Many markets abound in our world, filled with buyers and sellers, winners and losers, honest and deceitful, trustworthy and dishonest, merchants and usurers, bidders and pretenders.
The goods vary, and so do their prices, from cheap to expensive. The types of purchases and the tastes of buyers differ, and deals are made in many places. Every day, the variety of items on display increases, ranging from necessities to luxuries. In the markets of this world, some even trade in values and sell their principles for a paltry price.
A deep reflection on the conditions of people makes us certain that everyone is trading and making deals on this earth, each with their own trade and transactions. But people are not alike in this regard; some evaluate their deals by the standards of Shariah, weighing them with noble values, while others are only concerned with amassing wealth and gaining power, even if it means delving into the forbidden.
With the diversity of sellers and buyers and the variety of merchants, there is a special deal of great significance and noble goals—blessed is the one who achieves it, pays its price, and meets its conditions!
A deal of majesty, beauty, awe, and perfection—the buyer in this deal is the Generous, Bountiful Lord, the All-Encompassing, All-Knowing. The sellers are the select few of His believing servants who have taken jihad as their path and the defense of the faith as their way. They have looked with insight and preferred the eternal over the ephemeral, choosing wisely and offering the price of the deal with complete satisfaction, their eyes content with what they have given.
The details, price, and outcomes of this special deal are found in the verse of Allah: "Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah, so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment." (At-Tawbah: 111).
Let us pause and reflect on this magnificent verse and the remarkable insights it contains in the following summarized points:
1. The caller to this blessed deal is Allah, the Self-Sufficient, Free of need from the worlds, who gives and enriches, and who has favored His servants. It is a profitable trade with no loss, for it is managed by the Most Generous and Bountiful of all.
2. The verse begins with an emphatic structure, using "Indeed" and a nominal sentence, to convey the meaning of permanence, continuity, and the greatness of this special deal.
3. The price offered by those who wish to enter into this agreement with their Lord is their wealth and their lives, which He granted them. It is a great price that cannot be paid by those whose resolve has weakened and who have made this world the extent of their knowledge and the greatest of their concerns. But those with conscious hearts, lofty aspirations, and enlightened insights resist all temptations to gain the pleasure of the Lord of the heavens and the earth, certain that what is with Allah is better and more enduring.
4. The precious reward for this special deal is worth the sacrifice and deserves the giving. Allah’s commodity is precious and high, His commodity is Paradise, as vast as the heavens and the earth, containing what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived.
5. The time and place to enter into this deal are open; people change, locations differ, and ages vary, but the profitable trade with Allah remains ongoing. The door to acceptance is open for those who wish to offer the price. Those who strive in His cause give all they have, paying the price, earning the rewards, and setting a leading example generation after generation for every Muslim who refuses oppression, defends the truth, and accepts nothing but to walk the path of jihad and earn the medal of martyrdom and leadership. Let us recite, reflecting: "They fight in the cause of Allah, so they kill and are killed."
6. The deal is guaranteed by Allah's promise, and who is more truthful than Allah in His speech? It is a promise documented in His Books, assured by His Messengers, peace be upon them. Let us recite with certainty of the loftiness and greatness of this tremendous deal: "[It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah?"
7. After this divine promise, only goodness will follow, and only glad tidings will come. Those who paid the price and made the deal with their Lord will see nothing but great success. Hence, the verse concludes with: "So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment."
8. After this deep reflection on this noble verse and the remarkable qualities it reveals, we must note that this verse is found in Surah At-Tawbah, a chapter that exposes hypocrisy and its people, clearly outlining their traits, evil morals, and dangerous behavior rooted in deceit and treachery, reflecting their cowardice, baseness, and love for this world, to the extent that they sell their Hereafter for a little worldly gain. Some even sell their Hereafter for someone else's worldly gain, earning nothing but clear loss.
9. In this exposing chapter that uncovers the hypocrites, their evil deeds, and their fate, we also find descriptions of the true believers, the people of jihad and giving, the ones who possess piety and excellence.
10. The traits of each group are clear and distinct. There is a vast difference between the people of hypocrisy and discord and the people of truth and jihad. Each of us has the choice to either be with the people of jihad, the ones with the special deal and great profit, or to join the people of hypocrisy, those with diseased hearts and a losing trade.
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