Al-Baqarah: (212) Beautified for those who disbelieve...

Know that when the Almighty mentioned previously the state of those who change Allah's favor after it had come to them, (they are) the disbelievers who denied the signs and the Prophets and turned away from them. Allah the Almighty followed that up by mentioning the reason for this being their path, saying: {Beautified for those who disbelieve is the life of this world}. The essence of this statement is to inform the believers of the weakness of the intellects of the disbelievers and polytheists in preferring the transient adornments of this world over the everlasting degrees of the Hereafter.

In this verse, there are several issues:

Issue 1: Why was it not said, "Beautified (feminine form, zuyyinat)?"

There are several reasons for this:

1. Al-Farra's view: Life (al-ḥayāh) and bringing to life (al-iḥyā’) are synonymous. If the feminine form is used, it follows the word (al-ḥayāh); if the masculine form is used, it follows the meaning (life/existence). This is like His saying: {And there comes to you an admonition from your Lord} (Al-Baqarah: 275), and {And the wrongdoers were seized by the blast} (Hud: 67).
2. Al-Zajjaj's view: The femininity of al-ḥayāh is not real (grammatically inherent) because it does not have a corresponding masculine counterpart, like imra'ah (woman) and rajul (man), or nāqah (she-camel) and jamal (male camel). Rather, the meaning of life, living, and permanence are one. It is as if He said: "Beautified for those who disbelieve is the life of this world and permanence."
3. Ibn al-Anbari's view: The feminine form was omitted because a separation was placed between the verb zuyyina (beautified) and the noun al-ḥayāh al-dunyā by inserting the phrase {for those who disbelieve}. When a feminine verb and its subject noun are separated by a pause/intervening phrase, it is permissible for the verb to be masculine, as the intervening phrase suffices for the feminine marker (tā’ al-ta’nīth).

Issue 2: Reasons for Revelation (Asbāb al-Nuzūl)

Several views are mentioned regarding the occasion of revelation:

1. First Narration (Ibn Abbas): It was revealed concerning Abu Jahl and the chiefs of Quraysh, who used to mock the poor Muslims—such as 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, Ammar, Khabbab, Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfah, 'Amir ibn Fuhayrah, and Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah—because of their poverty, suffering, and patience through various afflictions, while the disbelievers were in comfort and ease.
2. Second Narration: It was revealed concerning the chiefs and scholars of the Jews from Banu Qurayzah, Banu Nadir, and Banu Qaynuqa', who mocked the poor emigrant Muslims who had been driven out of their homes and wealth.
3. Third Narration (Muqatil): It was revealed concerning the hypocrites, 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy and his companions, who mocked the weak and poor emigrant Muslims. It is possible that the verse applies to all of them simultaneously.

Issue 3: The Manner of this Beautification (Tazyīn)

The scholars differed on how this beautification occurred.

1. Al-Jubba'i's View: The beautifier is the misguiding jinn and humans. They beautified the eagerness for the world in the disbelievers' eyes and made the Hereafter seem ugly to them, suggesting that what is said about the Hereafter is baseless, so they should not spoil their worldly lives. He argued that the view of the Mujbirah (fatalists) that Allah Himself beautified it is false.
   • Al-Jubba'i's Argument against Allah being the beautifier: The beautifier of something is the one who declares it beautiful. If Allah is the beautifier, He is either truthful or lying. If truthful, what He beautified must be good, meaning the disbeliever is correct in his disbelief and sin, which is kufr (disbelief). If lying, Allah cannot be trusted in word or report, which is also kufr. Therefore, the intended beautifier must be Satan.
   • My (Al-Razi's) Critique of Al-Jubba'i: This view is weak. His statement that the beautifier must be external to the disbelievers is flawed because the jinn and humans who misguide are themselves included among the disbelievers. Furthermore, the phrase {Beautified for those who disbelieve} encompasses all disbelievers, implying a single beautifier for all of them, who must be external to them. If we say they beautified each other, it becomes circular. Also, the premise that the beautifier is merely the one who declares something beautiful is debatable. Beautification means making something possess qualities (zinah) that make it appear adorned. If we accept his premise, why can't Allah be the one informing them of the worldly pleasures and delights? Reporting these facts is not lying, and believing them is not disbelief. Thus, Al-Jubba'i's argument fails entirely.

2. Abu Muslim's View: The phrase {Beautified for those who disbelieve} could mean they beautified it for themselves. Arabs use this construction for someone who goes far astray, e.g., "Where is he going?" meaning "What has driven him away?" This is supported by verses like {How are they turned away} and {How are they diverted}. This is reinforced by {O you who have believed, let not your wealth and your children divert you from remembrance of Allah} (Al-Munafiqun: 9), where the wealth and children are mentioned as the cause, but ultimately, since Satan cannot compel action, the person beautifies it for himself.
   • Critique: This is weak because the verb {Beautified} implies an external agent performed the beautification. Abandoning the literal meaning for a figurative one is not permissible here.

3. The Third View: Allah is the Beautifier. This is supported by:
   • The reading of some who read the verse with an active verb form (implying Allah is the subject).
   • His saying: {Indeed, We have made that which is on the earth adornment for it that We may test them as to which of them is best in deed} (Al-Kahf: 7).
   • Arguments supporting this view:
     • It is impossible that Allah beautified the world's splendor, freshness, and pleasure as an end in itself. He did it as a test, similar to {Beautified for people is the love of things they desire} (Al 'Imran: 14), followed by the call to what is better (Paradise). These verses are consistent: Allah made the world a place of trial, instilling in human nature a tendency toward desires, not through compulsion, but through attraction, allowing the believer the choice to resist and restrain the self to what is permissible.
     • The beautification means Allah granted them respite (imhal) in the world, not preventing them from pursuing it eagerly. This respite is what is termed "beautification."

• General Critique of the Mu'tazilah Views: All these views face one question: The occurrence of this beautification in the disbelievers' hearts must have a cause (muḥdith); otherwise, an effect occurred without an agent, which is impossible. Furthermore, did this beautification tip the scales toward disbelief/sin or not? * If it did not tip the scales, then the person remains the same whether the beautification is present or absent, contradicting the text which states the beautification occurred. * If it did tip the scales toward disbelief, then free will (ikhtiyār) is removed. Since equilibrium (no tipping) is impossible, the tipping toward one side becomes necessary. If the tipping agent becomes impossible, the result becomes obligatory, leading to a contradiction. These Mu'tazilah explanations do not resolve this issue.

• Refining the Third View: The intended meaning is that Allah beautified the permissible aspects of worldly life, not the forbidden ones. * Critique: This is also weak because the beautification of permissible things is not exclusive to disbelievers; believers also enjoy them. Moreover, the believer enjoys permissible things while fearing accountability, making his life troubled. The disbeliever, even if poor, often finds his joy in what he has because he believes it is the ultimate goal. Furthermore, the verse follows this by mentioning their mockery ({And they mock those who believe}), suggesting they mocked the believers for abandoning forbidden pleasures and undertaking necessary hardships. This implies the beautification related to forbidden things, not just permissible ones.

They interpret the beautification as Allah creating within the heart the desire for things, the ability to perform those things, and even creating the actions and states themselves. This is based on the doctrine that Allah alone is the Creator of the servants' actions. Under this view, the meaning of the verse becomes clear.

Regarding His Saying: {And they mock those who believe}

We have narrated several accounts regarding the nature of this mockery. Al-Wahidi said that {And they mock} is a new, independent clause, not connected to zuyyina (which was past tense). It is permissible for a future continuous action to follow a past statement, as Allah informed about the past state (beautification), and then informed about an action they perpetually perform (mockery).

The meaning of this mockery is that they would say: "These poor wretches abandoned the pleasures, delights, and desires of this world and endure hardships and troubles seeking the Hereafter, while the belief in the Hereafter is false!"

Undoubtedly, if the belief in resurrection were false, this mockery would be justified. However, if the resurrection is true, the mockery reverts upon them. For whoever turns away from eternal kingship for the sake of paltry pleasures lasting a few breaths, no one in creation is more deserving of mockery than him. Some profound scholars even stated that turning away from the world and toward the Hereafter is the prudent course regardless of the outcome: if the Hereafter is false, only meager pleasures and fleeting moments are lost; if the Hereafter is true, turning away from the world is mandatory. Thus, their mockery was baseless, and the mockery should return upon them.

Regarding His Saying: {And those who fear Allah will be above them on the Day of Resurrection}

There are several questions concerning this:

Answer: To show that the greatest felicity is only attained by the believing, pious person (al-mu'min al-taqiyy), and to encourage believers toward piety.

Answer: Several views:

1. Spatial Superiority: Believers will be in 'Illiyyin (the highest parts of Heaven), while disbelievers will be in Sijjīn (the lowest parts of the Earth).
2. Superiority in Honor and Rank: If one objects that superiority in honor is only said when both parties possess some honor, and the disbeliever has none, how can the believer be superior to him? We reply: It means they were superior in worldly happiness, and in the Hereafter, the situation reverses. Allah grants the believer in the Hereafter a happiness that surpasses the worldly happiness the disbelievers attained.
3. Superiority in Argumentation: On the Day of Resurrection, the disbelievers' doubts, which sometimes affected the believers' hearts, will be completely removed by Allah's aid. On that Day, doubts will vanish, and Satan's whispers will have no effect, as seen in the verses of Surah Al-Mutaffifin (83:29-34).
4. Superiority of Mockery: The believers' mockery of the disbelievers on the Day of Resurrection will be superior to the disbelievers' mockery of the believers in this world. The disbelievers' mockery was false and fleeting, whereas the believers' mockery will be true and everlasting.

Answer: This relies on the mafhūm (implied meaning), which is not stronger in its indication than the general statements we have explained are restricted by evidence of pardon.

Regarding His Saying: {And Allah provides for whomever He wills without account}

This can refer to two things: the reward Allah gives the pious in the Hereafter, or the provision He gives to various classes of His servants in this world (believers and disbelievers).

1. Allah provides for whomever He wills (the believers) in the Hereafter with an unlimited, abundant provision that has no end or cessation. Anything subject to calculation, limitation, or measure is finite; what is infinite must be outside calculation.
2. Some of the benefits they receive in Paradise are a reward, and some are a grace/favor, as in {that He may give them their recompense in full and give them more out of His bounty} (An-Nisa: 173). The excess is without account.
3. He does not fear running out, so He needs no calculation to track what is spent and what remains. Allah needs no calculation because He is the All-Knowing, the Rich, whose power is infinite.
4. It refers to the provision of the people of Paradise because calculation is only needed when giving something diminishes the required amount. Reward is not like that; even after ages pass, the reward due by promise and grace remains. Thus, calculation never applies to the reward.
5. What He gives bears no proportion to what is in His treasury. What is given at any time is necessarily finite, while what is in the treasury of Allah's power is infinite. The finite has no ratio to the infinite; this is the meaning of {without account}, indicating the limitlessness of Allah's power.
6. {Without account} means without entitlement (istiḥqāq). If someone owes another a debt, they have an "account." This implies no one has a right to anything from Him; everything He gives is purely by grace and favor, not due to entitlement.
7. {Without account} means He gives abundantly. If someone spends only up to what is sufficient, it is said he spends "by account." If he gives more, it is said he spends "without account."
8. {Without account} means He gives much, because what enters into calculation is little.

All these interpretations are plausible, and Allah's gifts are consistent with them all.

1. Most consistent with the context: The disbelievers mocked the poor Muslims because they inferred from their worldly happiness that they were on the truth, and they deprived the poor Muslims of that happiness, implying they were on falsehood. Allah nullifies this premise by saying: {And Allah provides for whomever He wills without account}. Meaning, He gives in this world to whomever He wills without that being an indication that the giver is right or wrong, or good or evil. It is entirely dependent on His Will. He expanded wealth for Qarun and restricted it for Ayyub (Job), peace be upon him. Therefore, O disbelievers, it is not permissible for you to use your worldly abundance (or the lack thereof for Muslims) as proof that you are right and they are wrong. Rather, the disbeliever may be given more as a means of gradual leading astray (istidrāj), and the believer may be restricted as a means of trial and test. This is why He said: {And were it not that people would become one community, We would have made for those who disbelieve in the Most Merciful the roofs of their houses in silver} (Az-Zukhruf: 33).
2. It means Allah provides for whomever He wills in this world—disbeliever or believer—without any claim, demand, accountability, or questioner. The purpose is to prevent the disbeliever from asking, "If the believer were right, why was he not given abundance in this world?" and to prevent the believer from asking, "If the disbeliever is wrong, why was he given abundance?" Objections are invalid; the matter is His command, and the judgment is His judgment: {He is not questioned about what He does, while they are questioned} (Al-Anbiya: 23).
3. {Without account} means in a manner they do not anticipate, as one says when something unexpected comes: "This was not in my calculation." Under this view, the meaning is: Even though these disbelievers mock the believers for their poverty, Allah may provide for whomever He wills in ways they do not expect. Perhaps He does this to the believers, as Al-Qaffal said: He did this to them by enriching them with the spoils taken from the leaders of Quraysh and the chiefs of the Jews, and what was opened up for the Prophet (PBUH) after his death through his companions, until they conquered the treasures of Kisra and Caesar.

If one objects: Allah described the reward of the pious as {a reward accounted for} (An-Naba: 36). Does this not contradict the current verse?

We reply: For those who interpret {without account} as grace/favor, and {a reward accounted for} as the due reward based on the promise (our view) or based on entitlement (the Mu'tazilah view), the question is void. For those who hold the other meanings for {without account}, they can argue that if the giving is consistent in time and measure, it can be described as "accounted for," which does not negate the meanings we established for {without account}.

7 < { Mankind were one community, and Allah sent the prophets as bringers of good tidings and warners. And He sent down with them the Book in truth to judge between the people concerning that in which they differed. And none differed over the Book except those who were given it after clear signs had come to them—out of mutual envy. Then Allah guided those who believed to the truth concerning that wherein they differed, by His permission. And Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path. } > 7