Surah Al-An'am, Ayah 73

The Parable of Those Who Revert to Disbelief After Faith and Good Deeds

As-Suddi said, "Some idolators said to some Muslims, `Follow us and abandon the religion of Muhammad ﷺ.' Allah sent down the revelation,

قُلْ أَنَدْعُواْ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لاَ يَنفَعُنَا وَلاَ يَضُرُّنَا وَنُرَدُّ عَلَى أَعْقَـبِنَا

(Say: "Shall we invoke others besides Allah, that can do us neither good nor harm, and shall we turn on our heels...") by reverting to disbelief,

بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ

("...after Allah has guided us.") for if we do this, our example will be like he whom the devils have caused to wander in confusion throughout the land. Allah says here, your example, if you revert to disbelief after you believed, is that of a man who went with some people on a road, but he lost his way and the devils led him to wander in confusion over the land. Meanwhile, his companions on the road were calling him to come to them saying, `Come back to us, for we are on the path.' But, he refused to go back to them. This is the example of he who follows the devil after recognizing Muhammad ﷺ, and Muhammad ﷺ is the person who is calling the people to the path, and the path is Islam." Ibn Jarir recorded this statement.Allah's statement, j

In the third verse (70), nearly the same subject has been stressed upon in the following words: وَذَرِ‌ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَهُمْ لَعِبًا وَلَهْوًا (And avoid those who have taken their faith as game and play ...). The word: ذر (dhar) here is a derivation from: وَذَرِ‌ (wadhara) which means being displeased with something and leaving it. Thus, the verse can be taken either in the sense of leaving people who have turned the true religion, that is, Islam which has been sent for them, into a plaything and a laughing stock; or in the sense that they have left their real faith and taken to fun and play as their very own religion and purpose of life. The outcome of both meanings is nearly the same.

There are two kinds of travellers in the desert. One puts his entire trust in God. When he goes astray, he begs God’s assistance and soon has his feet set on the right path once again. The other has faith in entities other than God. When he loses his way in the desert, he is hardly aware that he is wandering aimlessly and ignores the calls of the faithful who would gladly re-direct him. The reason for this difference in outlook is that the former traveller keeps an open mind. He has no difficulty in seeing which is the right path, and if he chances to stray from it, he is willing to accept God’s guidance in order to return to it. The latter traveller, however, is lost right from the beginning, because he has fallen under the influence of Satan. His mind, therefore, works in a perverse way. The result is that he may listen, but he does not hear, and he may look, but he does not see.