Saliha

Meaning of Saliha

Saliha means righteous, virtuous, intact, and good, it is the opposite of corrupt. In the Quran Saliha often means “good deed” when used by itself, and “virtuous and pious” when used to describe a person. Saliha is the feminine form of Salih and you can see more details about this word in our article on Salih.

The plural of Saliha, Ṣāliḥāt is used most frequently in the Quran in the phrase “those who believe and do good deeds” (over 60 times), which is a central theme of the Quran that communicates the concept that in Islam belief by itself is not enough, it should always be accompanied by doing good deeds. One such verse is the following:

And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, “This is what we were provided with before.” And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally. {Surat al-Baqarah 2:25}

The plural of Saliha, Ṣāliḥāt, is also used once the Quran to refer to virtuous female believers, in verse 34 of Surat an-Nisa’:

Men are protectors of women, because God has made some of them excel others and because they spend their wealth on them. So virtuous women are obedient and guard in the husband’s absence what God would have them guard…

Further Quranic Verses:

“To Him is your return all together. [It is] the promise of Allah [which is] truth. Indeed, He begins the [process of] creation and then repeats it that He may reward those who believed and did righteous deeds, in justice. But those who disbelieved will have a drink of scalding water and a painful punishment for what they used to deny.” (10:4)

“Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one’s] hope.” (18:46)

“Indeed, Allah will admit those who believed and did righteous deeds to gardens beneath which rivers flow. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and pearl, and their garments therein will be silk.” (22:23)