Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:100
And it is not for a soul to believe except by permission of Allah, and He will place defilement upon those who will not use reason.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The commentary on the explanation of the words of the Exalted: وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ إِلا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَيَجْعَلُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لا يَعْقِلُونَ (100)
(And it is not possible for any soul to believe except by the permission of Allah; and He lays the defilement upon those who do not use their reason.)
Abū Jaʿfar says: The Exalted — magnified be His renown — says to His Prophet: no soul that I have created has any way to believe in you, O Muḥammad, unless I have granted it permission to do so. (17) So do not exert yourself to the utmost in seeking its guidance; convey to it Allah's warning, and make known to it what your Lord has commanded you to let it know — then leave it to its fate, for its guidance rests with its Creator.
Al-Thawrī used to say the following concerning the explanation of the words إِلا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ (except by the permission of Allah):
17910 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Sufyān, concerning the words وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ إِلا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ: he said: "By the decree of Allah (bi-qaḍāʾ Allāh)."
As for the words وَيَجْعَلُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لا يَعْقِلُونَ (and He lays the defilement upon those who do not use their reason): the Exalted — magnified be His renown — says thereby: Allah guides whom He wills of His creatures to belief in you, O Muḥammad, and grants them permission to affirm you — so they affirm you and follow you and acknowledge what you have brought from your Lord; وَيَجْعَلُ الرِّجْسَ — that is the punishment (al-ʿadhāb) and the wrath of Allah (18) — عَلَى الَّذِينَ لا يَعْقِلُونَ: that is to say: those who do not properly take into their reason Allah's proofs, His admonitions, and His signs — those signs by which the Exalted — exalted be His praise — pointed to the prophethood of Muḥammad ﷺ, and to the truth of that to which he called them: the oneness of Allah (tawḥīd) and the renunciation of the equals (al-andād) and the idols (al-awthān).
17911 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the words وَيَجْعَلُ الرِّجْسَ: he said: "The displeasure (al-sakhaṭ)."