and make them enter the gardens of perpetuity which Thou...

and make them enter the gardens of perpetuity which Thou hast promised to them and those who do good of their fathers and their wives and their offsprings, surely Thou are the Mighty, the Wise” (40:7-8) . It shows that the angels and the bearers of the throne ask forgiveness for “those who believe”; then the same group has been referred to as “those who turn (to Thee) and follow Thy way”.

(“turn” actually means, return.) The prayer continues to “make them (i.e., those who believe) enter the garden” and then joins to them the doers of good from among “their fathers and their wives and their offspring.” If the epithet, “those who believe”, were to include all those who believed in the Apostle of Allah (S) irrespective of the quality of their belief, then it would have covered their fathers, wives and children as well (who do good); and there would have been no need to mention them separately; all would have equally benefited from the prayer for those who believe.

Also, have a look at the verse: And (as for) those who believe and their offspring follow them in faith, We will unite with them their offspring and We will not diminish to them aught of their work; every man is responsible for what he has wrought (52:21): If the offspring who followed them in faith, were included in the epithet, “those who believe”, there would be no sense in saying that the offspring would be united with them.

Even if we were to say that the verse refers to the generation after generation of the believers, that every succeeding generation will be united to the preceding one (provided both believed in the Apostle of Allah - S), the meaning would not seem very proper in the context. If that were the import of the verse, then why this “uniting”? Also, what purpose would be served by the sentence, “and We will not diminish to them aught of their work”?

Such an inter­pretation may prove correct for one generation only, that is, the last one before the Day of Resurrection - that they would be united with the preceding generation. But nobody has suggested this meaning as it goes clearly against the context.

What such an interpretation would boil down to is as follows: All the believers are united, one of them being from another; all of them are of one rank; none has any excellence over the others; nor has an earlier believer any superiority over the later ones; their main qualification is the true belief, and all of them are equal in it.