Surah An-Noor (24) — Ayah 55

(Ayah 55) ➊ { وَعَدَ اللّٰهُ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا مِنْكُمْ … :} Despite all the excesses of the hypocrites, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would overlook them so that people would not say that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) kills his own companions and those who give him refuge. Now, on one side was the enmity of all the disbelievers of Arabia, and on the other side were the conspiracies of the hypocrites who claimed Islam. As a result, the Muslims remained extremely worried and fearful. At this point, after describing the behavior of the hypocrites and admonishing them, Allah Almighty gave several glad tidings to the sincere believers. Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) says that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions came to Madinah and the Ansar gave them shelter, the whole of Arabia attacked them with one bow, so the Muslims would spend their nights armed and their days in the same state, until they began to say: "Do you think we will live to see the time when our nights will pass in peace and tranquility, and we will fear none but Allah?" Then this verse was revealed: «{ وَعَدَ اللّٰهُ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا مِنْكُمْ وَ عَمِلُوا الصّٰلِحٰتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْاَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِيْنَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَ لَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِيْنَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضٰى لَهُمْ وَ لَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِّنْۢ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ اَمْنًا يَعْبُدُوْنَنِيْ لَا يُشْرِكُوْنَ بِيْ شَيْـًٔا وَ مَنْ كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذٰلِكَ فَاُولٰٓىِٕكَ هُمُ الْفٰسِقُوْنَ}» [ النور : ۵۵ ] [مستدرک حاکم : 401/2، ح : ۳۵۱۲، قال الحاکم صحیح الإسناد وقال الذھبي صحیح ] In this hadith, it is also mentioned that the meaning of {’’ وَ مَنْ كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذٰلِكَ ‘‘} is, whoever is ungrateful for the blessing after this. The state of fear of the Muslims is depicted in the best manner in Surah Al-Anfal (26).

➋ { وَعَدَ اللّٰهُ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا مِنْكُمْ …:} That is, do not be distressed by the enmity of the open and hidden enemies, the disbelievers and hypocrites; Allah Almighty has promised those among you who are sincere believers and adorned with righteous deeds that He will make them inheritors of the land of the disbelievers and polytheists of Arabia and non-Arabs, they will be their successors and rulers, just as He previously granted the rule of the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, and Syria to the descendants of Ismail and Israel after the disbelievers and polytheists. Allah Almighty fulfilled this promise to the believers in a very short time, within ten years after the migration, while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was still alive, Allah granted him victory over Makkah, Khaybar, Bahrain, Yemen, and the entire Arabian Peninsula. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began to receive jizyah from the Magians of Hajar and several regions of Syria, and the king of Rome, Heraclius, the king of Egypt, Muqawqis, and the king of Abyssinia, Najashi, sent gifts to him. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) departed from this world, the caliphs of Islam took on this responsibility and, following his way, conquered much of the East and West. They seized the throne of the strongest ruler of the time, Kisra, and expelled Caesar from his territories such as Syria, so that he had to take refuge in Constantinople. The flag of Islam began to wave from China in the East to Africa in the West. Muslims became masters of their necks and their treasures, and the prophecy of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was fulfilled: [ إِنَّ اللّٰهَ زَوٰی لِيَ الْأَرْضَ، فَرَأَيْتُ مَشَارِقَهَا وَ مَغَارِبَهَا، وَ إِنَّ أُمَّتِيْ سَيَبْلُغُ مُلْكُهَا مَا زُوِيَ لِيْ مِنْهَا، وَ أُعْطِيْتُ الْكَنْزَيْنِ الْأَحْمَرَ وَالْأَبْيَضَ ] [ مسلم، الفتن، باب ھلاک ھذہ الأمۃ بعضہم ببعض : ۲۸۸۹ ] "Allah folded the earth for me so I saw its eastern and western parts, and the dominion of my Ummah will reach as far as what was folded for me, and I was given the two treasures, the red and the white."

➌ { وَ لَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِيْنَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضٰى لَهُمْ:} This is the second promise, that Allah Almighty will grant authority to the Muslims for the religion which He has chosen for them, that is, the Muslims will receive such authority in which there will be complete dominance of Allah's religion, Islam, and not of any other constitution or law; in it, Allah's word will be the highest and His command will be supreme. The authority of the religion will be over the whole world. Tamim Dari (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: [ لَيَبْلُغَنَّ هٰذَا الْأَمْرُ مَا بَلَغَ اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَلاَ يَتْرُكُ اللّٰهُ بَيْتَ مَدَرٍ وَلَا وَبَرٍ إِلَّا أَدْخَلَهُ اللّٰهُ هٰذَا الدِّيْنَ بِعِزِّ عَزِيْزٍ أَوْ بِذُلِّ ذَلِيْلٍ، عِزًّا يَعِزُّ اللّٰهُ بِهِ الْإِسْلَامَ، وَ ذُلًّا يُذِلُّ اللّٰهُ بِهِ الْكُفْرَ ] [ مسند أحمد : 103/4، ح : ۱۶۹۵۹، قال محقق المسند إسنادہ صحیح علی شرط مسلم ] "This matter, i.e., the religion of Islam, will reach wherever night and day reach, and Allah will not leave any house made of bricks or of silk except that He will cause this religion to enter it, honoring the honorable and humiliating the humiliated. Honor with which Allah will honor Islam, and humiliation with which Allah will humiliate disbelief." Most of this prophecy was fulfilled at the hands of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the Umayyad Caliphs, and the Ottoman Caliphs, and what remains will also be fulfilled; the return to religion and the awakening of the spirit of jihad among Muslims are glad tidings of the coming bright morning.

➍ {وَ لَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِّنْۢ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ اَمْنًا :} This is the third promise, that Allah Almighty will change the state of fear of the Muslims into peace. By means of jihad, the disbelievers will either accept Islam and become its protectors, or they will become subjugated and pay jizyah. By acting upon Allah's commands, there will be an era of prosperity, and by the blessing of the enforcement of Allah's limits, all regions under the rule of Islam will benefit from the blessing of peace. 'Adi bin Hatim Tai (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: "I was present with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a man came and complained to him of hunger, then another came and complained of robbery and highwaymen. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) addressed me and said: 'Adi! Have you seen Hira (city)?' I said: 'I have not seen it, but I have heard about it.' He said: 'If your life is long, you will see a woman riding a camel, traveling from Hira until she circumambulates the Ka'bah, fearing none but Allah.' I said to myself, where will the mischief-makers of Banu Tai go, who have set the cities on fire? (He further said:) 'And if your life is long, you will conquer the treasures of Kisra.' I said: 'The treasures of Kisra bin Hurmuz?' He said: 'Yes, the treasures of Kisra bin Hurmuz, and if your life is long, you will see a man going out with his hands full of gold or silver, seeking someone to accept it from him, but he will find no one to accept it...' 'Adi (may Allah be pleased with him) says: 'Then I saw a woman riding a camel, traveling from Hira until she circumambulated the Ka'bah, and I was among those who conquered the treasures of Kisra bin Hurmuz, and if your life is long, you will also see what the Prophet Abu al-Qasim (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'A man will take out charity with his hands full of gold and silver.'" [ بخاري، المناقب، باب علامات النبوۃ في الإسلام : ۳۵۹۵ ]

➎ { يَعْبُدُوْنَنِيْ۠ لَا يُشْرِكُوْنَ بِيْ شَيْـًٔا :} That is, those with whom the promise of earthly caliphate, dominance of religion, and peace after fear is made are those who are adorned with faith and righteous deeds, who worship only Allah and do not associate anything with Him. Obviously, those who lack any of these qualities or are completely devoid of them, even if they attain rule, will not be granted the dominance of religion and the blessing of peace.

➏ This verse is a great and clear proof of the legitimacy of the caliphate of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, because although in this verse the promise of caliphate, establishment of religion, and peace after fear is for all those who adhere to faith and righteous deeds, in any era, but its first addressees were the noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), and Allah Almighty addressed them saying: «{ وَعَدَ اللّٰهُ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا مِنْكُمْ وَ عَمِلُوا الصّٰلِحٰتِ }» that Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous deeds. Therefore, its first and foremost referents are also them, and no one can deny that Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) were granted caliphate on earth by Allah, in their time religion prevailed, Allah's limits were established, Muslims enjoyed peace, and all the disbelievers of the world were subdued and overawed. After them, those caliphs who continued jihad, acted upon Allah's limits, and were not tainted by any kind of shirk, they too are included in this, and in their times as well, religion prevailed and Muslims enjoyed the blessing of peace. Those who say that the caliphate lasted only thirty (30) years, their statement is correct to the extent that those of the highest qualities were these caliphs, because they were directly trained by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and had the honor of precedence in faith and migration, those after them did not possess all these virtues, so their caliphate was not of the highest degree, but it is wrong to say that after that the Muslim Ummah was deprived of Allah's promise. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) himself prophesied that even after these thirty (30) years, there would be such caliphs in whose time religion would prevail. Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), my father was with me, I heard him say: [ لَا يَزَالُ هٰذَا الدِّيْنُ عَزِيْزًا مَنِيْعًا إِلَي اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ خَلِيْفَةً ] "This religion will remain strong and protected until twelve caliphs." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said something which the people did not let me hear, I asked my father what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, so he told me: [كُلُّهُمْ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ ] "They will all be from Quraysh." [ مسلم، الإمارۃ، باب الناس تبع لقریش : 1821/9 ] In the narration of Abu Dawood (4279), these words are also present: [ كُلُّهُمْ تَجْتَمِعُ عَلَيْهِ الْأُمَّةُ ] "The Ummah will be united upon all of them." Allamah Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) declared these words weak.

Whether these twelve caliphs are meant to be consecutive, or to come with some intervals, Allah knows best, but there is no doubt that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prophesied that after unworthy people, the caliphate on the Prophetic way would be established again in the Muslim Ummah, until in the end times, Mahdi will be a rightly guided caliph. Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ تَكُوْنُ النُّبُوَّةُ فِيْكُمْ مَا شَاءَ اللّٰهُ أَنْ تَكُوْنَ، ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُهَا إِذَا شَاءَ أَنْ يَّرْفَعَهَا، ثُمَّ تَكُوْنُ خِلَافَةً عَلٰی مِنْهَاجِ النُّبُوَّةِ فَتَكُوْنُ مَا شَاءَ اللّٰهُ أَنْ تَكُوْنَ، ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُهَا إِذَا شَاءَ اللّٰهُ أَنْ يَّرْفَعَهَا، ثُمَّ تَكُوْنُ مُلْكًا عَاضًّا فَيَكُوْنُ مَا شَاءَ اللّٰهُ أَنْ يَّكُوْنَ، ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُهَا إِذَا شَاءَ أَنْ يَّرْفَعَهَا، ثُمَّ تَكُوْنُ مُلْكًا جَبْرِيَّةً فَتَكُوْنُ مَا شَاءَ اللّٰهُ أَنْ تَكُوْنَ ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُهَا إِذَا شَاءَ أَنْ يَّرْفَعَهَا، ثُمَّ تَكُوْنُ خِلَافَةً عَلٰی مِنْهَاجِ النُّبُوَّةِ، ثُمَّ سَكَتَ] [مسند أحمد : 273/4، ح : ۱۸۴۳۶، مسند احمد کے محقق اور شیخ البانی نے صحیحہ (۵) میں اسے حسن کہا ہے] "Prophethood will remain among you as long as Allah wills, then when He wills to remove it, He will remove it, then there will be caliphate on the way of Prophethood and it will remain as long as Allah wills, then He will remove it when He wills, then there will be biting kingship and it will remain as long as Allah wills, then He will remove it when He wills, then there will be oppressive kingship and it will remain as long as Allah wills, then when He wills to remove it, He will remove it, then there will be caliphate on the way of Prophethood." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) fell silent."

In the light of this verse and these ahadith, Muslims should always remain hopeful that whenever Muslims adhere to faith and righteous deeds, repent from shirk with Allah, turn away completely from the laws of others in their daily lives, economy, politics, in short, everything, and begin to act upon the command of Allah alone and make decisions accordingly, abandon all others besides Allah as granters of needs and removers of difficulties and seek help and aid from Allah alone, and, instead of cowardice and love of the world, become passionate for martyrdom and engage in jihad, then Allah will surely grant them the blessing of caliphate on the Prophetic way, because He seeks such servants adorned with faith and righteous deeds who are the practical embodiment of {’’ يَعْبُدُوْنَنِيْ۠ لَا يُشْرِكُوْنَ بِيْ شَيْـًٔا ‘‘}, that is, they worship only Him and do not associate anyone with Him. However, it is also necessary to keep in mind that as long as the current state of Muslims does not change, that in their courts the law of the disbelievers is enforced, their trade is based on usury, their system of government is taken from the disbelievers, in their society the customs of Hindus and Jews and Christians are prevalent, in their mosques the worship of solid graves is taking place, instead of believing in one Allah as the granter of needs and remover of difficulties, everyone has made their own separate patron and helper, instead of being one Ummah they are divided into different sects. Until this current state changes, the attainment of this blessing of caliphate is nothing but a beautiful dream mentioned in this verse.

➐ Some people have made it part of their religion to declare all the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) disbelievers except for four Companions. Someone should ask them, in this verse, the promise Allah made to grant caliphate to those with faith and righteous deeds, how and through whom was it fulfilled? If they claim their twelve self-made Imams as the true caliphs, then let them tell, except for Ali and Hasan (may Allah be pleased with them), in which region of the earth did the other ten caliphs and Imams rule, and which of them ruled in peace? The state of these Imams is such that they themselves say that their twelfth Imam, out of fear of enemies, hid in a cave and has not appeared till today. Then through whom was Allah's promise fulfilled? For the falsehood of these people, it is also a clear and decisive proof that in the center of Islam, Makkah and Madinah, for fourteen and a half centuries, those who ruled were the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), or those who loved them. To this day, Allah has not allowed the impure feet of the enemies of the Companions to be established in this pure land.

➑ { وَ مَنْ كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذٰلِكَ فَاُولٰٓىِٕكَ هُمُ الْفٰسِقُوْنَ:} There are several levels of fasiq (open sinner); the complete fasiq is the one who leaves faith altogether. The meaning of the verse is that after this caliphate, those who disbelieve and die upon disbelief, these are the complete sinners. Shah Abdul Qadir (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "Whoever denies the caliphate (and their virtue and honor) of the four caliphs, his state is understood from these words."

55-1. Some have restricted this divine promise to the Companions or the Rightly Guided Caliphs, but there is no evidence for this specification. The words of the Quran are general and are conditional upon faith and righteous deeds. However, it is certainly true that in the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphate and the era of the best generations, the manifestation of this divine promise occurred; Allah granted the Muslims dominance in the land, elevated His chosen religion of Islam, and replaced the Muslims’ fear with security. Previously, Muslims feared the Arab disbelievers, but then the situation was reversed. The prophecies made by the Prophet ﷺ were also fulfilled in this era. For example, the Prophet ﷺ said that a woman would travel alone from Hira and perform Tawaf of the House of Allah, and she would have no fear or danger. The treasures of Kisra would be piled at your feet. And so it happened (Sahih Bukhari). The Prophet ﷺ also said: (ان اللہ زوی لی الارض، فرایت مشارقھا ومغاربھا، وان امتی سیبلغ ملکھا ما زوی لی منھا) (Sahih Muslim) "Allah has folded the earth for me, so I saw its eastern and western parts, and soon the domain of my Ummah will reach as far as it was folded for me." This vastness of rule also came to the Muslims, and Persia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, and other distant lands were conquered, and in place of disbelief and polytheism, the torches of Tawheed and Sunnah were lit everywhere, and the banner of Islamic civilization and culture waved across the world. But since this promise was conditional, when the Muslims became weak in faith and deficient in righteous deeds, Allah turned their honor into humiliation, their power and dominance into servitude, and their security and stability into fear and terror.

55-2. This too is, along with faith and righteous deeds, another fundamental condition due to which Muslims become deserving of Allah’s help, and when deprived of this attribute of Tawheed, they are deprived of Allah’s help.

55-3. By this disbelief is meant the deprivation of faith, righteous deeds, and Tawheed, after which a person exits the obedience of Allah and enters the domain of disbelief and transgression.

55. Allah has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession (khilafah) in the land [83] as He granted it to those before them, and that He will establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and He will surely change their state to security and peace after their fear. They will worship Me alone and not associate anything with Me. But whoever disbelieves after that—such people are truly rebellious [84].

[83]
The Potential for the System of Khilafah Exists in Every Human Being by Nature:

Allah Almighty sent Hazrat Adam to the world as a vicegerent so that Adam and his progeny may establish a system of life in the world according to Allah’s will, which Allah had conveyed to Hazrat Adam and, from time to time, to his progeny through revelation. And all the qualities required to establish the system of Khilafah were instilled in the nature of Adam and his progeny. Along with this, man was also given the power of will and choice. And in this lies the test of humankind: whether he fulfills the purpose of Khilafah with his own will and choice or not. And since such qualities have been placed in the nature of every human being, in this respect, all the progeny of Adam are entitled to Khilafah. However, those people are automatically excluded who do not subordinate their will and desires to the will of Allah. According to this verse, the hypocrites have been excluded from the entitlement to this earthly Khilafah, as well as those who do not believe at all or whose deeds are not righteous. Thus, this entitlement remains only for those who both believe and perform righteous deeds. Only such people can be expected that if they gain power on earth, they will establish a system of life that is pleasing to Allah and in accordance with His will, and these are the people who will appoint the best among themselves as their leader, Imam, or Khalifah. And when they establish such a religion or system of life, Allah will further strengthen their religion, and their prominent characteristic will be that they will never tolerate shirk (associating partners with Allah) at any cost.

The Divine Promise of Earthly Khilafah and the Strengthening of Religion to the Companions:

In this verse, the word "min-kum" and the mention of the hypocrites of Madinah in the preceding verses clearly indicate that this promise is being made to the group of the Companions (Sahabah) ؓ. And when this Surah was revealed, Muslims were living in poverty; after the conquest of Khaybar, the Muslims’ economic situation improved only to the extent that the Muhajirun returned the orchards and date trees they had taken from the Ansar on a sharecropping basis under the contract of brotherhood. And until the Battle of Ahzab, the nascent Islamic state of Madinah was in such a condition that an atmosphere of fear and terror from the attacks of the disbelievers always prevailed. However, after the end of the Battle of Ahzab, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did say that after today, the disbelievers will not come to attack us, but now we will attack them. But outside Madinah, looting and plundering were rampant in Arabia, and no person or caravan could travel safely. In this verse, Allah Almighty gave the glad tidings of the end of such fear and terror, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ also gave the glad tidings of the end of poverty in addition to fear, as is clear from the following hadith.

Testimony of the End of Poverty and Insecurity:

Adi bin Hatim says that one day I was sitting with the Prophet ﷺ when two men came. One complained of poverty and the other of highway robbery. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Soon there will be such security that a caravan departing from here will travel without any guard, and O Adi bin Hatim! Have you seen Hira?" I said, "No, but I have heard of it." He said: "If you live long, you will see that a woman will travel from Hira and perform tawaf of the Ka'bah, but she will fear none except Allah." I thought to myself: "Where will the robbers of the tribe of Banu Tai, who have caused such havoc, be at that time?" And the Hour will not come until a man will go around with his charity looking for someone to accept it, but he will find no one to take it. And you people will conquer the treasures of Kisra." I said: "Kisra bin Hormuz?" The Prophet ﷺ continued: "And O Adi! If you live long, you will surely see a man going out with a handful of gold or silver in search of someone to accept it, but he will find no such person." [بخاری۔ کتاب الزکوۃ باب الصدقہ قبل الرد کتاب المناقب۔ باب علامات النبوۃ فی الاسلام]
Hazrat Adi says: Then I saw the woman traveling from Hira and performing tawaf of the Ka'bah, fearing none but Allah, and I myself was among those who conquered the treasures of Kisra bin Hormuz. [بخاری۔ کتاب المناقب۔ باب علامات النبوۃ]
In such circumstances, this prophecy was a great glad tidings for the Muslims, and indeed, part of this glad tidings was fulfilled in the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. After the conquest of Makkah and especially after the declaration of Bara’ah, incidents of looting and plundering ceased throughout Arabia, and the Companions ؓ also attained prosperity. However, outside Arabia, the atmosphere of fear, looting, and robbery still prevailed, which was eliminated during the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. And in the time of Hazrat Uthman ؓ, there was so much prosperity that a person would go out to pay his zakat but would not find anyone deserving of zakat. Incidentally, the following results also emerge from this verse:
1.
A New Interpretation of Righteous Deeds:

The system of Khilafah established by the Companions ؓ is the religion favored by Allah, and Allah chose this religion for them. The characteristics of this system of Khilafah are described in Surah Hajj, verse 41, that when We grant such believers authority, they establish the system, prayer, and zakat, enjoin good, and forbid evil. From this clarification, it is also understood what kind of deeds are considered righteous deeds and what acts are meant by this term in Shariah. We had to clarify this because some misguided people interpret righteous deeds as acts that have the potential to gain power, i.e., any acts by which power can be attained. According to them, any nation that currently holds power is the true believer, and its deeds are righteous, even if that nation is disbelieving, polytheistic, or atheistic. Obviously, this misguided thinking nullifies all the teachings of the Book and Sunnah.
2.
The Virtue of the Companions:

This system of Khilafah became so strong that its awe prevailed over the entire earth, and this era continued to progress until the martyrdom of Hazrat Uthman ؓ. Although later, due to internal disputes among Muslims, decline began to set in, this system continued for a long time afterward.
3. There was not even a trace of shirk in this system; the individual and collective lives of the people were completely free from every kind of shirk. All these things prove the great virtue of the Companions ؓ.

Which Deeds Are Righteous?

Now the question remains: was this promise of Allah specific only to the Companions, or is it also for later believers? The answer is found in this very verse: just as this promise was for the believers before the Companions, why would it not be for the believers who come later? Provided that they possess the mentioned qualities, i.e., they are true believers, perform righteous deeds, establish the system, prayer, and zakat, enjoin good, forbid evil, their sole purpose is the establishment of Allah’s religion or the system of Khilafah, and they strive for it with all possible effort. Their lives are completely free from shirk, they fear only Allah and rely only on Him, they work together in unity and consultation, and avoid division, because the Noble Quran also counts division among the types of shirk. If the believers adopt these qualities, there is no reason why Allah would not fulfill His promise to them.
[84] That is, whoever, even after such a promise and firm glad tidings from Allah to the believers or the Companions, does not support them and chooses the path of disbelief and hypocrisy, such people are certainly evildoers. And some scholars have explained this phrase to mean that even after the Khilafah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs is established and the religion is strengthened, whoever denies that the religion adopted by the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the Companions ؓ was the religion favored by Allah, such people are evildoers.