Surah Muhammad Ayat 1 (47:1 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(47:1) Allah has caused the works of those who disbelieve^[1] and hinder people from the way of Allah^[2] to go to waste.^[3]

1. Those who disbelieved: Those who refused to accept the teachings and guidance presented by Muhammad (peace be upon him).

2. The verb sadd (from which saddu of the original is derived) is used both as a transitive and as an intransitive verb in Arabic.

Therefore, the sentence would mean “they themselves refrained from adopting Allah’s Way” as well as “they prevented others from adopting this way.” There are several ways of preventing others from adopting Allah’s Way:

(1) That one should forcibly prevent another from believing.

(2) That one should so persecute the believers that it should become difficult for them to remain steadfast on the faith and for others to embrace the faith in view of the dreadful conditions.

(3) That one should mislead the people against the religion and its followers in different ways and create doubts in the hearts so that the people may become suspicious of the religion itself. Besides, every disbeliever prevents others from the way of Allah in the sense that he brings up his children on the way of disbelief, and then it becomes difficult for his future generation to give up the ancestral faith and accept Islam. Likewise, every unbelieving society is an obstruction to the Way of Allah, for it creates obstacles in the way of the progress of the faith by its system of education and training, its government and its customs and prejudices.

3. The words adalla aamala-hum (led their deeds astray, let them go to waste) are very comprehensive in meaning. Their one meaning is: Allah deprived them of the grace that their efforts and their labors should be spent in the right way. Now, whatever they do, they will do that for wrong aims and objects in wrong ways. All their endeavors will be directed to the way of error and deviation instead of guidance. Their second meaning is: The works that they have been performing as pious deeds, e.g. guardianship of the Kabah, entertaining the guests, treating the kindred well and such other works, which are counted among religious services and noble actions morally, were rendered fruitless by Allah. They will get no reward for them, for when they refuse to accept Tauhid and to adopt the way of Allah’s service and worship and also stop others from adopting Islam, none of their works can be acceptable to Allah. The third meaning is Allah rendered fruitless and vain the efforts they were making to obstruct the way of the truth and to keep their creed of disbelief alive in Arabia as against the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). All their designs and endeavors now are aimless, they will never attain their goals by these designs.

Ibn-Kathir

1. Those who disbelieve and hinder (men) from the path of Allah, He will render their deeds vain. 2. But those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and believe in that which is sent down to Muhammad — for it is the truth from their Lord — He expiates from them their sins and amends their Bal. 3. That is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood, while those who believe follow the truth from their Lord. Thus does Allah set forth for mankind their parables.

(Those who disbelieve) meaning, in the Ayat of Allah.

(and hinder (men)) Others.

(from the path of Allah, He will render their deeds vain.) meaning, He renders their deeds vain and futile, and He denies them any rewards or blessings for them. This is similar to His saying,

(And We will approach what they have done of deeds and make them as dispersed dust.) (25:23) Allah then says,

(And those who believe and do righteous good deeds,) Which means that their hearts and souls have believed, and their limbs and their hidden and apparent acts have complied with Allah’s Law.

(And believe in that which has been sent down to Muhammad) Adding this statement to the previous one is a method of adding a specific meaning to a general one. This provides proof that after Muhammad’s advent, believing in him is a required condition for the true faith. Allah then says,

(For it is the truth from their Lord.) which is a beautifully placed parenthetical clause. Thus, Allah says,

(He expiates from them their sins and amends their Bal.) Ibn `Abbas, said, “This means their matter.” Mujahid said, “This means their affair.” Qatadah and Ibn Zayd both said, “Their condition.” And all of these are similar in meaning. It has been mentioned (from the Prophet ) in the Hadith of the responding to one who sneezes,

(May Allah guide you and rectify your (Bal) affairs.) Then Allah says,

(That is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood,) meaning, `We only invalidate the deeds of the disbelievers and overlook the sins of the righteous, and amend their affairs, because those who disbelieve follow false- hood.’ Meaning, they choose falsehood over the truth.

(while those who believe follow the truth from their Lord. Thus does Allah set forth for the people their parables.) Thus He makes the consequence of their actions clear to them, and He shows them where they will end in their next life — and Allah knows best.