Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 4 An-Nisa, Ayat 150-152

اِنَّ الَّذِيۡنَ يَكۡفُرُوۡنَ بِاللّٰهِ وَرُسُلِهٖ وَيُرِيۡدُوۡنَ اَنۡ يُّفَرِّقُوۡا بَيۡنَ اللّٰهِ وَرُسُلِهٖ وَيَقُوۡلُوۡنَ نُؤۡمِنُ بِبَعۡضٍ وَّنَكۡفُرُ بِبَعۡضٍۙ وَّيُرِيۡدُوۡنَ اَنۡ يَّتَّخِذُوۡا بَيۡنَ ذٰ لِكَ سَبِيۡلًا ۙ‏ ﴿4:150﴾ اُولٰٓـئِكَ هُمُ الۡـكٰفِرُوۡنَ حَقًّا​ ۚ وَ اَعۡتَدۡنَا لِلۡكٰفِرِيۡنَ عَذَابًا مُّهِيۡنًا‏ ﴿4:151﴾ وَالَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا بِاللّٰهِ وَرُسُلِهٖ وَلَمۡ يُفَرِّقُوۡا بَيۡنَ اَحَدٍ مِّنۡهُمۡ اُولٰٓـئِكَ سَوۡفَ يُؤۡتِيۡهِمۡ اُجُوۡرَهُمۡ ​ؕ وَكَانَ اللّٰهُ غَفُوۡرًا رَّحِيۡمًا‏ ﴿4:152﴾

(4:150) There are those who disbelieve in Allah and His Messengers and seek to differentiate between Allah and His Messengers, and say: 'We believe in some and deny others, and seek to strike a way between the two.' (4:151) It is they, indeed they, who are, beyond all doubt, unbelievers;178 and for the unbelievers We have prepared a humiliating chastisement. (4:152) For those who believe in Allah and His Messengers, and do not differentiate between them, We shall certainly give them their reward.179 Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate 180


Notes

178. Insofar as being an unbeliever is concerned, there is no difference between

(1) those who believe neither in God nor in the Prophets,

(2) those who believe in God but not in the Prophets, and

(3) those whobelieve in some Prophets but reject others.

 

179. This means that only those who acknowledge God to be their sole object of worship and their only sovereign, and who commit themselves to follow all the Prophets, will merit reward for their acts in the Hereafter. What that reward will be depends on the nature and extent of their acts of goodness. Those who do not either acknowledge the exclusive sovereignty of God or who rebelliously reject some Messengers of God and believe only in those whom they choose to, will not be rewarded, for in God's sight their apparently good acts are essentially not valid.

180. God will be lenient and forgiving in judging the conduct of those who believe in Him and the Prophets.