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Draft:Qur'an 2:7

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Qur'an 2:7
Verse's Information
SuraBaqara (Qur'an 2)
Verse7
Content Information
Place of
Revelation		Medina
TopicReason for non-guidance of the disbelievers
AboutThe seal God has set on the hearts of disbelievers and the veil over their ears and eyes.
Related VersesQur'an 45:23 ● Qur'an 4:155 ● Qur'an 40:35


Qur'an 2:7 attributes the defiance and stubbornness of the disbelievers in accepting faith, as well as their deprivation of guidance, to God setting a seal on their hearts. It further states that a veil has been placed over their ears and eyes.

Exegetes have interpreted that the "sealing of the disbelievers hearts" is the stripping away of their power to distinguish truth from falsehood, while the "ghishawa" (veil) over their hearing and sight is understood metaphorically as their inability to hear the truth or gain insight into reality. According to exegetes, this state is a result of the disbelievers own voluntary actions and improper behaviors.

Text

Terminology: Heart, Hearing, and Sight

Nasir Makarem Shirazi, a Shi'a exegete, citing Qur'an 50:37, considers "heart" (qalb) in the verse to mean intellect and perception.[1] Sultan Muhammad Gunabadi also describes the heart as a level of human reality where the perception of knowledge and the consequences of actions are realized.[2]

Exegetes have interpreted the veil (ghishawa) over hearing and sight as the inability to hear the truth and perceive reality.[3] Makarem Shirazi explains that the difference in the usage of singular and plural forms in the words "hearing" (samʿ), "hearts" (qulub), and "sight" (absar) reflects the nature of human perception and is due to the diversity of visual perceptions being greater than auditory ones. (The plural form of "hearts" and "sight" refers to the multiplicity and variety of internal states and intellectual insights). In contrast "hearing" is used as a collective noun and has no plural, or it is used in its gerundial meaning, indicating quantity.[4]

Meaning of God's Sealing the Heart

Fadl b. al-Hasan al-Tabrisi, a Shi'a exegete, interpreted the sealing of the heart by God as a metaphor [5] and mentioned several possibilities:

  • God’s testimony that they will no longer accept the truth.
  • The closing of their hearts against accepting faith.
  • Narrow-mindedness and the inability to distinguish truth from falsehood.
  • Creating a sign from God on their hearts so that angels may recognize them and curse them.[6] In some traditions, the "seal" (khatm) is interpreted as a divine sign so that the angels are able to identify them.[7]

Muhammad Jawad Mughniyya, a Shi'a exegete, believes that since the purpose of creating the heart is guidance through correct evidence, if someone persists in turning away from the truth, it is as if they have no heart at all. This is the meaning of "khatm" (sealing) of the heart.[8] In al-Tafsir al-Mubin, he considers the sealing of the heart to be a metaphor for the ultimate defiance and arrogance of the disbelievers, such that no truth can penetrate their hearts.[9]

Attribution of the Seal to God

Allamah Tabataba'i, citing the context of the verse, states that the actions of disbelievers are surrounded by two veils: one resulting from their own disbelief and rejection of the truth, and another placed upon them by God after their disbelief.[10] In interpreting Qur'an 2:26, he also mentions two types of misguidance regarding disbelievers and hypocrites: the misguidance which is the result of the disbelievers own disbelief and hypocrisy, and the misguidance which God intensifies as a punishment.[11]

Al-Tabrisi provides an analogy in order to describe the verse. He states that "God sealing their hearts" is due to a consequential outcome just like the expression "wealth destroyed him" which means he was destroyed in the path of accumulating wealth, not by the direct physical impact of the money.[12] Makarem Shirazi also attributes it to the nature God placed within wrong actions, which ultimately leads to the closing of the heart, eyes, and ears.[13]

Furthermore, the disbelievers' inability to distinguish between truth and falsehood and their persistence in straying is seen as a consequence of factors like disbelief, arrogance, oppression, following carnal desires, and obstinate defiance of the truth.[14] Therefore, their loss of guidance is the result of their own improper actions.[15]

Mulla Sadra, a Shi'a philosopher, considers the sealing of the hearts of disbelievers to stem from their innate nature and essence and introduces the act of sealing their hearts as a necessity for maintaining the order of the universe.[16]

Notes

  1. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūnih, 1374 Sh, vol. 1, p. 83.
  2. ↑ Gunābādī, Tafsīr bayān al-saʿāda, 1408 AH, vol. 1, p. 54.
  3. ↑ Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-muʿīn, 1410 AH, vol. 1, p. 23; Muṣṭafawī, Tafsīr-i rūshan, 1380 Sh, vol. 1, p. 71.
  4. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūnih, 1374 Sh, vol. 1, pp. 90–91.
  5. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Tafsīr jawāmiʿ al-jāmiʿ, 1377 Sh, vol. 1, p. 17.
  6. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1372 Sh, vol. 1, p. 130.
  7. ↑ ʿArūsī Ḥuwayzī, Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn, 1415 AH, vol. 1, p. 33.
  8. ↑ Mughniyya, Tafsīr al-kāshif, 1424 AH, vol. 1, p. 53.
  9. ↑ Mughniyya, al-Tafsīr al-mubīn, p. 4.
  10. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 1, p. 51.
  11. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 1, pp. 45, 91.
  12. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1372 Sh, vol. 1, p. 131.
  13. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūnih, 1374 Sh, vol. 1, p. 84.
  14. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūnih, 1374 Sh, vol. 1, pp. 81–83.
  15. ↑ Mīrzā Khusrawānī, Tafsīr-i khusrawī, 1390 AH, vol. 1, p. 55.
  16. ↑ Mullā Ṣadrā, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-karīm, 1366 Sh, vol. 1, pp. 350–351.

References

  • ʿArūsī Ḥuwayzī, ʿAbd ʿAlī b. Jumʿa al-. Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn. Edited by Sayyid Hashim Rasuli Mahallati. Qom, Isma'iliyan, 1415 AH.
  • Gunābādī, Sulṭān Muḥammad. Tafsīr bayān al-saʿāda fī maqāmāt al-ʿibāda. Beirut, Muʾassasat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1408 AH.
  • Kāshānī, Muḥammad b. Murtaḍā. Tafsīr al-muʿīn. Qom, Library of Ayatollah Mar'ashi Najafi, 1410 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūnih. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
  • Mīrzā Khusrawānī, ʿAlī Riḍā. Tafsīr-i khusrawī. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Islāmiyya, 1390 AH.
  • Mughniyya, Muḥammad Jawād. al-Tafsīr al-mubīn. Qom, Bunyād-i Biʿthat, n.d.
  • Mughniyya, Muḥammad Jawād. Tafsīr al-kāshif. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1424 AH.
  • Mullā Ṣadrā, Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm. Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-karīm (Ṣadrā). Edited by Muhammad Khwajawi. Qom, Bīdar, 1366 Sh.
  • Muṣṭafawī, Ḥasan. Tafsīr-i rūshan. Tehran, Markaz-i Nashr-i Kitāb, 1380 Sh.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom, Maktabat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1417 AH.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Tehran, Nāṣir Khusraw, 1372 Sh.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Tafsīr jawāmiʿ al-jāmiʿ. Tehran, University of Tehran Press, 1377 Sh.
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