Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (3/186)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

“So whoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his heart to Islam; and whoever He wills to lead astray, He makes his heart tight and constricted, as though he were climbing up into the sky. Thus does Allah place defilement upon those who do not believe.” (125)

His saying, Exalted is He: “So whoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his heart to Islam”—that is, He opens and illuminates his heart until he accepts Islam. When this verse was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked about the opening of the heart. He said: “It is a light that Allah casts into the heart of the believer, whereupon it opens and expands.” It was asked, “Does it have any sign?” (1) He replied: “Yes: turning in repentance toward the Abode of Eternity, withdrawing from the abode of delusion, and preparing for death before death descends.” (2)

His saying, Exalted is He: “And whoever He wills to lead astray, He makes his heart tight”—Ibn Kathir recited it here and in Surah al-Furqan as “tight,” without the doubled consonant, while the rest recited it with a doubled consonant. Both are dialectal variants, like hayn and hayyin, and layn and layyin. “Constricted”: the scholars of Medina and Abu Bakr recited it with the ra’ vowelled with kasrah, while the rest recited it with fathah. These too are dialectal variants, like dinaf and danaf. Sibawayh said: with fathah, haraj is a verbal noun, like talab, meaning “possessing constriction”; with kasrah, it is a noun, and denotes the most severe constriction. That is, He makes his heart so tight that faith cannot enter it. Al-Kalbi said: “There is no passage for goodness within it.” Ibn Abbas said: “When he hears the remembrance of Allah, his heart recoils; but when something concerning the worship of idols is mentioned, he is pleased by it.”

Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, recited this verse and asked a Bedouin from Kinanah, “What does harajah mean among you?” He replied, “Among us, harajah is a tree standing amid other trees which neither grazing livestock, nor wild animals, nor anything else can reach.” Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Such is the heart of the hypocrite: no goodness can reach it.”

(1) In manuscript B: “min alamat” (among the signs). (2) Reported by al-Tabari, 12:98-102; and by al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma wa al-Sifat, 1:257-258. Al-Bayhaqi said: “This has a disconnected chain.” See also al-Durr al-Manthur, 3:354, where it is attributed to Ibn al-Mubarak in al-Zuhd, Abd al-Razzaq, al-Firyabi, Ibn Abi Shaybah, Abd ibn Humayd, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abi Hatim. Shaykh Mahmud Shakir judged it weak in his annotations to al-Tabari, whereas Ibn Kathir considered it strengthened by its multiple chains, 2:176. (3) Omitted from manuscript B.

﴿فَمَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَهْدِيَهُ يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلَامِ وَمَنْ يُرِدْ أَنْ يُضِلَّهُ يَجْعَلْ صَدْرَهُ ضَيِّقًا حَرَجًا كَأَنَّمَا يَصَّعَّدُ فِي السَّمَاءِ كَذَلِكَ يَجْعَلُ اللَّهُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ (١٢٥) ﴾ قَوْلُهُ ﷿: ﴿فَمَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَهْدِيَهُ يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلَامِ﴾ أَيْ: يَفْتَحْ قَلْبَهُ وَيُنَوِّرْهُ حَتَّى يَقْبَلَ الْإِسْلَامَ، وَلَمَّا نَزَلَتْ هَذِهِ الْآيَةُ سُئِلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَنْ شَرْحِ الصَّدْرِ، فَقَالَ: "نُورٌ يَقْذِفُهُ اللَّهُ فِي قَلْبِ الْمُؤْمِنِ فَيَنْشَرِحُ لَهُ وَيَنْفَسِحُ"، قِيلَ: فَهَلْ لِذَلِكَ [أَمَارَةٌ؟] (١) قَالَ: "نَعَمْ، الْإِنَابَةُ إِلَى دَارِ الْخُلُودِ وَالتَّجَافِي عَنْ دَارِ الْغُرُورِ وَالِاسْتِعْدَادُ لِلْمَوْتِ قَبْلَ نُزُولِ الْمَوْتِ" (٢) . قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَمَنْ يُرِدْ أَنْ يُضِلَّهُ يَجْعَلْ صَدْرَهُ ضَيِّقًا﴾ قَرَأَ ابْنُ كَثِيرٍ " ضَيْقًا " بِالتَّخْفِيفِ هَاهُنَا وَفِي الْفُرْقَانِ، وَالْبَاقُونَ بِالتَّشْدِيدِ، وَهُمَا لُغَتَانِ مِثْلُ: هَيْنٍ وَهَيِّنٍ وَلَيْنٍ وَلَيِّنٍ، ﴿حَرَجًا﴾ قَرَأَ أَهْلُ الْمَدِينَةِ وَأَبُو بَكْرٍ بِكَسْرِ الرَّاءِ وَالْبَاقُونَ بِفَتْحِهَا، وَهُمَا لُغَتَانِ أَيْضًا مِثْلُ: الدِّنَفِ وَالدَّنَفِ، وَقَالَ سِيبَوَيْهِ الْحَرَجُ بِالْفَتْحِ: الْمَصْدَرُ [كَالطَّلَبِ، وَمَعْنَاهُ ذَا حَرَجٍ] (٣) وَبِالْكَسْرِ الِاسْمِ، وَهُوَ أَشَدُّ الضِّيقِ، يَعْنِي: يَجْعَلْ قَلْبَهُ ضَيِّقًا حَتَّى لَا يَدْخُلَهُ الْإِيمَانُ، وَقَالَ الْكَلْبِيُّ: لَيْسَ لِلْخَيْرِ فِيهِ مَنْفَذٌ. وَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: إِذَا سَمِعَ ذِكْرَ اللَّهِ اشْمَأَزَّ قَلْبُهُ، وَإِذَا ذَكَرَ شَيْئًا مِنْ عِبَادَةِ الْأَصْنَامِ ارْتَاحَ إِلَى ذَلِكَ. وَقَرَأَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ ﵁ هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ، فَسَأَلَ أَعْرَابِيًّا مِنْ كِنَانَةَ: مَا الْحَرِجَةُ فِيكُمْ؟ قَالَ: الْحَرِجَةُ فِينَا الشَّجَرَةُ تَكُونُ بَيْنَ الْأَشْجَارِ الَّتِي لَا تَصِلُ إِلَيْهَا رَاعِيَةٌ وَلَا وَحْشِيَّةٌ وَلَا شَيْءٌ، فَقَالَ عُمَرُ ﵁: كَذَلِكَ قَلْبُ الْمُنَافِقِ لَا يَصِلُ إِلَيْهِ شَيْءٌ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ.

(١) في "ب": (من علامة) . (٢) أخرجه الطبري: ١٢ / ٩٨-١٠٢، والبيهقي في الأسماء والصفات: ١ / ٢٥٧-٢٥٨ قال البيهقي: "هذا منقطع". وانظر: الدر المنثور: ٣ / ٣٥٤. فقد عزاه لابن المبارك في الزهد، وعبد الرزاق، والفريابي، وابن أبي شيبة، وعبد بن حميد، وابن المنذر، وابن أبي حاتم. وضعفه الشيخ محمود شاكر في تعليقه على الطبري. وقواه ابن كثير لتعدد طرقه: ٢ / ١٧٦. (٣) ساقط من "ب".