Tafsir of Surah Fatir - Verse 19

The Believer and the Disbeliever are not equal

Allah says that these antonyms are clearly not equal, the blind and the seeing are not equal, there is a difference and a huge gap between them. Darkness and light are not equal, neither are shade and the sun's heat. By the same token, the living and the dead are not equal. This is the parable Allah makes of the believers who are the living, and the disbelievers who are the dead. This is like the Ayat:

أَوَمَن كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَـهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُورًا يَمْشِي بِهِ فِى النَّاسِ كَمَن مَّثَلُهُ فِي الظُّلُمَـتِ لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِّنْهَا كَذَلِكَ

(Is he who was dead and We gave him life and set for him a light (of belief) whereby he can walk amongst men -- like him who is in the (depths of) darkness from which he can never come out) (6:122),

مَثَلُ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ كَالاٌّعْمَى وَالاٌّصَمِّ وَالْبَصِيرِ وَالسَّمِيعِ هَلْ يَسْتَوِيَانِ مَثَلاً

(The parable of the two parties is as that of the blind and the deaf and the seer and the hearer. Are they equal when compared) (11:24) The believer sees and hears, and walks in the light upon a straight path in this world and the Hereafter, until he comes to settle in Gardens (Paradise) wherein is shade and springs. The disbeliever is blind and deaf, walking in darkness from which he cannot escape, he is lost in his misguidance in this world and the Hereafter, until he ends up in fierce hot wind and boiling water, and shadow of black smoke, neither cool nor good.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَن يَشَآءُ

(Verily, Allah makes whom He wills to hear,) means. He guides them to listen to the proof and accept it and adhere it.

وَمَآ أَنتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَّن فِى الْقُبُورِ

(but you cannot make hear those who are in graves.) means, `just as the dead cannot benefit from guidance and the call to truth after they have died as disbelievers and ended up in the graves, so too you cannot help these idolators who are decreed to be doomed, and you cannot guide them.'

إِنْ أَنتَ إِلاَّ نَذِيرٌ

You are only a warner means, all you have to do is to convey the Message and warn them, and Allah leaves astray whomsoever He wills and guides whomsoever He wills.

إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَـكَ بِالْحَقِّ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا

(Verily, We have sent you with the truth, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner.) means, a bearer of glad tidings to the believers and a warner to the disbelievers.

وَإِن مِّنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلاَّ خَلاَ فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ

(And there never was a nation but a warner had passed among them.) means, there was never any nation among the sons of Adam but Allah sent warners to them, and left them with no excuse. This is like the Ayat:

إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُنذِرٌ وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ

(You are only a warner, and to every people there is a guide) (13:7).

وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُواْ الْطَّـغُوتَ فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ هَدَى اللَّهُ وَمِنْهُمْ مَّنْ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِ الضَّلَـلَةُ

(And verily, We have sent among every Ummah a Messenger (proclaiming): "Worship Allah, and avoid all false deities." Then of them were some whom Allah guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified) (16:36). And there are many similar Ayat.

وَإِن يُكَذِّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ جَآءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِالْبَيِّنَـتِ

(And if they deny you, those before them also denied. Their Messengers came to them with clear signs,) means, clear miracles and definitive proofs.

وَبِالزُّبُرِ

(and with the Scriptures,) means, the Books.

وَبِالْكِتَـبِ الْمُنِيرِ

(and with the Book giving light.) means, clear and obvious.

ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ

(Then I took hold of those who disbelieved,) means, `despite all of this, they denied the Messengers and the Message they brought, so I seized them, i.e., with My punishment.'

فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ

and how terrible was My denial! means, how great and intense and terrible do you think My punishment was؟ And Allah knows best.

Commentary

Verse 18: وَلَا تَزِرُ‌ وَازِرَ‌ةٌ وِزْرَ‌ أُخْرَ‌ىٰ (And no bearer will bear the burden of any other person) means that, on the Day of Judgment, no one will be able to bear the burden of another person's sins. Everyone will have to bear his or her burden. As for what appears in Surah Al-` Ankabut (29:13): وَأَثْقَالًا مَّعَ أَثْقَالِهِمْ , which means that people who make others go astray will not only bear the burden of going astray personally, but will also bear the burden of having made others go astray. it does not mean that they will somehow lighten the burden of those they had caused to go astray. Instead, their burden will weigh on them as it was in its own place and because of the crime of those who made people go astray, being twofold, their burden too will become twofold, one: that of being astray and two: that of making others go astray. Therefore, there is no contradiction in these two verses. (Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani)

Explaining this verse, Sayyidna ` Ikrimah ؓ said: On that Day, a father would say to his son, 'You know how affectionate a father I was to you?' He will say, 'yes, your favors to me are countless. You have certainly faced many a hardship for me during the life of the world.' Then, the father will say, 'son, today I need you. Give me some of your good deeds, so that I can have my salvation.' The son will say, 'father, the return you asked for is not much, but what can I do? If I were to give that to you, I shall be facing the same situation that you are facing now, therefore, I am sorry, I cannot help you.' Then, he will say the same thing to his wife, 'I sacrificed everything for you during the life of the world. Today, I need a few of your good deeds. Please give these to me.' The wife will give him the same answer as was given by the son.

Sayyidna ` Ikrimah ؓ said that this is what the verse: لَا تَزِرُ‌ وَازِرَ‌ةٌ وِزْرَ‌ أُخْرَ‌ىٰ (And no bearer will bear the burden of any other) means. Then he said that the noble Qur'an has taken up this subject in several of its verses. At one place, it has said: لَّا يَجْزِي وَالِدٌ عَن وَلَدِهِ وَلَا مَوْلُودٌ هُوَ جَازٍ عَن وَالِدِهِ شَيْئًا that is, on that Day, neither a father would be able to have his son be spared from the punishment, nor would a son be able to do that for his father (31:33). The essential sense is that no one will save another person by carrying the burden of his sins over one's own shoulders. However, the matter of intercession (shafa'ah) is dierent. Similarly, in another verse, it was said: يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ‌ الْمَرْ‌ءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبِيهِ that is, on that Day, one will run from his brother and his mother and father and his wife and children (80:34, 35). The purpose of running is no other but that he would be in fear, lest these people try to pass on the burden of their sins on him or come up with a request for some of his good deeds. (Ibn Kathir)

It is a fact that the expectations one has of light are not applicable to darkness. What one gets from the shade cannot be derived from sunlight. The same is the case with man. Among human beings, some have vision and some are blind. A man with eyes immediately sees his way and recognizes it. But one who is blind will simply go on groping in the dark. Similarly, with regard to insight there are two types of people, —one consisting of the living and the other consisting of the dead. The living man is one who sees things in depth—who tears apart the deceptive veil of words and grasps hidden meanings—who goes beyond superficial matters and tries to understand the inner reality—who assesses intrinsic values and not outward appearances—whose eyes are concentrated on real facts and not on irrelevant hair-splitting theories—who, after knowing the Truth, submits to it—he is the one who is alive. He is one who has been fortunate enough in this world to accept the Truth. Those whose behaviour is the very reverse of this are dead. They never come anywhere near accepting the Truth in this world of trial. They remain deaf to the call for Truth, until after death, when they go to God to face the result of their blindness.