الَّذينَ يُقيمونَ الصَّلاةَ وَيُؤتونَ الزَّكاةَ وَهُم بِالآخِرَةِ هُم يوقِنونَ
Those who maintain the prayer, and pay the zakāh, and are certain of the hereafter.
EXEGESIS
The manner in which this verse terminates is significant. It mentions the third quality of the virtuous, which is certainty of the hereafter, by repeating the third person plural pronoun hum (they) twice. The pronoun refers to the virtuous (verse 3). The verse literally translates as: and they, of the hereafter, they are certain. The repetition indicates utmost emphasis and stress.
EXPOSITION
This verse describes the virtuous with three qualities. The first is that they maintain or keep up (yuqīmūn) the ritual prayer. This is the servant’s link with his Lord and indicates virtue in relation to God. The use of the term maintain in relation to the ritual prayer means giving the ritual prayer its due by performing it with an attentive and conscious heart and in an upright manner. The virtuous keep to the prayer and carry it out by being careful of its conditions and rules. The second quality is that they discharge the zakāh to those who deserve it, which serves as the human being’s link with society and which indicates virtue in relation to other human beings. Finally, the third quality is that they are certain of the hereafter and do not entertain doubts about it, which induces them to discharge their obligations and to refrain from the forbidden because they are certain that they shall be held accountable to God and shall be subjected to a reckoning for their words and deeds. Furthermore, certainty in the hereafter means that they are certain of God’s existence and unity, have certain faith in prophethood, and are generally God-fearing in their lives.
[1] Irshād al-Adhhān, p. 416.
[2] Munyah, 21/319; Amthal, 13/12.
[3] Mizan, 16/209; Munyah, 21/319.
[4] Tibyan, 8/270.
[5] Munyah, 21/319; Amthal, 13/12.
[6] Munyah, 21/319; Amthal, 13/12.
[7] Mizan, 16/209.