The verse refers...

The verse refers, of course, to willingness to defend the sanctity of Islam and the Qur'an, to the virtue of heroically resisting the unbelievers and atheists even to the point of attaining martyrdom. This is the highest point the believer can reach: the desire to sacrifice himself for the sake of his pure goals and thereby to join the caravan of martyrs.

He regards it as a great duty to guard God's religion and to strive for the implementation of the commands of the Qur'an, and he therefore exerts great effort to secure the security and survival of the religion of God. Such a protector of the true faith must necessarily begin by purifying himself and avoiding all kinds of pollution by sin and disobedience to God.

It is only then that he may properly return his soul the loftiest trust which he has been given to God, its true owner, while fighting for the sake of His religion. He will then receive the reward of life everlasting in the company of God's chosen elite. The Qur'an says: “God has bought the properties and souls of the believers in exchange for paradise. They are to strive in the path of God, destroying the enemies of religion or themselves being killed.

This is a firm promise of God, binding upon Him, contained in the Torah, the Gospels and the Qur'an, and who is more faithful to his promises than God? O believers, rejoice in this transaction, for it truly guarantees great happiness” (9:111). The Qur'an also draws attention to the punishment being suffered before the occurrence of resurrection by those bound for hellfire: “Hellfire has already encompassed the unbelievers” (9:49) .

After death, the spirits of the virtuous will rejoice in liberation from the constricting cage of this world, they will delight in their ability to roam freely through the infinite. Life on the earthly plane is concerned only with the limited amount of matter that is visible on the surface of the earth. By contrast, the spirits of the virtuous know no limitation of space or time as they continue their upward ascent.

Each in accordance with its rank advances joyfully to its specific station and degree, and everywhere it enjoys unhindered access. The eyes of the blessed witness pure and uncontaminated sources of eternal beauty in comparison with which the beauties of this world are slight and inconsequential. The spirit is no longer subject to the limits imposed on it by a weary, heavy body; it is not accompanied by the broken and suffering countenance of old age.