(16) “So do not let anyone who does not believe in it and follows his own desires turn you away from it, lest you perish.”

That is, do not let anyone who disbelieves in the Hour and does not believe that it will occur distract you and turn you away from believing in the Hour and the recompense, and from acting in preparation for it.

Such a person seeks to cast doubt upon it and make others doubt it. He disputes it with falsehood and raises every specious argument he can, following his own desires. His aim is not to arrive at the truth; his sole concern is to follow his desires. Beware, then, of listening to anyone in such a state or accepting any of his words and deeds that turn people away from believing in the Hour and duly preparing for it. Allah, Exalted is He, warns against people of this kind because, through their whisperings and deception (1), they pose one of the gravest dangers to the believer, especially since souls are naturally disposed to imitate and follow their fellow human beings.

This also alerts us to the need to beware of every advocate of falsehood who turns people away from the faith that is obligatory or from its perfection, or who casts doubt into the heart, and to beware of reading books containing such things. In these verses, He mentions belief in Him, worship of Him, and belief in the Last Day, because these three matters are the foundations of faith and the pillar of religion. When they are complete, religion is complete; and religion is diminished or lost when they are diminished or when any one of them is deficient.

This parallels the words of Allah, Exalted is He, stating the criterion by which the groups who were given the Scripture attain felicity or wretchedness: “Indeed, those who have believed, the Jews, the Sabians, and the Christians—whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does righteous deeds—no fear will be upon them, nor will they grieve.”