Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:149
O you who have believed, if you obey those who disbelieve, they will turn you back on your heels, and you will [then] become losers.
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 statement concerning the explanation of His saying: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تُطِيعُوا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يَرُدُّوكُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَابِكُمْ فَتَنْقَلِبُوا خَاسِرِينَ (149) (O you who believe, if you obey those who disbelieve, they will turn you back upon your heels, so that you return as losers) (149)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His mention — means thereby: O you who have held Allah and His Messenger to be true regarding Allah's promise and His threat, and regarding His command and His prohibition = "if you obey those who disbelieve," that is to say: those who deny the prophethood of your Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, among the Jews and the Christians — in what they command you and in what they forbid you — so that you accept their opinion concerning that and follow their counsel in what they claim to be advising you = "they will turn you back upon your heels," that is to say: they will bring you to apostasy (ridda) after faith (īmān), and to disbelief in Allah, in His signs, and in His Messenger after Islam = "so that you return as losers," that is to say: so that you turn away from your faith and your religion to which Allah has guided you = "as losers," that is to say: as the damned; you have lost yourselves, have strayed from your religion, and your worldly life and your Hereafter have been lost.
Thereby He forbids the people of faith in Allah from obeying the people of disbelief in their opinions and from following their counsel in their religions. As:
7998 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "O you who believe, if you obey those who disbelieve, they will turn you back upon your heels, so that you return as losers," that is to say: away from your religion, so that your worldly life and your Hereafter are lost.
7999 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His word: "O you who believe, if you obey those who disbelieve," Ibn Jurayj said: He says: do not follow the advice of the Jews and the Christians concerning your religion, and do not believe them in anything concerning your religion.
8000 — Muḥammad related to us, he said: Aḥmad related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "O you who believe, if you obey those who disbelieve, they will turn you back upon your heels, so that you return as losers," he says: if you obey Abū Sufyān, he will make you return as disbelievers.