al-Ḥujurāt

وَاعْلَمُوا أنَّ فِيكُمْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ لَوْ يُطِيعُكُمْ فِي كَثِيرٍ مِّنَ الْأمْرِ لَعَنِتُّمْ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ حَبَّبَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْإِيمَانَ وَزَيَّنَهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَكَرَّهَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصْيَانَ اُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الرَّاشِدُونَ

فَضْلاً مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَنِعْمَةً وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ

7. And know that among you there is the Messenger of Allah [whom you should obey]. If he were to obey you in much of the matter, you would surely be in trouble. But Allah has endeared your faith to you and has beautified it in your hearts, and has made disbelief, disobedience [to Allah], and committing sin hateful to you. Such are they who are the rightly guided.

8. [This interest in belief and hate of disbelief are] a Bounty from Allah and His Favor. And Allah is Omniscient, All-Wise.

Mention was made under the preceding Verse of Walid ibn ‘Uqba’s false report about people’s failure to pay alms tax to the Noble Prophet (S) and people’s besiege toward attack when the preceding blessed Verse was revealed as per which Muslims are supposed to investigate and assay the news reported by wrong-doers. The blessed Verse in question is saying that people are basically supposed to obey the Noble Prophet (S) and the divinely appointed leader is not supposed to be affected by the frantic effervescence arising from the reports imparted by wrong-doers. There are traditions to the effect that endearment of believers indicates treading the straight path otherwise wayfarers are in error.²³

According to traditions, one of the tokens of faith attested in:

“Allah has endeared your faith to you”

is love for ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (as) and disbelief and disobedience to Allah are on a par with enmity against the Noble Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt (“family”).²⁴ If the decision maker happens not to be just or infallible, policy making will lead to despotism which leaves no room for growth

(“And the command of Pharaoh was no right guide,”) ²⁵ .

Au contraire, if the decision maker happens to be infallible or just, the ground is paved for growth;

(“Such are they who are the rightly guided”).

Thus, addressing believers, the blessed Verse aims at guiding them saying that the Messenger of Allah (S) is amongst you and you are supposed to obey his commands rather than expect him to obey you, since had he acted upon your wish, you believers, unaware of your gain and loss, would have been in trouble and hardship. Furthermore, when you deviate from the right path, your faith will be penetrated by flaws. However, God Almighty has endeared your faith to you and has embellished it in your hearts, and has made disbelief, disobedience to Allah, and committing sin hateful to you.

Such people are the rightly guided. It is mentioned in the following Verse that if you obey the Messenger of Allah’s (S) commands, faith shall be deeply rooted in our heart and you shall clearly perceive the truth of the Islamic faith; thus, your hearts shall be illumined by the light of the Islamic faith and you will find Guidance through your belief in Islam which is Divine Bounty and Favor bestowed upon whomever He wills. God Almighty is Omniscient and All-Aware of your states and deeds and has set everything in its proper place.

Footnotes

1. 23. Kafi, vol. 2, p. 126.
2. 24. Ibid, vol. 1, p. 426.
3. 25. 11:97