وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلْجَنَّةِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَٰلِدُونَ
“And those who believe and do good works: such are rightful owners of the Garden. They will abide therein.” — M. M. Pickthall
Fahreddin er-Râzî12-13. c.✓ Citation verified
In this text, Fahreddin er-Râzî states that the expression 'the people of paradise are only those who believe and perform righteous deeds' conveys restriction (hasr); however, he raises an objection to this, saying that the verse may have meant that these people are those who deserve paradise, and that Allah may give paradise to others through His grace, which would fall outside this ruling. He also conveys that the expression 'Our Lord is Allah, and then they remain steadfast' conveys restriction, and that this indicates that one who commits major sins without repenting cannot enter paradise.
وهذا يدل على أن أصحاب الجنة ليسوا إلا الذين قالوا ربنا الله ثم استقاموا ، وهذا يدل على أن صاحب الكبيرة قبل التوبة لا يدخل الجنة
Kurtubî13. c.✓ Citation verified
In this text, Kurtubî states that the relevant word in the verse is in the position of a subject (mubtada) in the nominative case in terms of grammatical analysis (i'rab), and its predicate is understood to mean 'the person who performs righteous deeds is not equal.' That is, the grammatical structure of the sentence is constructed in the context of comparison with the previous one.
في موضع رفع بالابتداء أيضا وخبره أي ولا يستوي العامل للصالحات
İbn Kesîr14. c.✓ Citation verified
According to İbn Kesîr, this verse informs that those who believe in Allah and His Messenger in their hearts and perform righteous deeds in accordance with the Sharia through their limbs are among the people of paradise. Faith in the heart is confirmation, and righteous deeds are the manifestation of this confirmation in the limbs by performing the commanded good deeds and abstaining from the prohibited evils. Thus, the heart and the inner self, along with the limbs and the outer self, are united in conformity with Allah's Sharia.
أي صدقت قلوبهم وعملت جوارحهم بما أمروا به من الخيرات وتركوا ما نهوا عنه من المنكرات أي آمنت قلوبهم وعملوا الصالحات بجوارحهم
Taberî9-10. c.✓ Citation verified
According to Taberî, those who believe in Allah and His Messenger and obey Him are not equal to the disbelievers who rebel against their Lord. According to this view, those who believe and perform righteous deeds are the people of paradise and they remain there eternally; in contrast, those who will remain eternally in the fire are the people of evil, and these two groups are different from one another.
فكان معلوما بذلك أن الذين لهم الخلود في النار من أهل السيئات، غير الذي لهم الخلود في الجنة من أهل الإيمان
Beydâvî13. c.✓ Citation verified
According to Beydâvî, the expression 'nay' (bala) has come to refute the disbelievers' claim that the fire will not touch them except for a short time, and the expressions 'evil deed' and 'his sin has encompassed him' are specific to the disbeliever; for sin to completely encompass a person only occurs in the case of disbelief. For this reason, the predecessors interpreted this encompassing as disbelief. Furthermore, it is stated that there is no definitive evidence in this verse that the person who commits major sins will remain eternally in hell.
ولذلك فسرها السلف بالكفر
Comparison
Common ground
Most of the exegetes agree that the verse mentions faith and righteous deeds together as the characteristic of the people of paradise, and that believers and disbelievers or the people of evil cannot be considered equal. Taberî and İbn Kesîr present a reading close to each other on the point that faith is confirmation in the heart and righteous deeds are its manifestation outwardly.
Differences
While Fahreddin er-Râzî approaches the issue through the method of linguistic and rhetorical analysis and dialectical objection-response, discussing the possibility that the expression of restriction would not limit Allah's grace, Kurtubî focuses on the grammatical structure of the sentence through purely grammatical analysis. While Taberî places transmission materials (from Ibn Abbas, Ibn Zeyd) at the center, Beydâvî uses both linguistic analysis and earlier transmission reports to emphasize that there is no definitive evidence that the person who commits major sins will remain eternally in hell; this reflects a theological sensitivity.
Historical context
Taberî's early period method, which was heavily transmission-focused, evolved into more linguistic and theological analysis in later exegetes (Fahreddin er-Râzî, Beydâvî); Kurtubî, on the other hand, provided a different axis by concentrating on linguistic grammatical analysis. While the basic framework (the unity of faith and deed and the distinction between believer and disbeliever) remains fixed, interpretive diversity has deepened over time on theologically contested points such as the status of the person who commits major sins.
Modern connection
This comparative reading can remind us that faith is not merely a matter of heart confirmation but gains meaning through actions, that is, through the harmony of knowledge and deed. In daily life, this can be considered as an encouragement for a person to manifest their belief through a constructive and service-oriented attitude; with patience and sincerity. Moreover, the presentation of different interpretations together with respect can be shown as an example of the spirit of tolerance and dialogue.
AI analysis — not a fatwa or ruling, not yet reviewed by a scholar