(104–105) “Let there be among you a community who call to goodness, enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong. It is they who will be successful. * And do not be like those who became divided and differed after clear proofs had come to them. It is they who will have a tremendous punishment.”

That is: Let there be among you—O believers whom Allah has blessed with faith and with holding fast to His rope—“a community,” meaning a group, “who call to goodness,” a comprehensive term encompassing everything that draws one nearer to Allah and distances one from His wrath; “enjoin what is right,” namely, that which reason and revelation recognize as good; “and forbid what is wrong,” namely, that which revelation and reason recognize as evil.

This is Allah’s instruction to the believers that a group among them should undertake the task of calling to His path and guiding people to His religion. This includes scholars who teach the religion; preachers who invite adherents of other religions to enter Islam and call those who have strayed to return to uprightness; those who strive in Allah’s cause; and those responsible for overseeing people’s affairs and requiring them to observe the Sacred Law, including the five daily prayers, zakat, fasting, Hajj, and the other ordinances of Islam. It also includes inspecting measures and weights, supervising the people of the marketplaces, and preventing them from fraud and invalid transactions.

All these matters are communal obligations, as indicated by the noble verse in His words, “Let there be among you a community,” and so forth. That is, there must be among you a group through whom the intended purpose in these matters is fulfilled. It is a well-known and established principle that a command to do something is also a command to do whatever is necessary for its completion. Thus, everything upon which these duties depend is itself commanded. This includes preparing for striving in Allah’s cause with every form of equipment by which the enemy may be subdued and Islam strengthened; acquiring the knowledge necessary to call to goodness, including knowledge of its means and objectives; building schools for guidance and learning; and supporting officials and assisting them in enforcing the Sacred Law among the people through words, deeds, and wealth, along with everything else upon which these duties depend.

This group, prepared to call to goodness, enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong, are the select among the believers. Allah Most High therefore says of them: “It is they who will be successful”—those who attain what they seek and are saved from what they fear.

He then forbade them from resembling the People of the Scripture in their division and disagreement, saying: “And do not be like those who became divided and differed.” It is astonishing that their disagreement arose “after clear proofs had come to them”—proofs that required them not to become divided or differ. They had a greater claim than others to hold fast to the religion, yet, despite knowing that they were contravening Allah’s command, they did precisely the opposite. They therefore deserved a severe punishment. Thus Allah Most High says: “It is they who will have a tremendous punishment.”