Surah Al-A'raf, Ayah 53

The Idolators have no Excuse

Allah states that He has left no excuse for the idolators, for He has sent to them the Book that the Messenger came with, and which is explained in detail,

كِتَابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ ءايَـتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ

((This is) a Book, the Ayat whereof are perfected (in every sphere of knowledge), and then explained in detail ) 11:1 Allah said next,

فَصَّلْنَـهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ

(We have explained in detail with knowledge) meaning, `We have perfect knowledge of what We explained in it'. Allah said in another Ayah,

أَنزَلَهُ بِعِلْمِهِ

(He has sent it down with His Knowledge,) 4:166 The meaning here is that after Allah mentioned the loss the idolators end up with in the Hereafter, He stated that He has indeed sent Prophets and revealed Books in this life, thus leaving no excuse for them. Allah also said;

Said in the sixth verse (49) is: أَهَـٰؤُلَاءِ الَّذِينَ أَقْسَمْتُمْ لَا يَنَالُهُمُ اللَّـهُ بِرَ‌حْمَةٍ ۚ ادْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَا أَنتُمْ تَحْزَنُونَ ﴿49﴾ (Is it these for whom you swore that Allah would not reach them with mercy?" - "Enter the Paradise; there is no fear on you, nor shall you grieve).

Explaining this, Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ says: When the questions and answers between the people of A` raf and the people of Paradise and Hell both will be over, that will be the time when the Lord of all the worlds will address the people of Hell and tell them about the people of A` raf that they swore that the people of A` raf will not be forgiven their sins and mercy will not be shown to them. Then, there comes an immediate declaration of His mercy when the people of A` raf will be told: Go and enter the Paradise. You should have no fear of what had happened in the past nor should you have any anxiety about the future. (Ibn Kathir)

The Quran warns mankind of the life after death. It tells of the reckoning of the Hereafter. But, man is not awakened. These intimations of the Quran are not merely ‘news,’ but the inevitable realities of the universe. However, they have not yet appeared as factual events. They are still hidden in the veil of the future. Unmindfully, man thinks that this is nothing but meaningless talk and ignores it, considering it unimportant. But these messages are on behalf of God who is all-knowing. Those who have not vitiated their nature and whose eyes are not covered by artificial veils will find the tenor of the Quran to be in consonance with the voice of their hearts. They will find that this is the very thing which their nature was already in search of. For them the Quran will become a treasure of life and Faith. The position of those who do not take the warnings of the Quran seriously will be entirely different. They will linger in this slumber until that event breaks upon them of which they are being warned. At that time, man will suddenly come to know that he has become completely helpless. The problems to which he gave importance and in which he was therefore embroiled will now appear to be baseless. The things on which he was relying will have ceased to be with him. The rosy hopes on which he was living will all prove to be false. The belief in the Hereafter appears to be an abstract idea. So, man does not become serious about it. But, in the life after death, when the Hereafter with all its terror will be thrust upon man, everyone will be compelled at that time to accept what he had not earlier been ready to accept. Man will then come to know that what he was being told earlier in the language of arguments was absolute fact and that, not being serious about it, he could not grasp its significance. When all those things on which he was relying in the world, leave man in the lurch, he will want to be sent back to earth, so that he may lead his life in a proper manner. But such an opportunity does not come to anyone twice.