Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:76
But yes, whoever fulfills his commitment and fears Allah - then indeed, Allah loves those who fear Him.
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 His word: بَلَى مَنْ أَوْفَى بِعَهْدِهِ وَاتَّقَى فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ ("Nay, whoever fulfills his covenant and fears (Allah) — truly, Allah loves the God-fearing") (3:76).
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a report from Allah — mighty and exalted is He — about what is laid up with Him for whoever returns the trust entrusted to him to the one who entrusted it to him, out of fear of Allah and out of awe of Him. He — exalted be His praise — says: The matter is not as these liars against Allah, from among the Jews, claim, namely that there rests upon them no objection or sin for appropriating the possessions of the unlettered ones (al-ummiyyīn). Then He said: Nay — but whoever fulfills his covenant and fears (Allah) — He means: but the one who fulfills his covenant, and that is His command to them which He gave them in the Torah, namely faith in Muḥammad (the Prophet ﷺ) and in what he brought them.
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And the "hāʾ" (the possessive pronoun) in His word "whoever fulfills his covenant" refers back to the name "Allah" in His word: وَيَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ ("and they speak lies against Allah").
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He says: Nay, whoever fulfills the covenant of Allah, which He made with him in His Book, and who thus believes in Muḥammad (the Prophet ﷺ), holding him and what he brought from Allah to be true — by returning the trust to the one who entrusted it to him, and by observing the rest of what Allah commands and forbids — "and fears (Allah)," He says: and who guards himself against that which Allah has forbidden him, namely disbelief in Him, and the rest of the sins which He has forbidden him, and who thus avoids that, taking heed of Allah's threat and out of fear of His punishment — "truly, Allah loves the God-fearing," He means: truly, Allah loves those who fear Him, who dread His punishment and guard themselves against His torment (ʿadhāb), who thus avoid what He has forbidden them and declared unlawful for them, and who obey Him in what He has commanded them.
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And it is related from Ibn ʿAbbās that he used to say: it is guarding oneself against ascribing partners to Allah (shirk).
7277 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his word: "Nay, whoever fulfills his covenant and fears (Allah)" — he says: guards himself against shirk — "truly, Allah loves the God-fearing," he says: those who guard themselves against shirk.
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And we have already set forth earlier in our book the disagreement of the exegetes concerning that, and the correct view therein, with the indications that point to it, in a manner sufficient to make repetition unnecessary.