Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:112
Yes [on the contrary], whoever submits his face in Islam to Allah while being a doer of good will have his reward with his Lord. And no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
## بَلَى مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ لِلَّهِ
بَلَى مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهه لِلَّهِ (Nay, whoever submits his face to Allah)
The statement concerning the explanation of the words of the Exalted: بَلَى مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهه لِلَّهِ (Nay, whoever submits his face to Allah). He — exalted is His praise — means by His words بَلَى مَنْ أَسْلَمَ (Nay, whoever submits) that it is not as the claimants said: لَنْ يَدْخُل الْجَنَّة إلَّا مَنْ كَانَ هُودًا أَوْ نَصَارَى (None shall enter Paradise except whoever is a Jew or a Christian), but rather: whoever submits his face to Allah while he is a doer of good — it is he who shall enter it and shall abide therein in bliss. As:
1498 – Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: He informed them that the one who enters Paradise is he who submitted his face to Allah — the entire āyah.
We have already previously set forth the meaning of بَلَى (Nay). As for His words مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهه لِلَّهِ (whoever submits his face to Allah): by this He means, by the submission of the face, submission to His obedience and compliance with His command. The origin of the word islām is istislām (surrender); for it is derived from "I surrendered (istaslamtu) to his command," and that is submission to his command. The Muslim (muslim) is only called a Muslim because of the submission of his limbs to the obedience of his Lord. As:
1499 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: بَلَى مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهه لِلَّهِ (Nay, whoever submits his face to Allah), he says: he devoted himself sincerely to Allah.
And as Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl said:
And I have submitted my face to Him to whom submitted the rain clouds, that bear sweet, pure water.
By this he means: I have surrendered to obedience to Him, to whose obedience the rain clouds surrendered and to whom they submitted.
Allah — exalted is His praise — in the report concerning the one about whom He informed with His words بَلَى مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهه لِلَّهِ (Nay, whoever submits his face to Allah) specifically mentioned the submission of the face to Him, to the exclusion of the rest of the limbs, because the noblest of the organs and limbs of the human being (the son of Adam) is his face, and it possesses for him the greatest inviolability and the greatest right. So when he submits his face for something — which is the noblest part of his body for him — then the rest of the parts of his body are all the more submissive to it. For that reason the Arabs mention in their speech the report concerning a matter and attach it to its "face" (wajh), while by it they mean the core and the essence of the matter itself, as in the saying of al-Aʿshā:
I rendered the judgment according to its true face; my adjudication is not that of unjust desire.
By his words "according to its face" he means: according to what it truly is in its soundness and correctness. And as Dhū al-Rumma said:
Then I followed my resolve, and the face of a ripened matter cleared up, which left no further doubt upon its appearance.
He means: "and the ripened matter cleared up and became clear," and what resembles that, since the beauty and the ugliness of every matter lie in its face, and in their describing the "face" of a matter with that by which they describe it there lies a clarification of the core and the essence of that matter. Such too is the meaning of His words — exalted is His praise —: بَلَى مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهه لِلَّهِ (Nay, whoever submits his face to Allah). He means only: nay, whoever submits his body to Allah, so that his body submits with obedience to Him; وَهُوَ مُحْسِن (while he is a doer of good) in his submission of his body to Him, فَلَهُ أَجْره عِنْد رَبّه (his reward is his with his Lord). He sufficed with the mention of the face in place of the mention of the body, because the wording points to the meaning that was intended by the mention of the face.
## وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ
As for His words وَهُوَ مُحْسِن (while he is a doer of good): by it He means: in the state of his doing good. The explanation of the words is: nay, whoever performs his obedience to Allah and his worship of Him sincerely, as a doer of good in that deed of his.
## فَلَهُ أَجْرُهُ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِ
The statement concerning the explanation of the words of the Exalted: فَلَهُ أَجْره عِنْد رَبّه (his reward is his with his Lord). He — exalted is His praise — means by His words فَلَهُ أَجْره عِنْد رَبّه (his reward is his with his Lord): to the one who submits his face to Allah as a doer of good belongs his recompense and his reward for his submission and his obedience to his Lord, with Allah, in his return (the Hereafter).
## وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ
By His words وَلَا خَوْف عَلَيْهِمْ (and no fear shall come upon them) He means: upon the Muslims who submitted their faces to Allah while they are doers of good, who devoted the religion sincerely to Him — no fear shall come upon them in the Hereafter for His punishment and the torment of His blazing Fire, nor for what they sent forward of deeds.
## وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
By His words وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ (nor shall they grieve) He means: nor shall they grieve over what they have left behind them in the world, nor that there should be withheld from them what they sent forward of the bliss that Allah has prepared for the people of His obedience. He — exalted is His praise — said وَلَا خَوْف عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ (and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve) in the plural, while before it He said in the singular فَلَهُ أَجْره عِنْد رَبّه (his reward is his with his Lord), because the word "man" (whoever) in His words بَلَى مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهه لِلَّهِ (Nay, whoever submits his face to Allah) is a single wording with a collective, plural meaning. The singular in His words فَلَهُ أَجْره (his reward is his) is thus according to the wording, and the plural in His words وَلَا خَوْف عَلَيْهِمْ (and no fear shall come upon them) is according to the meaning.
