al-Zumar

قُلْ أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ تَأْمُرُونِّي أَعْبُدُ أَيُّهَا الْجَاهِلُونَ

وَلَقَدْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ وَإِلَی الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ لَئِنْ أَشْرَكْتَ لَيَحْبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَ وَلَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

64. Say: “Do you order me to worship other than Allah? O you fools!”
65. And indeed it has been revealed to you as it was to those [Messengers] before you: “If you join others in worship with Allah, surely your deeds will be in vain and you will certainly be among the losers.

The Verses in question are mainly addressed to the Noble Prophet (S) but all people are also involved in such affairs; yet, God Almighty addresses the Prophet (S) owing to the significance of the issue indicating that even if the Prophet (S) disbelieves for a single moment, his deeds will be in vain and he will be among the losers. Thus, Verse 65 draws a neat distinction between belief and disbelief, saying:

Therefore, disbelief leads to two consequences which may affect Divinely appointed Messenger in case of their disbelief: vanity of deeds and being a loser in one’s life. The former refers to futility of righteous good deeds owing to disbelief since such acts will solely be acknowledged if one believes in Divine Unity. Disbelief is likened to a blazing fire burning the tree of human deeds, a lightening setting ablaze all the crops of his life, a tempest rendering human deeds futile, as mentioned elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an¹²:

According to a prophetic tradition:

“God Almighty reckons the deeds of all servants unless they disbelieve; surely they shall be sent to Fire without reckoning.” ¹³

Disbelievers will be among losers since they lose their most valuable possessions, i.e., intellect and life, in this spacious market of mundane world and fail to purchase anything except for regret and grief. A question arises here: Would it be possible that Divinely appointed eminent prophets turn to disbelief as a consequence of which the Verse in question treats them in such harsh tone? The answer to this question is crystal clear: they shall never turn to disbelief even if they enjoy the free will to do so and infallibility is not on a par with the loss of free will.

It is to be noted that their excellence of knowledge and their immediate and constant nexus with the Origin of Divine Revelation hinders them to entertain disbelief for one single moment. Would it be imaginable that an intelligent physician aware of the effects of a fatal poisonous substance entertains the thought of its consumption? The Verse aims to warn people of the great risk of entertaining disbelief so as to inform them that God Almighty warns His Messengers about disbelief. It reminds one of the Arabic proverb:

“I mean you, but O neighbor! Listen to it!” According to a tradition narrated from Imam ‘Ali ibn Musa al-Rida, inquired by Ma’mun concerning the Verses in question, he said:

“Such Verses refer to the Muslim community, even if the Messenger of God (S) is addressed herein.” ¹⁴