A Reminder of the Grace of Allah and a Warning against following the Footsteps of Shaytan
Allah says:
وَلَوْلاَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ
(And had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy on you, and that Allah is full of kindness, Most Merciful.) meaning, if it were not for this, it would have been another matter altogether, but He, may He be exalted, is full of kindness towards His servants and Merciful towards them. He accepts the repentance of those who repent to Him from this sin, and purifies those among them who are purified by the prescribed punishment carried out on them. Then Allah says:
يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ خُطُوَتِ الشَّيْطَـنِ
(O you who believe! Follow not the Khutuwat of Shaytan.) hmeaning, his ways and paths and what he commands,
وَمَن يَتَّبِعْ خُطُوَتِ الشَّيْطَـنِ فَإِنَّهُ يَأْمُرُ بِالْفَحْشَآءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ
(And whosoever follows the footsteps of Shaytan, then, verily, he commands immorality and the evil deeds.) This is a warning given in the most concise and eloquent manner. `Ali bin Abi Talhah recorded from Ibn `Abbas that
خُطُوَتِ الشَّيْطَـنِ
(the Khutuwat of Shaytan) means his deeds. `Ikrimah said that it means his evil whispers. Qatadah said: "Every sin is one of the footsteps of Shaytan." Abu Mijlaz said: "Vowing to commit sin is one of the footsteps of Shaytan." Then Allah says:
وَلَوْلاَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ مَا زَكَى مِنكُم مِّنْ أَحَدٍ أَبَداً
(And had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy on you, not one of you would ever have been pure from sins.) meaning, if He did not help whomever He wills to repent and come back to Him and be purified from Shirk, evil and sin, and whatever bad characteristics each person has according to his nature, no one would ever attain purity and goodness.
وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يُزَكِّى مَن يَشَآءُ
(But Allah purifies whom He wills) means, among His creation, and He sends astray whomever He wills, leaving him to be doomed in his misguidance and sin.
وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ
(and Allah is All-Hearer,) means, He hears what His servants say,
عَلِيمٌ
(All-Knower.) of who deserves to be guided and who deserves to be misguided.
And were it not for God’s bounty to you O band of accusers and His mercy and that God is Gentle Merciful to you He would have surely hastened to bring about your punishment.
ولولا فَضْلُ الله على مَن وقع في حديث الإفك ورحمته بهم، وأن الله يرحم عباده المؤمنين رحمة واسعة في عاجلهم وآجلهم، لما بيَّن هذه الأحكام والمواعظ، ولَعاجل مَن خالف أمره بالعقوبة.
أي لولا هذا لكان أمر آخر ولكنه تعالى رءوف بعباده رحيم بهم فتاب على من تاب إليه من هذه القضية وطهر من طهر منهم بالحد الذي أقيم عليهم.
ثم ذكر - سبحانه - المؤمنين بفضله عليهم مرة أخرى ، لكى يزدادوا اعبتارا واتعاظا فقال ( وَلَوْلاَ فَضْلُ الله عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ وَأَنَّ الله رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ ) .وجواب " لولا " محذوف ، كما أن خبر المبتدأ محذوف ، والتقدير : ولولا فضل الله عليكم ، ورحمته بكم موجودان ، لعاجلكم بالعقوبة . ولكنه - سبحانه - لم يعاجلكم بها ، لأنه شديد الرأفة والرحمة بعباده ، ولو يؤاخذهم بما كسبوا ما ترك عليها من دابة .
يقول تعالى ذكره: ولولا أن تفضَّل الله عليكم أيها الناس ورحمكم، وأن الله ذو رأفة، ذو رحمة بخلقه لهلكتم فيما أفضتم فيه، وعاجلتكم من الله العقوبة. وترك ذكر الجواب لمعرفة السامع بالمراد من الكلام بعده، وهو قوله: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ ... الآية.
( ولولا فضل الله عليكم ورحمته وأن الله رءوف رحيم ) جواب " لولا " محذوف ، أي : لعاجلكم بالعقوبة ، قال ابن عباس : يريد مسطحا ، وحسان ، وحمنة .
وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ (20)هذه ثالث مرة كرر فيها { ولولا فضل الله عليكم ورحمته } وحذف في الأول والثالث جواب ( لولا) لتذهب النفس كل مذهب ممكن في تقديره بحسب المقام .وقد ذكر في المرة الأولى وصف الله بأنه تواب حكيم للمناسبة المتقدمة ، وذكر هنا بأنه رؤوف رحيم ، لأن هذا التنبيه الذي تضمنه التذييل فيه انتشال للأمة من اضطراب عظيم في أخلاقها وآدابها وانفصام عرى وحدتها فأنقذها من ذلك رأفة ورحمة لآحادها وجماعتها وحفظاً لأواصرها .وذكر وصف الرأفة والرحمة هنا لأنه قد تقدمه إنقاذه إياهم من سوء محبة أن تشيع الفاحشة في الذين آمنوا تلك المحبة التي انطوت عليها ضمائر المنافقين كان إنقاذ المؤمنين من التخلق بها رأفة بهم من العذاب ورحمة لهم بثواب المتاب .وهذه الآية هي منتهى الآيات العشر التي نزلت في أصحاب الإفك على عائشة رضي الله عنها ، نزلت متتابعة على النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وتلاها حين نزولها وهو في بيته .
{ وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ } قد أحاط بكم من كل جانب { وَرَحْمَتُهُ } عليكم { وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ } لما بين لكم هذه الأحكام والمواعظ، والحكم الجليلة، ولما أمهل من خالف أمره، ولكن فضله ورحمته، وأن ذلك وصفه اللازم آثر لكم من الخير الدنيوي والأخروي، ما لن تحصوه، أو تعدوه.
" فضل " رفع بالابتداء عند سيبويه , والخبر محذوف لا تظهره العرب .وحذف جواب " لولا " لأنه قد ذكر مثله بعد ;
To follow in the footsteps of Satan means acting upon his secret evil promptings. When for no reason at all the mind of an individual is suddenly flooded by feelings of suspicion, when a man begins harbouring negative thoughts about his opponents, it is the insidious work of Satan. Therefore, when such thoughts and feelings take shape, man should, instead of cultivating them, immediately root them out from his heart. To cultivate such feelings amounts to following Satan.To raise a hue and cry against others is inconsistent with humility. There are certain individuals who have very high opinions of themselves, while holding unduly bad opinions about others. Neither trait is in consonance with faith. If a man cultivates faith-oriented humbleness, he becomes so engrossed in introspection that he has absolutely no time to engage himself in unfair criticism of others or in calling others to account.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحِبُّونَ أَن تَشِيعَ الْفَاحِشَةُ فِي الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ
Surely, those who like that shamelessness spreads among the believers, for them there is a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter - 24:19.
Those who had taken part in any way in the slander are again condemned in this verse, and are warned with the punishment in the world and in the Hereafter. An extra element in this verse is that those who propagate such rumors actually want the spread of obscenity and immorality among the Muslims.
The Qur'anic system for the prevention of obscenity
The Holy Qur'an has drawn out this unique system for the prevention of obscenity that, in the first place such a news should not spread, and if at all it is leaked out, it should be backed up with lawful proof, so that the punishment of adultery is also executed publicly, immediately after the spread of the news. This way the publicity itself will serve as a preventive measure. If there were no condition of lawful proof, then it would have been lot easy to pass on and publicize such scandals, especially, when there is no punishment attached to it. Absence of any fear against spreading scandals leads to minimizing the repulsion against immorality and obscenity from the people's mind; rather it encourages to indulge in such crimes and to propagate them. This is an everyday experience that this sort of scandals is published in the newspapers daily. Young men and women read them frequently. As a result, the intensity of such wicked acts is minimized gradually, and instead a slow inclination for indulging in them develops in their minds. It is for this reason that the Holy Qur’ an has allowed publicity of such news only in such situations when it is supported with lawful evidence, so that people should see the severe punishment for the obscene crime along with the news of adultery when they learn about it. Where there is no proof and punishment, Qur'an has proclaimed the publicity of such news as a tool for spreading obscenity among the Muslims. This vital point needs to be pondered by the Muslims. This verse actually emphasizes that to give publicity to scandals without proof will invite very severe punishment both in this world and in the Hereafter. The punishment in the Hereafter will naturally follow after the Dooms Day, and thus cannot be experienced here, but the punishment of the world can be seen. So, those who were punished for false accusation have in fact experienced the punishment of the world. If anyone has escaped the execution of the punishment for want of proof needed for the award of this punishment, even then he has earned the punishment (which will be executed in the Hereafter). For the implication of the verse even this is enough.
(Had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy unto you) unto those who did not slander 'A'ishah and Safwan, (and that Allah is Clement, Merciful, (ye had been undone)) towards the believers.
A Reminder of the Grace of Allah and a Warning against following the Footsteps of Shaytan
Allah says:
وَلَوْلاَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ
(And had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy on you, and that Allah is full of kindness, Most Merciful.) meaning, if it were not for this, it would have been another matter altogether, but He, may He be exalted, is full of kindness towards His servants and Merciful towards them. He accepts the repentance of those who repent to Him from this sin, and purifies those among them who are purified by the prescribed punishment carried out on them. Then Allah says:
يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ خُطُوَتِ الشَّيْطَـنِ
(O you who believe! Follow not the Khutuwat of Shaytan.) hmeaning, his ways and paths and what he commands,
وَمَن يَتَّبِعْ خُطُوَتِ الشَّيْطَـنِ فَإِنَّهُ يَأْمُرُ بِالْفَحْشَآءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ
(And whosoever follows the footsteps of Shaytan, then, verily, he commands immorality and the evil deeds.) This is a warning given in the most concise and eloquent manner. `Ali bin Abi Talhah recorded from Ibn `Abbas that
خُطُوَتِ الشَّيْطَـنِ
(the Khutuwat of Shaytan) means his deeds. `Ikrimah said that it means his evil whispers. Qatadah said: "Every sin is one of the footsteps of Shaytan." Abu Mijlaz said: "Vowing to commit sin is one of the footsteps of Shaytan." Then Allah says:
وَلَوْلاَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ مَا زَكَى مِنكُم مِّنْ أَحَدٍ أَبَداً
(And had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy on you, not one of you would ever have been pure from sins.) meaning, if He did not help whomever He wills to repent and come back to Him and be purified from Shirk, evil and sin, and whatever bad characteristics each person has according to his nature, no one would ever attain purity and goodness.
وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يُزَكِّى مَن يَشَآءُ
(But Allah purifies whom He wills) means, among His creation, and He sends astray whomever He wills, leaving him to be doomed in his misguidance and sin.
وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ
(and Allah is All-Hearer,) means, He hears what His servants say,
عَلِيمٌ
(All-Knower.) of who deserves to be guided and who deserves to be misguided.
And were it not for God’s bounty to you O band of accusers and His mercy and that God is Gentle Merciful to you He would have surely hastened to bring about your punishment.
ولولا فَضْلُ الله على مَن وقع في حديث الإفك ورحمته بهم، وأن الله يرحم عباده المؤمنين رحمة واسعة في عاجلهم وآجلهم، لما بيَّن هذه الأحكام والمواعظ، ولَعاجل مَن خالف أمره بالعقوبة.
أي لولا هذا لكان أمر آخر ولكنه تعالى رءوف بعباده رحيم بهم فتاب على من تاب إليه من هذه القضية وطهر من طهر منهم بالحد الذي أقيم عليهم.
ثم ذكر - سبحانه - المؤمنين بفضله عليهم مرة أخرى ، لكى يزدادوا اعبتارا واتعاظا فقال ( وَلَوْلاَ فَضْلُ الله عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ وَأَنَّ الله رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ ) .وجواب " لولا " محذوف ، كما أن خبر المبتدأ محذوف ، والتقدير : ولولا فضل الله عليكم ، ورحمته بكم موجودان ، لعاجلكم بالعقوبة . ولكنه - سبحانه - لم يعاجلكم بها ، لأنه شديد الرأفة والرحمة بعباده ، ولو يؤاخذهم بما كسبوا ما ترك عليها من دابة .
يقول تعالى ذكره: ولولا أن تفضَّل الله عليكم أيها الناس ورحمكم، وأن الله ذو رأفة، ذو رحمة بخلقه لهلكتم فيما أفضتم فيه، وعاجلتكم من الله العقوبة. وترك ذكر الجواب لمعرفة السامع بالمراد من الكلام بعده، وهو قوله: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ ... الآية.
( ولولا فضل الله عليكم ورحمته وأن الله رءوف رحيم ) جواب " لولا " محذوف ، أي : لعاجلكم بالعقوبة ، قال ابن عباس : يريد مسطحا ، وحسان ، وحمنة .
وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ (20)هذه ثالث مرة كرر فيها { ولولا فضل الله عليكم ورحمته } وحذف في الأول والثالث جواب ( لولا) لتذهب النفس كل مذهب ممكن في تقديره بحسب المقام .وقد ذكر في المرة الأولى وصف الله بأنه تواب حكيم للمناسبة المتقدمة ، وذكر هنا بأنه رؤوف رحيم ، لأن هذا التنبيه الذي تضمنه التذييل فيه انتشال للأمة من اضطراب عظيم في أخلاقها وآدابها وانفصام عرى وحدتها فأنقذها من ذلك رأفة ورحمة لآحادها وجماعتها وحفظاً لأواصرها .وذكر وصف الرأفة والرحمة هنا لأنه قد تقدمه إنقاذه إياهم من سوء محبة أن تشيع الفاحشة في الذين آمنوا تلك المحبة التي انطوت عليها ضمائر المنافقين كان إنقاذ المؤمنين من التخلق بها رأفة بهم من العذاب ورحمة لهم بثواب المتاب .وهذه الآية هي منتهى الآيات العشر التي نزلت في أصحاب الإفك على عائشة رضي الله عنها ، نزلت متتابعة على النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وتلاها حين نزولها وهو في بيته .
{ وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ } قد أحاط بكم من كل جانب { وَرَحْمَتُهُ } عليكم { وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ } لما بين لكم هذه الأحكام والمواعظ، والحكم الجليلة، ولما أمهل من خالف أمره، ولكن فضله ورحمته، وأن ذلك وصفه اللازم آثر لكم من الخير الدنيوي والأخروي، ما لن تحصوه، أو تعدوه.
" فضل " رفع بالابتداء عند سيبويه , والخبر محذوف لا تظهره العرب .وحذف جواب " لولا " لأنه قد ذكر مثله بعد ;
To follow in the footsteps of Satan means acting upon his secret evil promptings. When for no reason at all the mind of an individual is suddenly flooded by feelings of suspicion, when a man begins harbouring negative thoughts about his opponents, it is the insidious work of Satan. Therefore, when such thoughts and feelings take shape, man should, instead of cultivating them, immediately root them out from his heart. To cultivate such feelings amounts to following Satan.To raise a hue and cry against others is inconsistent with humility. There are certain individuals who have very high opinions of themselves, while holding unduly bad opinions about others. Neither trait is in consonance with faith. If a man cultivates faith-oriented humbleness, he becomes so engrossed in introspection that he has absolutely no time to engage himself in unfair criticism of others or in calling others to account.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحِبُّونَ أَن تَشِيعَ الْفَاحِشَةُ فِي الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ
Surely, those who like that shamelessness spreads among the believers, for them there is a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter - 24:19.
Those who had taken part in any way in the slander are again condemned in this verse, and are warned with the punishment in the world and in the Hereafter. An extra element in this verse is that those who propagate such rumors actually want the spread of obscenity and immorality among the Muslims.
The Qur'anic system for the prevention of obscenity
The Holy Qur'an has drawn out this unique system for the prevention of obscenity that, in the first place such a news should not spread, and if at all it is leaked out, it should be backed up with lawful proof, so that the punishment of adultery is also executed publicly, immediately after the spread of the news. This way the publicity itself will serve as a preventive measure. If there were no condition of lawful proof, then it would have been lot easy to pass on and publicize such scandals, especially, when there is no punishment attached to it. Absence of any fear against spreading scandals leads to minimizing the repulsion against immorality and obscenity from the people's mind; rather it encourages to indulge in such crimes and to propagate them. This is an everyday experience that this sort of scandals is published in the newspapers daily. Young men and women read them frequently. As a result, the intensity of such wicked acts is minimized gradually, and instead a slow inclination for indulging in them develops in their minds. It is for this reason that the Holy Qur’ an has allowed publicity of such news only in such situations when it is supported with lawful evidence, so that people should see the severe punishment for the obscene crime along with the news of adultery when they learn about it. Where there is no proof and punishment, Qur'an has proclaimed the publicity of such news as a tool for spreading obscenity among the Muslims. This vital point needs to be pondered by the Muslims. This verse actually emphasizes that to give publicity to scandals without proof will invite very severe punishment both in this world and in the Hereafter. The punishment in the Hereafter will naturally follow after the Dooms Day, and thus cannot be experienced here, but the punishment of the world can be seen. So, those who were punished for false accusation have in fact experienced the punishment of the world. If anyone has escaped the execution of the punishment for want of proof needed for the award of this punishment, even then he has earned the punishment (which will be executed in the Hereafter). For the implication of the verse even this is enough.
(Had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy unto you) unto those who did not slander 'A'ishah and Safwan, (and that Allah is Clement, Merciful, (ye had been undone)) towards the believers.