Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:101

Al-A'raf (The Heights): Verse 101

{تِلْكَ الْقُرَى نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ} (Those towns, We relate to you...)

• {تِلْكَ} (Those) is the subject (mubtada').
• {الْقُرَى} (The towns) is an adjective (sifah).
• {نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ} (We relate to you) is the predicate (khabar).

The towns referred to are those of the five nations previously mentioned: the people of Noah, Hud, Salih, Lot, and Shu'ayb. Allah relates to the Prophet (PBUH) how these towns were destroyed. Other nations' stories were not related.

These specific nations were singled out because they were deluded by the long respite granted to them and the abundance of blessings they received, leading them to believe they were upon the truth. Allah mentions them to warn the community of Muhammad (PBUH) against similar actions.

{وَلَقَدْ جَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ} (And certainly, their messengers came to them with clear proofs...)

This refers to the prophets sent to them.

{فَمَا كَانُوا لِيُؤْمِنُوا بِمَا كَذَّبُوا بِهِ مِن قَبْلُ} (...but they were not such as to believe in what they had denied before.)

There are several interpretations for this phrase:

1. Ibn Abbas and Al-Suddi: Those disbelievers were never going to believe in what the messengers brought, because they had already denied it when the covenant (Mithaq) was taken from their loins (when Adam's progeny was created). At that time, they believed reluctantly, affirming with their tongues while concealing denial in their hearts.
2. Al-Zajjaj: They were not going to believe, after witnessing the miracles, in what they had denied before witnessing those miracles.
3. A Third View: Even if Allah had revived them after their destruction and returned them to the world of accountability, they would not have believed in what they denied before their destruction. This is similar to the verse: {And if they were returned, they would return to that which they were forbidden} (Al-An'am: 28).
4. A Fourth View: Before the messenger arrived, they were already resolute in their disbelief, so they were not going to believe even after the messengers came.
5. A Fifth View: They were not going to believe in the future time (after the messengers' arrival).

{كَذَلِكَ يَطْبَعُ اللَّهُ عَلَى قُلُوبِ الْكَافِرِينَ} (Thus does Allah seal the hearts of the disbelievers.)

Al-Zajjaj stated that the Kaf in {كَذَلِكَ} (Thus) is in the accusative case (mansub). The meaning is: Just as Allah sealed the hearts of the disbelievers of past nations, He seals the hearts of those disbelievers upon whom Allah has decreed that they will never believe. And Allah knows best the realities of matters.

{وَمَا وَجَدْنَا لِأَكْثَرِهِم مِّنْ عَهْدٍ وَإِن وَجَدْنَا أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَفَاسِقِينَ} (And We did not find in most of them any firm covenant, and We found most of them to be defiantly disobedient.)