The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 175
PT. 1 AL-BAQARAH CH. 2 وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّلِحَتِ أُولَيكَ But they who believe and do. 83 اَصْحَبُ الْجَنَّةِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَلِدُونَ good works, those are the dwellers of Heaven; therein shall they abide. 89 general misdeeds, thus referring to the condition as to sinful actions. It must, however, be noted that, as occasional stumbling is generally pardonable with the Merciful God, provided the belief is good and provided further that there is an honest effort on one's part to live righteously, the words, he is encompassed by his sins, have been used to point to the fact that only such misdeeds can drive one to Hell as are so large in number as to virtually encompass a man, just as an invading army encompasses a besieged force, leaving it no way out. Coming as it does after a narration of the wrong beliefs and sinful deeds of the Israelites, the verse warns the Jews that with such a black record they should be ashamed to claim immunity from the punishment of Hellfire. 89. Important Words: (shall abide) signifies a long time but not necessarily time without end. See note on 2:26. Commentary: This verse sententiously sets forth the Divine law relating to salvation or the entry into Heaven. Almost all the religions of the world hold salvation as a monopoly for their adherents and condemn others to everlasting Hell. Islam has 175 Sobilikes raised its powerful voice against such notions, declaring them to be false and baseless. It does not lend the least support to the idea that salvation will come as a free gift to a certain class of men in whose case punishment, if resorted to at all, will only be a nominal one. According to Islam salvation can be attained only by combining true faith with good actions. The condition as to true faith serves as a warning to those people who reject certain Prophets of God and still hope to attain salvation because they belong to a specified class and are descended from certain holy persons. And the condition of good actions serves as a warning to those who are negligent in deeds, thinking that mere enrolment in the category of believers will bring salvation. Islam would have none of them. The word (shall abide) signifies a long, long time but not necessarily eternity. As will be noted, the word has been used in verses 82 and 83 both with regard to the inmates of Hell and of Heaven. This should not give rise to the misunderstanding either that both the punishment of Hell and the reward of Heaven are eternal or that both will come to an end after a long time. The Quran makes it clear elsewhere that though both the punishment of Hell and the reward