Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: ((That is because they used to transgress and they used to commit excess)), and the difference between disobedience and transgression.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Then he said: [Al-Baqarah 2:61] His statement: Is the referent of the pronoun, or rather the demonstrative, the same as the referent of the first demonstrative? In that case, would it be a repetition for emphasis? Or is the referent of the demonstrative disbelief and killing? The apparent meaning is that it refers to disbelief and killing. On this basis, the sins mentioned after this, [Al-Baqarah 2:61], are all due to disbelief and killing; that is, they disbelieved and killed because of their disobedience and their transgression.
We answer the mu'adhdhin, there is no study...
His statement: The letter "ba" indicates causality, and in his statement: is a verbal noun, meaning by their disobedience. And his statement: is conjoined to his statement: , meaning and , meaning and by their being transgressors.
The difference between disobedience and transgression, when both are mentioned, is that disobedience is doing what is forbidden, while transgression is exceeding what is commanded. So doing what is forbidden is called disobedience, and transgression is exceeding what is commanded, such as praying five rak'ahs, for example. It was also said that it is the opposite, and that disobedience is leaving what is commanded, and transgression is doing what is prohibited. Whether it is this or that, the important point is that these people transgressed and disobeyed, so they did not fulfill the obligatory and did not leave the forbidden. Therefore, matters escalated with them until they disbelieved in the verses of Allah and killed His messengers. In this is evidence for what some scholars held, namely that sins are the precursor to disbelief, and that is indeed the case. When a person commits a sin and takes it lightly, then he takes the second one lightly, then the third, and so on. We have passed by some verses in the exegesis of taqwa (mindfulness of Allah) that you may recall. It says: "Leave the sins, small and large, that is taqwa."
And act as a camel on the ground of thorns, fearing what it sees.
Do not belittle a small sin, for mountains are made of pebbles.
And this is correct; if sins accumulate in the hearts, they stand between them and guidance and light[Al-Mutaffifin 83:14].
That was because they disobeyed and were [habitually] transgressing.
ذلك بما عصوا وكانوا يعتدونthat
ذلكThat was because they disobeyed and were [habitually] transgressing.
ذلك بما عصوا وكانوا يعتدونWe answer the mu'adhdhin, there is no study...
His statement:
Because they used to transgress
ذلك بما عصواnot
ماBecause they used to transgress
بما عصواAnd they used to commit excess
وكانوا يعتدونBecause they used to transgress
بما عصواBecause they used to commit excess
بما كانوا يعتدونThe difference between disobedience and transgression, when both are mentioned, is that disobedience is doing what is forbidden, while transgression is exceeding what is commanded. So doing what is forbidden is called disobedience, and transgression is exceeding what is commanded, such as praying five rak'ahs, for example. It was also said that it is the opposite, and that disobedience is leaving what is commanded, and transgression is doing what is prohibited. Whether it is this or that, the important point is that these people transgressed and disobeyed, so they did not fulfill the obligatory and did not leave the forbidden. Therefore, matters escalated with them until they disbelieved in the verses of Allah and killed His messengers. In this is evidence for what some scholars held, namely that sins are the precursor to disbelief, and that is indeed the case. When a person commits a sin and takes it lightly, then he takes the second one lightly, then the third, and so on. We have passed by some verses in the exegesis of taqwa (mindfulness of Allah) that you may recall. It says: "Leave the sins, small and large, that is taqwa."
And act as a camel on the ground of thorns, fearing what it sees.
Do not belittle a small sin, for mountains are made of pebbles.
And this is correct; if sins accumulate in the hearts, they stand between them and guidance and light