Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (450)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

(106–109) “Whoever disbelieves in Allah after having believed—except one who is compelled while his heart remains secure in faith—but those who willingly open their hearts to disbelief, upon them is wrath from Allah, and they will have a tremendous punishment. * That is because they preferred the life of this world to the Hereafter, and because Allah does not guide the disbelieving people. * Those are the ones whose hearts, hearing, and sight Allah has sealed, and it is they who are heedless. * Without doubt, it is they who will be the losers in the Hereafter.”

Allah Most High relates the appalling condition of “whoever disbelieves in Allah after having believed”: he becomes blind after having seen, returns to misguidance after having been guided, and willingly and contentedly opens his heart to disbelief. Such people incur severe wrath from the Most Merciful Lord; when He is angry, nothing can withstand His wrath, and all things become angry with them. “And they will have a tremendous punishment”—that is, one of the utmost severity, which will last forever.

“That is because they preferred the life of this world to the Hereafter”: they turned back in apostasy, coveting some paltry worldly gain, desiring it and disdaining the good of the Hereafter. When they chose disbelief over faith, Allah withheld guidance from them and did not guide them, because disbelief had become their defining trait. He therefore sealed their hearts so that no good could enter them, and sealed their hearing and sight so that nothing beneficial could pass through them and reach their hearts. Heedlessness thus engulfed them, abandonment encompassed them, and they were deprived of Allah’s mercy, which encompasses all things. This was because His mercy came to them, but they rejected it; it was offered to them, but they refused to accept it.

“Without doubt, it is they who will be the losers in the Hereafter”: those who will lose themselves, their wealth, and their families on the Day of Resurrection, miss everlasting bliss, and receive the painful punishment.

This is in contrast to one who is coerced and compelled to utter disbelief while his heart remains secure in faith and desirous of it. He incurs neither blame nor sin, and he is permitted to utter a word of disbelief when compelled to do so.

﴿١٠٦ - ١٠٩﴾ ﴿مَنْ كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ إِيمَانِهِ إِلا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالإيمَانِ وَلَكِنْ مَنْ شَرَحَ بِالْكُفْرِ صَدْرًا فَعَلَيْهِمْ غَضَبٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ * ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمُ اسْتَحَبُّوا الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا عَلَى الآخِرَةِ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْكَافِرِينَ * أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ طَبَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ وَسَمْعِهِمْ وَأَبْصَارِهِمْ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْغَافِلُونَ * لا جَرَمَ أَنَّهُمْ فِي الآخِرَةِ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ﴾ . يخبر تعالى عن شناعة حال ﴿مَنْ كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ إِيمَانِهِ﴾ فعمى بعد ما أبصر ورجع إلى الضلال بعد ما اهتدى، وشرح صدره بالكفر راضيا به مطمئنا أن لهم الغضب الشديد من الرب الرحيم الذي إذا غضب لم يقم لغضبه شيء وغضب عليهم كل شيء، ﴿وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ﴾ أي: في غاية الشدة مع أنه دائم أبدا. و ﴿ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمُ اسْتَحَبُّوا الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا عَلَى الآخِرَةِ﴾ حيث ارتدوا على أدبارهم طمعا في شيء من حطام الدنيا، ورغبة فيه وزهدا في خير الآخرة، فلما اختاروا الكفر على الإيمان منعهم الله الهداية فلم يهدهم لأن الكفر وصفهم، فطبع على قلوبهم فلا يدخلها خير، وعلى سمعهم وعلى أبصارهم فلا ينفذ منها ما ينفعهم ويصل إلى قلوبهم. فشملتهم الغفلة وأحاط بهم الخذلان، وحرموا رحمة الله التي وسعت كل شيء، وذلك أنها أتتهم فردوها، وعرضت عليهم فلم يقبلوها. ﴿لا جَرَمَ أَنَّهُمْ فِي الآخِرَةِ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ﴾ الذين خسروا أنفسهم وأموالهم وأهليهم يوم القيامة وفاتهم النعيم المقيم وحصلوا على العذاب الأليم. وهذا بخلاف من أكره على الكفر وأجبر عليه، وقلبه مطمئن بالإيمان؛ راغب فيه فإنه لا حرج عليه ولا إثم، ويجوز له النطق بكلمة الكفر عند الإكراه عليها.