الَّذي أَطعَمَهُم مِن جوعٍ وَآمَنَهُم مِن خَوفٍ
Who has fed them [and saved them] from hunger, and secured them from fear.
EXPOSITION
In the previous verse, the Quraysh are being invited to worship the Lord of the Kaaba. This verse now goes on to describe this Lord and provide the reasoning and arguments as to why the Quraysh should accept this invitation of worshipping Him.
The presence of the Kaaba in the city of Mecca allowed them to be the recipients of God’s blessings in two particular ways. Firstly, the Kaaba attracted people from around Mecca to engage with them in trade, which was a key factor in their trade flourishing and in securing their livelihoods. In other words, it was the Lord of this house that was sustaining them by the blessing of His house, providing them with food, shelter, clothing, and other such necessities, thereby securing their economic interests. Secondly, the location of this house in the area known as the ḥaram (sanctuary), whose sanctity no one dared to violate, was the cause of their safety and security in Mecca, preventing outsiders from attacking the city, and serving as a deterrent from any potential ambushes during their journeys to and from Mecca.
Thus, the Lord of this house had secured for them one of the most fundamental needs of any society: removing fear and anxiety from them so that they could prosper in both the material and non-material aspects of their lives. It is these two favours bestowed upon the Quraysh by God that are being singled out as reasons for their invitation to worship Him, as a form of thanks and gratitude for managing these essential affairs of theirs in such an excellent way.
In contrast, elsewhere the Quran mentions the example of a town that was provided with abundance and security but its people were ungrateful to God despite these blessings, so their condition was transformed by the wrath of God and they were made to taste hunger and fear as a result: Allah draws a parable: a town secure and peaceful, its provision coming abundantly from every place. But it was ungrateful toward Allah’s blessings. So Allah made it taste hunger and fear because of what they used to do (16:112).
[1] Jawādī Āmolī, Tasnīm:
http://javadi.esra.ir/-/%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%87-%D9%82%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%B4-1399-01-19.
[2] Mizan, 20/366.