English - Ma'ariful Qur'an - Mufti Shafi Usmani RA - Vol - 1
Surah Al-Baqarah - 2 : Verses 6 - 7

Pages for Current Surah - Verse/s :-

- Verses 6 - 7: Translation and Commentary

- What is Kufr? (Infidelty)
- The Meaning of 'Indhar' (warning) by a Prophet
- Favour Withdrawn by Allah is a Punishment -
- A Doubt is Removed

Favour withdrawn by Allah is a punishment

These two verses tell us that the other world is the place where one would receive the real punishment for one's disbelief or for some of one's sins. One may, however, receive some punishment for certain sins even in this world. Such a punishment sometimes takes a very grievous form - that is, the divine favour which helps one to reform oneself is withdrawn, so that, ignoring how one's deeds are to be assessed on the Day of Judgment, one keeps growing in disobedience and sin, and finally comes to lose even the awareness of evil. In delineating such a situation certain elders have remarked that one punishment for an evil deed is another evil deed which comes after, and one reward for a good deed is another good deed which comes after. According to a Hadith, when a man commits a sin, a black dot appears on his heart; this first dot disturbs him just as a smudge on a white cloth is always displeasing to us; but if, instead of asking Allah's pardon for the first sin, he proceeds to commit a second, another dot shows up, thus, with every new sin the black dots go on multiplying till the whole heart turns dark, and now he can no longer see good as good nor evil as evil, and grows quite incapable of making such distinctions. The Holy Prophet added that The Holy Qur'an uses the term Ra'n or Rain (rust) for this darkness: as in Mishkat from the Musnad of Ahmad and Tirmidhi.

No. But what they did has rusted their hearts (83:14)

According to another authentic Hadith reported by Tirmidhi from the blessed Companion. Abu Hurairah  the Holy Prophet has said, "When a man commits a sin, his heart grows dark, but if he seeks Allah's pardon, it becomes clear again". (See Qurtubi)

It should be carefully noted that in announcing that it is all one whether the Holy Prophet , warns the disbelievers or not, the Holy Qur'an adds the condition 'Alaihim (for them), which clearly indicates that it is all one for the disbelievers alone, and not for the Holy Prophet for he would in any case get a reward for bringing the message of Allah to his fellow-men and for his efforts to teach and reform them. That is why there is not a single verse in the Holy Qur'an which should dissuade the Holy Prophet  from calling even such people to Islam. From this we may infer that the man who strives to spread the Word of Allah and to reform his fellow-men does always get a reward for his good deed, even if he has not been effective.