“Moreover, they forbid other people from listening to it. And they draw themselves away from it. Yet they are destroying none but themselves, though they are not aware of it. And if only you could now see when they shall be set upon the brink of the Fire of Hell, and they shall say: Oh, woe to us! If only we could be returned to the world and not deny the signs of the Oneness of our Lord and become of the believers! Rather, what they previously used to conceal shall manifest itself before them.Yet even if they were to be so returned to the world, they would revert to all the ways that have been forbidden to them. For, indeed, they are most surely liars.” (Translation by Ahmad Zaki Hammad)

Last year, we began learning about the lessons of Surat Al-Ana’am verses 25-32. We covered verse 25 in December. As a recap of the aya, Allahﷻ spoke of the disbelievers in Makkah who pretended to listen to the message. They pretended to listen to the followers of the religion and acted as though they actually cared to learn about it. However, in reality, they were always faking it. Their hearts were already sealed from the message because they allowed their emotions and status to overcome their use of reason and logic. When they saw all the signs brought forth upon them, they denied them. These disbelievers argue with every individual who approached them with the intention of spreading the message of Islam to them. They argued with the “signs” themselves, of which they asked Allahﷻ to bring to them.

Verse 26:

         وَهُمْ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنْهُ وَيَنْـَٔوْنَ عَنْهُ ۖ وَإِن يُهْلِكُونَ إِلَّآ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ

Not only did these disbelievers pretend to listen to the message, but they also attempted to deter and discourage others from following Islam. They tried to make people very distant from Islam by minimizing the importance of the message at hand. They claimed that Islam was nothing but fantasies and they wanted to make it sound unattractive to prospective followers. The truth is that they themselves were so far entrenched in the pit of arrogance. They themselves were so far off track and full of arrogance that even the slightest mention of Islam made them turn away and despise it. Indeed, they are not destroying anyone other than themselves.

Verse 27:

وَلَوْ تَرَىٰٓ إِذْ وُقِفُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلنَّارِ فَقَالُوا۟ يَـٰلَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلَا نُكَذِّبَ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ رَبِّنَا وَنَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

This next verse is one of the scariest verses that we will cover. On the Day of Judgement, when these people are brought forth to stand in front of the flames of the hell fire, they cry that if only they had listened to the message and could turn back. If we were to turn back or be brought back for another chance, we would certainly not have denied the truth! We would not lie against the verses of our Lord, and we would be amongst those who believe.

Verse 28:

بَلْ بَدَا لَهُم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يُخْفُونَ مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَلَوْ رُدُّوا۟ لَعَادُوا۟ لِمَا نُهُوا۟ عَنْهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَـٰذِبُونَ

The reality of the matter is that all of which these individuals were hiding, has now been exposed by Allahﷻ and is being revealed. Remember how I mentioned that they “pretended” to listen to the message? Well, their lies are now being completely uncovered. And if they were to be turned or brought back for another chance, they would repeat all the same mistakes that they made before in which they were forbidden from committing. Indeed, they are nothing except liars. This is so interesting because Allahﷻ is stating that even if these people saw the Day of Judgement before their eyes and He brought them back for another chance, they still would fall into the same mistakes. One would imagine that if they saw a sign as surreal as the Day of Judgement, there is absolutely no way that they would fall into sin again. However, that is far from the truth for these individuals. Remember that these are the people who are asking for signs from Allahﷻ and Allahﷻ is saying that even if they were to see the biggest sign of all, they still would not listen.
With that, we will take a pause until next month Insha’Allah. We ask Allahﷻto forgive us for our shortcomings and make us amongst those who please Him and who He forgives after repenting. Allahumma Ameen.

By Ahmad Salah