Surah Al-A'raf, Ayah 41

Doors of Heaven shall not open for Those Who deny Allah's Ayat, and They shall never enter Paradise

Allah said,

لاَ تُفَتَّحُ لَهُمْ أَبْوَبُ السَّمَآءِ

(for them the gates of the heavens will not be opened,) meaning, their good deeds and supplication will not ascend through it, according to Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr and Ibn `Abbas, as Al-`Awfi and `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from him. Ath-Thawri narrated that, Layth said that `Ata' narrated this from Ibn `Abbas. It was also said that the meaning here is that the doors of the heavens will not be opened for the disbelievers' souls, according to Ad-Dahhak who reported this from Ibn `Abbas. As-Suddi and several others mentioned this meaning. What further supports this meaning, is the report from Ibn Jarir that Al-Bara' said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ mentioned capturing the soul of the `Fajir' (wicked sinner or disbeliever), and that his or her soul will be ascended to heaven. The Prophet said,

Commentary

Mentioned first in the set of verses cited above (35-37) is a pledge taken from every human being in the world of spirits, before being born into the material world. The pledge envisaged that they would, when the prophets of Allah come to them with Divine guidance and injunctions, listen to them in earnest and act accordingly. They were also told that those who abide by the pledge and fulfill what it entails, will have their salvation from sorrows and deserve eternal peace and comfort. And conversely, those who belie prophets or rebel against injunctions they bring shall have the eternal punishment of Jahannam waiting for them. The later set of verses presents what actually happened when different groups of human beings came into the world and started acting differently. Some of them threw the pledge behind their backs and settled to oppose it. Others held to it and acted righteously. The ultimate end of the two groups and the reward and punishment for them has been described in the later four verses (40-43).

Why is it that when God’s missionaries give the call to Truth, the egotism of their addressees prevents them from accepting their call? The reason for this is that the call-givers’ sole strength is argument, while the addressee has the support of material glories. The call-giver stands on the basis of argument, while the addressees stand on a tangible material basis. The force of argument is both intangible and invisible. This difference fosters egotism, causing people to consider the call-giver lower in status than themselves and giving them a ‘reason’ to ignore him. The admission of such people to the mercy of God is as impossible as the passing of a camel through the eye of a needle. They ignore God, so God ignores them. God gave them glimpses of Himself through the call-giver; He appeared before them in the form of arguments; but they attached no importance to these signs and refused to bow down before them. How can such people have a share in God’s bounty?