is free of need, while you are in need. If you turn away, He will replace you with another people, and they will not be like you.”

The Most High has thus declared that whoever turns away from striving personally in jihad or from spending in the way of Allah will be replaced. Such is the case of the cowardly miser: Allah replaces him with someone who supports Islam and spends in its cause. What, then, when someone abandons Islam itself? Allah brings forth a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble towards the believers and mighty against the disbelievers, striving in the way of Allah and fearing no one’s reproach.

This is found among people devoted to knowledge, worship, fighting, and wealth. Among all four groups are believers who strive and are granted victory until the Hour comes, just as among them are those who apostatize or shrink from jihad and spending. Likewise, the Most High says:

“Allah has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession in the land.”

This promise applies to everyone who possesses these qualities. When the earliest Muslims possessed them, Allah granted them succession as He had promised. People after them have also possessed these qualities in proportion to their faith and righteous deeds. The more complete a person’s faith and righteous conduct, the more fully this promised succession is realized for him. If there is deficiency and weakness in him, there will be deficiency and weakness in his establishment in power. That is because this is the reward for such deeds: whoever performs them deserves that reward.