Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:218
Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and fought in the cause of Allah - those expect the mercy of Allah. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
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.
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا وَجَاهَدُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أُولَئِكَ يَرْجُونَ رَحْمَةَ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ (218) (Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and striven in the way of Allah, those hope for the mercy of Allah; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful (2:218)).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His mention — means thereby: Indeed, those who have held to be true Allah, His Messenger, and that with which he came = and by His word, "and those who have emigrated," are meant those who have abandoned dwelling together with the polytheists (mushrikīn) in their towns and associating with them in their dwelling-places, so that they turned away from them, from their proximity, and from their land toward elsewhere, as an emigration (hijra)... [illegible] ... when he departed from that from which he departed toward that to which he set out. The root meaning of al-muhājara is the "reciprocal form" (al-mufāʿala), derived from one man's abandonment (hijra) of another on account of an enmity that exists between them; then it is used for everyone who abandons something on account of a matter that he abhors in it. And the emigrants among the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ were called "muhājirūn" (emigrants) only for the reason that we have described: their abandonment of their houses and dwellings out of aversion to remaining in the midst of the polytheists and under their rule, in a manner in which they were not safe from their trial (fitna) for themselves in their dwelling-places — toward the place where they were indeed safe from that.
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And as for His word, "and striven" (wa-jāhadū), that means: and fought and waged war.
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And the root meaning of al-mujāhada is the "reciprocal form" (al-mufāʿala), derived from a man's saying: "So-and-so wearied such-and-such with respect to something" — when he brought him into distress and made it hard for him — "he wearied him with weariness (jahd)." When, then, the action proceeds from two parties, each of them enduring from his companion severity and difficulty, then it is said: "So-and-so strives (yujāhid) against such-and-such" — that is, that each of the two inflicts upon his companion that which wearies him and is hard upon him — "he strives against him with striving (mujāhada) and jihād."
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And as for "the way of Allah" (sabīl Allāh): that is His path and His religion.
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The meaning of His word is therefore: "and those who have emigrated and striven in the way of Allah" — and those who turned away from the rule of the people of associating partners (shirk), as an emigration away from them, and out of fear of their trial (fitna) over their religions, and who fought them in the religion of Allah in order to make them enter into it and into that which pleases Allah = "those hope for the mercy of Allah," that is: they yearn that Allah be merciful to them and admit them into His paradise (janna) through the bounty of His mercy toward them.
= "and Allah is Forgiving," that is: He covers the sins of His servants by forgiving them, and bestows upon them a favor with mercy.
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And it is also reported of this verse that it was revealed concerning ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh and his companions.
* Mention of who said that:
4102 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, that a man related to him, on the authority of Abū al-Sawwār, who related it to him on the authority of Jundub ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who said: When there happened in the affair of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh and his companions and the affair of Ibn al-Ḥaḍramī what happened, some of the Muslims said: If they have committed no — I think he said: — sin (wizr) on their journey, then there is for them in it no reward either. Then Allah revealed: "Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and striven in the way of Allah, those hope for the mercy of Allah; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful."
4103 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: al-Zuhrī and Yazīd ibn Rūmān related to me, on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr, who said: Allah — mighty and exalted is He — revealed the Qurʾān with that which He revealed of decree, and Allah brought relief to the Muslims in the affair of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh and his companions — that is: in their killing of Ibn al-Ḥaḍramī. When, then, it became clear to ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh and his companions in what state they were at the time the Qurʾān was revealed, they yearned for the reward, and said: O Messenger of Allah, may we hope that it will be for us a campaign (ghazwa) in which we are given the reward of the strivers (mujāhidūn)? Then Allah — mighty and exalted is He — revealed concerning them: "Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and striven in the way of Allah, those hope for the mercy of Allah; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." Thus Allah placed them thereby upon the greatest hope.
4104 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Allah praised the companions of His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ with the fairest praise and said: "Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and striven in the way of Allah, those hope for the mercy of Allah; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful" — these are the best of this community (umma). Then Allah made them people of hope, as you hear, and indeed: whoever hopes, strives; and whoever fears, flees.
4105 - It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, who said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, the like of it.
