يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟
أَطِيعُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ
وَلَا تَوَلَّوْا۟ عَنْهُ
وَأَنتُمْ تَسْمَعُونَ
وَلَا تَكُونُوا۟ كَٱلَّذِينَ
قَالُوا۟ سَمِعْنَا وَهُمْ
لَا يَسْمَعُونَ
إِنَّ شَرَّ ٱلدَّوَآبِّ
عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلصُّمُّ
ٱلْبُكْمُ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ
وَلَوْ عَلِمَ ٱللَّهُ
فِيهِمْ خَيْرًا لَّأَسْمَعَهُمْ ۖ وَلَوْ
أَسْمَعَهُمْ لَتَوَلَّوا۟
وَّهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ
O you who believe!
Obey Allah and His
Messenger, and turn
not away from him
while you are hearing.
And be not like those
who say: “We have
heard,” but they hear
not. Verily, the worst
of living creatures
with Allah are the
deaf and the dumb
(the disbelievers),
who understand not.
Had Allah known
of any good in them,
He would indeed
have made them
listen; and even if
He had made them
listen, they would
but have turned
away with aversion.
The Command to obey Allah and His Messenger
Allah commands His believing servants to obey Him and His Messenger and warns them against defying him and imitating the disbelievers who reject him. Allah said,
وَلاَ تَوَلَّوْاْ عَنْهُ
and turn not away from him…
neither refrain from obeying him or following his commands nor indulge in what he forbade,
وَأَنتُمْ تَسْمَعُونَ
while you are hearing
after you gained knowledge of his Message,
وَلاَ تَكُونُواْ كَالَّذِينَ
قَالُواْ سَمِعْنَا وَهُمْ
لاَ يَسْمَعُونَ
And be not like those who say: “We have heard,” but they hear not
Ibn Ishaq said that this Ayah refers to the hypocrites, who pretend to hear and obey, while in fact they do neither. Allah declares that these are the most wicked creatures among the Children of Adam,
إِنَّ شَرَّ الدَّوَابِّ
عِندَ اللَّهِ الصُّمُّ
Verily, the worst of living creatures with Allah are the deaf
who do not hear the truth,
الْبُكْمُ
and the dumb
who cannot comprehend it,
الَّذِينَ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ
who understand not
These indeed are the most wicked creatures, for every creature except them abide by the way that Allah created in them. These people were created to worship Allah, but instead disbelieved. This is why Allah equated them to animals, when He said,
وَمَثَلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ
كَمَثَلِ الَّذِى يَنْعِقُ
بِمَا لاَ يَسْمَعُ إِلاَّ
دُعَآءً وَنِدَآءً
And the example of those who disbelieve is as that of him who shouts to those that hear nothing but calls and cries (Al-Baqarah 171) and
أُوْلَـئِكَ كَالأَنْعَـمِ
بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ أُوْلَـئِكَ
هُمُ الْغَـفِلُونَ
They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones (Al-A’raf 179)
It was also said that Al-Anfal 22 refers to some of the pagans of Quraysh from the tribe of Bani `Abd Ad-Dar, according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and Ibn Jarir. Muhammad bin Ishaq said that this ayat refers to hypocrites, as we stated. There is no contradiction here, because both disbelievers and hypocrites are devoid of sound comprehension, in addition to having lost the intention to do good. Allah states here that such are those who neither have sound understanding nor good intentions, even if they have some type of reason,
وَلَوْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ فِيهِمْ
خَيْرًا لأَسْمَعَهُمْ
Had Allah known of any good in them, He would indeed have made them listen
He would have helped them understand. However, this did not happen because there is no goodness in such people, for Allah knows that,
وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ
even if He had made them listen..
and allowed them to understand,
لَتَوَلَّواْ
they would but have turned…
intentionally and out of stubbornness, even after they comprehend,
وَهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ
with aversion
to the truth.