Tafseer: Whoever Says It and Then Dies Upon It, Then He is The One Who is Steadfast

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Allaah, the Most High, says;

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنْتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ

"Verily, those who say: 'Our Lord is Allah (Alone)' and then they hold fast or have Istiqaamah, on them the angels will descend (saying): 'Fear not, nor grieve! But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised!'"

[Surah Fussilat 41:30]

Imaam Aboo Abdullah Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Qurtubee [May Allaah have Mercy on him] said about this Aayah:

Ibn 'Abbaas [May Allaah be Pleased with him] narrated that this Aayah was revealed about Aboo Bakr [May Allaah be Pleased with him] as he said;

"The Mushrikeen used to say, 'Our Lord is Allaah and His daughters are the angels and they intercede on our behalf.' These people are not steadfast or don’t have Istiqaamah.

Aboo Bakr [May Allaah be Pleased with him] would say to them, 'Our Lord is Allaah, Alone without any partners and Muhammad [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him] is His Slave and His Messenger' and these people remained steadfast or had Istiqaamah upon it."

It has also been narrated in at-Tirmidhee that Anas bin Maalik [May Allaah be Pleased with him] said after reciting this Aayah, "Most of the people say this but then they do Kufr and this is the case with most of the people. Whoever says it and then dies upon it, then he is the one who is steadfast."

It has been narrated that Aboo Bakr as-Siddeeq [May Allaah be Pleased with him] said that steadfastness means we do not do Shirk with Allaah in the slightest.

'Uthmaan bin 'Affaan [May Allaah be Pleased with him] said that steadfastness means we make our actions for Allaah alone.

'Alee bin Abee Taalib [May Allaah be Pleased with him] said that steadfastness meant we fulfill what is obligatory upon us.

Qataadah [May Allaah have Mercy on him] said that it meant we be obedient to Allaah.

I say: all of the various definitions of Istiqaamah that have been given can be concluded by saying the following;

Be firm on obeying Allaah, in your beliefs, your speech and your actions and remain upon doing this. If you do this, the Angels will descend upon you.

Mujaahid and Ibn Zayd [May Allaah have Mercy on them] said that their descending refers to your time of death.  

Muqaatil and Qataadah said that it means that they will help you when you are being resurrected from your graves.

Ibn 'Abbaas said this is a glad tiding for you because it means that you will be with them in the Hereafter.

[Adapted from Jaami' Ahkaam al-Quraan wa Lama Tuddaman min as-Sunnah wa Ahkaam al-Furqaan (15/319-320)]

Al-Allaamah Taahir bin 'Ashoor [May Allaah have Mercy on him] said:

This is referring to the people who are elevated because of the statement, 'Our Lord is Allaah'. Because of this statement, they have no need to grieve from anyone, due to their strong connection to having Tawheed.

Their statement, 'Our Lord is Allaah' is a clear statement which confirms their 'Aqeedah. By saying this, they are limiting Godliness only to Him, meaning that they have no Lord except Allaah. This is a profound summary of their beliefs; they reaffirm Tawheed in Allaah which is a fruit of their sincerity in believing and following the Messenger [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him] and what he came with. The Mushrikeen didn’t believe in him and as a result they denied Eemaan and worshipped other than Allaah, therefore if you deny the Prophethood then this has a direct link to falling into Shirk.

The reality of being steadfast is for one to be free from any form of crookedness or corruption. Therefore, the reality of one being steadfast is for to tread on the path that is not twisted or curved.

Istiqaamah is a simile given for all types of goodness, to be unwavering in doing these good deeds based on following the truth, sincerity and obedience.  

The meaning of this Aayah is similar to what has been narrated in Saheeh al-Muslim that Sufyaan ath-Thaqafee [May Allaah be Pleased with him] asked the Prophet, "Oh Messenger of Allaah, teach a word in Islaam which I could only learn from you." The Messenger of Allaah [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him] replied, "Say: I believe in Allaah and then be steadfast."

Therefore we can conclude from the interpretations from the Salaf that the believer, because of his firm connection with Eemaan, he is made firm and because of this the Angels descend upon him, honouring him because he would say the statement, 'My Lord is Allaah' and he was steadfast on this. His 'Aqeedah was correct and he accepted the true 'Aqeedah by doing good deeds, these are the causes for his success.

These are the people who stand out from the rest, because of them being steadfast, their status is raised as they affirmed Tawheed and the benefits of Tawheed was spread over the deeds they did.

Therefore, Istiqaamah is to be steadfast on the truth, being balanced and free from extremism or negligence. From being negligent, he is always asking Allaah, The Most High, to guide him and from extremism, he asks Allaah, the Most High, to make him from the balanced nation, its basis on having sound and complete 'Aqeedah which helps him to remain steadfast. 

Therefore, having the correct 'Aqeedah can't lead to anything bad unlike those who have been misled in their 'Aqeedah. Some of them denied the Names and Attributes of Allaah whilst others likened Allaah to the creation. The one who is steadfast remains on the straight path, a path which is between Jabriyyah [the sect that denies free-will for humans] and Qadriyyah [the sect that denies Pre-Decree], the path between Rajaa [to give more importance to hoping for Allaah's Mercy and not fearing His Punishment] and Qunoot [to give more importance to the Punishment of Allaah and despairing of His Mercy], in all his actions he is balanced not negligent and not extreme.

The time when the Angels descend upon the believer is at the time when he is gathered, this is indicated in the part of the Aayah where is says, "which you have been promised."

So the situation at that time will be as the Angels being friends and allies with the believers. This is one of the ways that the believers will be dignified and made noble on that day, just as they will accompanied by the Messengers and the Prophets, Allaah will cause the Angels to descend upon them as well.

Meaning, upon every believer there will be at least two Angels appointed to descend upon him, just as they would in the worldly life, protecting them and recording their deeds. So they will descend upon them telling them not to fear nor grieve.

It is also possible that Angels can descend upon the believers in the worldly life. This descending, however, is invisible and unknown to the human, but the purpose of the Angels descending is to help the believers and encourage them to do good, telling them, 'don’t fear nor grieve', the opposite of the whispers that he gets from Shaytaan. So this descending is to promise the believer and encourage them to strive for Jannah, to replace harm with tranquility over them and to open their hearts to be steadfast in times of difficulty. This is the allying and friendship that is possible in the worldly life, preventing harm coming to them from those who are not from the party of Allaah.

[Adapted from At-Tahreer wa at-Tanweer (25/282-285)]