Surah Baqarah Verse 155 to 157:

The surah continues to mobilize the believers for the hard, long struggle ahead and increase their
understanding of things to come:

We shall certainly try you with a certain measure of fear and hunger, and with diminution of wealth,
lives and crops. But give glad tidings to those who remain patient in adversity. Who, when a calamity
befalls them, say, ‘To God we belong, and to Him we shall return.’ (Verses 155-156)

Trials are part of the process of education. The believers’ resolve to fight for the truth, and to bear in the
process whatever they may have to face of fear, hardship, poverty, famine, and loss of life, must be
rigorously tested. There is a price that believers have to pay in order to uphold their faith, and that price
is their own lives. Unless one’s faith becomes dearer to one than one’s own life, that faith has no chance
of survival at the very first serious test. This love and dedication to one’s faith must be apparent to
others on every occasion for them to appreciate its place and value in the believer’s heart. Such sacrifice
and perseverance demonstrate the believer’s love for his faith, and inspire others to respect it, examine
its merits and develop an interest in it.

That can open the hearts and minds of many people to Islam. Tests and trials bring out the best in
people, renew their energies, reinforce their resolve, and unleash within them latent powers that they
themselves knew nothing of.

Moreover, such experiences refine one’s perception and sharpen one’s mental and emotional vision and
judgement. Underlying all this is the fact that, when subjected to pressure and the severe demands of
the struggle, a believer will turn to no one else but God for help and solace, and will seek the support of
no other power than God’s. This will be done in full acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty and total
control over everything in this world.

“Give glad tidings to those who remain patient in adversity’. Who, when a calamity befalls them, say, ‘To
God we belong, and to Him we shall return.’” (Verses 155-156) God is the ultimate sovereign and final
arbiter. To Him we turn for guidance on every matter. This is the essence of true submission, which
comes from full recognition of His control of our destiny and our fate.

Such are the true believers who show patience and endure with fortitude. God’s Messenger gives them
the happy news of having earned their reward from God, the most bounteous. The blessings they
receive are guaranteed by God. Himself: “On such people, blessings and mercy are bestowed by their
Lord; such people will be rightly” (Verse 157) It is indeed a noble and honourable reward that they will
receive. Indeed, they share in the same type of reward the Prophet himself receives. What is more is
that they have a testimony by God making it clear that they are rightly guided.

This, again, is an honourable status. In the process of mobilizing the Muslims for their great struggle, or
jihad, God Almighty makes it clear that the believers’ only reward for making the sort of sacrifice
involved in struggle in God’s cause, which includes loss of life, property, hunger, worry, as well as
depletion of numbers and resources, will be God’s mercy and blessings.

No material victory, power or wealth whatsoever is promised here — only God’s mercy and blessings.
There is no promise of victory or having power in their own community. That pioneering Muslim
community was being prepared for a role that is more valuable than the very life of its members.
Members of that community had to be free of all personal ambitions and selfish desires, and the
community’s aims and objectives had to be free of all worldly considerations, including victory for Islam
through its own efforts.

The Qur’an teaches the Muslims to seek nothing in return for their obedience, struggle and hard work
but God’s pleasure, blessings and guidance. That is to be the ultimate goal of their endeavour, and these
will be the sweet fruits of their labour. As and when the victory comes, it will not be a victory for them
but for the religion and the way of life they represent and are striving to establish in society.

God’s mercy and blessings are ample reward for the believers’ perseverance and for the sacrifices they
make. In fact, they are a better reward than any material or worldly gain they aspire to achieve.

The foregoing passage has given us a glimpse of God’s amazing but effective approach in educating the
Muslim community and preparing its ranks for upholding His order and carrying it on to the rest of
mankind.