Surah Al-Anfal 8:23

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,

(and turn not away from him...), neither refrain from obeying him or following his commands nor indulge in what he forbade,

(while you are hearing.) after you gained knowledge of his Message,

(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,

(Verily, the worst of living creatures with Allah are the deaf) who do not hear the truth,

(and the dumb) who cannot comprehend it,

(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,

(And the example of those who disbelieve is as that of him who shouts to those that hear nothing but calls and cries.) 2:171, and,

(They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones.) 7:179

It was also said that the Ayah (8:22) 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 Ayah 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,

(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,

(even if He had made them listen...) and allowed them to understand,

(they would but have turned...), intentionally and out of stubbornness, even after they comprehend,

(with aversion.), to the truth.

Allah memberikan pernyataan terhadap orang-orang munafik dan orang-orang musyrik bahwa andaikata mereka mempunyai kemauan untuk beriman dan harapan untuk mengikuti petunjuk yang disampaikan oleh Rasulullah, tentulah Allah menjadikan mereka dapat mendengar. Tetapi lantaran bakat mereka, untuk menerima petunjuk Allah telah dikotori dengan noda-noda kemusyrikan dan kenifakan, maka tidak ada jalan lain lagi untuk mengarahkan bakat-bakat mereka untuk menerima petunjuk.

Seumpama Allah menjadikan mereka dapat memahami seruan Rasul itu tentulah mereka enggan melaksanakan apa yang mereka dengar, apa lagi untuk mengamalkannya, karena di dalam hati mereka telah bersarang keingkaran dan kekafiran. Dari firman Allah itu dapat dipahami bahwa derajat orang yang mendengarkan seruan Rasul itu bertingkat-tingkat.

1. Ada orang yang sengaja tidak mau mendengarkan seruan Rasul secara terang-terangan dan menyambutnya dengan permusuhan sejak semula, karena mereka merasa bahwa seruannya itu akan menghancurkan keyakinannya.

2. Ada orang yang mendengarkan seruan Rasul, akan tetapi tidak berniat untuk memahami dan memikirkan apa yang diserukan, seperti orang-orang munafik.

3. Ada orang yang mendengarkan seruan Rasul dengan maksud mencari kesempatan untuk membantah dan menolaknya. Hal serupa ini dilakukan oleh orang-orang musyrik dan ahli kitab yang mengingkari kebenaran ayat Al-Quran.

4. Ada orang yang mendengarkan dengan maksud ingin memahami dan memikirkan seruan Rasul. Tetapi adakalanya ajaran Islam itu dijadikan sebagai pengetahuan yang dipergunakan untuk tujuan-tujuan tertentu dan adakalanya ajaran Islam itu dijadikan bahan pembicaraan dan sasaran kritikan. Perbuatan ini dilakukan oleh kebanyakan orang-orang orientalis.