Tafseer of The Light · An-Noor · 24:50
Is there disease in their hearts? Or have they doubted? Or do they fear that Allah will be unjust to them, or His Messenger? Rather, it is they who are the wrongdoers.
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.
His saying أَفِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ ("Is there a disease in their hearts?"): Allah the Exalted says: Is there, in the hearts of those who turn away when they are summoned to Allah and His Messenger so that he may judge between them, a doubt concerning the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — that he is indeed Allah's messenger — on account of which they resist responding to his judgment and consenting to it? أَمْ يَخَافُونَ أَنْ يَحِيفَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَرَسُولُهُ ("Or do they fear that Allah and His Messenger will wrong them") when they have recourse to the judgment of Allah's Book and the judgment of His Messenger? He says أَنْ يَحِيفَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَرَسُولُهُ — while the meaning is: that the Messenger of Allah will wrong them — but He mentions Allah first, out of reverence for Allah, just as one says: "What Allah wills and then what you will," with the meaning of "what you will." A proof that the meaning is indeed thus is His saying وَإِذَا دُعُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ — wherein the Messenger is mentioned as a single judge, not "so that they both may judge."
His saying بَلْ أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ ("Nay, it is they who are the wrongdoers"): this says: these people who turn away from the judgment of Allah and the judgment of His Messenger, when they withdraw from answering the summons to which they are called — it is not the case that they feared that the Messenger of Allah would wrong them or be unjust in his judgment concerning them. Rather, they are a people who wrong themselves by transgressing the command of their Lord and by disobeying Allah in what He commanded them: consenting to the judgment of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in matters that please them or do not please them, and submitting themselves to it.
