Tafsir of Surah Fatir - Verse 8

The Punishment of the Disbeliever and the Reward of the Believer on the Day of Resurrection

Having stated that the ultimate destiny of the followers of Iblis will be the blazing Fire, Allah then tells us that for those who disbelieve there will be a severe punishment. This is because they obeyed the Shaytan and disobeyed Ar-Rahman. And He tells us that those who believed in Allah and His Messengers

وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَـتِ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ

(and do righteous good deeds, theirs will be forgiveness) meaning, from whatever sins they did,

وَأَجْرٌ كَبِيرٌ

and a great reward. for the good deeds that they did. Then Allah says:

أَفَمَن زُيِّنَ لَهُ سُوءَ عَمَلِهِ فَرَءَاهُ حَسَناً

(Is he, then, to whom the evil of his deeds is made fairseeming, so that he considers it as good) meaning, `such as disbelievers or immoral persons who do evil deeds and believe that they are doing something good, i.e., a person who is like that has been misguided by Allah, so what can you do for him You cannot help him at all.'

فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ

(Verily, Allah sends astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills.) means according to His decree.

فَلاَ تَذْهَبْ نَفْسُكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَسَرَتٍ

(So destroy not yourself in sorrow for them. ) means, do not grieve about that, for Allah is Wise in His decree and He leaves astray whomsoever He leaves astray, and He guides whomsoever He guides, and in doing so He has perfect knowledge and wisdom. Allah says:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ

(Truly, Allah is the All-Knower of what they do!)

Imam al-Baghawi has reported on the authority of Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn ` Abbas ؓ that the verse: فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ (The fact, therefore, is that Allah lets go astray whomsoever He wills , and leads to the right path whomsoever He wills.- 8) was revealed at a time when the Holy Prophet ﷺ had made the prayer: '0 Allah, bless Islam with prestige and power, through ` Umar Ibn al-Khattab, or Abu Jahl.' Out of the two, Allah Ta’ ala showed the right path to Sayyidna 'Umar ؓ and made him the cause of Islam's prestige and power, while Abu Jahl remained as astray as he was. (Mazhari)

Almighty God has blessed every man with the capability to think and distinguish between truth and untruth. One who utilizes this innate talent, receives proper guidance and one who does not is left to go astray. When Truth appears before a man, he has two options before him. If he accepts the Truth, his mind starts off in the right direction and he becomes a wayfarer journeying towards the Truth. But if some extraneous consideration or some psychological complication comes in his way and, under its influence, he refuses to accept the Truth, he then starts devising ways and means of justifying his rejection of it and tries to prove that his bad deeds are actually good deeds. Those who suffer from such psychological barriers never admit the Truth. It is only when, after death, they come face to face with God that they reap what they have sown.