Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Except that their hearts be cut out”

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Question:
What is the type of interrogation in the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Except that their hearts be cut out”?

Answer:
Yes, this is a statement, not a question. It is an exception. This falls under the category of commenting on the impossible: that doubt will not leave their hearts unless their hearts are removed. As long as their hearts remain, doubt exists in them, may Allah protect us from that. Doubt exists in them.

Their building which they built will not cease to be a [cause of] skepticism in their hearts until their hearts are stopped.

لَا يَزَالُ بُنْيَانُهُمُ الَّذِي بَنَوْا رِيبَةً فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ إِلَّا أَن تَقَطَّعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ

[At-Tawbah 9:110]

means that this doubt will remain as long as their hearts are in their chests. This is information from Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, about their fate, may Allah protect us from that, and that they will continue in this doubt. This is due to deviation. Allah the Exalted says:

And when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate.

فَلَمَّا زَاغُوا أَزَاغَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ

[As-Saf 61:5]

And He, Mighty and Majestic, says:

And We will turn away their hearts and their eyes just as they refused to believe in it the first time

وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَارَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ

[Al-An'am 6:110]

If one knows the truth and leaves it out of disdain and lack of desire for it, he is punished with deviation. If one rejects the truth out of disdain and lack of desire for it, he is punished with deviation. But if he leaves it out of laziness, and he has no doubt about it and no [objection], but leaves it only out of laziness, then that is lighter.

Source الفوزان -أشرطة- أسئلة وأجوبة من دروس التوحيد - الفوزان - أسئلة التوحيد - ٠٨ — archive.org (37:17)

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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