Surah Al-An'am 6:125

(And whomsoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his breast to Islam;) He makes Islam easy for him and strengthens his resolve to embrace it, and these are good signs. Allah said in other Ayat,

(Is he whose breast Allah has opened to Islam, so that he is in light from His Lord (as he who is a non-Muslim)) 39:22 and,

(But Allah has endeared the faith to you and has beautified it in your hearts, and has made disbelief, wickedness and disobedience hated by you. Such are they who are the rightly guided.) 49:7 Ibn `Abbas commented on Allah's statement,

(And whomsoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his breast to Islam;), "Allah says that He will open his heart to Tawhid and faith in Him." This is the same as was reported from Abu Malik and several others, and it is sound. Allah's statement,

(and whomsoever He wills to send astray, He makes his breast closed and constricted,) refers to inability to accept guidance, thus being deprived of beneficial faith.

(. ..as if he is climbing up to the sky.) because of the heaviness of faith on him. Sa`id bin Jubayr commented that in this case, "(Islam) finds every path in his heart impassable." Al-Hakam bin Aban said that `Ikrimah narrated from Ibn `Abbas that he commented on:

(...as if he is climbing up to the sky), "Just as the Son of Adam cannot climb up to the sky, Tawhid and faith will not be able to enter his heart, until Allah decides to allow it into his heart." Imam Abu Ja`far bin Jarir commented: "This is a parable that Allah has given for the heart of the disbeliever, which is completely impassable and closed to faith. Allah says, the example of the disbeliever's inability to accept faith in his heart and that it is too small to accommodate it, is the example of his inability to climb up to the sky, which is beyond his capability and power." He also commented on Allah's statement,

(Thus Allah puts the Rijs (wrath) on those who believe not.) "Allah says that just as He makes the heart of whomever He decides to misguide, closed and constricted, He also appoints Shaytan for him and for his likes, those who refused to believe in Allah and His Messenger. Consequently, Shaytan lures and hinders them from the path of Allah." `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said that, Rijs, refers to Shaytan, while Mujahid said that it refers to all that does not contain goodness. `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said that, Rijs, means, `torment'.

Jika ada orang yang berjiwa besar dan terbuka hatinya untuk menerima kebenaran agama Islam, maka yang demikian itu disebabkan karena Allah hendak memberikan petunjuk kepadanya. Oleh karena itu, dadanya menjadi lapang untuk menerima semua ajaran Islam, baik berupa perintah maupun larangan.

Diriwayatkan bahwa Rasulullah pernah ditanya tentang "kelapangan dada" yang dimaksud dalam ayat ini, lalu beliau menjawab, "Itulah gambaran cahaya Ilahi yang menyinari hati orang mukmin, sehingga menjadi lapanglah dadanya." Para sahabat bertanya lagi, "Apakah yang demikian itu ada tanda-tandanya?" Nabi saw menjawab, "Ada tanda-tandanya, yaitu selalu condong kepada akhirat, selalu menjauhkan diri dari tipu daya dunia dan selalu bersiap-siap untuk menghadapi kematian." (Riwayat Ibnu Abi Hatim dari Abdullah bin Mas'ud)

Jika demikian sifat-sifat orang mukmin yang berlapang dada disebabkan oleh cahaya iman yang masuk ke dalam hatinya, maka sebaliknya orang yang dikehendaki Allah untuk hidup dalam kesesatan, dadanya dijadikan sesak dan sempit seolah-olah ia sedang naik ke langit yang hampa udara. Apabila ia diajak untuk berfikir tentang kebenaran dan tafakur tentang tanda-tanda keesaan Allah, maka disebabkan oleh kesombongan dalam hatinya, ia menolak karena perbuatan itu tidak sesuai dengan hawa nafsunya. Hasrat untuk mengikuti kebenaran melemah, dan setiap anjuran agama dirasakannya sebagai suatu beban yang berat yang tidak dapat dipikulnya. Gambaran orang serupa itu adalah seperti orang yang sedang naik ke langit. Semakin tinggi ia naik, semakin sesak nafasnya karena kehabisan oksigen, sehingga ia terpaksa turun kembali untuk menghindarkan diri dari kebinasaan.

Dalam ayat ini, Allah memberikan sebuah perumpamaan, agar benar-benar diresapi dengan perasaan yang jernih. Demikianlah Allah menjadikan kesempitan dalam hati orang-orang yang tidak beriman, karena kekafiran itu seperti kotoran yang menutup hati mereka, sehingga ia tidak menerima kebenaran. Keadaan ini dapat disaksikan pada tingkah laku mereka dalam kehidupan sehari-hari yang selalu menjurus kepada kejahatan.