Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:16

"So let not one who does not believe in it divert you from it" Meaning: Do not let him divert you from believing in it. The pronoun [in "it"] refers to the Resurrection; it is also permissible that it refers to the prayer.

If you ask: The phrasing is a prohibition directed at one who does not believe, [warning him] against diverting Moses. Yet, the intended meaning is to forbid Moses from disbelieving in the Resurrection, or to command him to believe in it. How, then, does this phrasing serve to convey this intended meaning?

I say: There are two aspects to this:

1. The Cause and Effect: The disbeliever’s act of diverting [others] from belief is a cause for disbelief. Thus, the cause is mentioned to indicate the effect.
2. The Effect and Cause: The disbeliever’s act of diverting is an effect of a person’s laxity in religion and the softness of his resolve. Thus, the effect is mentioned to indicate the cause. This is like the saying, "I must not see you here," where the intent is to forbid him from being present and in his company, which is the cause of him seeing him. Thus, mentioning the effect serves as evidence for the cause. It is as if it were said: "Be firm in resolve and unyielding in your stance, so that it does not appear to those who disbelieve in the Resurrection that they might hope to divert you from what you are upon."

Meaning: Those who do not believe in the Hereafter are the vast multitude, for there is nothing more burdensome to the disbelievers, nor anything they deny more vehemently, than the Resurrection. Therefore, do not let the abundance of their masses or the size of their numbers intimidate you, and do not let their multitude be a cause for your stumbling. Know that even if they are many, their guide in what they follow is caprice and its pursuit, not evidence and its contemplation.

In this, there is a great exhortation to act according to evidence, a profound rebuke against blind imitation (taqlīd), and a warning that destruction and ruin lie with blind imitation and its people.

{And what is that in your right hand, O Moses? He said, "It is my staff; I lean upon it, and I bring down leaves with it for my sheep, and I have therein other uses."}