Surah Ar-Rum 30:52

The Disbelievers are like the Dead, Deaf and Blind

Allah says, `just as you are not able to make the dead hear in their graves, or to make your words reach the deaf who cannot hear and who still turn away from you, so too you cannot guide the blind to the truth and bring them back from their misguidance.' That is a matter which rests with Allah, for by His power He can make the dead hear the voices of the living if He wills. He guides whom He wills and sends astray whom He wills, and no one but He has the power to do this. Allah says:

(you can make to hear only those who believe in Our Ayat, and have submitted (to Allah in Islam).) means, those who are humble and who respond and obey. These are the ones who will listen to the truth and follow it; this is the state of the believers; the former (being deaf and blind) is the state of the disbelievers, as Allah says:

(It is only those who listen will respond, but as for the dead, Allah will raise them up, then to Him they will be returned.) (6:36) `A'ishah, the Mother of the faithful, may Allah be pleased with her, used this Ayah --

(So verily, you cannot make the dead to hear) as evidence against `Abdullah bin `Umar when he reported that the Prophet had addressed the slain disbelievers who had been thrown into a dry well three days after the battle of Badr, rebuking and reprimanding them, until `Umar said, "O Messenger of Allah, are you addressing people who are dead bodies" He said:

(By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, you do not hear what I say any better than they do, but they cannot respond.) s`A'ishah interpreted this event to mean that the Prophet was making the point that now they would know that what he had been telling them was true. Qatadah said: "Allah brought them back to life for him so that they could hear what he said by way of rebuke and vengeance."

Allah menegaskan kepada Nabi Muhammad bahwa ia tidak akan bisa memasukkan hidayah ke dalam hati orang yang ingkar sampai orang itu berpaling dari keingkaran dan lalu beriman. Untuk itu Allah memberikan sebuah contoh yaitu orang buta yang tersesat. Orang buta tidak mungkin menemukan jalan, karena ia tidak melihatnya, kecuali kalau dituntun. Begitu pula orang yang telah memilih kekafiran dan kemusyrikan. Orang itu hatinya sudah tertutup. Oleh karena itu, petunjuk apa pun yang disampaikan kepadanya, tidak akan didengar dan diikutinya. Bagi mereka ditunjuki atau tidak ditunjuki sama saja, mereka tidak akan beriman. Yang bisa membuka hatinya itu hanyalah Allah bila Ia menghendaki. Akan tetapi, Ia tidak akan menghendaki bila orang yang bersangkutan tidak berusaha, karena hal itu melanggar hukum-hukum yang telah ditetapkan-Nya. Ayat ini dengan demikian mengingatkan Nabi saw sekali lagi agar tidak kecewa bila ada manusia yang menolak dakwahnya.

Orang yang akan menerima bila ditunjuki oleh Nabi saw hanyalah yang beriman. Hal itu karena hati mereka terbuka menerima segala kebenaran yang disampaikan kepadanya. Setelah menerima kebenaran itu, mereka melaksanakannya dengan sepenuh hati untuk membaktikan diri kepada-Nya.