Rather, Allah will bring forth a people whom He loves and who love Him. They will give their allegiance to the believers rather than the disbelievers and strive in the way of Allah, fearing no one’s reproach, as He said at the outset:

“But if these disbelieve in it, We have entrusted it to a people who do not disbelieve in it.”

Neither those who never entered Islam nor those who left it after entering it harm Islam in the least. Rather, Allah raises up those who believe in what His Messenger brought and support His religion until the Hour comes. The people of Yemen were among those whom Allah brought forth when some people apostatized in those days. The verse is not restricted to them, nor does the hadith contain anything requiring such a restriction. Indeed, Allah has foretold that He will bring forth people other than the people of Yemen, such as the sons of Persia; the promise is not exclusive to them.

Indeed, He, Most High, said:

“O you who believe, what is the matter with you that, when you are told to go forth in the way of Allah, you cling heavily to the earth? Are you content with the life of this world rather than the Hereafter? Yet the enjoyment of this worldly life is but little compared with the Hereafter.”

“If you do not go forth, He will punish you with a painful punishment and replace you with another people. You will not harm Him at all, and Allah has power over all things.”

This too addresses every generation. In it, He declares that whoever shrinks from the jihad he has been commanded to undertake will be punished and replaced by someone who will undertake it. This is precisely what happens.

Likewise, He says in the other verse:

“Here you are, called upon to spend in the way of Allah, yet some of you are miserly. Whoever is miserly is so only to his own detriment. And Allah