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fa-lam yaku yanfaʿuhum ʾīmānuhum lammā raʾaw baʾsanā sunnata llāhi llatī qad khalat fī ʿibādihī wa-khasira hunālika l-kāfirūna
But their faith was of no benefit to them when they sighted Our punishment—Allah’s precedent, which has passed among His servants, and it is thence that the faithless will be losers.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Ghafir - Verse 85
85. Then their Faith could not avail them when they saw Our chastisement. This has been the way of Allah in dealing with His servants. And there the disbelievers shall be utterly at loss.
Unexpected happenings and emergencies flourish man’s original disposition and reminds disbelievers to embrace faith; however, converting to belief in Divine Unity is supposed to be out of free choice rather than obligation and desperateness. It is Divine tradition that forced belief is of not avail. Divine tradition refers to what God Almighty made prevalent among His servants. It is for the same reason that repentance after tasting Divine torment shall not be accepted by God Almighty thereby:
According the blessed Verse in question, the laws and the system of creation are such that they come to their end upon death, since when man comes to the end of his life, whatever potential perfection he has comes to its end as a consequence of which his repentance shall not be accepted. It would be of interest to make mention of two traditions at the end of the exegesis of the Chapter in question. According to the first tradition, a Christian man fornicated with a Muslim woman at the time of Mutawakkil, the ‘Abbasid Caliph. He converted before being chastised.
Yahya ibn Aktham said:
“His conversion to the Islamic faith solved the problem and there is no need to chastise him.”
A dispute arose between them concerning the same issue. Mutawakkil wrote a letter to Imam Hadi (as) and inquired about his opinion. The Noble Imam (as) replied:
“Whenever a disbeliever violates a Muslim woman, he should be killed.”
A number of Muslim scholars found fault with his opinion saying that it was unprecedented in the Holy Qur’an and traditions (sunna). Imam (as) referred to the Verse in question14 and replied:
“Since the man is a Christian and he has converted to Islam at the time of chastisement, his conversion is of no avail and he has to be chastised.” 15
The other tradition is narrated from Imam Rida (as) on the authority of Ibn Babiwayh as per which, the noble Imam (as) is asked:
“Why did God Almighty drowned Pharaoh when he believed in Divine Unity?”
the Imam (as) replied:
“He believed when he tasted Divine torment, and such belief shall not be accepted.”
Then He alluded to the blessed Verse in question.16
Footnotes