وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا وَمَنْ كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ ﴿۵۵﴾ وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ ﴿۵۶﴾

﴾55﴿ Wa'adal laahul lazeena aamanoo minkum wa 'amilus saalihaati la yastakhlifan nahum fil ardi kamastakh lafal lazeena min qablihim wa la yumakkinanna lahum deenahumul lazir tadaa lahum wa la yubaddilannahum mim ba'di khawfihim amnaa; ya'budoonanee laayushrikoona bee shai'aa; wa man kafara ba'da zaalika fa ulaaa'ika humul faasiqoon
﴾56﴿ Wa aqeemus Salaata wa aatuz Zakaata wa atee'ur Rasoola la'allakum turhamoon

﴾55﴿ Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous deeds (in obedience to the Prophet) that He will surely grant them succession on the earth, just as He granted it to those before them, and that He will firmly establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and He will surely replace their fear with security—provided that they worship Me, associating nothing with Me. But whoever disbelieves after that, it is they who are the defiantly disobedient
﴾56﴿ And establish prayer, give zakah, and obey the Messenger so that you may be shown mercy

[55] In this verse, there is glad tidings related to this worldly life for the believers. It means that, for the implementation of the rulings and laws of this Surah, Allah the Exalted grants khilāfah (leadership) to the believers. It also includes the humbling of the hypocrites.
Three causes of these glad tidings are mentioned in the verse:
1. Faith (īmān)
2. Righteous deeds (ʿamal ṣāliḥ)
3. Worshiping Allah alone, free of all shirk
And three glad tidings are also mentioned:
1. Leadership (istikhlāf)
2. Strengthening the religion of Islam (tamkīn)
3. Security and peace (amn)
The purpose of khilāfah is to make Islam dominant. And the dominance of Islam becomes a means for peace and safety—this is shown through the order of the words.
Since disbelief (kufr) is the greatest form of turning away from the obedience of Allah, and this disobedience is called fisq (corruption), and with fisq, leadership is taken away—this is why the verse ends with "al-fāsiqūn".
The phrase (الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ) refers to the Children of Israel. After Pharaoh's destruction, their khilāfah began. The best examples from that time are Dawud and Sulaymān (peace be upon them).
Benefit: The word “minkum” (from among you) indicates that this promise is not for every believer, but for some believers according to the will of Allah.
This promise began during the lifetime of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace). Islam became dominant in Makkah, Khaybar, Bahrain, the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen, Hajar, Bahrain, the surroundings of Syria and Oman, and Abyssinia—some areas were conquered, and others submitted by paying jizyah.
During the caliphate of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him), the apostates within the Arabian Peninsula were eliminated, and Basrah, Damascus, Ḥawrān, and the lands of Egypt and parts of Persia were conquered.
In the caliphate of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him), Syria, Egypt, most of Persia and Rome were conquered, and the treasuries of Caesar and Kisrā were distributed among the Muslims.
In the time of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (may Allah be pleased with him), the Islamic caliphate reached the western lands up to the Atlantic Ocean, and in the east to Iraq, Khurāsān, Ahwāz, Kabul, and others. After that, the strength of Muslims also spread to wider parts of the world including Sindh and India.
Note: Allah the Exalted has fulfilled His promise, but when the Muslims abandoned holding firmly to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, and instead adopted acts of shirk and imitated the disbelievers—considering such things to be part of religion—and when they preferred other laws over the laws of Shari‘ah, the outcome was reversed. That is, the disbelievers gained dominance over the Muslims in every land, and the Muslims became humiliated and defeated.
(O Allah, guide us to what You love and are pleased with. Grant us victory over our enemies, help us against them, and plot against them on our behalf. Do not give them power over us. Āmīn.)
[56] In this verse, three commands are mentioned for the preservation of khilāfah (leadership):
1. Establishing prayer (iqāmat al-ṣalāh)
2. Giving zakāt (ītā’ al-zakāh)
3. Obeying the Messenger in all moments of life, especially in the way of performing ṣalāh and giving zakāt, where his obedience is obligatory.