Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 103 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:103

وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَٱتَّقَوْا۟ لَمَثُوبَةٌ مِّنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ خَيْرٌ ۖ لَّوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ

“And if they had believed and feared Allāh, then the reward from Allāh would have been [far] better, if they only knew.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Straight after the verdict, an open door: belief and mindfulness bring a lasting reward from Allah, and even a little of it is better.

A reflection

A little from Him, and it lasts

A young copywriter is offered a well-paid role writing adverts for a betting app. The money would clear her student loan in three years. She turns it down and takes a job at a housing charity, on two-thirds of the salary. Her friends think she is mad. Some nights she wonders too.

The ayah speaks straight into that wondering: 'if they had believed and been mindful of Allah, a reward from Allah would have been better'. The commentaries point to two small features of the grammar. First, the reward is stated as a settled fact, not as a verb that might or might not happen. A linguist-commentator compares it to the greeting salāmun ʿalaykum, phrased the same way to show that it stays. Second, 'a reward' is indefinite. Another commentary draws out what that implies. Even a little of Allah's reward, in a life that lasts, is better than a great deal in a life that ends.

The ayah also leaves something out on purpose. Better than what? It does not say. The same commentary suggests why: the reward is too honourable to be set beside what they sold themselves for.

What is asked is belief and taqwā. A major early commentator spells it out: fear His punishment, do what He requires and avoid what He forbids. The root of taqwā pictures a shield carried through life, care rather than panic.

Allah gains nothing from any of it. 'If you do good, you do good for yourselves' (17:7). The reward is for the one who earns it.

Many people today are told that their worth is their salary. They chase the larger number and still feel short-changed. The ayah offers a different measure. It is not against money. It simply asks what lasts, and Who is paying.

The copywriter still has her student loan. She also has something the salary could not have bought. She can tell her children what she does all day.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.