الوعد
al-Waʿd
The divine promise of reward for good deeds; it is Allah’s part of the covenant (ʿahd, mithaq) between Him and humanity
What it means
Al-Waʿd is the promise of Allah to reward good deeds. Ismail al Faruqi presents it as His part of the ʿahd or mīthāq, the covenant between Allah and human beings, in which humans in turn take on obligations. The Quran affirms that “the promise of Allah is true” (10:4). The promise gives believers hope and balances the fear of punishment. It is matched by al-waʿīd, the warning of punishment for evil, so that the two together form the divine side of the covenant. Muslims rely on the promise because they hold that Allah does not break His word.
Often misunderstood as
That it is a mere promise in the human sense, when it is part of a covenant in which humans also have obligations.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 47, listed as AL WA'D. The definition is restated here.