Surah Al-Hadid

Belief becomes truth, witness, reward, and light.

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الصِّدِّيقُونَ ۖ وَالشُّهَدَاءُ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ لَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ وَنُورُهُمْ ۖ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَكَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِ

“And those who have believed in Allah and His Messengers, those are [in the ranks of] the attesters to the truth and the martyrs, with their Lord. For them is their reward and their light. But those who have disbelieved and denied Our verses - those are the companions of Hellfire”.

Reward and light The destination of Paradise and the means by which believers reach it.

Companions of Hellfire Disbelief in Allah and denial of His signs determine the opposing end.

The movement of the surah

A general path to a great reward

After charity and the beautiful loan are promised multiplication and a generous or noble reward, belief in Allah and His Messengers establishes a broader criterion for attaining great reward.

Consolation through belief

Great reward is not restricted to the ability to give Sadaqah.

Those who are unable to give Sadaqah can still attain a great reward from Allah through belief in Him and His Messengers.

Charity and the beautiful loan What is given is multiplied, and a generous or noble reward is promised.

Belief in Allah and His Messengers A wider criterion opens the way to reward, truthfulness, witness, and light.

Who are the truthful?

Two readings in the Tafsir of Ar-Razi

The opening description carries a general reading and a specific reading.

Tafsir of Ar-Razi

The general reading

The verse applies to everyone who believes in Allah and His Messengers.

The specific reading

The الصِّدِّيقُونَ are those who believed in the Messengers at the moment they came to them and never rejected them for even an instant. This includes the people of Aali Yaseen—the followers of Ilyas (as)—and the believing man from the household of Fir’awn.

Ustadh Nu’man states that the people of Aali Yaseen have no relationship to the story in Surah Ya-Seen.

Within the Muslim religious community, eight individuals preceded all the people of the earth in embracing Islam: Abu Bakr, ‘Ali, Zaid, ‘Uthman, Talhah, Az-Zubair, Sa’d, and Hamzah. A ninth is ‘Umar, whom Allah joined to them because of what He knew of the sincerity of his intention.

The plural matters

Belief extends to all of Allah’s Messengers

Ayah 7 آمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ

“Believe in Allah and His Messenger”

The singular “Messenger” appears in the earlier command.

Ayah 19 رُسُلِهِ

Rusulihi · “His Messengers”

The plural is broader. It encompasses those who believe in all His Messengers and those who believed in their Messengers when they came to them. Such believers are the الصِّدِّيقُونَ.

Language and rank

Truthfulness and decisive testimony

The ayah names truthfulness that remains firm in every circumstance and testimony rooted in presence, stability, and value.

A scale of truthfulness الصِّدِّيقُونَ

As-Siddeeqoon

صَادِق Saadiq

Someone who is truthful.

صَدِيق Sadeeq

One who is always truthful. The word is also used in Arabic for “a friend.”

صِدِّيق Siddeeq

One who is truthful under all circumstances and attests to the truth whether it is easy or difficult.

Witness and martyr الشُّهَدَاءُ

Ash-Shuhadaa’ · plural of Shaheed

The Qur’an uses the word in two senses:

A witness who witnessed the truth.
A martyr who bears witness to the truth with the most decisive testimony: his life.

ش-ه-د Stability Presence Value

شُهْد (Shuhd), “pure honey,” is precious, concentrated, and settled in its container.
شَاهِد (Shaahid), “witness,” is present at the scene and firmly situated in the event.
A person killed fighting in Allah’s path is called شَهِيد (Shaheed). The Angels testify that he is destined for Paradise. He is also described as alive and not dead, as if present.

The structure of the ayah

One conjunction shapes two readings

The interpretation turns on the وَ between الصِّدِّيقُونَ and الشُّهَدَاءُ: it may connect the two descriptions or begin a new statement.

Two groups

Those who believe in Allah and His Messengers are the Siddeeqoon: those who immediately and strongly attest to the truth.

The Shuhadaa’ form another group: those killed in Allah’s path or those who will serve as witnesses on the Day of Judgement. The martyrs or witnesses have their reward and their light with their Lord.

One group, two descriptions

Those who believe in Allah and His Messengers are both the Siddeeqoon and the Shuhadaa’. The believers who reach the rank of Siddeeq are also the Shuhadaa’ before their Lord.

With their Rabb, all of them possess their reward and their light.

Their reward and their light

The goal and the way to reach it

أَجْرُهُمْ وَنُورُهُمْ joins the promised destination to the means of arriving there.

Iman The inward reality corresponds to light.

Actions The outward reality corresponds to reward.

Jannah The reward is Paradise; the light guides the believer toward that reward.

Reward The goal · Jannah · actions

Light The means · Iman · the way forward

The outward and inward aspects are both required to pass the Siraat, the bridge to Jannah.

The final separation

Worldly appearances give way to final realities

Disbelief and denial of Allah’s signs lead directly to the companions of Hellfire.

Three groups on the Day of Judgement

The first and foremost — Saabiqoon

The people of the right

The people of the left

The reality of hypocrisy

Hypocrisy remains a worldly category.

Hypocrites profess belief or pretend to be believers while harbouring and concealing disbelief.

In the Hereafter, their true realities are exposed. They fall directly within the category of the disbelievers, الكَافِرُون (Al-Kaafiroon).

The intensity of Jaheem

جَحِيمٍ conveys burning that does not let off

The root carries burning, blazing, fierce intensity, and a fixed stare.

جَحِيمٍ

Jaheem

جَحُمَ (Jahuma) and جَحِمَ (Jahima) To burn, blaze, or be vehement and fiery.

جَحَمَ (Jahama) To kindle a fire or make it burn fiercely.

جَحَّمَ (Jahhama) and تَجْحِيم (Tahjeem) To regard, look, or stare with fixed eyes. Classical lexica explicitly record جَحَّمَ as meaning “to stare fixedly / intently at something.” This meaning grows from the root’s core sense of vehemence, burning, and intensity.

جَحْمَة (Jahmah) An eye of fierce, burning intensity or an eye so fixed that it does not blink. The eyes of predators, especially lions, were called Jahmah, symbolising the fixed stare of a predator intent upon attacking its prey.

Jaheem is a name of Hellfire. Its flame and burning are intense and vehement, and everything about it—including its sight and sound—is characterised by intensity and vehemency.

The فَعِيل (Fa’eel) pattern also conveys something that abides and does not let off.

Scholarly commentary

Disbelief, denial, and the absence of light

What is meant is ‘Those who disbelieved in Allah and denied the Qur’an (i.e., Our Ayaat). It includes the polytheists (Mushrikoon), the Jews (Yahood), and the Christians (Nasaaraa), though they differ in their levels within Hellfire. The polytheists deserved Hell from every angle of their disbelief. The Jews deserved it from the day they denied ‘Isa peace be upon him. And the Christians, some of them deserved it when they ascribed a son to Allah, and some of them from the moment they denied the message of Muhammad ﷺ.
Ibn ‘Ashour

Concerning His, exalted is He, saying: الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَكَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا “But those who disbelieved and denied Our Ayaat” it means: In the Messengers and the miracles. أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِ “Those are the companions of the Hellfire” and so, they have no reward and no light.
Al-Qurtubi