كَيْفَ يَهْدِى ٱللَّهُ قَوْمًا كَفَرُوا۟ بَعْدَ إِيمَـٰنِهِمْ وَشَهِدُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱلرَّسُولَ حَقٌّ وَجَآءَهُمُ ٱلْبَيِّنَـٰتُ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ 86
Translations
How shall Allāh guide a people who disbelieved after their belief and had witnessed that the Messenger is true and clear signs had come to them? And Allāh does not guide the wrongdoing people.
Transliteration
Kayfa yahdī Allāhu qawman kafarū baʿda īmānihim wa shahidū anna al-rasūla ḥaqqun wa jāʾahum al-bayyināt wa-Allāhu lā yahdī al-qawm al-ẓālimīn
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah addresses those who knowingly reject faith after having believed and witnessed clear proofs (signs) and the truthfulness of the Messenger. Allah's guidance is withheld from such people because they are unjust (ẓālimūn)—having knowingly turned away from truth they recognized. Classical scholars like Al-Qurtubi explain that Allah's refusal to guide the wrongdoers is a just consequence of their deliberate rejection; guidance is granted to those who genuinely seek it with sincere hearts, not to those who reject it willfully.
Revelation Context
This ayah was revealed in the Medinan period within the broader context of Surah Ali 'Imran, which addresses the People of the Book (Christians and Jews) and hypocrites who rejected the Prophet despite clear evidence. The specific revelation context relates to those who apostasized or rejected Islam after initially accepting it, particularly referencing groups like some Christians who had recognized Jesus's truthfulness yet rejected the final Messenger.
Related Hadiths
The hadith of Hudhayfah in Sahih Bukhari describes the Prophet explaining those whose hearts are 'marked' (sealed) by disbelief, relating to intentional rejection after knowledge. Additionally, the hadith in Sahih Muslim about the person who learns the Qur'an then rejects it illustrates the gravity of apostasy after clear knowledge.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that knowledge alone without sincere intention and righteous conduct does not guarantee divine guidance—those who knowingly reject truth after recognizing it bear full responsibility for their spiritual loss. For believers, it emphasizes the importance of protecting one's faith through continuous sincerity and acting upon knowledge, lest the heart become hardened and sealed from further guidance.
Related Ayahs
شَهِدَ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّهُۥ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ وَأُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْعِلْمِ قَآئِمًۢا بِٱلْقِسْطِ ۚ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
Allāh witnesses that there is no deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those of knowledge - [that He is] maintaining [creation] in justice. There is no deity except Him, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
ٱلَّذِينَ قَالُوا۟ لِإِخْوَٰنِهِمْ وَقَعَدُوا۟ لَوْ أَطَاعُونَا مَا قُتِلُوا۟ ۗ قُلْ فَٱدْرَءُوا۟ عَنْ أَنفُسِكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتَ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰدِقِينَ
Those who said about their brothers while sitting [at home], "If they had obeyed us, they would not have been killed." Say, "Then prevent death from yourselves, if you should be truthful."
إِن تَمْسَسْكُمْ حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤْهُمْ وَإِن تُصِبْكُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَفْرَحُوا۟ بِهَا ۖ وَإِن تَصْبِرُوا۟ وَتَتَّقُوا۟ لَا يَضُرُّكُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْـًٔا ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطٌ
If good touches you, it distresses them; but if harm strikes you, they rejoice at it. And if you are patient and fear Allāh, their plot will not harm you at all. Indeed, Allāh is encompassing of what they do.
فَكَيْفَ إِذَا جَمَعْنَـٰهُمْ لِيَوْمٍ لَّا رَيْبَ فِيهِ وَوُفِّيَتْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ
So how will it be when We assemble them for a Day about which there is no doubt? And each soul will be compensated [in full for] what it earned, and they will not be wronged.