And He says:

“Who is better in religion than one who submits himself to Allah while doing good and follows the religion of Abraham, inclining to the truth? And Allah took Abraham as an intimate friend.”

He made felicity conditional upon these two qualities together, saying:

“Yes, whoever submits himself to Allah while doing good will have his reward with his Lord. There shall be no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.”

Likewise, He made it conditional upon belief in the Last Day and righteous deeds, saying:

“Indeed, those who believed, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabians—whoever believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteous deeds—will have their reward with their Lord. There shall be no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.”

This shows that Islam—which is sincere devotion of religion to Allah—together with doing good, namely the righteous deeds Allah has commanded, necessarily entails, and is entailed by, faith accompanied by righteous deeds. For the promise attached to both descriptions is the same: reward and freedom from punishment. The absence of fear necessarily implies the absence of what is feared. Hence He says:

“There shall be no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.”

He did not say, “They do not fear.” Thus, there is no fear for them, even though they fear Allah. He also states that they will not grieve, because grief concerns what has passed. They will therefore not grieve under any circumstances, neither in the grave nor on the plains of the Resurrection. Fear, by contrast, may be experienced by them before they enter Paradise, although in reality there is nothing for them to fear. As He, Most High, says:

“Indeed, there shall be no fear for the allies of Allah, nor shall they grieve.”

“Those who believed and were mindful of Allah.”

As for “Islam mentioned alone, without qualification,” Allah’s Book does not make entry into Paradise conditional upon it, whereas it does make entry into Paradise conditional upon faith mentioned alone, without qualification, as in His words:

“Race toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whose breadth is like the breadth of the heaven and earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah