Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “If you disbelieve, then indeed Allah is free of you, and He does not approve of disbelief for His servants, and if you are grateful, He approves it for you. And no bearer of burden will carry the burden of another.”
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Then he said—and this is the beginning of today’s lesson—: [Az-Zumar 39:7] Disbelieve in whom?
The student: In Allah.
The Shaykh : If you disbelieve in Allah and in what is obligatory to believe in, then you will not harm Allah, for Allah is free of you. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, did not command the servants to worship Him and be sincere to Him out of His need for them, but for their own benefit, for they are rewarded for this with the greatest reward and are saved thereby from punishment. As for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, it does not harm Him if all of creation disbelieves. If you disbelieve, even if all of creation did, then Allah is free of you. And it came in the Holy Hadith:Sahih Muslim 2577a If all the people, indeed the humans and non-humans, were upon the most wicked heart of a man, that would not diminish anything from the dominion of Allah, nor would they harm Allah in any way. For this reason He said: [Az-Zumar 39:7] And He does not approve of disbelief for them, that they disbelieve in Allah. And consider His saying: This means that disbelief is a matter that is not fitting for the servants, so He does not approve of them committing it. And that is because Allah created them, so how does a rational person see that worship is directed to other than the Creator? For this reason He said: And He did not say “from His servants” or “about His servants,” because the lam is more emphatic in that this thing is not fitting for them. And His saying: Servitude is divided into two categories: general and specific. From the first—meaning the general—is the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Maryam 19:93] Does “in” here mean the particle of negation? No, the one before you? Yes. What does this “in” mean? [Maryam 19:93] If
The student: It means
The Shaykh : It means, and the sign of the “in” that means “not” is that which means comes after it, [Fatir 35:23] meaning you are nothing but a warner. [Maryam 19:93] This is from which type of servitude?
The student: The general.
The Shaykh : The general. Even the devils and the disbelievers, all of them are the servants of Allah in the general sense. The specific sense is the specific worship, the specific category in worship, which is the worship of the believers, and it is the legislated worship, meaning the submission to Allah the Exalted by legislation. And this is specific to whom? To those who obeyed Him only. And from that is the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Furqan 25:63] And His saying regarding the messengers that they are the servants of Allah [Sad 38:45] This is servitude
The student: Specific.
The Shaykh : Specific. His saying: Is this here from the general or from the specific?
The student: From the general.
The Shaykh : From the general, meaning He does not approve of disbelief for any one of the servants of Allah. Yes.
If you disbelieve - indeed, Allah is Free from need of you
إن تكفروا فإنَّ الله غني عنكمIf you disbelieve
إن تكفرواThe student: In Allah.
The Shaykh : If you disbelieve in Allah and in what is obligatory to believe in, then you will not harm Allah, for Allah is free of you. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, did not command the servants to worship Him and be sincere to Him out of His need for them, but for their own benefit, for they are rewarded for this with the greatest reward and are saved thereby from punishment. As for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, it does not harm Him if all of creation disbelieves. If you disbelieve, even if all of creation did, then Allah is free of you. And it came in the Holy Hadith:
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My dominion in anything.
يا عبادي لو أن اولكم وآخركم وإنسكم وجنكم كانوا على أفجر قلب رجل واحد منكم ما نقص ذلك من ملكي شيئًاindeed, Allah is Free from need of you. And He does not approve for His servants disbelief
فإن الله غني عنكم ولا يرضى لعباده الكفرAnd He does not approve of it for His servants
ولا يرضى لِعبادِهAnd He does not approve of disbelief for His servants
ولا يرضى لعبادهDisbelief for His servants
لعباده الكفرThere is no one in the heavens and earth but that he comes to the Most Merciful as a servant.
إِنْ كُلُّ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ إلا آتِي الرَّحْمَنِ عَبْدًاIndeed, every soul
إن كلIndeed
إنIndeed
إنThere is no one in the heavens and earth but that he comes to the Most Merciful as a servant.
إِنْ كُلُّ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ إلا آتِي الرَّحْمَنِ عَبْدًاThe student: It means
not
ماThe Shaykh : It means
not
ماIndeed
إنnot
ماExcept
إلاYou, [O Muhammad], are not but a warner.
إن أنت إلا نذيرThere is no one in the heavens and earth but that he comes to the Most Merciful as a servant.
إِنْ كُلُّ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ إلا آتِي الرَّحْمَنِ عَبْدًاThe student: The general.
The Shaykh : The general. Even the devils and the disbelievers, all of them are the servants of Allah in the general sense. The specific sense is the specific worship, the specific category in worship, which is the worship of the believers, and it is the legislated worship, meaning the submission to Allah the Exalted by legislation. And this is specific to whom? To those who obeyed Him only. And from that is the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth easily
وعباد الرحمن الذين يمشون على الأرض هوناAnd remember Our servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - those of strength and [religious] vision.
وَاذْكُرْ عِبَادَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ أُولِي الْأَيْدِي وَالْأَبْصَارِThe student: Specific.
The Shaykh : Specific. His saying:
And He does not approve of it for His servants
ولا يرضى لعبادهThe student: From the general.
The Shaykh : From the general, meaning He does not approve of disbelief for any one of the servants of Allah. Yes.