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Tafsir of Surah Ghafir - Verse 35

Surah 40
Verse 35
85 verses
35

ٱلَّذِینَ یُجَـٰدِلُونَ فِیۤ ءَایَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ بِغَیۡرِ سُلۡطَـٰنٍ أَتَىٰهُمۡۖ كَبُرَ مَقۡتًا عِندَ ٱللَّهِ وَعِندَ ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ۚ كَذَ ٰ⁠لِكَ یَطۡبَعُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ قَلۡبِ مُتَكَبِّرࣲ جَبَّارࣲ

Those who dispute concerning the signs of Allah without an authority having come to them - great is hatred [of them] in the sight of Allah and in the sight of those who have believed. Thus does Allah seal over every heart [belonging to] an arrogant tyrant.

Scholarly Interpretations(3)

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You are reading a tafsir for the group of verses 40:30 to 40:35

يقَوْمِ إِنِّى أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ مِّثْلَ يَوْمِ الاٌّحْزَابِ

(O my people! Verily, I fear for you an end like that day (of disaster) of the groups (of old)!) meaning, those of the earlier nations who disbelieved the Messengers of Allah, such as the people of Nuh, `Ad, Thamud and the disbelieving nations who came after them, how the punishment of Allah came upon them and they had no one to protect them or ward off that punishment.

وَمَا اللَّهُ يُرِيدُ ظُلْماً لِّلْعِبَادِ

(And Allah wills no injustice for (His) servants.) means, Allah destroyed them for their sins and for their disbelief in and rejection of His Messengers; this was His command and His decree concerning them that was fulfilled. Then he said:

وَيقَوْمِ إِنِّى أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ يَوْمَ التَّنَادِ

(And, O my people! Verily, I fear for you the Day when there will be mutual calling.) meaning, the Day of Resurrection.

يَوْمَ تُوَلُّونَ مُدْبِرِينَ

(A Day when you will turn your backs and flee) means, running away.

كَلاَّ لاَ وَزَرَ - إِلَى رَبِّكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْمُسْتَقَرُّ

(No! There is no refuge! Unto your Lord will be the place of rest that Day.) (75:11-12) Allah says:

مَا لَكُمْ مِّنَ اللَّهِ مِنْ عَاصِمٍ

(having no protector from Allah.) meaning, `you will have no one to protect you from the punishment and torment of Allah.'

وَمَن يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ هَادٍ

(And whomsoever Allah sends astray, for him there is no guide.) means, whomever Allah sends astray will have no other guide except Him. Allah's saying:

وَلَقَدْ جَآءَكُـمْ يُوسُفُ مِن قَبْلُ بِالْبَيِّنَـتِ

(And indeed Yusuf came to you, in times gone by, with clear signs,) refers to the people of Egypt. Allah sent a Messenger to them before the time of Musa, peace be upon him, in the person of Yusuf, peace be upon him, who attained a high position in the government of the people of Egypt. He was a Messenger who called his people to Allah with justice, but they did not obey him in matters of worshipping Allah, they only obeyed him in worldly matters that pertained to his position in the government. Allah says:

فَمَا زِلْتُمْ فِى شَكٍّ مِّمَّا جَآءَكُـمْ بِهِ حَتَّى إِذَا هَلَكَ قُلْتُمْ لَن يَبْعَثَ اللَّهُ مِن بَعْدِهِ رَسُولاً

(but you ceased not to doubt in that which he brought to you, till when he died, you said: "No Messenger will Allah send after him.") means, `you despaired, and said by way of wishful thinking,'

لَن يَبْعَثَ اللَّهُ مِن بَعْدِهِ رَسُولاً

(No Messenger will Allah send after him.) This was because of their disbelief and rejection (of the Messengers).

كَذَلِكَ يُضِلُّ اللَّهُ مَنْ هُوَ مُسْرِفٌ مُّرْتَابٌ

(Thus Allah leaves astray him who is a transgressor and a skeptic. ) means, this is the state of the one whom Allah sends astray because of his sinful actions and the doubts in his heart.

الَّذِينَ يُجَـدِلُونَ فِى ءَايَـتِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ سُلْطَـنٍ أَتَـهُمْ

(Those who dispute about the Ayat of Allah, without any authority that has come to them,) means, those who attempt to refute truth with falsehood and who dispute the proof without evidence or proof from Allah, Allah will hate them with the utmost loathing. Allah says:

كَبُرَ مَقْتاً عِندَ اللَّهِ وَعِندَ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ

(it is greatly hateful and disgusting to Allah and to those who believe.) meaning, the believers too will despise those who are like this, and whoever is like this, Allah will put a seal on his heart so that after that he will not acknowledge anything good or denounce anything evil. Allah says:

كَذَلِكَ يَطْبَعُ اللَّهُ عَلَى كُـلِّ قَلْبِ مُتَكَبِّرٍ

(Thus does Allah seal up the heart of every arrogant.) meaning, so that they cannot follow the truth.

جَبَّارٍ

(tyrant.)

In verse 35, it was said: كَذَٰلِكَ يَطْبَعُ اللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ قَلْبِ مُتَكَبِّرٍ‌ جَبَّارٍ‌ (That is how Allah stamps a seal on the entire heart of an arrogant tyrant), that is, the way the hearts of Pharaoh and Haman remained unaffected by the good counsel of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and the believer from the House of Pharaoh, similarly, Allah Ta’ ala cancels out or puts a seal on the heart of every such person who is arrogant and tyrannical (someone proud and arrogant, someone unjust and oppressive). When this happens, the effect is that the light of faith does not enter that heart, and one is rendered unable to distinguish between good and bad. In one قِرَأت (qira'ah: rendition of the Qur'an), the words for 'arrogant' and 'tyrant' have been identified as attributes of the heart for the reason that the heart is the reservoir of all morals and deeds. Every deed, good or bad, is born in the heart. Therefore, it has been said in Hadith that there is a piece of flesh (heart) in the human body which, when it works right, it makes the whole body work right, and when it goes bad, it makes the whole body go bad. (Qurtubi)

You are reading a tafsir for the group of verses 40:34 to 40:35

During the life of Joseph, majority of the people of Egypt did not accept his prophethood. It was only after his death, when the administrative system of the country began to deteriorate, that the Egyptians came to realise his greatness. Then, they started saying that Joseph’s existence had been a great boon to Egypt. And they said that such a prophet would never come again. Though Joseph was a prophet of God, he was also a human being. This gave people the scope to say, ‘It is not necessary that the feats performed by Joseph were on the basis of his being a prophet. It is quite possible that as a brilliant man, he was able to put up this excellent performance.’ Under the influence of such opinions, the people of Egypt began to have doubts about his prophethood. However clear and obvious the Truth may be, in this world of trial, it is always possible for a man to find shadows of doubt in it and then deny it. Those who are by nature arrogant and haughty, and those who think that by admitting the Truth, they will lose their greatness, can never overcome their doubts. Rather they nurture and exaggerate these doubts to such an extent that they come to prevail over their minds and souls. Consequently, they are unable to think about the Truth in an unbiased and objective manner. They remain its rejecters till the day they die.