Surah Al A'raf Tafseer

فَرِيقًا هَدَى وَفَرِيقًا حَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الضَّلَلَةُ

As He brought you in the beginning, so shall you be brought into being again. A group He has guided, and a group deserved to be in error;

There is some difference over the meaning of:

كَمَا بَدَأَكُمْ تَعُودُونَ

(As He brought you in the beginning, so shall you be brought into being again).

Ibn Abi Najih said that Mujahid said that it means,

"He will bring you back to life after you die."

Al-Hasan Al-Basri commented,

"As He made you begin in this life, He will bring you back to life on the Day of Resurrection."

Qatadah commented on:

"He started their creation after they were nothing, and they perished later on, and He shall bring them back again."

Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said,

"As He created you in the beginning, He will bring you back in the end."

This last explanation was preferred by Abu Jafar Ibn Jarir and he supported it with what he reported from Ibn Abbas,

"The Messenger of Allah stood up and gave us a speech, saying,

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّكُمْ تُحْشَرُونَ إِلَى اللهِ حُفَاةً عُرَاةً غُرْلاًا

O people! You will be gathered to Allah while barefooted, naked and uncircumcised,

كَمَا بَدَأْنَا أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُّعِيدُهُ وَعْدًا عَلَيْنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا فَاعِلِينَ

As We began the first creation, We shall repeat it. (It is) a promise binding upon Us. Truly, We shall do it. (21:104)

This Hadith was collected in the Two Sahihs.

Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas commented on the Ayah,

كَمَا بَدَأَكُمْ تَعُودُونَ

فَرِيقًا هَدَى وَفَرِيقًا حَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الضَّلَلَةُ

As He brought you in the beginning, so shall you be brought into being again. A group He has guided, and a group deserved to be in error;

"Allah, the Exalted, began the creation of the Sons of Adam, some believers and some disbelievers, just as He said,

هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ فَمِنكُمْ كَافِرٌ وَمِنكُم مُّوْمِنٌ

(He it is Who created you, then some of you are disbelievers and some of you are believers) (64:2). He will then return them on the Day of Resurrection as He started them, some believers and some disbelievers.

I say, what supports this meaning, is the Hadith from Ibn Mas`ud that Al-Bukhari recorded, that the Prophet said:

فَوَالَّذِي لَا إِلَهَ غَيرُهُ إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إِلاَّ بَاعٌ أَوْ ذِرَاعٌ فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا

وَإِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إِلاَّ بَاعٌ أَوْ ذِرَاعٌ فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ فَيَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّة

By He, other than Whom there is no god, one of you might perform the deeds of the people of Paradise until only the length of an arm or a forearm would separate him from it. However, that which was written in the Book takes precedence, and he commits the work of the people of the Fire and thus enters it.

And one of you might perform the deeds of the people of the Fire until only the length of an arm or a forearm separates between him and the Fire. However, that which was written in the Book takes precedence, and he performs the work of the people of Paradise and thus enters Paradise.

We should combine this meaning -- if it is held to be the correct meaning for the Ayah -- with Allah's statement:

فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفاً فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِى فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا

So set you your face towards the religion, Hanifan. Allah's Fitrah with which He has created mankind, (30:30), and what is recorded in the Two Sahihs from Abu Hurayrah who said that the Messenger of Allah said:

كُلُّ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ وَيُنَصِّرَانِهِ وَيُمَجِّسَانِه

Every child is born upon the Fitrah, it is only his parents who turn him into a Jew, a Christian or a Zoroastrian.

Muslim recorded that Iyad bin Himar said that the Messenger of Allah said,

يَقُولُ اللهُ تَعَالـى إِنِّي خَلَقْتُ عِبَادِي حُنَفَاءَ فَجَاءَتْهُمُ الشَّيَاطِينُ فَاجْتَالَتْهُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِم

Allah said, `I created My servants Hunafa (monotheists), but the devils came to them and deviated them from their religion.

The collective meaning here is, Allah created His creatures so that some of them later turn believers and some turn disbelievers. Allah has originally created all of His servants able to recognize Him, to single Him out in worship, and know that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him. He also took their covenant to fulfill the implications of this knowledge, which He placed in their consciousness and souls. He has decided that some of them will be miserable and some will be happy,

هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ فَمِنكُمْ كَافِرٌ وَمِنكُم مُّوْمِنٌ

(He it is Who created you, then some of you are disbelievers and some of you are believers). (64:2)

Also, a Hadith states,

كُلُّ النَّاسِ يَغْدُو فَبَايِعٌ نَفْسَهُ فَمُعْتِقُهَا أَوْ مُوبِقُهَا

All people go out in the morning and sell themselves, and some of them free themselves while some others destroy themselves.

Allah's decree will certainly come to pass in His creation. Verily, He it is

وَالَّذِي قَدَّرَ فَهَدَى

(Who has measured (everything); and then guided) (87:3), and,

الَّذِي أَعْطَى كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَى

(He Who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright). (20:50)

And in the Two Sahihs:

فَأَمَّا مَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَهْلِ السَّعَادَةِ فَسَيُيَسَّرُ لِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ السَّعَادَةِ وَأَمَّا مَنْ كَانَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الشَّقَاوَةِ فَسَيُيَسَّرُ لِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الشَّقَاوَة

As for those among you who are among the people of happiness, they will be facilitated to perform the deeds of the people of happiness. As for those who are among the miserable, they will be facilitated to commit the deeds of the miserable.

This is why Allah said here,

فَرِيقًا هَدَى وَفَرِيقًا حَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الضَّلَلَةُ

(A group He has guided, and a group deserved to be in error;),

Allah then explained why,

إِنَّهُمُ اتَّخَذُوا الشَّيَاطِينَ أَوْلِيَاء مِن دُونِ اللّهِ وَيَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ

(because) surely, they took the Shayatin as supporters instead of Allah, and think that they are guided.

Ibn Jarir said,

"This is one of the clearest arguments proving the mistake of those who claim that Allah does not punish anyone for disobedient acts he commits of deviations he believes in until after knowledge of what is correct reaches him, then he were to obstinately avoid it anyway. If this were true, then there would be no difference between the deviations of the misguided group - their belief that they are guided - and the group that is in fact guided. Yet Allah has differentiated between the two in this noble Ayah, doing so in both name and judgement.