Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:28

"And when they commit an indecency..."

Al-Fāḥishah (The Indecency): That which is excessive in its ugliness among sins.

Meaning: When they committed it, they would offer as an excuse that their forefathers used to do it, so they followed them; and that Allah, the Exalted, commanded them to do it.

Both are invalid excuses:

1. The first is imitation (taqlīd), and imitation is not a path to knowledge.
2. The second is fabrication against Allah and heresy regarding His attributes. They used to say: "If Allah disliked what we do, He would have moved us away from it."

Al-Ḥasan said: Allah, the Exalted, sent Muhammad (peace be upon him) to the Arabs while they were Qadariyyah (believing in free will) and Mujbirah (determinists), attributing their sins to Allah.

This confirms the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "And when they commit an indecency, they say, 'We found our fathers doing it, and Allah has commanded us to do it.' Say, 'Indeed, Allah does not command indecency.'"

This is because the commission of ugliness is impossible for Him due to the absence of any motive and the presence of a deterrent. How, then, could He command its commission?

"Do you say about Allah that which you do not know?" This is a denunciation of their attributing the ugly to Him, and a testimony that the foundation of their statement is excessive ignorance.

It has also been said: The "indecency" refers to their circumambulation of the House (the Kaaba) while naked.

"Say, 'My Lord has commanded justice; and set your faces [straight] at every place of prostration, and call upon Him, sincere to Him in religion. Just as He originated you, so will you return.'"