Transliteration:( Innal lazeena farraqoo deenahum wa kaanoo shiya'allasta minhum fee shaiyy'; innamaaa amruhum ilallaahi summa yunabbi'uhum bimaa kaanoo yaf'aloon )
"Surely, those who have created separate paths in their religion [378], and have become different sects [379], O Beloved Prophet ﷺ! You have no concern at all with them [380]. He will inform them what they used to do."
This refers to those who abandoned the teachings of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and introduced innovations (Bid‘ah) into the religion. They left the straight path of Islam and followed personal interpretations or cultural customs. This act is regarded as a form of disobedience and deviation from Divine guidance.
The verse mentions that just as the Jews divided into seventy-one sects and the Christians into seventy-two, Muslims too will split into seventy-three sects, as foretold in Hadith. Among these, only one group will be saved—the one that remains firmly on the path of the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions. The rest will be regarded as astray due to their innovated beliefs and disconnection from the core teachings.
This part of the verse clarifies that the Holy Prophet ﷺ has no association with those who divide the religion into sects. It is not his responsibility to defend or validate their actions. Instead, Allah will hold them accountable on the Day of Judgment and reveal their actual deeds. This emphasizes that true guidance lies only in prophetic teachings, and deviation from that renders one accountable before Allah.
159. Verily, those who divide their religion and break up into sects, you have no concern with them in the least. Their affair is only with Allah, Who then will tell them what they used to do.
Mujahid, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak and As-Suddi said that this Ayah was revealed about the Jews and Christians. Al-`Awfi said that Ibn `Abbas commented,
(Verily, those who divide their religion and break up into sects…) “Before Muhammad was sent, the Jews and Christians disputed and divided into sects. When Muhammad was sent, Allah revealed to him,
(Verily, those who divide their religion and break up into sects, you have no concern with them in the least.) It is apparent that this Ayah refers to all those who defy the religion of Allah, or revert from it. Allah sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth so that He makes it victorious and dominant above all religions. His Law is one and does not contain any contradiction or incongruity. Therefore, those who dispute in the religion,
(…and break up into sects,) religious sects, just like those who follow the various sects, desires and misguidance – then Allah has purified His Messenger from their ways. In a similar Ayah, Allah said,
(He (Allah) has ordained for you the same religion which He ordained for Nuh, and that which We have revealed to you.)﴿42:13﴾ A Hadith reads,
(We, the Prophets, are half brothers but have one religion.) This, indeed, is the straight path which the Messengers have brought and which commands worshipping Allah alone without partners and adhering to the Law of the last Messenger whom Allah sent. All other paths are types of misguidance, ignorance, sheer opinion and desires; and as such, the Messengers are free from them. Allah said here,
(You have no concern with them in the least…) ﴿6:159﴾. Allah’s statement,
(Their affair is only with Allah, Who then will tell them what they used to do.) is similar to His statement,
(Verily, those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Sabians, and the Christians, and the Majus, and those who worship others besides Allah; truly, Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection.) ﴿22:17﴾ eAllah then mentioned His kindness in His decisions and His justice on the Day of Resurrection, when He said,
(6:159) Surely you have nothing to do with those who have made divisions in their religion and become factions.[141] Their matter is with Allah and He will indeed tell them (in time) what they have been doing.
141. This is addressed to the Prophet (peace be on him) and through him to all followers of the true faith. The import of this statement is that true faith has always consisted, and still consists, in recognizing the One True God as one’s God and Lord; in associating none with God in His divinity – neither in respect of His essence, nor of His attributes, nor of His claims upon His creatures; in believing in the Hereafter and hence considering oneself answerable before God; and in living according to those principles and values which have been communicated by God to mankind through His Prophets and Books. This was the religion entrusted to man at the beginning of human life. The religions which emerged later stemmed from the perverted ingenuity of man, from his baser lusts, and from an exaggerated sense of devotion to venerable personalities. Such factors corrupted the original religion and overlaid it with harmful innovations. Hence, people modified and distorted the original beliefs by mixing them with products of their conjecture and philosophical thinking. More and more innovations were added to the original laws of the true religion. Putting aside the Law of God, men set themselves up as their own law-makers, indulged in hair-splitting elaborations, and exaggerated the importance of disagreements in minor legal problems. They showed excessive veneration for some Prophets of God and some standard-bearers of the true religion, and directed their rancour and hatred against the others. Thus there emerged innumerable religions and sects, the birth of each leading to the fragmentation of humanity into an ever-increasing number of mutually hostile groups. Anyone who decides to follow the true religion must therefore cut himself off from all factions and chart an independent course.
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