TAFSEER AS-SA'DI

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That is, let there be among you, O believers, whom Allah SWT has blessed with faith and holding fast to His rope (a group of people inviting to all that is good). Good (khayr) is a comprehensive word that includes everything that brings one closer to Allah SWT and further away from His Wrath (enjoining what is right) that is, everything that is known to be good by means of rational or shar'i proof (and forbidding what is wrong) that is, everything that is known to be evil by means of rational or shar'i proof.

This is an instruction from Allah SWT to the believers, that among them there should be a group that takes on the task of calling people to His Way and explaining His religion to people. That includes scholars who teach religion; the preachers who call the people of other religions to enter Islam and call those who have gone astray to mend their ways; the mujaahideen who strive in jihad for the sake of Allah SWT; those who have the task of checking on people and making them adhere to the rulings of Islam such as the five daily prayers, zakah, fasting, Hajj and so on; and those who check on weights and measures, and check on the traders in the marketplace, preventing them from cheating or engaging in invalid transactions. All of these matters come under the heading of communal obligations, as is indicated in this verse, in which it says, (Let there arise from among you a group of people). In other words, let there be among you a group of people who achieve the purpose behind the things mentioned.

It is well established that when something is enjoined, it refers to that thing and whatever means are necessary to achieve it. Whatever these matters depend on is also enjoined, such as preparing for jihad by making ready all kinds of equipment by means of which the goal of defeating enemies and making the word of Islam supreme may be attained; acquiring knowledge with which to call people to what is good and developing means of achieving that; building schools to teach knowledge; helping the authorities in implementing the laws of Sharia among the people in word and deed, and with financial support; and other matters on which these aims depend.

This group that is prepared to call people to what is good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, is the elite of the believers. Hence Allah SWT says concerning them: (They are the ones who will be successful); they will attain what they are seeking (paradise) and be saved from what they fear (hell).