice, God will compensate such lives with another gift, the gift of the Garden (heaven), which is the ultimate possession and the ultimate quality of life to strive for. Such an eventual outcome in the end is assured, even though our struggles for such an outcome in this world may meet with success or failure, even as some lives are cut short by conflicts, diseases, accidents, and personal tragedies before success came to them, provided they were actively engaged in serving people and serving God and fulfilling the human commitment to do the right things and to actively oppose all that is evil individually and collectively.
449 It is natural for every human being to seek forgiveness for their loved ones. The call of the Prophet to serve God and to serve fellow human beings led to two different outcomes—some understood the call and became his allies and faithful in God and His guidance, while others disavowed any alignment with the Prophet and his call for faith in God and to disengage from falsehood and injustice. This led to family members becoming enemies of one another, the breakdown of tribal loyalty, and even hypocritical individuals who accepted the call of the Prophet in public but in their private conducts undermined his mission and sided with his enemies and adversaries in open and armed conflicts and day-to-day decision making and social interactions. Many Muslims had real angst and turmoil in their souls about how to treat their family members and fellow tribesman who became sworn enemies and were bent on destroying the emerging faith group. The Prophet himself encouraged others to continue to forgive and pray for the welfare of their enemies in the hope that they would see the genuine goodness in the Prophet, his followers, and their teachings based on God’s guidance. Even in cases where there was ample evidence to suggest that a particular person was an avowed polytheist and lacked faith, the Prophet was willing to give the benefit of the doubt, pray for them, and attend their funeral while God intervened and advised him otherwise (this verse; also see verses 84–85).
Interpretation
450 This is the reiteration of the universal truth that God never, ever inclines or induces people to do evil. Those who do evil in the name of God, whether it is done by ISIS or Al-Qaeda, white supremacists, Hindu nationalists, slave owners, Catholic priests, Nazis persecuting Jews, dictators and political operatives usurping citizens’ and human rights. They should question their faith and their understanding of God’s message and guidance. Anyone who persists in evil have no faith, and anyone who does evil even in one instance has a momentary lapse of faith during the execution of that evil. None of us are immune from doing minor evils and mistakes, but to immediately acknowledge such lapse is a sign of faith and repentance that God encourages and forgives, while deliberate and persistent evils call for societal action to prohibit and eliminate such evils and to establish truth and justice as a call to faith and to align with God. While acknowledging that some people claiming to have faith have done many evil things in the name of religion and God, it should be noted that nations and communities such as the Communists and atheists in North Korea, China, Russia, and Eastern Europe have committed horrendous crimes against humanity and their own citizens on a scale that is unheard of in human history and continue to persist as a normal course of statecraft curtailing human freedom, and of those who claim to have faith in God and who follow any ideology other than atheism and Communism.
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REFLECTION
Struggling for truth and justice, for faith and human dignity, and struggling against falling into the trap of false belief are things that we need to take seriously in our lives and in the lives of our communities while we engage in our daily routine of earning a living, raising a family, and build our neighborhoods. These are pathways for success in this world, and God promises further gifts in the life to come if we show true passion and commitment to such ideals, even though our greed, our self-centeredness, and a variety of false ideologies might tempt us otherwise.
ACTION
Understanding the nature of our world and our existence and their constructs by God based on a set of natural laws, human beliefs, and ideals and a system of accountability that pertains to each one of us and extends beyond our individual lives are things we need to contemplate, internalize, and use to drive our pursuits and priorities before we go back to God. “We are from God and to God we go back”—this is the ultimate reality.