Surah Fussilat, Ayah 28

The intimate Companions of the Idolators make Evil Actionsattractive to Them Allah tells us that He is the One Who sends theidolators astray, and that this happens by His will and decree. He isthe All-Wise in His actions, when He appoints for them closecompanions from among the devils of men and Jinn.

فَزَيَّنُواْ لَهُم مَّا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ

(who have made fair seeming to them, what was before them and what was behind them.) means, they made their deeds attractive to them in the past. As far as the future is concerned, they only see themselves as doing good, as Allah says:

وَمَن يَعْشُ عَن ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَـنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَاناً فَهُوَ لَهُ قَرِينٌ - وَإِنَّهُمْ لَيَصُدُّونَهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ وَيَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ

(And whosoever turns away blindly from the remembrance of the Most Gracious, We appoint for him a Shaytan to be a companion for him. And verily, they hinder them from the path, but they think that they are guided aright!) (43:36-37)

Commentary

لَا تَسْمَعُوا لِهَـٰذَا الْقُرْ‌آنِ وَالْغَوْا فِيهِ (Do not listen to this Qur'an, and make noiseduring its recitation, - 41:26) When all the efforts of the disbelievers failed in confronting the Holy Qur'an, they started doing such mischievous acts as mentioned in this verse. Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ has stated that Abu Jahl got his people primed up and ready to make noises whenever Muhammad ﷺ recited the Qur'an, so that people might not find out what he is saying. Some have said that preparations were made to stop people from listening to the Qur'an by whistling, clapping and by making all sorts of noises during the recitation.

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas has explained that these words mean ‘to find fault’, i.e. attribute defects to the Quran and the possessor of the Quran and thus alienate people from both the book and the man (Tafsir ibn Kathir). There are two methods of expressing an opinion about a thing or a person—one is criticism and the other is denigration. Criticism means analysing the matter under consideration on the basis of facts. Contrary to this, denigration means desisting from presenting any arguments in connection with the matter under consideration and simply trying rather to find defects in it, cast a slur on it, thus making it the target of condemnation. The method of criticism is the most legitimate, while the method of ferretting out or imputing defects is the way of unbelievers. Moreover, the latter method amounts to denying the signs of God; because every true argument is a sign of God. Those people who do not bow down before an argument and try to belittle it by imputing defects to it and making false allegations against it are, in fact, denying the signs of God. Such people will be treated, in the Hereafter, as deserving of the severest punishment.