who preceded us in faith, and put no resentment in our hearts toward those who have believed. Our Lord, indeed You are Kind and Merciful.’”

This verse and the preceding one encompass all who come within their scope after the earliest forerunners, until the Day of Resurrection. How, then, could they exclude the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who believed in him and strove alongside him?

He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said in an authentic hadith:

“The emigrant is one who abandons what Allah has forbidden.”

Thus, whoever among those freed at the conquest of Mecca had embraced Islam and abandoned what Allah had forbidden fulfilled the meaning of this migration and was included in His words, Most High:

“And those who believed afterwards, emigrated, and strove alongside you—they are of you.”

Likewise, he was included in His words, Most High:

“To each Allah has promised the finest reward.”

He Most High also said:

“Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are firm against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating, seeking bounty from Allah and His pleasure. Their mark is on their faces from the effect of prostration. That is their description in the Torah. And their description in the Gospel is like a crop that sends forth its shoots, which strengthen it until it grows thick and stands upright on its stalks, delighting the sowers—so that through them He may enrage the disbelievers. Allah has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds forgiveness and a great reward.”

This encompasses, without restriction, those who believed alongside the Messenger. It has been widely transmitted from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in the collections of authentic hadith and elsewhere, through more than one