Consequently, individuals began responding to him one after another despite the fierce opposition of his own people. His tribe—and others—resisted him, plotted harm against him, and strove with all their might, in word and deed, to snuff out his call. All the while he debated them, challenging them to bring forth something comparable to this Quran. They knew full well that he was the truthful, the trustworthy, yet they persisted in obstinate denial of Allah’s signs, just as He said: “It is not you they call a liar; rather, the wrongdoers reject the revelations of Allah.” (Surah al-An‘am, 33).

Because they listened to the Quran in a spirit of disbelief, denial, and rejection—having resolved within themselves to oppose it—Allah declared that He placed coverings upon their hearts so they could not comprehend it, deafness in their ears, and that they would never be guided (1). All of this came about through the vile principle they had chosen, one that bars its possessor from every good and every form of guidance.

Herein lies a lesson in the Creator’s wisdom regarding the misguidance of those who go astray: when they preferred error and actively sought it, Allah handed them over to what they had chosen and left them to wander blindly in their tyranny. When they spurned the favor of Allah once it reached them, He overturned their hearts, sealed their hearing, and blinded both their sight and their inner vision. This description, to which we have just alluded, is mentioned by Allah in His Book about them (2). It will help you grasp the many verses in which He speaks of their deviation, the closing of every avenue of guidance before them, and their hearts’ refusal to accept the truth. The fault is theirs alone—they are the cause of it. Allah says: “Some He guided aright, while for others misguidance became inevitable, for they took the devils as allies instead of Allah.” (Surah al-A‘raf, 30).