Surah At-Tawbah: 111
"Indeed, Allah has purchased..."
Allah likens their reward of Paradise, in exchange for sacrificing their lives and wealth in His cause, to a commercial transaction.
It is narrated: He traded with them and gave them a high price.
Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: He granted them both deals together.
Al-Hasan said: They are souls He created and wealth He provided.
It is narrated that when the Ansar pledged allegiance to him at Al-Aqabah, Abdullah ibn Rawahah said: "Stipulate for your Lord and for yourself whatever you wish." He replied: "I stipulate for my Lord that you worship Him and associate nothing with Him, and I stipulate for myself that you protect me as you protect yourselves." They asked: "If we do that, what is ours?" He said: "For you is Paradise." They replied: "A profitable trade; we shall not rescind it, nor shall we ask to be released from it."
A Bedouin passed by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) while he was reciting this verse and asked: "Whose speech is this?" He replied: "The speech of Allah." The Bedouin said: "A trade from Allah that is profitable; we shall not rescind it, nor shall we ask to be released from it." He then went out to battle and was martyred.
{They fight}: This carries the meaning of a command, similar to His saying: "And you strive in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives" (As-Saff: 11).
It is also read as yaqtulun (they kill) and yuqtalun (they are killed), with the first being active and the second passive, and vice versa.
{A promise}: An emphatic verbal noun (masdar). He informs us that this promise, which He has made to those who strive in His cause, is a firm promise He established in the Torah and the Gospel, just as He established it in the Quran.
{And who is truer to his covenant than Allah?}: Because breaking a promise is ugly, and noble people do not commit it, even though it is possible for them due to their needs. How then could it be attributed to the Self-Sufficient, for whom ugliness is never possible? You will not find an encouragement for Jihad more beautiful or more eloquent than this.
{The repentant, the worshippers, the praisers, the travelers, those who bow, those who prostrate, those who enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and those who observe the limits of Allah. And give good tidings to the believers.}
