The Quran

Preface

وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذينَ آمَنوا مِنكُم وَعَمِلُوا الصّالِحاتِ لَيَستَخلِفَنَّهُم فِي الأَرضِ كَمَا استَخلَفَ الَّذينَ مِن قَبلِهِم وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُم دينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارتَضىٰ لَهُم وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِن بَعدِ خَوفِهِم أَمنًا ۚ يَعبُدونَني لا يُشرِكونَ بي شَيئًا ۚ وَمَن كَفَرَ بَعدَ ذٰلِكَ فَأُولٰئِكَ هُمُ الفاسِقونَ

Yusuf Ali

God has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He¹ will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance (of power), as He granted it to those before them; that He will establish in authority their religion - the one which He has chosen for them; and that He will change (their state), after the fear² in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: ?They will worship Me (alone) and not associate aught with Me. ###?If any do reject Faith after this, they are rebellious and wicked.

Three things are promised here, to those who have Faith and obey God’s Law: (1) that they will inherit power and authority on the land, not for any selfish purposes of theirs by way of favouritism, but in order that they may maintain God’s Law; (2) that the Religion of Right, which God has chosen for them, will be openly established, and will suppress all wrong and oppression; (3) that the righteous will live in peace and security, instead of having to suffer persecution, or leave their hearths and homes for the cause of God, or practise the rites of their Faith in secret.
If this verse was revealed about the time of the Battle of the Ditch (al Khandaq), also called the Battle of the Confederates (al Ahzab), A.H. 4-5, we can imagine the comfort it gave to the Muslims who were besieged in Medīna by a force ten times their number. The Muslims then lived in a state of great suspense and danger, and under arms for days on end. (See 33:9-20). The security and authority they were promised came to them subsequently in abundant measures.