Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 6 Al-An'am, Ayat 51-55

وَاَنۡذِرۡ بِهِ الَّذِيۡنَ يَخَافُوۡنَ اَنۡ يُّحۡشَرُوۡۤا اِلٰى رَبِّهِمۡ​ لَـيۡسَ لَهُمۡ مِّنۡ دُوۡنِهٖ وَلِىٌّ وَّلَا شَفِيۡعٌ لَّعَلَّهُمۡ يَتَّقُوۡنَ‏  ﴿6:51﴾ وَلَا تَطۡرُدِ الَّذِيۡنَ يَدۡعُوۡنَ رَبَّهُمۡ بِالۡغَدٰوةِ وَالۡعَشِىِّ يُرِيۡدُوۡنَ وَجۡهَهٗ​ ؕ مَا عَلَيۡكَ مِنۡ حِسَابِهِمۡ مِّنۡ شَىۡءٍ وَّمَا مِنۡ حِسَابِكَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ مِّنۡ شَىۡءٍ فَتَطۡرُدَهُمۡ فَتَكُوۡنَ مِنَ الظّٰلِمِيۡنَ‏ ﴿6:52﴾ وَكَذٰلِكَ فَتَـنَّا بَعۡضَهُمۡ بِبَـعۡضٍ لِّيَـقُوۡلُـوۡۤا اَهٰٓؤُلَآءِ مَنَّ اللّٰهُ عَلَيۡهِمۡ مِّنۡۢ بَيۡنِنَا ؕ اَلَـيۡسَ اللّٰهُ بِاَعۡلَمَ بِالشّٰكِرِيۡنَ‏  ﴿6:53﴾ وَاِذَا جَآءَكَ الَّذِيۡنَ يُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ بِاٰيٰتِنَا فَقُلۡ سَلٰمٌ عَلَيۡكُمۡ​ كَتَبَ رَبُّكُمۡ عَلٰى نَفۡسِهِ الرَّحۡمَةَ​ ۙ اَنَّهٗ مَنۡ عَمِلَ مِنۡكُمۡ سُوۡٓءًۢا بِجَهَالَةٍ ثُمَّ تَابَ مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِهٖ وَاَصۡلَحَۙ فَاَنَّهٗ غَفُوۡرٌ رَّحِيۡمٌ‏  ﴿6:54﴾ وَكَذٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الۡاٰيٰتِ وَلِتَسۡتَبِيۡنَ سَبِيۡلُ الۡمُجۡرِمِيۡنَ‏  ﴿6:55﴾

(6:51) And warn with this (revealed message) those who fear that they shall be mustered to their Lord, that there will be none apart from Allah to act as their protector and intercessor; then maybe they will become God-fearing.33 (6:52) And do not drive away those who invoke their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His pleasure all the time.34 You are by no means accountable for them just as they are by no means accountable for you. If you still drive them away, you will become among the wrong-doers.35 (6:53) Thus We have made some of them a means for testing others36 so that they should say: 'Are these the ones among us upon whom Allah has bestowed His favour?' Yes, does Allah not know well who are the thankful ? (6:54) And when those who believe in Our signs come to you, say to them: 'Peace be upon you. Your Lord has made mercy incumbent upon Himself so that if anyone of you does a bad deed out of ignorance and thereafter repents and makes amends, surely you will find Him All-Forgiving, AllCompassionate.'37 (6:55) Thus We clearly set forth Our signs so that the way of the wicked might become distinct.38

Notes

33. Those who are too deeply immersed in the allurements of earthly life to think either of death or of their being brought to stand before God for His judgement can hardly benefit from such admonitions. Likewise, such admonitions can have no wholesome effect on those who cherish the illusion that because of their attachment to some holy personage who will intercede on their behalf, they will come to no harm in the Hereafter. The same applies to those who believe that someone has already obtained their redemption by expiating their sins. The Prophet (peace be on him) is therefore asked to disregard such persons and to attend to those who are conscious, those with no false illusions. Only these people are susceptible to admonitions and can be expected to reform themselves.

34. One of the objections raised by the chiefs and the affluent members of the Quraysh was that the Prophet (peace be on him) had gathered around him a host of slaves, clients (mawali) and others belonging to the lower strata of society. They used to scoff at the fact that men of such humble social standing as Bilal, 'Ammar. Suhayb and Khabbab had joined his ranks. They wondered if they happened to be the only chosen ones of the Quraysh in the sight of God! They not only poked fun at the financial distress of these people but also attacked them for any weakness of character they had before accepting Islam. They went about saying sarcastically that those who had been such and such in the past had now become part of the 'chosen' community.

35. That is, everyone is personally responsible for his deeds, whether good or bad. The Prophet (peace he on him) is told that he will neither have to explain to God the conduct of the converts nor will the latter be required to explain his conduct. They can neither usurp his good deeds, nor transfer their own misdeeds to his account. There is, therefore, no reason for the Prophet (peace be on him) to alienate those who approach him as seekers after Truth.

36. By enabling the poor and the indigent, the people who have a low station in society to precede others in believing, God has put those who wax proud of wealth and honour to a severe test.

37. Several of those who came to believe in the Prophet (peace be on him) had committed many serious sins before they embraced Islam. Even though their lives had altogether changed following their conversion, the opposition continued to play up the weaknesses and misdeeds of their past life. The Prophet (peace he on him) is asked to comfort such persons and to tell them that God does not punish those who sincerely repent their sins and mend their ways.

38. 'And thus' refers to the whole of the foregoing discussion, beginning with (verse 37): 'And they say: Why has no miraculous sign been sent down to him?' The purpose of this remark is to stress that the persistence of some people in their denial of the Truth and in their disbelief, in spite of a host of unmistakably clear signs and arguments, was sufficient to prove beyond doubt that they were merely a bunch of criminals. If they persisted in error and transgression it was neither through any lack of strong arguments in support of the Truth nor, conversely, because of strong arguments in support of falsehood. The reason was rather that they had delilibrately chosen to fall into error and transgression.