Surah An-Noor (24) — Ayah 55

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.