Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:176
And do not be grieved, [O Muhammad], by those who hasten into disbelief. Indeed, they will never harm Allah at all. Allah intends that He should give them no share in the Hereafter, 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 explanation of His word: وَلا يَحْزُنْكَ الَّذِينَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْكُفْرِ إِنَّهُمْ لَنْ يَضُرُّوا اللَّهَ شَيْئًا ("And let not those grieve you who hasten into disbelief; truly, they will not harm Allah in any way").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, mighty is His praise, says: and let the disbelief not grieve you, O Muḥammad, of those who hasten into disbelief (kufr), while they turn back on their heels, belonging to the people of hypocrisy. For they will not harm Allah in any way through their haste into disbelief; and just as their haste — were they to hasten toward faith — would be of no benefit to Him, so too their haste toward disbelief is of no harm to Him. As:
8262 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: ولا يحزنك الذين يسارعون في الكفر ("And let not those grieve you who hasten into disbelief"), that is to say: that they are the hypocrites.
8263 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: ولا يحزنك الذين يسارعون في الكفر ("And let not those grieve you who hasten into disbelief"), that is to say: the hypocrites.
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The explanation of His word: يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَلا يَجْعَلَ لَهُمْ حَظًّا فِي الآخِرَةِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ (176) ("Allah wills not to assign them any portion in the Hereafter, and for them is a great punishment").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, mighty is His praise, means thereby: Allah wills not to assign to those who hasten into disbelief any portion of the reward of the Hereafter; therefore He forsook them, so that they hastened into it. Then He informed that they, besides being deprived of the reward of the Hereafter which has been withheld from them, have a great punishment (ʿadhāb) in the Hereafter, and that is the punishment of the Fire (al-nār). And Ibn Isḥāq said concerning this something:
8264 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to me, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: يريد الله أن لا يجعل لهم حظًّا في الآخرة ("Allah wills not to assign them any portion in the Hereafter"), that He would render their deeds void.