Those Who Are Successful

In more than fifty verses of the Qur'an, it is reported that those who believe and fulfill the requirements of iman will achieve salvation and receive eternal bliss and happiness.

What a blessing it is to reach the end of the journey in this life, having pleased Allahu (subhanahu wa ta’ala) and being worthy of the blessings promised in the akhirah! This is true success and attainment for a believer.

In more than fifty verses of the Qur'an, it is reported that those who believe and fulfill the requirements of iman will achieve salvation and receive eternal bliss and happiness. This situation, usually expressed by the concepts of falah (salvation, success) and fawz (accomplishment), refers to bliss and happiness in this world, as well as salvation, especially in the Hereafter.

For whom is salvation meant?

In the verses where the characteristics of those who attain salvation are mentioned, there is a strong emphasis on the principles of iman and what having such an iman requires one to believe. In this respect, in the first verses of surah Al-Baqarah, some characteristics of believers, iman, in particular, are listed. Subsequently in the fifth verse, it is emphasized that they are among those who attain salvation:

“Who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them, and who believe in what has been revealed to you, [O Muḥammad], and what was revealed before you, and of the Hereafter, they are certain in faith. Those are upon [right] guidance from their Lord, and it is those who are the successful” (Al-Baqarah, 2-5).

“Iman and righteous deeds,” two of the characteristics of believers who are heralded with the attainment of salvation, are also included in various verses of the Holy Qur’an. (Al-Mu’minun 111; An-Nor 51; Al-Qasas 88; Al-Jathiyah 30; At-Taghabun 9)

“Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds will have gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great attainment” (Al-Buruj, 11).

After iman and good deeds, the most strenuously highlighted characteristic is taqwa, which means avoiding transgressing against Allah as scrupulously as one who watches their every step and is wary not to offend someone infinitely greater than themselves. The Almighty Allah, who gives good news to his servants in the Qur’an by saying, “Indeed, for the righteous is attainment” (An-Naba 31), also describes the way to salvation in many verses: “...fear Allah so that you may succeed.” (Al-Baqarah, 189; Ali Imran, 130, 200; Al-Maidah, 35, 100).

According to the statement of the Holy Qur’an, those who first accepted Islam among the Muhajirin and Ansar, those who migrated from Makkah to Medinah, and those in Medinah who welcomed, helped, and hosted them, as well as those who followed them with good conduct, are heralded with eternal salvation.

“And the first forerunners [in the faith] among the Muhajireen and the Ansar and those who followed them with good conduct - Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment.” (At-Tawbah, 100).

Among the people heralded with great attainment (eternal success, salvation), some also strive to help the cause of Allah with their possessions and lives:

“The ones who have believed, emigrated, and striven in the cause of Allah with their wealth and their lives are greater in rank in the sight of Allah. And it is those who are the attainers [of success]” (At-Tawbah, 20).

In another verse, Allah the Exalted declares that He has bought the lives and possessions of those who strive for His cause in exchange for Heaven and that this exchange is the greatest gain and salvation:

“Indeed, Allah has purchased, from the believers, their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight for the cause of Allah, so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah, and the Gospel, and the Qur’an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah? So, rejoice in your transaction, which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment.” (At-Tawbah, 111)

Although this verse was revealed as a result of the Pledge of Aqabah made by a group from Ansar, it is also good news for all believers who have lived and will live in this world until Judgment Day.

Today's jihad does not usually take place in the form of fighting and dying on the battlefield; however, inviting people to good and truth, enjoining good and preventing evil, and therefore serving as an instrument for people’s irshad, meaning their guidance to the righteous, straight path,is also considered a kind of jihad. Besides, as in the verse above, those who strive with their possessions and lives to invite people to good are also mentioned among those who are successful. 

“And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful” (Al-Imran, 104).

Characteristics of those who are successful 

In the continuing verses of surah Al-Mu’minun, which begins with “Certainly will the believers have succeeded,” the characteristics of those who are successful are listed as follows:

• Those who are during their prayer humbly intent.

• Those who keep themselves away from vain things.

• Those who are observant of zakat.

• Those who guard their private parts.

• Those who are to their trusts and promises attentive.

• Those who carefully maintain their prayers.

• Those who will inherit al-Firdaws. They will abide therein eternally. (Al-Mu’minun, 1-11)

The Noble Qur’an also informs the awliya of Allah, his close servants whom He loves and protects and who have been assured against fear and grief, that they will be successful by giving good tidings about their fate in this world and the akhirah: 

“Unquestionably, [for] the allies of Allah, there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve. Those who believed and were fearing Allah, for them are good tidings in the worldly life and the Hereafter. No change is there in the words [i.e., decrees] of Allah. That is what is the great attainment.” (Yunus, 62-64)

The characteristics of those who are successful are not limited to those mentioned above. Other characteristics stated in various verses of the Qur'an include:

·         Those who obey Allah and His Messenger. (An-Nisa, 13; An-Nur, 52; Al-Ahzab, 71)

·         Those who are drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise. (Al-Imran, 185; Ad-Dukhan, 57; Al-Hashr, 20)

·        Those who are protected from the stinginess of their soul. (Al-Hashr, 9; At-Taghabun, 16)

·        Those who purify themselves. (Al-A’la, 14; Ash-Shams, 9)

·        Those whose scale will be heavy ‘with good deeds’ on the Day of Judgment. (Al-A’raf, 8; Al-Mu’minun, 102)

·        Those who give their relative his right, as well as the needy and the traveler. (Ar-Rum, 38)

·         Those who do not consume usury. (Ali Imran, 130)

·        Those who avoid intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone altars [to other than Allah], and divining arrows. (Al-Maidah, 90)

·        Those who often remember Allah. (Al-Anfal, 45; Al-Ju’muah, 10)

·        Those who repent to Allah. (An-Nur, 31; Al-Qasas, 88; Ghafir, 9)

·        Those who have no affection for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they are their fathers, sons, brothers, or kindred. (Al-Mujadila, 22)

The land of salvation

The Almighty Allah, who heralds reaching Heaven and the blessings therein as a great attainment, mentions some of the features and eternity of Heaven in multiple verses. (An-Nisa, 13; Al-Maidah, 119; At-Tawbah, 89; Gafir, 9; Al-Fath, 5; Al-Hadid, 12; As-Saf, 6)

In one of these verses, the Heaven where the believers who have achieved success will arrive and the blessings that they will receive are reported as follows:

“Allah has promised the believing men and believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence; but approval from Allah is greater. It is that which is the great attainment” (At-Tawbah, 72).

Those who are deprived

While the characteristics of believers mentioned above are some of the means for success in reaching salvation, the qualities and classifications of those who will never achieve success are specified in some verses as follows:

·         Disbelievers, (Al-Mu’minun, 117; Al-Qasas, 82)

·        Those who invent about Allah a lie or deny His verses (Al-An’am, 21; Yunus, 17, 69; An-Nahl, 116)

·        Wrongdoers (Al-An’am, 135; Yusuf, 23; Al-Qasas, 37)

·        Magicians (Yunus, 77; Taha, 69)

The call for success

The adhan, called five times a day, invites us to success. “Hayya ala'l-falah” is a call for success. Informing that prayer is the key to Heaven, the land of salvation, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says:

“The prayer of a person who performs five daily prayers without missing will be brightness, evidence, and salvation for him on the Day of Judgment” (Musnad 2/169).

Indeed, those who will succeed will be those who heed the invitation of Allah and His Messenger and do what needs to be done to honor this duty until their last breaths.

Abdülkadir Alioğlu