وَمَا مَنَعَ ٱلنَّاسَ أَن يُؤْمِنُوٓا۟ إِذْ جَآءَهُمُ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُوا۟ رَبَّهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن تَأْتِيَهُمْ سُنَّةُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمُ ٱلْعَذَابُ قُبُلًا 55
Translations
And nothing has prevented the people from believing when guidance came to them and from asking forgiveness of their Lord except that there [must] befall them the [accustomed] precedent of the former peoples or that the punishment should come [directly] before them.
Transliteration
Wa mā mana'a an-nāsa an yu'minū idh jā'ahum al-hudā wa yastaghfirū rabbahum illā an ta'tiyahum sunnat al-awwalīn aw ya'tiyahum al-'adhāb qubulan
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah explains that the primary barrier preventing people from believing when guidance comes to them and seeking forgiveness from their Lord is their desire to follow the pattern (sunna) of the earlier peoples, or their fear of receiving immediate punishment. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this reveals that disbelief is not due to lack of clarity in the message, but rather due to human stubbornness, pride, and adherence to ancestral customs—a rejection rooted in the soul's inclination toward worldly desires and social conformity rather than intellectual incapacity.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the Meccan period and is part of Surah Al-Kahf's broader discussion of the disbelievers' resistance to the Prophet's message despite its clarity. It contextualizes the rejection faced by the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) as part of a recurring pattern throughout history, where people prioritize cultural traditions and fear of consequence over accepting divine guidance.
Related Hadiths
The hadith in Sahih Bukhari (3456) where the Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'Verily, you will follow the ways of those nations who were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit,' illustrating humanity's tendency to repeat the patterns of previous peoples. Also relevant is the hadith in Sahih Muslim about following the Sunnah of predecessors in disbelief.
Themes
Key Lesson
True belief requires not only intellectual acknowledgment of truth but also the willingness to break free from cultural pressures and social conformity; believers must examine whether their hesitations stem from genuine doubt or from fear of social consequences and attachment to inherited traditions.