Transliteration:( Zaalika bi annahum karihoo maaa anzal allaahu fa ahbata a'maalahum )
"This is because they hate what Allah has revealed [22]. So He has rendered their deeds futile."
This verse explains the root cause of the disbelievers' doom:
They hated the revelations sent by Allah, particularly:
The Prophethood of the Beloved Prophet ﷺ
The divine commands, such as religious laws and restrictions that checked their selfish desires
Their dislike wasn't due to a lack of understanding, but because they did not want to submit to Allah’s authority.
Such individuals are regarded as evil and rebellious, not neutral or misguided. Their rebellion is intentional.
Their mindset was:
“Why should we give up our desires for divine laws?”
They sought freedom without accountability, which led to their rejection of Islam.
The final metaphor in the tafsir — "The wolf easily devours a sheep lost from the flock" — offers a powerful image:
Just as a lone sheep becomes easy prey, those who detach from divine guidance are easily overtaken by evil and destruction.
This reflects the importance of remaining with the Jama’ah (congregation) and obedience to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.
Since they despised Allah’s revelation, He nullified their deeds—even if those deeds seemed noble or praiseworthy outwardly.
In the absence of Imaan (faith) and submission to divine truth, no deed carries weight in the Hereafter.
The tafsir of Surah Muhammad verse 9 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Muhammad ayat 4 which provides the complete commentary from verse 4 through 9.
(47:9) That was because they were averse to what Allah had revealed;[14] so He let their works go to waste.
14. That is, they preferred the whims, superstitions, customs and moral perversion of their former ignorance and did not like the teaching that Allah had revealed to guide them to the right way.
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