اتَّبِعوا مَن لا يَسأَلُكُم أَجرًا وَهُم مُهتَدونَ

Follow them who do not ask you any reward, and they are rightly guided.

EXEGESIS

Ajr (reward) means a recompense, compensation, reward, or payment for what a person has done.^{‎[1]Lane, p. 24.} The believer used this word to indicate worldly gains and material rewards.

Muhtadūn is a plural passive participle derived from the eighth form verb. It signifies those people who are rightly directed or following a right direction, or have found it, or are on the right way or road, or are continuing to be rightly directed, or following a right direction.^{‎[2]Lane, p. 3042.}

EXPOSITION

The man from the city outskirts asked his people in the previous verse to Follow the apostles. In this verse, he further elaborates and provides two reasons why they should to be followed. In fact, the only reasons that would prohibit following them would be that they either have deviated from the right path and preached a deviated creed, or their motive and aim for preaching was corrupted in a way that through those words of guidance they sought to gain wealth, fame, and position. If they preached truth and righteousness and were innocent of having corrupted motives and aims, free from malice, cunning, and betrayal, then it would be a rational obligation to follow them. Further arguments of the believer are presented in the following two verses.^{‎[3]Mizan, 17/76.}

In several places in the Quran the statement of the messengers, I do not ask you any reward for it is followed by, my reward lies only with the Lord of all the worlds (26:109). Thus, they do not deny their desire for reward; however, the type of reward they desire is from their Lord, and it would be as grand as His pleasure and proximity, which is the best of rewards for those who are in love with Him; Allah has promised the faithful, men and women, gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them [forever], and good dwellings in the gardens of Eden. Yet Allah’s pleasure is greater [than all these]; that is the great success (9:72), and Their Lord gives them the good news of His mercy and [His] pleasure, and for them there will be gardens with lasting bliss (9:21).

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. Imam al-Bāqir (a) said: ‘The Messenger of God (s) damned [several types of people, one of them is] … a man whom the people needed for his knowledge in religion, so he asked them for remuneration.’^{‎[4]Wasail, 18/163.}
2. Imam Ali (a) was describing the state of people after the departure of the Holy Prophet, and he mentioned: ‘And among them is he who seeks [benefits of] this world through the deeds of the hereafter, and does not seek the [reward of] the hereafter through the actions of this world; He made his personality modest, his steps small, his dress lifted [from the ground], he beautified himself as trustworthy, and took the covering of God [for sins] as a cloak for disobedience [in private].’^{‎[5]Nahj, sermon 32.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

One should only avoid following a guide due to one of two reasons: either the caller desires a heavy compensation for the guidance or he lacks guidance and the awareness of the path. But these messengers were guided and were aware of the path of righteousness, and did not ask for any compensation, so Follow them.^{‎[6]Razi, 26/263.}

Mullā Ṣadrā indicates an intellectual concept of precaution. Whenever there is cause for a doubtful threat, an intelligent person would avoid such cause just to keep the probable threat away. For example, if someone unknown informs a rational person that his food has been poisoned, he would avoid it even if it was the most delicious food because there would be two probabilities about the information; if the informer was truthful in reality then the rational person would be safe by avoiding it, and if the unknown informer was a liar in reality then he again would be safe by avoiding it. In both cases, the person has nothing to lose and would be safe; however, the loser would be the liar. Along these lines, Imam Ali (a) indicated that the words of the messengers, if truthful then the follower would gain salvation, and if lies then the follower would also lose nothing; however, the liar would be doomed. Therefore, the rational person chooses the safe path in all cases and takes precaution. So, in this case, these messengers were known to be righteous and pious, so how can people prefer the words of others over their words of righteousness?^{‎[7]Sadra, 5/59-61.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ, we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.^{‎[8]2 Corinthians 2:17.}
2. Jesus told his disciples … ‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.’^{‎[9]Luke 16:13.}

[1] Lane, p. 24.
[2] Lane, p. 3042.
[3] Mizan, 17/76.
[4] Wasail, 18/163.
[5] Nahj, sermon 32.
[6] Razi, 26/263.
[7] Sadra, 5/59-61.
[8] 2 Corinthians 2:17.
[9] Luke 16:13.