Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:177
Indeed, those who purchase disbelief [in exchange] for faith - never will they harm Allah at all, and for them is a painful 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 exposition of the explanation of His word: ﴿إِنَّ الَّذِينَ اشْتَرَوُا الْكُفْرَ بِالإيمَانِ لَنْ يَضُرُّوا اللَّهَ شَيْئًا وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ﴾ (Verily, those who have purchased unbelief in exchange for faith will not harm Allah in anything, and for them is a painful punishment.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By this He means—exalted is His praise—the hypocrites, concerning whom He had already said earlier to His Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—that their haste toward unbelief should not grieve him. Therefore He said to His Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—: Verily, these who have purchased unbelief in exchange for their faith, and have thus apostatized from their faith after having entered into it, and who were content with unbelief in Allah and His Messenger as a substitute for faith—they will not harm Allah in anything through their unbelief and their apostasy from their faith. On the contrary, they thereby harm only themselves, in that they have thereby made obligatory upon themselves a punishment from Allah which they cannot bear.
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And truly, Allah—exalted is His praise—has, with these verses, from His word: ﴿وَمَا أَصَابَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْتَقَى الْجَمْعَانِ فَبِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ﴾ (And what struck you on the day the two hosts met was by the leave of Allah) up to this verse, urged His believing servants to keep their conviction pure, and to turn wholly and entirely to Him in their affairs, and to be content with Him alone as Helper, to the exclusion of anyone else among the rest of His creation. He has thereby encouraged them to the jihād against His enemies and the enemies of His religion, and He has thereby instilled courage in their hearts. He has made known to them that whomever He assists with His help will never be forsaken, even if everyone who opposes him and is hostile toward him were to unite against him; and that whomever He forsakes will not be helped by any helper whose help avails him, even if his supporters and defenders were numerous. As:
8265 - Ibn Ḥumayd reported to us, he said: Salama reported to us, from Ibn Isḥāq: ﴿إِنَّ الَّذِينَ اشْتَرَوُا الْكُفْرَ بِالإيمَانِ﴾ (Verily, those who have purchased unbelief in exchange for faith), that is to say: the hypocrites—﴿لَنْ يَضُرُّوا اللَّهَ شَيْئًا وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ﴾ (will not harm Allah in anything, and for them is a painful punishment), that is to say: an agonizing one.
8266 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr reported to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim reported to us, from ʿĪsā, from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, he said: They are the hypocrites.
