Surah Al-A'raaf (7) — Ayah 43

(Ayah 43) ➊ { وَ نَزَعْنَا مَا فِيْ صُدُوْرِهِمْ مِّنْ غِلٍّ:} In a long hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding the attributes of the people of Paradise, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Their hearts will be like the heart of a single man; there will be no mutual differences nor mutual hatred among them." [ بخاری، بدء الخلق، باب ما جاء فی صفۃ الجنۃ : ۳۲۴۶ ]
If there was any hatred among them in the world, they will enter Paradise after being purified of it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When the believers will be saved from the Fire, they will be stopped on a bridge between Paradise and Hell, then they will settle the wrongs they did to each other in the world, until when they are purified and cleansed, they will be permitted to enter Paradise." [ بخاری، المظالم، باب قصاص المظالم : ۶۵۳۵، عن أبی سعید الخدری رضی اللہ عنہ ] The grudges present in the hearts include the mutual grievances of the Companions and the Followers, which arose in the world due to political or other reasons.

➋ { وَ قَالُوا الْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ الَّذِيْ هَدٰىنَا …… :} That is, this guidance by which we were granted the ability to have faith and do righteous deeds, and then they were honored with acceptance, is a special mercy and grace of Allah. If it were not for this, we would not have reached this point.

➌ {اُوْرِثْتُمُوْهَا بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُوْنَ:} This "ba" is for causation, not for exchange, meaning Allah will say to them that this Paradise is being given to you as a gift from My grace, without you paying any price or compensation, just as inheritance is given without any compensation, and the reason for this honor is your righteous deeds in the world. Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "None of you will enter Paradise because of his deeds." The people asked: "O Messenger of Allah! Not even you?" He said: "No, not even me, unless Allah covers me with His grace and mercy." [ بخاری، الرقاق، باب القصد والمداومۃ علی العمل : ۶۴۶۳، ۶۴۶۴ ] From the verse, it is understood that Allah's mercy will be based on human deeds, that is, his righteous deeds will be the cause of mercy. See Surah Al-Baqarah (2:218).

43. 1 Allah, the Exalted, will bestow a favor upon the people of Paradise that He will remove from their chests any feelings of malice and enmity towards one another, and then their hearts will become as clear as mirrors regarding each other; there will remain no grudge or enmity in anyone's heart for another. Some have explained its meaning as that the people of Paradise will not envy each other over the differences in ranks and stations among them. The first meaning is supported by a hadith in which it is mentioned that the people of Paradise will be stopped on a bridge between Paradise and Hell, and whatever wrongs they had done to each other will be settled among them, until when they are completely purified, then they will be allowed to enter Paradise (Sahih Bukhari).

43. 2 That is, this guidance through which we attained a life of faith and righteous deeds, and then also achieved the status of acceptance in the court of Allah, this is a special mercy and grace of Allah. If this mercy and grace had not been there, we could not have reached here. The same meaning is found in the hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ said, "Know well that none of you will enter Paradise merely because of his deeds, until Allah's mercy is there." The companions asked, "O Messenger of Allah, even you?" He ﷺ replied, "Yes, even I will not enter Paradise until the mercy of Allah envelops me."

43. 3 This explanation is not contrary to the previous statement and the mentioned hadith, because the divine enablement (taufiq) to do good deeds itself is also a grace and favor from Allah.

43. And We will remove whatever resentment [42] may be in their hearts. Rivers will flow beneath them, and they will say, "All praise is for Allah, Who guided us to this (Paradise). Had Allah not guided us, we would never have found the way. Surely, the messengers of our Lord came with the truth." Then a call will be made to them: "This is the Paradise you have been made to inherit as a reward for what you used to do [43] in the world."

[42]
The Removal of Mutual Grudges Before Entering Paradise:

Here, the word "ghill" is used, which means displeasure, "dirt," grudge, malice, envy, etc. One meaning is that if any of those entering Paradise had any resentment, displeasure, dirt, or grudge in their hearts about another in this world, or if the memory of any unpleasant incident remained in anyone's heart, then before entering Paradise, Allah Almighty will erase such resentment from their hearts; they will not remember anything, and they will enter Paradise with completely pure hearts toward one another. Another meaning could be that Paradise has one hundred levels, and everyone will receive a level according to their deeds, and it is possible that those in the lower levels may feel envy toward those in the higher levels. Allah Almighty says that in such a case, He will remove envy from their hearts; everyone will be content and satisfied with their own level, and there will be absolutely no envy in their hearts for those of higher ranks.

[43]
Examples of Islam’s Superior Moral Teachings:

This verse is a rare example of Islam’s superior moral teachings and of keeping mutual relations among people harmonious and pleasant. Although some seemingly contradictory things are also found in it, I will first mention one or two examples of this. For instance, see: Zaid borrows some money from Bakr for a fixed period. Now, Bakr is commanded that if Zaid cannot repay the loan at the agreed time or is not in a position to do so, he should grant him more time, and every single day of this additional respite will be a reward of charity for him, and if he forgives the debt altogether, that is even better for him. [2: 280] Because Allah has promised to forgive the sins of such a person. On the other hand, the debtor, i.e., Zaid, is strictly commanded to fulfill his promise and repay the loan at the appointed time or even earlier, and if he dies without repaying the loan, he will not attain salvation until one of his heirs pays off his debt or someone becomes a guarantor for his debt, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would not perform the funeral prayer of such a debtor until someone became a guarantor for his debt; otherwise, he would say to the Companions ؓ: "You yourselves perform the funeral prayer for your brother." [بخاري۔ كتاب فى الاستقراض، باب الصلوة على من ترك دينا]

Another example is this: for instance, Zaid does a favor to Bakr. Now, Bakr is commanded that he should, at some time, return the favor, and if he is not in a position to do so, then at least he should thank him, and if he does both, that is even better. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Whoever does not thank people (whose favor he feels), how will he thank Allah?" [ترمذي۔ ابواب البروالصله، باب فى الشكر لمن احسن اليك] On the other hand, Zaid (the one who did the favor) is commanded that he should not expect any return or thanks from Bakr. [76: 9]

Attaining Paradise Is Purely by Allah’s Mercy:

Exactly the same situation is in this verse: those entering Paradise will say that if Allah’s guidance and support and the guidance of His Messenger ﷺ had not been granted to us, we could never have reached this Paradise; it is purely Allah’s grace that we have received this Paradise. On the other hand, Allah Almighty, to encourage the people of Paradise, says: "This Paradise is the reward for your deeds that you used to do in the world," and Allah has mentioned this matter several times in the Quran. Whereas the reality is that no matter how many good deeds a person does in this world, he cannot even repay Allah’s previous favors, so how can he become deserving of Paradise? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ once stated this very reality, so Hazrat Aisha ؓ said: "O Messenger of Allah! Will you also not enter Paradise in exchange for your deeds?" He replied: "Not even I." Then he said:
«إلا أن يتغمدني الله برحمة»
[بخاري۔ كتاب الرقاق، باب القصد و المداومة على العمل]
"Except that Allah covers me with His mercy."

The Blessings of Paradise:

Furthermore, this verse also contains the indication that Allah Almighty said: "This Paradise is being given to you as an inheritance," and the attainment of inheritance does not depend on any deed. Another indication found in this is that this is the very Paradise from which you were expelled; since you spent your worldly life as obedient servants of Allah, that same Paradise is being granted to you as an inheritance, and the people of Paradise will receive blessings there without asking. See the following hadith regarding this: It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ and Abu Sa'id Khudri ؓ that the Prophet ﷺ said: "A caller will call out: 'O people of Paradise! You will remain healthy and never fall ill, you will live and never die, you will remain young and never grow old, you will live in bliss and never experience sorrow or grief.'" This is the meaning of Allah’s statement: ﴿وَتَوَدُّوْا .... تَعلمون﴾ [مسلم۔ كتاب الجنة و صفة نعيمها واهلها]