Surah Muhammad Notes (5-9)

Source: Ibn Kathir

(5) He will guide them and set right their state.

(He will guide them) meaning, He will guide them to Jannah. This is similar to Allah's saying,

(Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous good deeds, their Lord will guide them because of their Faith: beneath them, rivers will flow in the Gardens of Pleasure.) (10:9) Allah says,

(and amend their condition.) meaning, their situation, and affairs.

(6) And admit them to Paradise which He has made known to them (i.e. they will know their places in Paradise more than they used to know their houses in the world).

(And (He will) admit them to Paradise, which He has made known to them.) It means that He has acquainted them with Paradise and guided them to it. Mujahid said: "The people of Paradise will be guided to their houses and dwellings and whatever sections Allah has ordained for them in it. They will not make mistakes in this, nor will they ask anyone for directions to their dwellings -- as if they had dwelt in it from the time they were first created.'' 

Al-Bukhari recorded from Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, that Allah's Messenger said,

(After the believers securely pass the Fire (on the Day of Judgement), they will be held back upon a bridge between Paradise and the Fire. There, they will have any acts of injustice that they committed against one another in the life of this world rectified. After they are completely purified and cleansed (from injustice), they will be admitted into Paradise. By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, each one of them will find his way to his dwelling in Paradise better than he found his way to his dwelling in the worldly life.)

Support Allah's Cause, He will then support You

(7) O you who believe! If you help (in the cause of) Allah, He will help you, and make your foothold firm.

Allah then says:

(O you who believe! If you support (the cause of) Allah, He will support you and make your foothold firm.) This is similar to His saying,

(Indeed, Allah will surely support those who support Him (His cause).) (22:40) 

That is because the reward is comparable to the type of deed that is performed. 

Thus, Allah says here,

(and make your foothold firm.) 

Allah then says,

(8) But those who disbelieve (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism), for them is destruction, and (Allah) will make their deeds vain.

(But as for those who disbelieve -- misery awaits them) This misery is the opposite of making firm the footholds of the believers who support the cause of Allah and His Messenger. 

It has been confirmed in a Hadith that Allah's Messenger said, (Misery awaits the servant of the Dinar; misery awaits the servant of the Dirham; misery awaits the servant of velvet. Misery awaits him, and degeneracy; and if he is pricked by a thorn, may he not find anyone to pull it for him.) This means may Allah not cure him. 

Then Allah says,

(and (Allah) will make their deeds vain.) meaning, He will nullify them and make them fruitless. 

(9) That is because they hate that which Allah has sent down (this Quran and Islamic laws, etc.), so He has made their deeds fruitless.

Thus, Allah says,

(That is because they hate that which Allah has sent down;) which means that they did not want or like what Allah revealed.

(so He made their deeds fruitless.)