30:32 Ar-Room (The Romans)

ثم ذكر حالة المشركين مهجنا لها ومقبحا فقال: { مِنَ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُوا دِينَهُمْ } مع أن الدين واحد وهو إخلاص العبادة للّه وحده وهؤلاء المشركون فرقوه، منهم من يعبد الأوثان والأصنام. ومنهم من يعبد الشمس والقمر، ومنهم من يعبد الأولياء والصالحين ومنهم يهود ومنهم نصارى.ولهذا قال: { وَكَانُوا شِيَعًا } أي: كل فرقة من فرق الشرك تألفت وتعصبت على نصر ما معها من الباطل ومنابذة غيرهم ومحاربتهم.{ كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ } من العلوم المخالفة لعلوم الرسل { فَرِحُونَ } به يحكمون لأنفسهم بأنه الحق وأن غيرهم على باطل، وفي هذا تحذير للمسلمين من تشتتهم وتفرقهم فرقا كل فريق يتعصب لما معه من حق وباطل، فيكونون مشابهين بذلك للمشركين في التفرق بل الدين واحد والرسول واحد والإله واحد.وأكثر الأمور الدينية وقع فيها الإجماع بين العلماء والأئمة، والأخوة الإيمانية قد عقدها اللّه وربطها أتم ربط، فما بال ذلك كله يُلْغَى ويُبْنَى التفرق والشقاق بين المسلمين على مسائل خفية أو فروع خلافية يضلل بها بعضهم بعضا، ويتميز بها بعضهم عن بعض؟فهل هذا إلا من أكبر نزغات الشيطان وأعظم مقاصده التي كاد بها للمسلمين؟وهل السعي في جمع كلمتهم وإزالة ما بينهم من الشقاق المبني على ذلك الأصل الباطل، إلا من أفضل الجهاد في سبيل اللّه وأفضل الأعمال المقربة إلى اللّه؟ولما أمر تعالى بالإنابة إليه -وكان المأمور بها هي الإنابة الاختيارية، التي تكون في حَالَي العسر واليسر والسعة والضيق- ذكر الإنابة الاضطرارية التي لا تكون مع الإنسان إلا عند ضيقه وكربه، فإذا زال عنه الضيق نبذها وراء ظهره وهذه غير نافعة فقال:

وقوله تعالى "من الذين فرقوا دينهم وكانوا شيعا كل حزب بما لديهم فرحون" أي لا تكونوا من المشركين الذين قد فرقوا دينهم أي بدلوه وغيروه وآمنوا ببعض وكفروا ببعض وقرأ بعضهم فارقوا دينهم أي تركوه وراء ظهورهم وهؤلاء كاليهود والنصارى والمجوس وعبدة الأوثان وسائر أهل الأديان الباطلة مما عدا أهل الإسلام كما قال تعالى "إن الذين فرقوا دينهم وكانوا شيعا لست منهم في شيء إنما أمرهم إلى الله "الآية فأهل الأديان قبلنا اختلفوا فيما بينهم على آراء ومثل باطلة. وكل فرقة منهم تزعم أنهم على شيء وهذه الأمة أيضا اختلفوا فيما بينهم على نحل كلها ضلاله إلا واحدة وهم أهل السنة والجماعة المتمسكون بكتاب الله وسنة رسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم وبما كان عليه الصدر الأول من الصحابة والتابعين وأئمة المسلمين من قديم الدهر وحديثه كما رواه الحاكم في مستدركه أنه سئل صلى الله عليه وسلم عن الفرقة الناجية منهم فقال "من كان على ما أنا عليه اليوم وأصحابي".

The Command to adhere to Tawhid

Allah says: `so set your face and persevere in the religion which Allah has prescribed for you, the worship of Allah Alone, the religion of Ibrahim, to which Allah has guided you and which He has perfected for you with the utmost perfection. In this manner, you will also adhere to the sound Fitrah with which He created His creation.' Allah created His creation to recognize Him and know His Tawhid, and that there is no God except Him, as we have already seen when discussing the Ayah,

وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتَ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُواْ بَلَى

(and made them testify as to themselves (saying): "Am I not your Lord" They said: "Yes!...") (7:172). And according to a Hadith, Allah said,

«إِنِّي خَلَقْتُ عِبَادِي حُنَفَاءَ، فَاجْتَالَتْهُمُ الشَّيَاطِينُ عَنْ دِينِهِم»

("I created my servants Hunafa (i.e., monotheists), then the Shayatin misled them from their religion.") We will see in the Hadiths that Allah created His creation with the Fitrah of Islam, then among some of them there emerged corrupt religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism.

لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ

(No change let there be in Allah's Khalq,) Some of them said that this means, `do not change the creation of Allah, for if you do, you will divert the people away from the Fitrah with which He created them.' So it is instructive; just as His saying:

وَمَن دَخَلَهُ كَانَ ءَامِناً

(And whoever enters it, he is safe) This is a good and correct interpretation. Others said that this means, Allah made all of His creation equal, all of them have the same sound Fitrah and are by nature upright; they are all born with this nature and there is no disparity among people in this regard. Ibn `Abbas, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak and Ibn Zayd said that the Ayah:

لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ

(No change let there be in Allah's Khalq) means, the religion of Allah. Al-Bukhari said:

لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ

(No change let there be in Allah's Khalq,) "It means, the religion of Allah, and the religion, and the Fitrah is Islam." Then he reported that Abu Hurayrah said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«مَا مِنْ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ إِلَّا عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ أَوْ يُنَصِّرَانِهِ أَوْ يُمَجِّسَانِهِ،كَمَا تُنْتَجُ الْبَهِيمَةُ بَهِيمَةً جَمْعَاءَ، هَلْ تُحِسُّونَ فِيهَا مِنْ جَدْعَاءَ؟»

(No child is born except in a state of Fitrah, then his parents make him a Jew or a Christian or a Zoroastrian, just as each animal produces a perfect animal like itself -- do you see any among them that are born mutilated) then the narrator (Abu Hurayrah) said (recite this Ayah),

فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِى فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ

(Allah's Fitrah with which He has created mankind. No change let there be in Allah's Khalq, that is the straight religion.)" This was also recorded by Muslim.

ذلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ

(that is the straight religion,) means, adherence to the Shari`ah and the sound Fitrah is the true, straight religion.

وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(but most men know not.) means, most people do not know this and they deviate far astray from it, as Allah says:

وَمَآ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ

(And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly.) (12:103)

وَإِن تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَن فِى الاٌّرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ

(And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far away from Allah's path) (6:116).

مُّنِيبِينَ إِلَيْهِ

(turning in repentance to Him) Ibn Zayd and Ibn Jurayj said, "This means, returning to Him."

وَاتَّقُوهُ

(and have Taqwa of Him;) means, fear Him and remember that He is always watching.

وَأَقِيمُواْ الصَّلَوةَ

(and perform the Salah), which is the greatest act of worship.)

وَلاَ تَكُونُواْ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ

(and be not of the idolators.) Be of those who single out Allah, devoting their worship sincerely for Him alone, not anyone or anything other than Him. Ibn Jarir recorded that Yazid bin Abi Maryam said: "`Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, passed by Mu`adh bin Jabal and asked, `What is the foundation of this Ummah' Mu`adh said, `Three things, and they are the things that will bring salvation: Al-Ikhlas (doing a deed for Allah alone), which is the Fitrah with which Allah created mankind; Salah, which is the thing that tells a believer apart from a disbeliever; and obedience, which is protection.' `Umar said: `You have spoken the truth.

Splitting into Sects and the Saved Sect

His saying:

مِنَ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُواْ دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُواْ شِيَعاً كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِحُونَ

(Of those who Farraqu Dinahum (split up their religion), and became sects, each sect rejoicing in that which is with it.) means, do not be of the idolators who split up their religion, i.e., changed it by believing in parts of it and rejecting other parts. Some scholars read this as Faraqu Dinahum, meaning "neglected their religion and left it behind them." These are like the Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, idol worshippers and all the followers of false religions, besides the followers of Islam, as Allah says:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُواْ دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُواْ شِيَعًا لَّسْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِى شَىْءٍ إِنَّمَآ أَمْرُهُمْ إِلَى اللَّهِ

(Verily, those who divide their religion and break up into sects, you have no concern in them in the least. Their affair is only with Allah) (6:159). The followers of the religions before us had differences of opinions and split into false sects, each group claiming to be following the truth. This Ummah too has split into sects, all of which are misguided apart from one, which is Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jama`ah, those who adhere to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and what was followed by the first generations, the Companions, their followers, and the Imams of the Muslims of earlier and later times. In his Mustadrak, Al-Hakim recorded that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked which of the sects was the saved sect and he said:

«مَا أَنَا عَلَيْهِ وَأَصْحَابِي»

(What I and my Companions are upon.)

of those mina’lladhīna is a substitution for al-mushrikīna ‘idolaters’ using the same operator of the oblique min who have divided up their religion by being at variance over what they worship and have become dissenting factions sects divided over this matter each party among them rejoicing delighting in what they have a variant reading for farraqū is fāraqū in other words ‘of those who have parted with the religion to which they have been commanded’.

مِنَ الَّذِينَ فَرَّ‌قُوا دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُوا شِيَعًا (Among those who split up religion and became sects - 30:32) that is, these disbelievers are those who have created a difference between Natural Faith and the true religion, or they have alienated themselves from the Natural Faith, as a result of which they are divided into different sects. شِيَعًا :Shiya'an is the plural of شِیعۃ shi` ah. A group of people following a leader is called shi ah. The fact is that the Natural Faith was based on the Oneness of Allah, by following which the entire human kind should have been one solid unit and one party. But it so happened that people split out from this unity and started following the personal views of their own leaders. Since the personal views and opinions of different people may always vary from person to person, different groups of people invented their own beliefs and religion. As a consequence, people were divided into various groups and sects, and the Shaitan made them believe that they were the only people on the right path كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِ‌حُونَ (Each group is happy with what it has before it - 30:32). That is, each group is happy and contended in its own beliefs and declare others being wrong, although they all are astray and treading the wrong path.