Surah 29

Surah 29:69

"But those who struggle for Us, We shall indeed guide them in Our ways. Surely God is indeed with the doers of good."
The Blessing of the Sanctuary Verses 29:67-69
Show Full Scripture Context (29:67-69) — 3 Verses
Verse 67

أَوَلَمۡ يَرَوۡاْ أَنَّا جَعَلۡنَا حَرَمًا ءَامِنٗا وَيُتَخَطَّفُ ٱلنَّاسُ مِنۡ حَوۡلِهِمۡۚ أَفَبِٱلۡبَٰطِلِ يُؤۡمِنُونَ وَبِنِعۡمَةِ ٱللَّهِ يَكۡفُرُونَ

Do they not see that We established a secure sanctuary (for them), while all around them the people are plundered? Do they believe in falsehood, but disbelieve in the blessing of God?

Verse 68

وَمَنۡ أَظۡلَمُ مِمَّنِ ٱفۡتَرَىٰ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوۡ كَذَّبَ بِٱلۡحَقِّ لَمَّا جَآءَهُۥٓۚ أَلَيۡسَ فِي جَهَنَّمَ مَثۡوٗى لِّلۡكَٰفِرِينَ

Who is more evil than the one who forges a lie against God, or calls the truth a lie when it comes to him? Is there not in Gehenna a dwelling place for the disbelievers?

Verse 69

وَٱلَّذِينَ جَٰهَدُواْ فِينَا لَنَهۡدِيَنَّهُمۡ سُبُلَنَاۚ وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَمَعَ ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ

But those who struggle for Us, We shall indeed guide them in Our ways. Surely God is indeed with the doers of good.

Here Allah reminds Quraysh how He blessed them by granting them access to His sanctuary which He has made (open) to (all) men, the dweller in it and the visitor from the country are equal there, and whoever enters it is safe, because he is in a place of great security, although the Arabs of the desert round about used to ambush and raid one another and kill one another. As Allah says:

For the protection of the Quraysh. The caravans to set forth safe in winter and in summer. So let them worship the Lord of this House. Who has fed them against hunger, and has made them safe from fear.

Quoted Scripture
"Then do they believe in falsehood, and deny the graces of Allah?"

means, is the thanks that they give for this immense blessing to associate others with Him and worship others besides Him, idols and rivals?

Have you not seen those who have changed the blessings of Allah into disbelief, and caused their people to dwell in the house of destruction?

They disbelieved in the Prophet, servant and Messenger of Allah, when what they should have done was to worship Allah Alone and not associate anything with Him, and to believe in, honor and respect the Messenger, but they rejected him and fought him, and expelled him from their midst. So, Allah took His blessing away from them, and killed those of them whom He killed at Badr, then His Messenger and the believers gained the upper hand, and Allah enabled His Messenger to conquer Makkah, and He disgraced them and humiliated them (the disbelievers).

Then Allah says:

Quoted Scripture
"And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or denies the truth, when it comes to him?"

There is no one who will be more severely punished than one who tells lies about Allah and says that Allah revealed something to him at the time when Allah did not reveal anything to him, or says, ‘I shall reveal something like that which Allah revealed.’ And there is no one who will be more severely punished than one who denies the truth when it comes to him, for the former is a fabricator and the latter is a disbeliever. Allah says:

Quoted Scripture
"Is there not a dwelling in Hell for the disbelievers?"

Then Allah says:

Quoted Scripture
"As for those who strive hard for Us,"

meaning the Messenger and his Companions and those who follow him, until the Day of Resurrection,

Quoted Scripture
"We will surely guide them to Our paths."

means, ‘We will help them to follow Our path in this world and the Hereafter.’

Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that ‘Abbas Al-Hamdani Abu Ahmad - one of the people of ‘Akka (Palestine) - said, concerning the Ayah:

Quoted Scripture
"As for those who strive hard for Us (in Our cause), We will surely guide them to Our paths. And verily, Allah is with the doers of good."

“Those who act upon what they know, Allah will guide them to that which they do not know.” Ahmad bin Abu Al-Hawari said, “I told this to Abu Sulayman Ad-Darani, and he liked it and said: ‘No one who is inspired to do something good should do it until he hears a report concerning that; if he hears a report then he should go ahead and do it, and praise Allah because it was in accordance with what he himself felt.’”

{And verily, Allah is with the doers of good.} Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ash-Sha'bi said; “Isa bin Maryam, peace be upon him, said: ‘Righteousness means doing good to those who ill-treat you, it does not mean doing good to those who do good to you.’” And Allah knows best.

This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Al-'Ankabut. All praise and thanks are due to Allah.

— from Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Vol. 7, Page 514)

About this Source & Scholarly Authority (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

Universal Sunni Consensus: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (701–774 AH / 1301–1373 AD) is universally regarded across all major schools of Sunni Islam (traditional, Salafi, Ash'ari) as the most authoritative classical exegesis. It is prized because it relies on Tafsir bil-Ma'thur—interpreting the Quran using the Quran itself, authentic Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, and recorded statements of the early Companions (Sahabah).

Standard English Edition: This text is from the standard 10-volume English abridgment published by Dar-us-Salam Publications (supervised by Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri), which is the official, most widely distributed English Quranic commentary in mosques and Islamic libraries worldwide today.