(77–78) “O you who believe, bow, prostrate, worship your Lord, and do good so that you may succeed. Strive for Allah as He deserves to be striven for. He has chosen you and has placed no hardship upon you in religion—the faith of your father Abraham. He named you Muslims before and in this revelation, so that the Messenger may be a witness over you and you may be witnesses over mankind. So establish prayer, give zakat, and hold fast to Allah. He is your Protector. What an excellent Protector and what an excellent Helper!”
The Exalted commands His believing servants to pray. He singles out from prayer bowing ⦗547⦘ and prostration because of their excellence and because they are two of its essential pillars. He also commands them to worship Him—worship that is a delight to the eyes and solace to the sorrowful heart. His lordship and beneficence toward His servants require them to devote worship sincerely to Him alone. He further commands them to do good in general.
The Exalted makes success contingent upon these things, saying, “So that you may succeed”; that is, attain what is desired and sought and be saved from what is disliked and feared. There is therefore no path to success other than sincerely worshipping the Creator and striving to benefit His servants. Whoever is granted success in doing so will have the highest share of happiness, achievement, and triumph.
“Strive for Allah as He deserves to be striven for.” Striving means expending one’s utmost effort to attain the intended objective. Striving for Allah as He deserves means carrying out Allah’s command fully and calling people to His path by every means conducive to that, including sincere counsel, teaching, fighting, discipline, restraint, exhortation, and other means.
“He has chosen you”; that is, He has selected you, O Muslims, from among mankind. He chose the religion for you and approved it for you, and He chose for you the best Book and the best Messenger. Respond to this tremendous gift by striving for Him as fully as you ought.
Because the words, “Strive for Allah as He deserves to be striven for,” might lead someone to imagine that this imposes what is beyond one’s capacity or what entails hardship, He precludes that misunderstanding by saying, “He has placed no hardship upon you in religion”; that is, no difficulty or distress. Rather, He has made it exceedingly easy and facilitated it to the utmost. First, He commands and obligates only that which is easy for people and neither burdens nor exhausts them. Then, when circumstances arise that call for alleviation, He lightens what He commanded, either by waiving it entirely or by waiving part of it.
This verse yields the legal maxims, “Hardship brings ease” and “Necessities permit what is prohibited.” These encompass many subsidiary rulings well known from books of legal rulings.
“The faith of your father Abraham”; that is, this faith and the aforementioned commands constitute the faith of your father Abraham, which he always followed. You must therefore adhere to it and hold fast to it.
“He named you Muslims before”; that is, you were mentioned and renowned by this name in the previous scriptures, “and in this”; that is, in this Book and this revealed law. In other words, this has been your name from ancient times until the present, “so that the Messenger may be a witness over you” concerning your deeds, both good and evil, “and you may be witnesses over mankind.” This is because you are the best nation ever raised for mankind—a balanced, just, and chosen nation. You will testify on behalf of the messengers that they conveyed the message to their nations, and you will testify concerning those nations that their messengers conveyed the message to them, based on what Allah has informed you in His Book.
“So establish prayer” by fulfilling its pillars, conditions, prescribed limits, and everything it entails, “and give” the obligatory “zakat” to those entitled to it, in gratitude to Allah for what He has bestowed upon you. “And hold fast to Allah”; that is, seek protection through Him and rely upon Him in doing so. Do not rely upon your own power or strength. “He is your Protector,” the One who takes charge of your affairs, governs you with His perfect governance, and directs you according to His finest decree. “What an excellent Protector” He is for whoever takes Him as protector, enabling that person to attain what he seeks, “and what an excellent Helper” He is for whoever seeks His help, warding off what he fears.
The commentary on Surat al-Hajj is complete. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds.