Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:106
Whoever disbelieves in Allah after his belief... except for one who is forced [to renounce his religion] while his heart is secure in faith. But those who [willingly] open their breasts to disbelief, upon them is wrath from Allah, and for them is a great punishment;
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 Arabic philologists differed concerning the grammatical governor (ʿāmil) operating upon "man" in His word مَنْ كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ and in His word وَلَكِنْ مَنْ شَرَحَ بِالْكُفْرِ صَدْرًا . Some of the grammarians of Basra said: His word فَعَلَيْهِمْ is the predicate (khabar) of His word وَلَكِنْ مَنْ شَرَحَ بِالْكُفْرِ صَدْرًا , and His word مَنْ كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ إِيمَانِهِ was joined to it as a single report — and that conveys the meaning. Some of the grammarians of Kūfa said: These are two clauses that come together, the one coupled to the other; so their apodosis (answer) is one, just as one says: "Whoever comes to us — whoever is good — him we honour" — with the meaning: whoever is good among those who come to us, him we honour. So it is also with every pair of conditional clauses that come together where the second is coupled to the first: their apodosis is one. Another scholar of Basra said: His word مَنْ كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ is in the nominative (marfūʿ) by being made to revert to the word "alladhīna" in His word إِنَّمَا يَفْتَرِي الْكَذِبَ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ — and the meaning of the text, in his view, is: "Only those who disbelieve in Allah after their faith fabricate the lie, except those of them who are compelled while their heart is at rest with faith." This is a position that has no foundation — for if the meaning of the text were what this says, then Allah, the Exalted, would in this verse have excluded from the fabricators of the lie those who were born as disbelievers and remained in it and never believed, and would have connected to it only those who formerly believed but afterwards reverted to disbelief. But the revelation indicates that He did not restrict it to them — for He told of a group of them who accused the Prophet ﷺ of fabrication and said: وَإِذَا بَدَّلْنَا آيَةً مَكَانَ آيَةٍ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يُنَزِّلُ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ مُفْتَرٍ بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ — and He pointed out to all the mushrikīn their fabrication against Allah and declared that they are more deserving of this attribute than the Prophet ﷺ, and said: إِنَّمَا يَفْتَرِي الْكَذِبَ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَاذِبُونَ . If the people intended in this verse were those who disbelieved in Allah after their faith, then those who said to the Prophet ﷺ: "You are only a fabricator" — when Allah replaced one verse with another verse — would have been exclusively those who had disbelieved in Allah after faith, and none of the other mushrikīn; and that, were anyone to say it, its unsoundness is obvious and it contradicts the interpretation of all the interpreters.
The correct position, in my judgement, is that what raises "man" (the first and the second) is His word فَعَلَيْهِمْ غَضَبٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ — and the Arabs do this in conditional expressions when they begin one after another.
It is mentioned that this verse was sent down concerning ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir and a group of people who had accepted Islam, but the mushrikīn had turned them away from their religion; some remained steadfast in Islam and some were led astray.
Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me on the authority of his father, on the authority of his uncle, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning مَنْ كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ إِيمَانِهِ إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِ — to the end of the verse: "That is because the mushrikīn seized ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir and tortured him, but then let him go; he returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and told him what he had suffered from Quraysh and what he had said. Then Allah, the Exalted, sent down his excuse: مَنْ كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ إِيمَانِهِ — to His word وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ ."
Bishr related to us on the authority of Qatāda — concerning مَنْ كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ إِيمَانِهِ إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِ : we are told that it was sent down concerning ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir; the Banū al-Mughīra seized him and plunged him into the well of Maymūn and said: "Disavow Muḥammad." He complied with them in that while his heart was averse to it. Allah sent down: إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِ وَلَكِنْ مَنْ شَرَحَ بِالْكُفْرِ صَدْرًا — that is to say: whoever follows disbelief out of his own choice and preference — فَعَلَيْهِمْ غَضَبٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ .
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Thawr, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Jazarī, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir: he said: The mushrikīn took ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir and tortured him until he complied with them in part of what they wanted. He complained of that to the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ said: "How do you find your heart?" He said: "At rest with faith (muṭmaʾinnan bi-al-īmān)." The Prophet ﷺ said: "If they return, do it again."
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me on the authority of Hushaym, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Abū Mālik — concerning إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِ : he said: It was sent down concerning ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us on the authority of Jarīr, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī: he said: When the slaves were tortured, they gave the torturers what they asked for — except Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt; he was laid upon glowing-hot stones, but nothing was extracted from him.
The interpretation of the text is then: whoever disbelieves in Allah after his faith — except whoever is compelled to disbelief and utters a word of disbelief with his tongue while his heart is at rest with faith, convinced of it and firmly resolved upon it, not having opened his breast to it — but whoever has opened his breast to disbelief and chosen it and preferred it over faith and uttered it voluntarily: upon them shall be a wrath from Allah, and they shall have a tremendous torment.
In agreement with what we have said concerning this comes the report of Ibn ʿAbbās.
ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Muʿāwiya, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِ : Allah, the Praised, declared that whoever disbelieves in Allah after his faith, upon him is a wrath from Allah and he shall have a tremendous torment; but whoever was compelled and uttered it with his tongue while his heart contradicted him in faith, in order to save himself thereby from his enemy — upon him is no blame, for Allah, the Praised, takes His servants to account only for what their hearts have resolved upon.
