An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 100 of 176

An-Nisa 4:100

۞ وَمَن يُهَاجِرْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ يَجِدْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مُرَٰغَمًا كَثِيرًا وَسَعَةً ۚ وَمَن يَخْرُجْ مِنۢ بَيْتِهِۦ مُهَاجِرًا إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ ثُمَّ يُدْرِكْهُ ٱلْمَوْتُ فَقَدْ وَقَعَ أَجْرُهُۥ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا

“And whoever emigrates for the cause of Allāh will find on the earth many [alternative] locations and abundance. And whoever leaves his home as an emigrant to Allāh and His Messenger and then death overtakes him - his reward has already become incumbent upon Allāh. And Allāh is ever Forgiving and Merciful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Whoever leaves for Allah finds room and refuge on the earth; whoever dies on the road has a reward already landed with Allah.

A reflection

A reward that has already landed

Fa-qad waqaʿa ajruhu ʿalā Allāh. His reward has fallen upon Allah.

The verb has a vivid root. One lexicon gives it one origin: the falling of a thing. A bird is wāqiʿ when it folds its wings and drops onto its spot. Rain has places where it comes down and pools where it stays. What was in the air is now down, settled, and cannot be taken back.

So the reward of the one who died on the road is not floating, waiting on whether he arrived. It has already landed. Commentators explain it as made due by Allah's own promise and generosity.

This is humbling. We tend to think our reward depends on finishing, on being seen to finish. The ayah takes that out of our hands. The arrival was never ours to guarantee. The One who promised took the outcome upon Himself.

Picture a man who raised money for nine years for a new mosque in his town. Bake sales, letters, a thousand awkward phone calls. He dies four months before it opens. At the first Friday prayer his son stands at the back, looking at a building his father never entered. The imam mentions him by name. His son thinks: he did arrive, just not here.

Does Allah bind Himself like this because He needs our thanks? No. He closes with His names, ghafūran raḥīmā. One commentator explains them here. He forgives the delay before the person set out. And in mercy He completes the reward of his journey and his intention.

What good work are you holding back from beginning, because you are not sure you will finish it?

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.