(10) “Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you are only pledging allegiance to Allah. Allah’s hand is over their hands. Whoever breaks his pledge does so only to his own detriment; but whoever fulfills what he has pledged to Allah, He will grant him a magnificent reward.”

The pledge referred to by Allah here is the Pledge of Ridwān, in which the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him) that they would not flee from his side. It was therefore a specific covenant, one of whose requirements was that they must not flee, even if only a few of them remained and even under circumstances in which fleeing would ordinarily be permissible.

Allah Most High informs us that, in reality, those who pledged allegiance to the Prophet were “only pledging allegiance to Allah” and entering into a covenant with Him. So emphatic was this covenant that He said, “Allah’s hand is over their hands”—that is, it was as though they had pledged allegiance to Allah and clasped His hand in that pledge. All of this serves to make the pledge still more emphatic and binding, and to induce them to fulfill it. He therefore says, “Whoever breaks his pledge” and fails to fulfill what he covenanted with Allah to do “does so only to his own detriment”; that is because its evil consequences will return upon him and its punishment will befall him. “But whoever fulfills what he has pledged to Allah”—that is, carries it out fully and completely—“He will grant him a magnificent reward,” whose greatness and measure are known only to the One who grants it.