Who are the inheritors of the Quran? How should we understand the verse "Then We have given the Book for inheritance to such of Our Servants as We have chosen: but there are among them some who wrong their own souls; some who follow a middle course,.."

Who are the inheritors of the Quran? How should we understand the verse "Then We have given the Book for inheritance to such of Our Servants as We have chosen: but there are among them some who wrong their own souls; some who follow a middle course,.." (Fatir, 35/32)?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The verse regarding the issue is as follows:

"Then We have given the Book for inheritance to such of Our Servants as We have chosen: but there are among them some who wrong their own souls; some who follow a middle course; and some who are, by Allah´s leave, foremost in good deeds; that is the highest Grace." (Fatir, 35/32)

Then, we made that book, that is, the Quran, inheritance to Our servants We have chosen. That is, we made the distinguished ones We have chosen among your ummah after you as inheritors to it. Thus, the ummah of Muhammad is the most distinguished ummah and the best ones among them are the scholars who became inheritors to the Prophet by memorizing the Quran. Some of them wrong their own souls because they do not read the Quran as it is necessary and cannot act in accordance with it; some of them follow a middle course; they sometimes act in accordance with it and sometimes do not. Some of them are foremost in good deeds by the permission of Allah. They overtake others in good deeds and become imams and leaders; they are the real inheritors to the Prophet.

"And those Foremost (in Faith) will be Foremost (in the Hereafter). These will be those Nearest to Allah: In Gardens of Bliss." (al-Waqia, 56/10-12)

They are the ones praised by the verse above. This is the highest grace: to overtake others in good deeds. (Elmalılı Hamdi YAZIR, Kur'an-ı Kerim Tefsiri)

Muslims, whom Allah made inheritors to the Book after the Prophet (pbuh) to convey it to others, are indicated here. The Quran, which is the last book of Allah, was sent to the whole humanity. However, only those who read that holy book and act in compliance with it become inheritors to it and the instructions brought by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).

Not all Muslims are the same. Therefore, they are dealt with in three groups:

a) "Those who believe in Allah and His Messenger (pbuh) but who do not act in compliance with the instructions." They wrong their own souls. They are believers but they are not rebels; they are sinners. Their beliefs are weak but they are not unbelievers in terms of heart and mind; they are not munafiqs (hypocrites), either. They commit crimes since they wrong their souls but they are not excluded from being inheritors to Allah’s Book. However, rebels, munafiqs, and unbelievers in terms of mind cannot be inheritors. The people in this group form the majority.

b) "Those who follow a middle course." They are the people who act in compliance with the criteria for being inheritors partly, not fully. They try to obey the orders of Allah and the instructions of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) but they act lazily and commit sins. There are both good deeds and bad deeds in their lives. They are fewer than the first group but more than the third group.

c) "Those who are foremost in good deeds and compete one another for good deeds." They are the main inheritors to the Book because they fulfill all of the necessities of being inheritors. They obey the Book and the Sunnah, try to convey the message of Islam to people and try to sacrifice themselves for the religion. Such people do not commit sins deliberately. If they commit sins, they regret and repent; they ask forgiveness from Allah. 

They are mentioned in the third place because they are fewer than the people in the first and second groups. In fact, these people, who fulfill the necessities of being inheritors fully, are honored by being in the first place. The phrase "that is the highest grace" indicates the people who compete one another for the goodness of the ummah and shows the most approved people of the ummah. If we associate this phrase with the whole verse, it is a virtue for everybody who accepts the Quran and the instructions of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).

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