Surah Ibrahim, Ayah 29

The Recompense of Those Who have changed the Blessings of Allah into Disbelief

Al-Bukhari said, "Allah's statement,

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ بَدَّلُواْ نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ كُفْرًا

Have you not seen those who have changed the blessings of Allah into disbelief..., means, do you have knowledge in. Allah said in other Aya0t,

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ

(Saw you not how.) and,

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ خَرَجُواْ

(Did you not think of those who went forth.)

قَوْماً بُوراً

(A lost people) 25:18 Ali bin `Abdullah narrated that Sufyan said that `Amr said that `Ata said that he heard Ibn `Abbas saying that,

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ بَدَّلُواْ نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ كُفْرًا

"(Have you not seen those who have changed the blessings of Allah into disbelief), is in reference to the people of Makkah." Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Abu At-Tufayl said that Ibn Al-Kawwa' asked `Ali about Allah's statement,

Finally, said in verses 28 and 29 was:

أَلَمْ تَرَ‌ إِلَى الَّذِينَ بَدَّلُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّـهِ كُفْرً‌ا وَأَحَلُّوا قَوْمَهُمْ دَارَ‌ الْبَوَارِ‌ جَهَنَّمَ يَصْلَوْنَهَا ۖ وَبِئْسَ الْقَرَ‌ارُ‌

Have you not seen those who changed the favour of Allah with disbelief and landed their people in the house of destruction, the Jahannam? They shall enter it. And it is an evil abode.

Here, نِعمَۃ اللہ (the favour of Allah) could mean the common physical blessings of Allah Ta’ ala. These are tangible and perceptible and relate to outward benefits of human beings such as food, drink, land, home and things like that. Then it could also mean spiritual blessings and favours as well which have come from Allah Ta’ ala for the guidance of human beings, for example, the prophets, the scriptures, and the signs of Divine power and wisdom which have been placed in every inch of the human existence, and in its countless creations, and in the heavens and its unfathomable and incomprehensible universe. All these serve as logistics for the guidance of human beings.

Being steadfast in the world means persevering in righteousness and doing good deeds at every turn in one’s life. Being steadfast in the Hereafter means having been successful at the time of questions and answers in the grave. Man is at every moment in the position of being put to the test. He faces different types of favourable and unfavourable events. On these occasions, only those who have grown ‘the tree of faith’ inside themselves behave in a correct and godly way. In the prevailing circumstances, they manifest the most appropriate reaction expected of them according to the will of God. In contrast to this, the man whose personality has grown like a wild bush evinces bitterness at every event; on every occasion he proves to be a thorn and emits a bad smell. When these two types of person are tested finally at the stage of the grave, the one who proves himself to be the ‘good tree’ will be ushered into the Garden of Paradise. And the one who proves to be the ‘evil tree’ will receive the appropriate punishment of being uprooted from this world in order to be thrown as fuel into the fire of Hell.