At-Tawba (The Repentance)

115. “Nor is it Allah to lead a people astray after He has guided them, until He makes clear to them what they should beware of; verily Allah is aware of all things.”

This verse is about those persons who embraced Islam. But, before that all the ordinances of the religion would be sent down, they died. For instance, they prayed towards the first direction of Qiblah; or they asked forgiveness for their fathers while they were polytheists, and the ordinance upon these subjects had not been sent down in the time when they were living. The verse says:

“Nor is it Allah to lead a people astray after He has guided them, until He makes clear to them what they should beware of…”

The purpose of the holy phrase: ‘to lead astray’, here, means ‘to chastise’ and to take them into Hell. Therefore, they would not be chastised for the lack of performing those ordinances as long as they were not conveyed to them.

The reason of it is that they have believed in Islam and were not informed of those laws. So, punishing a person for the sake of the ordinances which were issued after them, is far from Allah’s justice; and, as ‘theoreticians in law’ say, chastisement without statement is not permissible.

At the end of the verse, the Qur’ān implies that Allah knows every thing. That is, He knows that He ought not to take to task a person for the crime he has not committed. The verse says:

“…verily Allah is aware of all things…”