Transliteration:( Allazeena yastahibboo nal hayaatad dunyaa 'alal aakhirati wa yasuddoona 'ansabeelil laahi wa yabghoonahaa 'iwajaa; ulaaa 'ika fee dalaalin ba'eed )
“Those who prefer the worldly life over the Hereafter [5] and hinder others from the path of Allah, seeking to make it crooked, they are [6] in distant error [7].”
(Kanzul Imaan Translation)
The disbelievers of Arabia remained deprived of Islam because they feared losing their wealth and social standing.
Their attachment to worldly possessions—especially property and income—was so overpowering that they rejected the truth despite recognizing it.
This verse is a direct indictment of those who let worldly gains outweigh eternal reward.
These individuals not only turn away themselves, but they also:
Distract others through false activities
Deliberately seek to distort and corrupt the path of Islam
This warning extends to modern times as well—particularly to those who form new sects under the guise of scholarship, causing division and confusion in the Ummah while claiming piety.
Such people are in “distant error”—meaning they are:
Far removed from the truth
Deep in heresy, with no closeness to guidance
Their own misguidance leads them to misguide others, and their punishment is accordingly graver and more severe in the sight of Allah Almighty.
The tafsir of Surah Ibrahim verse 3 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Ibrahim ayat 1 which provides the complete commentary from verse 1 through 3.
(14:3) to those who have chosen the life of the world in preference to the Hereafter,[3] who hinder people from the Way of Allah, and seek to make it crooked.[4] They have gone far astray.
3. Those who reject the truth are the people whose interests are entirely bound with the life of this world, and who do not care at all for the interests of the life of the Hereafter: who are prepared to undergo any punishment in the next world for the sake of the interests, pleasures and comforts of this world: who, on the other hand, cannot bear the sacrifice of even the smallest pleasure in this world, nor are ready to bear any loss or encounter danger or trouble in this world for the sake of the joys of the next world. In short, such are the people who have coolly considered and weighed the pleasures of this world against the joys of the next world, and decided in favor of this world: therefore, they readily sacrifice the interest of the next world whenever there is a clash between the two.
4. That is, “They do not want to follow the Way of Allah, but endeavor that Allah’s Way should follow their desires: it should adjust itself in such a way as to include all their conjectures, theories and whims as its part and parcel, and exclude every creed that does not suit their way of life: it should provide sanction for all their habits, customs and manners: it should not demand from them anything which they do not like: in short, the way of Allah should be their obedient slave and turn in the direction their devilish lusts want it to turn: nay, it should neither criticize them nor ask them to follow Allah’s injunctions. This is their condition for accepting the guidance of Allah.
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