Al Mu’minūn

فَذَرْهُمْ فِي غَمْرَتِهِمْ حَتَّي حِينٍ

54. “But leave them in their overwhelming ignorance for a time.”

The worst kind of misleading is when Allah leaves man to his own devices:

(“But leave them...”).

Disagreement and division lead to the abyss of perdition and bring down the anger of Allah and His Prophet (S). But people have cut off their affair.

“But leave them in their overwhelming ignorance...”

The above verse implies that when such is the case, one should leave them be in their ignorance, negligence, and confusion until the time of their death approaches when they will see the truth or, on the Day of Judgment when they will face the Divine punishment, because such people have no fate other than this. The Qur’anic word /hin/ may refer to the time of their death, or the time of their punishment, or both. The Arabic word /qamrah/ is derived from the word /qamara/ which means to destroy the effect of something. Then the water that rushes ahead on its way like a flood has been called /qamar/ or /qamir/.

The meaning of this word has afterward been extended to the sense of ignorance and the troubles that overwhelm man. Thus in the verse, the word means ignorance, negligence, confusion and misguidance.