Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 177

177. Righteousness is not that you turn your faces towards the east or the west [221], but true righteousness is in one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Books, and the prophets; and gives wealth, out of love for Him [221a], to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask, and for freeing slaves; and establishes prayer and gives zakah; and those who fulfill their promises when they make them, and are patient in poverty, hardship, and during battle. Such are the ones who are truthful, and such are the righteous.

[221]
The Real Acts of Righteousness Instead of Disputing Over the Change of Qiblah:

When the Jews of Madinah made the issue of the change of Qiblah a constant subject of dispute with the Muslims, this verse was revealed in which Allah clarified that turning one's face to the east or the west is not such an act of righteousness upon which salvation in the Hereafter depends. Rather, the real and major acts of righteousness are other things, and most of these were such that the Jews were incapable of fulfilling them or would fall short in their performance. First, Allah described the various types of faith in the unseen. The Jews considered Jibreel their enemy, even though it was through him that Allah continued to reveal His word. Then, they did not believe in the Gospel and the Quran, and even in their own book, they did not truly believe, having incorporated countless incorrect beliefs about the Hereafter into their creed. After this, Allah mentioned charity and its rightful recipients. In this regard, they were deficient because they were usurers, and it is inevitable that the nature of a usurer develops miserliness and harshness. Then Allah mentioned the fulfillment of promises, whereas the history of the Jews is full of breaches of covenant, and they were so cowardly that none of their tribes dared to fight the Muslims in open field. Thus, the qualities of the truthful and God-fearing people that Allah has described, the majority of the Jews were devoid of them.

Why is only the fulfillment of promises and patience mentioned? At this point, Allah mentioned only two things related to character and conduct: one is the fulfillment of promises, and the other is patience. Whether the promise is between one person and another, or with a nation, or between one nation and another, or with Allah, and whether it relates to acts of worship, transactions, or marriages, fulfilling that promise is obligatory in every case. And it is evident that this promise is, in fact, a promise to fulfill rights, which encompasses a person's entire life, and in the matter of fulfilling promises, various difficulties may arise. Therefore, along with it, the command of patience and steadfastness was given, and three occasions for patience were specifically mentioned. One is «باسَاء», which means a time of hardship, difficulty, and poverty. The second is "darraa," which means a period of physical pain and illness. The third is "heena al-ba's," meaning during war and even when the conditions of war have arisen. And if one reflects, it will be clear that these are the very situations where, at times, a person's steadfastness may falter. That is why Allah specifically mentioned these occasions. Then, those who fulfill their promises, or in other words, fulfill rights, and do not falter in their steadfastness even in the most difficult times, such people are truly deserving of being called truthful and God-fearing. Thus, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, in the most delicate situations, fulfilled promises and set many examples of this in history. We cannot detail them all here; just a few references to incidents will suffice.

Examples of Fulfilling Promises in the Prophetic Era ﷺ:

1. Hudhaifah bin Yaman and Abu Haseel ؓ (the kunyah of Yaman) were on their way to participate in the Battle of Badr when they fell into the hands of the Quraysh of Makkah, who released them only after extracting a promise that they would not take part in the Battle of Badr. These two Companions, after being freed from the Quraysh, reached the field of Badr and reported the entire incident to the Prophet ﷺ. At that time, the Muslims were very few in number, and the Prophet ﷺ was in dire need of every single man. Nevertheless, he ﷺ ordered both of them to return and said, "Fulfill your promise; Allah will help us." [مسلم، كتاب الجهاد والسير، باب الوفا بالعهد]

2. During the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, Abu Jandal, shackled in chains, escaped from the captivity of the Quraysh of Makkah and reached the Muslims. Abu Jandal pleaded, showing his wounds and telling his story, that he should not be handed back to the disbelievers. At that moment, all the Muslims felt that, no matter what, Abu Jandal should not be handed over to the disbelievers. But the Prophet ﷺ, solely for the sake of fulfilling the promise, handed Abu Jandal over to the Quraysh envoy Suhail bin Amr (who was Abu Jandal's father). While advising Abu Jandal to be patient, he ﷺ said that Allah would make a way out for him. [بخاري، كتاب الشروط، باب الشروط فى الجهاد و المصالحه مع اهل الحرب]

3. During the 'Umrah of Qada, the Quraysh of Makkah did not tolerate that the Muslims perform the rites of 'Umrah freely before their eyes. Therefore, the city was vacated for three days. If, instead of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, there had been a worldly general, he could have easily seized Makkah. But the thought did not even cross the Prophet's ﷺ mind to take advantage of this golden opportunity. He ﷺ fulfilled his promise and, after three days, set out on the return journey from Makkah.

After the Prophet ﷺ, the way the Muslims fulfilled such promises is also recorded in many incidents, which continue to adorn the books of history and biography to this day.

In [221a] in «عليٰ حبه», if the pronoun in «ه» refers to Allah, then its meaning is as is clear from the translation. And if the pronoun refers to wealth, then it would mean that those people, despite their love for wealth, spend it in the way of Allah. And it is evident that spending something beloved in the way of Allah, or spending while restraining one's own need, or spending during times of famine and high prices, is only possible when there is a strong motivating force, and this motivation can be nothing other than the love of Allah and obedience to Him. Therefore, in practice, both meanings are included simultaneously in «عليٰ حبه».