“Allah is the Protector of those who believe: He brings them out of darkness into light. As for those who disbelieve, their protectors are false deities, who bring them out of light into darkness. They are the people of the Fire, abiding therein forever.” (257)
Allah Most High says: “Allah is the Protector of those who believe”—their Helper and Supporter. It was also said: the One who loves them. And it was said: the One who takes charge of their affairs and does not entrust them to anyone else. Al-Hasan said: He is the Guardian of their guidance. “He brings them out of darkness into light”: that is, from disbelief to faith. Al-Waqidi said: Everywhere in the Quran where darkness and light are mentioned, they refer to disbelief and faith, except in Surat al-Anam: “And He made the darknesses and the light,” where they refer to night and day. Disbelief is called darkness because its path is obscure, while Islam is called light because its path is clear.
“As for those who disbelieve, their protectors are false deities.” Muqatil said: This refers to Kab ibn al-Ashraf, Huyayy ibn Akhtab, and all the other leaders of misguidance. “Who bring them out of light into darkness”: that is, they call them away from light into darkness. The term taghut (false deity) may be used as masculine or feminine, and in the singular or plural. Allah Most High uses it in the masculine singular: “They seek to refer judgment to a false deity, although they were commanded to reject it” (60—al-Nisa); in the feminine: “Those who shun false deities and do not worship them” (17—al-Zumar); and in the plural: “Who bring them out of light into darkness.”
If it is asked: How can He say, “They bring them out of light,” when they are disbelievers who had never been in the light? It is said: They were the Jews, who had believed in Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, before he was sent, because they found his description in their scriptures; but when he was sent, they disbelieved in him. It was also said that this applies generally to all disbelievers: preventing them from entering it is described as bringing them out of it, just as a man may say to his father, “You have excluded me from your wealth,” although he never possessed any of it. Likewise, Allah Most High relates that Joseph said: “I have forsaken the religion of a people who do not believe in Allah” (37—Yusuf), although he had never belonged to their religion. “They are the people of the Fire, abiding therein forever.”
“Have you not considered the one who disputed with Abraham concerning his Lord, because Allah had given him kingship? When Abraham said, ‘My Lord is He who gives life and causes death,’ he said, ‘I give life and cause death.’ Abraham said, ‘Indeed, Allah brings the sun from the east, so bring it from the west.’ Thus the one who disbelieved was dumbfounded. And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.” (258)
Allah Most High says: “Have you not considered the one who disputed with Abraham concerning his Lord?” That is, has the account of the one who disputed with Abraham—that is, who contended and argued with him—reached you, O Muhammad? He was Nimrod, the first man to place a crown upon his head, act tyrannically in the earth, and claim lordship. “Because Allah had given him kingship”: that is, because Allah had given him kingship, he transgressed. Thus, that dispute arose from the arrogance and tyranny brought about by his kingship. Mujahid said: Four men ruled the earth: two believers and two disbelievers. The two believers were Solomon and Dhu al-Qarnayn, while the two disbelievers were Nimrod and Nebuchadnezzar.
They differed concerning when this debate took place. Muqatil said: When Abraham smashed the idols, Nimrod imprisoned him, then brought him out to burn him in the fire. He said to him, “Who is your Lord, to whom you call us?” Abraham replied, “My Lord is He who gives life and causes death.” Others said that this occurred after he had been cast into the fire. This was because people suffered famine during Nimrod’s reign and used to procure food from him (1), and whenever