Tafsir Surah Baqarah

 3

I seek refuge in God from the Accursed Satan.

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Let us first invoke refuge in God, from the Evil One, accursed and driven forth: "أعوذ بالله من الشيّطان الرّجيم." Then, with hearts attuned, let us speak in the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful: "بسم الله الرّحمن الرّحيم."

The very inscription doth begin with mystic letters, ﴿الم (1) ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِلْمُتَّقِينَ (2)﴾. "Alif Lam Mim. This Book, wherein is no doubt, is a guidance unto those who ward off evil." Upon this verse, it was observed that the phrase ﴿هُدًى لِلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾, "a guidance unto those who ward off evil," doth not imply a restriction, as if this Qur'an were solely a guide for the pious, and held no direction for those who are not. Nay, for the Qur'an itself hath been introduced as a guidance for all mankind, ﴿هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ﴾, "a guidance for the people" in its entirety. 

Moreover, the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, did summon all people unto the truth. Among those who were called, there were idolaters and People of the Book alike. And from amongst the idolaters, a company embraced the call and found guidance, even as a number from the People of the Book hearkened and were led aright. Thus, it is not that this Qur'an descended solely for the sake of the righteous. The very manner of the Prophet's summons was to invite all, whereupon some would accept, and others would turn away. And the noble Qur'an itself regards itself as a guidance for all humanity.

Verily, there are testimonies aplenty to the universality of this call and this guidance. In the very Surah of the Cow, verse one hundred and eighty-five, we find these words: ﴿شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ﴾ [1], "The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people." When the Qur'an is introduced, it is declared to be a guidance for all people, be they pious or otherwise. And when, in the opening verse of the Surah of Abraham, the secret of the Qur'an's descent is expounded, it is said: ﴿الر كِتَابٌ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ لِتُخْرِجَ النَّاسَ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ﴾, "Alif Lam Ra. A Book We have revealed unto thee (O Muhammad) that thou mayest bring forth mankind from darkness unto light." Not merely the pious, but all of humankind. And when a group did reject the summons, they would say, "Can a mortal man be a messenger?" or, influenced by the remnants of ignorance, they would not accept the prophets' call. Yet, the very language of the noble Qur'an reveals that when God Almighty summons these people, or when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, calls them, they reject the invitation due to the customs of ignorance. In the Surah of Isra, verse ninety-four, it is thus: ﴿وَمَا مَنَعَ النَّاسَ أَنْ يُؤْمِنُوا إِذْ جَاءَهُمُ الْهُدَى إِلَّا أَنْ قَالُوا أَ بَعَثَ اللَّهُ بَشَرًا رَسُولًا﴾, "And naught prevented mankind from believing when the guidance came unto them, save that they said: Hath Allah sent forth a mortal as a messenger?" Those who denied the general prophethood, when the divine call came unto them, would say: A mortal cannot be a prophet. Messengership belongs to angels; it is an angel who can be the messenger of Allah, not a human being. It becomes clear that even these idolaters, who harboured this doubt and, due to this or other reasons, did not accept the call, were reached by divine guidance, and the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, did practically invite them to accept the truth. However, they would not accept: ﴿وَمَا مَنَعَ النَّاسَ أَنْ يُؤْمِنُوا إِذْ جَاءَهُمُ الْهُدَى إِلَّا أَنْ قَالُوا أَ بَعَثَ اللَّهُ بَشَرًا رَسُولًا﴾. And in the Surah of the Cave, the discourse returns to the guidance of those people, the "nas," whom God Almighty guides. Verse fifty-five of the Surah of the Cave reads: ﴿وَمَا مَنَعَ النَّاسَ أَنْ يُؤْمِنُوا إِذْ جَاءَهُمُ الْهُدَى وَيَسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّهُمْ إِلَّا أَنْ تَأْتِيَهُمْ سُنَّةُ الْأَوَّلِينَ أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمُ الْعَذَابُ قُبُلًا﴾, "And naught hindered mankind from believing when the guidance came unto them, and from asking forgiveness of their Lord, save that the custom of the ancients should come unto them, or that the torment should come upon them visibly." These whom the Messenger of God summoned and guided—divine guidance reached them, yet they did not accept, as if they wished to be afflicted by the fate of the former generations, or to see the torment face to face—﴿قُبُلًا﴾ meaning directly—to see the torment before them, only then to believe. It becomes evident that these idolaters who did not believe were reached by guidance, yet they did not accept it. The practical summons of the Messenger of God was to approach them and invite them, and the very language of the noble Qur'an declares this Book to be ﴿هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ﴾ [1], "a guidance for the people," and the proof of this is that a great number of idolaters accepted the call and became monotheists, and a great number of disbelievers and People of the Book accepted the call and became monotheists. Thus, there are both general and comprehensive statements in the Qur'an, and the practical conduct of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, was to invite all, and the acceptance of a group is mentioned in history, that a company of idolaters and disbelieving People of the Book embraced the religion and became believers. Therefore, the Qur'an is ﴿هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ﴾; but the saying ﴿هُدًى لِلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾, "a guidance unto those who ward off evil," is because only those who possess piety benefit from the Qur'an; others do not.

Guidance as a reward is not the initial guidance. For example, the fundamental guidance is stated as ﴿هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ﴾ [1], "a guidance for the people"; but the guidance as a reward, which God Almighty bestows as a divine favour upon a group, belongs to those who tread the path of God, as ﴿يَهْدِي إِلَيْهِ مَنْ أَنَابَ﴾ [2], "He guides unto Himself whomsoever turns (to Him) in repentance."

This is the first instance, and one possible interpretation may be this; but the meaning is that the fundamental legislative guidance, which the Qur'an (as a legislative book) is for the people, is not exclusive to the pious.

In the Surah of Luqman, instead of ﴿هُدًى لِلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾, the expression is: ﴿الم ٭ تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْحَكِيمِ ٭ هُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِلْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾ [3], "Alif Lam Mim. These are verses of the wise Book, a guidance and a mercy for the doers of good." Despite the fact that the mission of the Messenger of God is a mercy for all the worlds, and the Qur'an is also a mercy for all the worlds and a universal guidance, nevertheless, at the beginning of the Surah of Luqman, it is stated: ﴿هُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِلْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾. It becomes clear that this language is not one of restriction. When it is not a language of restriction, then others also have a share, and then this verse must be interpreted: what does ﴿هُدًى لِلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ mean, or what does ﴿هُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِلْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾, which is at the beginning of the Surah of Luqman, mean? One of the aspects is that although the Qur'an invites all, it is the pious who benefit and make use of the Qur'an's invitation; others deliberately do not make use of it.

This [if] it is a restriction, its meaning is that the Qur'an was revealed for a group, while the Qur'an is ﴿هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ﴾ [4], "a guidance for the people," and while the Messenger of God invites the idolaters as well, or for example, the Christians and the People of the Book. In the same Surah of Al-Imran, it is thus; verse sixty-four of the Surah of Al-Imran is this: ﴿قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْا إِلَى كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءٍ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَلَا نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا أَرْبَابًا

﴾, "Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partners unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside Allah." It invites the People of the Book to monotheism, and a group accepts. If a group of idolaters accepted the call and a group of the People of the Book accepted the call, it becomes clear that this Qur'an is ﴿هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ﴾; not that it was revealed specifically for the pious in the first instance.

The meaning is that God Almighty has made all receptive to the guidance of creation, for He created all with the nature of monotheism, as He said: this nature is unchangeable:

 ﴿فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًا فِطْرَتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا﴾ [5], 

"So set thy purpose for the religion as a man by nature upright—the nature (framed) of Allah, in which He hath created mankind." Thus, He made all capable of guidance, and no one can alter that primordial nature:

 ﴿لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ﴾ [6],

 "There is no changing the creation of Allah." 

Then, all individuals who were created with this endowment of the nature of monotheism are commanded to accept the mission of the Messenger of God, as He said:

 ﴿هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ﴾ [4], 

"a guidance for the people." 

So, the capacity for the very acceptance and guidance is for all people; from the other side, the bounty of guidance is for all people. 

In the midst of this, the one who

 ﴿قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا﴾ [7], 

"hath prospered who purifieth it (the soul)," 

did not extinguish that nature but nurtured it, listens to the words of the prophets and acts accordingly. 

And if someone ﴿

وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ دَسَّاهَا﴾ [8],

 "hath failed who corrupteth it,"

 extinguished that nature, he is not granted the divine favour of paying attention to the words of the prophets and does not accept.

The Innate Nature of Accepting Divine Guidance

Therefore, the invitation is general, because the capacity is general. God Almighty did not create anyone without the endowment of accepting guidance; He created all with the nature of monotheism and made all responsible for accepting guidance. If someone keeps that light burning within himself, he will accept, and if he extinguishes that light, he becomes dark and blind. When he becomes blind, God Almighty says to His Messenger: 

﴿مَا أَنْتَ بِهَادِي الْعُمْيِ عَنْ ضَلَالَتِهِمْ﴾ [9],

 "Thou canst not guide the blind out of their error." 

You do not guide the blind; We gave them a lamp, but they deliberately extinguished it. Now that they have extinguished the lamp, they do not see you; they come before you, they see your person, but they do not see your station: 

﴿تَرَاهُمْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَيْكَ وَهُمْ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ﴾ [10]—

this is at the end of the Surah of A'raf—

He said: These people come to you, they look at you, but they are blind; they have sight, but they have no vision; they see you as a human being from the people of Hijaz, but they do not see you as the Messenger of God; ﴿تَرَاهُمْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَيْكَ وَهُمْ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ﴾.

Guidance; it will mean both showing the way and leading to the desired end. And the showing of the way is universal; it is impossible for its showing to be specific to a particular group. In verse one hundred and ninety-eight of the Surah of A'raf, it is thus:

 ﴿وَإِنْ تَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَى الْهُدَى لَا يَسْمَعُوا

﴾, "And if ye (O Muhammad) call them unto the guidance, they hear not." ﴿تَرَاهُمْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَيْكَ وَهُمْ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ﴾, "And thou (O Muhammad) seest them looking toward thee, yet they behold not." 

You see that they are people of sight, not people of vision; people of looking, not people of seeing. Sometimes a person whose eyesight is weak, when sighting the new moon, goes to the rooftop and says: "I looked and did not see"; "نظرت إلی القمر و لم أره"; I looked and did not see; there is looking, but there is no seeing; there is gazing, but there is no vision. He said: These people are sitting in your presence, they look at you as an Arab man and a person from Hijaz; but they do not see you as the Messenger of God (they do not have that vision), therefore He said:

 ﴿وَمَا أَنْتَ بِهَادِي الْعُمْيِ عَنْ ضَلَالَتِهِمْ﴾ [11], 

"Nor canst thou guide the blind out of their error." 

Those who are blind, you do not guide them. If someone deliberately extinguishes the lamp of innate nature through sin, he no longer sees the way.

لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ﴾ [12], "There is no changing the creation of Allah";

 its meaning is not that afterwards no one can bury that lamp anymore; because 

﴿وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ دَسَّاهَا﴾ [13], 

"hath failed who corrupteth it," ﴿دَسَّاهَا﴾; meaning he has buried that inspired nature. 

If a person buries something in the ground; removes the soil, buries it in the ground, pours soil over it, they say he has "plotted," "madsoos" means buried beneath the earth, 

﴿أَمْ يَدُسُّهُ فِي التُّرَابِ﴾ [14], 

"Or will he bury it in the dust?";

 meaning he removes the soil, buries it, and pours soil over it; plotting also means the same, that a person buries a false matter amidst righteous deeds. If they have buried themselves here, this does not mean that God Almighty did not give them the nature of monotheism. And in the Hereafter, these buried ones will become apparent, on that day they will realize that they went astray.

Yes; it is not the case that God Almighty creates someone without the nature of monotheism, or no; others have a role in creating a human being contrary to the nature of monotheism; it is not so. He said: ﴿فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًا فِطْرَتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا﴾, this ﴿فِطْرَتَ﴾ is accusative due to the implied verb; meaning "take" it; just as they point and say "the gazelle, the gazelle,"

 ﴿فِطْرَتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ﴾ [15], 

"The nature (framed) of Allah, in which He hath created mankind. There is no changing the creation of Allah. That is the right religion."

The Exclusivity of the People of Faith in Benefiting from the Universal Call of Nature and the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny)

So, the nature that is receptive lend its ear to the discourse concerning the lot of the faithful, who partake of the universal summons of Nature and the blessed Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny.

Verily, that Nature which doth receive the call is universal, and the Messenger, who is the mercy of the Truth, is «رَحمَةٌ لِلعَالَمِينَ» [16], "a mercy for all the worlds." 

Yet, those souls who have extinguished that innate light possess no more the faculty of true sight. Wherefore, in the latter part of the Surah of  A'raf, it is declared: These behold thee, yet they perceive not: ﴿وَتَرَاهُمْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَيْكَ وَهُمْ لاَيُبْصِرُونَ﴾ [17]. Thus, if one hath not forsaken his primal disposition, this Faith shall be a most excellent guide. But if he hath quenched it, then assuredly he hath failed: ﴿وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا﴾ [18]. Then, the matter of guidance, which thou didst say is universal, is only profited from by a certain company; those who have not extinguished this lamp, but have kept it alight. It is not that the Qur'an is solely for these, but rather, those who benefit from the Qur'an are they who have maintained this lamp in its radiance.

Piety is not a station among stations, but rather a concept admitting of degrees, concordant with every level of faith. The first degree of guidance accompanies the first degree of piety.

 Moderate piety possesses moderate guidance; particular piety, particular guidance. Nevertheless, this Qur'an is for the guidance of all mankind; those who truly benefit from this Qur'an are solely the pious, akin to the warning to those who corrupt their souls.

Commonly, piety in the noble Qur'an is not set in opposition to other stations, unlike the doers of good, the oft-returning, the penitent, and the truthful; these are stations. But that piety should be a station set against other stations, such is not the case.

The Faithful Encompassed by Innate and Legislative Guidance, and the Wicked by Voluntary and Punitive Error

﴿هُديً لِلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ [Concerning ﴿هُديً لِلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾] 

Let us consider whether that statement is complete or not. He states: The intent of the pious here is the very pious of innate disposition, and every human who hath benefited from the Qur'an is encompassed by two guidances: one innate, and one legislative through the Qur'an. Just as every human who hath fallen into error, his straying is encompassed by two errors: one, his own soul's error, and the other, the punitive error wherein God Almighty hath caused him to err. The human who is afflicted and hath not reached his destination possesses two errors: the first error is due to his evil choice, that he deliberately went astray; the subsequent error is punitive, which befell him. God Almighty hath said: If one deliberately disregards the words of the prophets and goes astray, We shall cause him to err, as 

﴿يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ﴾ [19], 

"He causes to err whom He wills, and guides whom He wills," but 

﴿وَمَا يُضِلُّ بِهِ إِلاَّ الْفَاسِقِينَ﴾ [20],

 "and He causes none to err thereby save the transgressors"; 

meaning, whoever transgresses and deviates from the path, God Almighty causes him to err as a punishment. Error is not an existential attribute that God Almighty bestows upon someone, but rather, merely that He withholds the grace of success from someone, withholds the divine favor, and this person becomes astray, as witnessed by 

﴿مَّا يَفْتَحِ اللَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ مِن رَّحْمَةٍ فَلاَ مُمْسِكَ لَهَا وَمَا يُمْسِكْ فَلاَ مُرْسِلَ لَهُ﴾ [21], 

"Whatever mercy Allah opens for mankind, none can withhold it; and whatever He withholds, none can release it thereafter." 

Thus, whoever goes astray, his first error is due to his own evil choice, and the second error befalls him as a punishment; so all his deeds are encompassed by two errors. Just as every wicked human is encompassed and entangled by two diseases: the first disease is due to his evil choice, as ﴿فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَرَضٌ﴾ [22], 

"In their hearts is a disease"; 

the second disease has befallen him as a punishment from God Almighty, as ﴿فَزَادَهُمُ اللّهُ مَرَضاً﴾ [23] (this ﴿فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَرَضٌ﴾ is the first disease, and ﴿فَزَادَهُمُ اللّهُ مَرَضاً﴾ is the second disease); or ﴿فَلَمَّا زَاغُوا أَزَاغَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ﴾ [24] - "زيغ" 

meaning deviation - whoever is deviant is encompassed by two deviations: the first deviation is due to his own evil choice; the second deviation has befallen him as a punishment. Whoever is in veil and curtain and seal, so that he understands nothing, is encompassed by two veils and two coverings: the first covering he himself placed upon his eyes so that he would not see, and the second covering God Almighty placed upon that covering, saying: ﴿خَتَمَ اللّهُ عَلَي قُلُوبِهِمْ وَعَلَي سَمْعِهِمْ وَعَلَي أَبْصَارِهِمْ غِشَاوَةٌ﴾ [25], 

"Allah hath sealed their hearts and their hearing, and on their eyes there is a covering"; 

they placed a covering and veil before their eyes and see nowhere, then God Almighty seals the hearts of this group; He seals their hearts, so that every wicked human is encompassed by two diseases, [encompassed] by two errors, [encompassed] by two veils and the like: the first he performs with his own hand, the second, as a punishment, God Almighty chastises and seizes him. 

In the matter of guidance also it is thus; whoever traverses a path is encompassed by two guidances, the first and the second both being by divine favor. In the matter of error, the first is due to the evil choice of the individuals themselves, the second befalls them as a punitive error from God; but concerning guidance, whoever moves on the straight path is encompassed by two guidances, both guidances being given by God Almighty; if it is innate nature, then God gave it; if it is showing the way, then God showed it; if it is subsequent success, called divine guidance, then God gave that also. So the two guidances that are for the guided, and every upright human is encompassed by two guidances, both are blessings, and every blessing is from God; for

 ﴿مَا بِكُم مِّن نِّعْمَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ﴾ [26], 

"And whatever of blessing ye have, it is from Allah"; 

but errors, the first is due to the evil choice of the individual himself, it is ﴿فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ﴾ [27], 

"for what your hands have earned";

 the second is imposed upon him by God Almighty as a punishment and chastisement.

Initial and Rewarding Guidance

That which He said in this noble verse: ﴿هُديً لِلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾, and after a few verses He also said: ﴿أُولئِكَ عَلَي هُديً مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ﴾ [28], "These are upon guidance from their Lord," is this guidance the same as the first guidance or other than it?

Allamah Tabataba'i, may God's pleasure be upon him] states: It is other than it; because He said: ﴿هُديً لِلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾, who are the pious? He mentions five attributes for the pious:

 ﴿الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْناهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ ٭ وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ وَبِالآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ﴾ [29], 

"Those who believe in the unseen, and establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them; and those who believe in that which hath been revealed unto thee and that which was revealed before thee, and of the Hereafter they are certain," 

He enumerates these five attributes, then He says: ﴿أُولئِكَ عَلَي هُديً مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ

﴾, "These are upon guidance from their Lord." 

What is this guidance, and what was that first guidance? This ﴿أُولئِكَ﴾; meaning these very guided ones, refers to these very guided ones, these very guided ones "are upon guidance from their Lord"; meaning a second guidance has befallen them; it is akin to 

﴿يَهْدِي إِلَيْهِ مَنْ أَنَابَ﴾ [30],

 "He guides unto Himself whomsoever turns (to Him) in repentance"

; ﴿يَهْدِي إِلَيْهِ مَنْ يُنِيبُ﴾ [31],

 "He guides unto Himself whoever turns (to Him)"; and the like. 

These who have traversed the path are endowed with a new guidance, and this is a rewarding guidance, this is a secondary guidance; every human who traverses a path, on one hand, that first guidance was granted to him, that he may discern the path and traverse it, and on the other hand, when he traverses the path, a rewarding guidance also is granted to him, which is a guidance upon guidance. 

From this very group is the expression ﴿زَادَهُمْ هُديً﴾ [32], 

"He increased them in guidance,"

 sometimes the expression is ﴿زَادَهُمْ هُديً﴾; sometimes the expression is

 ﴿زِدْنَاهُمْ هُديً﴾ [33], "We increased them in guidance"; 

or ﴿آتَاهُمْ تَقْوَاهُمْ﴾ [34], "He granted them their piety"; 

God has given them their piety; God has given them their guidance, this is the very rewarding guidance that comes upon the initial guidance. So first is that this Book is ﴿هُديً لِلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ - the pious, meaning those who possess these five attributes - then He said: ﴿أُولئِكَ عَلَي هُديً مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ﴾ [35].

Yes; this Qur'an is the guidance of this group, then this group, ﴿عَلَي هُديً مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ﴾, "are upon guidance from their Lord," these two guidances must be other than each other. 

One point is that the pious who perform these five attributes, from where did they obtain them (this is one point); another point is that this ﴿هُديً﴾ which is in ﴿هُديً لِلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾, with the ﴿هُديً﴾ which is in ﴿أُولئِكَ عَلَي هُديً مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ﴾, are two guidances, these pious are encompassed between two guidances. This guidance is a secondary guidance; that guidance is the initial guidance.

He states: Since ﴿هُديً لِلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ is other than ﴿أُولئِكَ عَلَي هُديً مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ﴾, [in this manner] that one is before commencing these attributes [and] one is after, it becomes clear that the pious individuals possess two guidances: an initial guidance by which initial guidance they perform those attributes, and a rewarding guidance which will be ﴿زِدْنَاهُمْ هُديً﴾ [36]; it will be akin to ﴿يَهْدِي إِلَيْهِ مَنْ أَنَابَ﴾ [37], necessarily this ﴿أُوْلئِكَ عَلَي هُديً مِن رَبِّهِمْ وَأُولئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ﴾ [38] is other than that guidance which was mentioned in the first degree; meaning it was mentioned the first time.

The Role of the Innate Nature of Monotheism in Guidance

These two guidances, one being the initial guidance and the other the secondary guidance, that initial guidance is the very innate guidance. If one does not extinguish this innate nature, he knows that there is a God, there is a resurrection, and one must have a relationship of servitude with God, and with God's creation a relationship of benevolence, a relationship of spending, and the like; the innate nature says that there is a God, there is a resurrection, there is a relationship. Within the narrations of "fitrah" (innate nature), the late Saduq (may God be pleased with him) narrates in his noble book Al-Tawhid from the Imam (peace be upon him) that you should not strike children until they are one year old; because the crying of the child in the first four months is a testimony to the oneness of the Truth; the crying of the child in the second four months is a testimony to the prophethood [39] of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny); the crying of the child in the third four months is a prayer for the parents [40]. His crying is not based on mischief; he is newly acquainted with the realm of innate nature; he understands what he is doing; he expresses those desires with this tongue. This being that was created with the innate nature of monotheism, its first attention is towards God; because in order to receive grace from God Almighty, it gradually begins to think of intercession, then when it views its parents more or less as its guardians, it considers them the channels of grace. The innate nature of monotheism is with every human being; it is not so that God Almighty created anyone without innate nature. If one does not extinguish this innate nature of monotheism [and] enters the arena of life, he will submit before religion [and] the Qur'an can fully be his guide.

That too is due to the innate nature of monotheism, «حتي يكون ابواه يهوّدانه و ينصّرانه» [41]; that too exists. Before the propagation and teaching of the parents affect them, it is that innate nature of monotheism, except that he seeks forgiveness for his real parents; similar to what has been related concerning Imam Ali and the Messenger (peace be upon them) that they said: «أنا و عليّ أبوا هذه الأمة» [42], "Ali and I are the fathers of this nation." It is not so that the children of disbelievers were created upon a non-monotheistic innate nature; because

 «كلّ مولد يولد علي الفطرة حتي يكون أبواه يهوّدانه و ينصّرانه» [43], 

"Every child is born upon the fitrah (innate nature) until its parents make it a Jew or a Christian."

«والحمد لله ربّ العالمين»

[16] - Refer to: Surah Al-Anbiya, Verse 107.

[17] - Surah Al-A'raf, Verse 198.

[18] - Surah Ash-Shams, Verse 10.

[19] - Surah An-Nahl, Verse 93.

[20] - Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 26.

[21] - Surah Fatir, Verse 2.

[22] - Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 10.

[23] - Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 10.

[24] - Surah As-Saff, Verse 5.

[25] - Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 7.

[26] - Surah An-Nahl, Verse 53.

[27] - Surah Ash-Shura, Verse 30.

[28] - Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 5.

[29] - Surah Al-Baqarah, Verses 3 & 4.

[30] - Surah Ar-Ra'd, Verse 27.

[31] - Surah Ash-Shura, Verse 13.

[32] - Surah Muhammad, Verse 17.

[33] - Surah Al-Kahf, Verse 13.

[34] - Surah Muhammad, Verse 17.

[35] - Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 5.

[36] - Surah Al-Kahf, Verse 13.

[37] - Surah Ar-Ra'd, Verse 27.

[38] - Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 5.

[39] - In the narration, the crying of the child in the second four months is mentioned as salawat upon the Prophet and his pure family.

[40] - Tawhid of Shaykh Saduq, p. 331.

[41] - Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 3, p. 281.

[42] - Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 16, p. 95.

[43] - Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 3, p. 281.