3. Except those who believe (3) and do righteous deeds (4), and (those) who exhort one another to accept truth (5), (those who) counsel one another to be patient.
3. They are not in a state of loss but in gain. Says Allah Almighty: "Then those have two-fold increase"(S30:V39). Then as the faith is strong so will the gain be greater. Ask the Prince of Martyrs of Karbala about the taste of this gain, who sacrificed everything to gain everything. The Sufi sages say that at every breath of the negligent person his age is Recreasing, just like the utensil having holes from which every drop flows and is being wasted and the utensil eventually becomes empty. Every breath of the pious believer is being accumulated in the Divine Treasury Where it is increasing, like the drops of a distilled mixture from a distilling apparatus gather in a bottle to provide cure for the patients and are a means of gain for the herbalist. For this reason the martyrs on the conclusion of these breaths do not die, but acquire eternal life: "But they are alive, yes you are unaware"(S2: V154). The profit of life is worship; otherwise there will be disgrace. If the angels, jinns, etc. too are believers, yet here believers denote human beings, because Paradise is the outcome of the faith of human beings.
4. From this emerge a few issues:
1. Faith is precedence over deeds. Without faith no deed is acceptable. The heart is the king and all the limbs are the subjects. If the king is defective the kingdom, too, is defective. If the heart harbours defective beliefs then the good deeds are useless.
2. No believer should be heedless of the good deeds. Only he will eat the fruit who will protect the branches joined to the roots.
3. The believer should perform all types of good deeds as is being known from the generality of pious deeds. It is important to remember that there are many outer and inner limbs and the function of each limb is separate. Each deed is of three types-permissible, rewardable and sinful.
Do deeds that are permissible and rewardable, but refrain from s deeds that are sinful.
4. Do good deeds at all times as can be seen from the application of "They do". This tells us that a farmer protects and takes care of the field until the harvest is cut. Just like that, the believer should do good deeds until the time of his death. He must protect this field from his enemy, the devil.
5. He had at all times commanded one another towards faith and good deeds. Or, until the time of death had counselled the people towards doing good deeds, like how Hazrat Ebrahim and Hazrat Yaqub (On them be peace) had counselled their children, and how our Holy Prophet until his last breath counselled his followers to establish Salaah and meting out good treatment to their slaves and servants.
From this emerge a few issues:
1. First become pious then counsel others towards piety as can be understood from this narrative format.
2. At all times engage in propagational activities as is understood from the application of "they had counselled."
3. Every believer should become a preacher. One who knows any issue should explain it to the one who is unaware of it. Propagation is not the duty of the Islamic scholars alone as is understood by the generality of the subject of “they had counselled”.
4. One should propagate under all conditions and at every opportunity and should not be restricted to functions and the stage.
5. Like the Salaah and Fasting, propagation, too, is important.
6. People in general should propagate with all their might verbally and sincerely, while the Ulama (Scholars) should do this verbally and through their writing to spread the laws of Allah Almighty, as is understood from the generality of "they had counselled."
6. The literal meaning of patience is to stop, cause to stop, but technically it is used to stop the baser-self from breaking the limits of religion. Hold the reins of frenzied horses tightly so that they are able to move properly without plunging you in the right and left pit. Likewise, straighten your baser-self by pulling it tightly with the reigns of Shariah. Stop the people from indulging in frivolous activities. Or during joyous moments and when in fear. Do not become bored when performing your Worships. Thus, there are three categories of patience, while this verse is all comprehensive.
