Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Do they then feel secure from the scheme of Allah?”
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Question:
What is the meaning of the saying of the Truth, Blessed and Exalted is He: [Al-A'raf: 99].
Answer:
In this great verse, Allah the Exalted warns His servants against feeling secure from His scheme. He says, the Exalted:[Al-A'raf 7:99].
The intended meaning here is warning the servants against feeling secure from His scheme by persisting in His sins and being negligent of His right. What is meant by the scheme of Allah against them is that He grants them respite and increases them in blessings and good things while they are persisting in His sins and opposing His command. Thus, they are deserving of being taken by surprise in their heedlessness and punished for their false sense of security due to their persistence in His sins and their feeling secure from His punishment and anger. As He said, the Exalted:[Al-A'raf 7:182] and I grant them respite. Indeed, My plan is firm [Al-A'raf: 182-183], and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said : [Al-An'am: 110], and He said, the Exalted: [Al-An'am: 44]; meaning: they are despairing of all good.
Therefore, it is obligatory for Muslims not to despair of the mercy of Allah, nor to feel secure from His scheme and punishment. Rather, it is obligatory for every Muslim to proceed toward Allah the Exalted in this world—the perishing abode—between fear and hope. He should remember His greatness and the severity of His punishment if he opposes His command, so he fears Him and dreads His punishment. He should also remember His mercy, His pardon, His forgiveness, His generosity, and His bounty, so he holds a good opinion of Him and hopes for His bounty and pardon.
And Allah is the One who grants success, the Exalted. There is no deity but Him, and no Lord besides Him.
What is the meaning of the saying of the Truth, Blessed and Exalted is He:
Then did they feel secure from the plan of Allah? But no one feels secure from the plan of Allah except the losing people.
أَفَأَمِنُواْ مَكْرَ اللّهِ فَلاَ يَأْمَنُ مَكْرَ اللّهِ إِلاَّ الْقَوْمُ الْخَاسِرُونَAnswer:
In this great verse, Allah the Exalted warns His servants against feeling secure from His scheme. He says, the Exalted:
Then did they feel secure from the plan of Allah? But no one feels secure from the plan of Allah except the losing people.
أَفَأَمِنُواْ مَكْرَ اللّهِ فَلاَ يَأْمَنُ مَكْرَ اللّهِ إِلاَّ الْقَوْمُ الْخَاسِرُونَThe intended meaning here is warning the servants against feeling secure from His scheme by persisting in His sins and being negligent of His right. What is meant by the scheme of Allah against them is that He grants them respite and increases them in blessings and good things while they are persisting in His sins and opposing His command. Thus, they are deserving of being taken by surprise in their heedlessness and punished for their false sense of security due to their persistence in His sins and their feeling secure from His punishment and anger. As He said, the Exalted:
We will progressively lead them [to destruction] from where they do not know.
سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُم مِّنْ حَيْثُ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ And We will turn away their hearts and their eyes just as they refused to believe in it the first time. And We will leave them in their transgression, wandering blindly.
وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَارَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُواْ بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَنَذَرُهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَSo when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We opened to them the doors of every [good] thing until, when they rejoiced in that which they were given, We seized them suddenly, and they were [then] in despair.
فَلَمَّا نَسُواْ مَا ذُكِّرُواْ بِهِ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَبْوَابَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَتَّى إِذَا فَرِحُواْ بِمَا أُوتُواْ أَخَذْنَاهُم بَغْتَةً فَإِذَا هُم مُّبْلِسُونَTherefore, it is obligatory for Muslims not to despair of the mercy of Allah, nor to feel secure from His scheme and punishment. Rather, it is obligatory for every Muslim to proceed toward Allah the Exalted in this world—the perishing abode—between fear and hope. He should remember His greatness and the severity of His punishment if he opposes His command, so he fears Him and dreads His punishment. He should also remember His mercy, His pardon, His forgiveness, His generosity, and His bounty, so he holds a good opinion of Him and hopes for His bounty and pardon.
And Allah is the One who grants success, the Exalted. There is no deity but Him, and no Lord besides Him.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.