All these expressions describe a single reality: adhering outwardly and inwardly to what the Messenger brought.
Al-Wāhidī said: “Most scholars hold that ‘that which gives you life’ means jihad. This is the view of Ibn Ishāq and the interpretation preferred by most scholars of Quranic meanings.”
Al-Farrā’ said: “When he calls you to revive your cause by fighting your enemy.” He means that their cause gains strength only through warfare and jihad; if they abandoned jihad, their cause would weaken and their enemy would grow bold against them.
I say: Jihad is among the greatest means by which they are given life in this world, in the intermediate realm after death, and in the Hereafter. In this world, it is through jihad that they gain strength and overcome their enemy.
As for the intermediate realm, Allah Most High has said:
“Never think of those killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision.” (3:169)
As for the Hereafter, those who fight in Allah’s cause and the martyrs have a greater share of its life and bliss than others. Hence Ibn Qutaybah said that “that which gives you life” means martyrdom. Some Quran commentators said that it means Paradise, for Paradise is the abode of true life, where life is everlasting and wholesome. Abū 'Alī al-Jurjānī related this interpretation.
The verse encompasses all of this. Faith, Islam, the Quran, and jihad give hearts a wholesome life, while the perfection of life is in Paradise. The Messenger calls people to faith and to Paradise; he calls them to life in this world and the Hereafter.
A person has an indispensable need for two kinds of life. The first is the life of his body, through which he perceives what benefits and harms him, and prefers what benefits him over what harms him. To the extent that this life is diminished, he experiences pain and weakness. Thus, the life of someone suffering from illness, sorrow, worry, distress, fear, poverty, or humiliation is less complete than that of someone free of these afflictions.
The second is the life of his heart and spirit, through which he distinguishes between truth and falsehood, error and right guidance, passion and misguidance, and thus chooses truth over its opposite. This life gives him the strength to distinguish between