That is why the verse says...

That is why the verse says: “And when it is recited to them, they say: ‘We believe in it, verily it is the truth from our Lord…” Yes, the recitation of these verses was enough for them to affirm it and say: “We believe in it…”. Then they add that not only today they are surrendered to the Words of the Lord, but also they were Muslims from before.

The verse continues saying: “…verily even before it we had surrendered.” They implicitly say that they had found out signs of this Prophet (S) in their heavenly Book and loved him. They were expecting him, and as soon as they found him, they took him and accepted him eagerly and heartily.

Then, in the next holy verse, the Qur’an refers to the great reward of this group of truth seekers and says: “These shall be granted their reward twice for that they patiently endured…” They will be rewarded once for their belief in their own heavenly Book, to which they were really loyal, and once again for their belief in the Prophet of Islam (S), the promised prophet whom the earlier Books had informed of.

There is also this probability that they will be granted rewards twice, because, as it is understood from the previous verses, they believed in the Prophet of Islam (S) both before his advent and after his advent. For fulfilling their duty, they showed much patience and perseverance in both stages. Neither the deviated Jews and Christians approved their action, nor the imitation from ancestors and social atmosphere allowed them to leave their former religion.

But they stood firm, left their own interests and renounced their sensual desires, and, consequently, they gained the great Divine reward twice. Then, the Qur’an points to a group of their righteous deeds, each of which is worthier than the other. These actions are ‘averting evil with good’, ‘spending out of the Divine bounties’, and ‘facing with the ignorant magnificently.’ These qualities added to patience and perseverance, mentioned in the former sentence, make four outstanding qualities.

It begins saying: “…and avert evil with good…” They avert evils, such as: ugly words with good sayings, the indecency with virtue, the ignorance with knowledge, the enmity and grudge with kindness, and the rupture of relation with friendship and union of kindred. In short, instead of answering vice with vice, they try to repel it with goodness.