وَما مَنَعَ النّاسَ أَن يُؤمِنوا إِذ جاءَهُمُ الهُدىٰ وَيَستَغفِروا رَبَّهُم إِلّا أَن تَأتِيَهُم سُنَّةُ الأَوَّلينَ أَو يَأتِيَهُمُ العَذابُ قُبُلًا

People do not refuse to have faith when guidance comes to them and to plead to their Lord for forgiveness, without being overtaken by the precedent of the ancients, or confronting the punishment.

EXEGESIS

Sunnah (precedent) is the way and manner in which someone habitually behaves. This is why the way of life of Prophet Muhammad (s) is called his sunnah. God too has unchangeable procedures by which He acts and treats His creation. So do they await anything except the precedent of the ancients? Yet you will never find any change in Allah’s precedent, and you will never find any revision in Allah’s precedent (35:43).

Sunnat al-awwalīn (precedent of the ancients) means how God has dealt with previous nations who stubbornly turned away from His messengers and refused to change their wicked ways, Are they better, or the people of Tubbaʿ, and those who were before them? We destroyed them (44:37).

Qubul (confronting) can mean in front (as also entailed in muqābalah), so the meaning would be that the punishment will come to them from their front, where they can see it.^{‎[1]Tabrisi, 6/737; Tabari, 15/173.}

Alternatively, it may be the plural of qabīl which means type (nawʿ), that is different types and varieties of punishments will befall them.^{‎[2]Tabrisi, 6/737; Tabari, 15/173; Razi, 21/475. Rāzī argues that this meaning suggests they should be alive. This is not necessary though, as even hell has a variety of different punishments.} Others have said it means to come suddenly.^{‎[3]Tabari, 15/173.}

EXPOSITION

The disputatious people described in the previous verse are not looking for evidence. Even though they might claim they require signs in order to believe, but it is not the truth that they are actually seeking, Even if you bring those who were given the book every [kind of] sign, they will not follow your qibla (2:145).

People do not refuse to have faith when guidance comes to them and to plead to their Lord for forgiveness: the particle mā at the beginning of the verse could be for negation or could be understood as an interrogative. If it is for negation, then the verse reads as the translation has suggested. However, in the latter case, the verse is a rhetorical question, asking in effect: what is the cause for people refusing to believe and repent? This is then answered in what follows.^{‎[4]See Mizan, 13/332.}

Without being overtaken by the precedent of the ancients: in other words, that thing which bars them from faith and repentance is their asking for the punishment to overtake them. When told of the destruction that faced previous nations for belying their prophets, they mockingly call for the same punishment to visit them, And when they said: ‘O Allah, if this be the truth from You, rain down upon us stones from the sky, or bring us a painful punishment’ (8:32). If that punishment were to befall them, they would cry out pleading with their Lord, but that kind of faith is not true faith and is only based on distress.^{‎[5]See also Tibyan, 7/60; Nemuneh, 12/471; Mizan, 13/332.}

Or confronting the punishment: any faith professed at the time of confronting punishment does not carry with it any of the benefits of faith, But their faith was of no benefit to them when they sighted Our punishment – Allah’s precedent which has passed among His servants (40:85).

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Ālūsī relates that some have used this verse as evidence that believing does not in and of itself do away with previous misdeeds, unless it is accompanied by repentance.^{‎[6]Alusi, 8/283-284, who discards this opinion as being contrary to what is known.} Perhaps the distinction is merely academic, as it goes without saying that if someone truly believes in the message of Islam he should also regret past actions that he may have committed contrary to its teachings. Therefore, coming to faith and repentance go hand-in-hand, just like having faith and doing good actions. Certainly, some may believe only selectively, and refuse to repent for some actions, in this case their faith is incomplete and may not actually stave off the punishment.

[1] Tabrisi, 6/737; Tabari, 15/173.
[2] Tabrisi, 6/737; Tabari, 15/173; Razi, 21/475. Rāzī argues that this meaning suggests they should be alive. This is not necessary though, as even hell has a variety of different punishments.
[3] Tabari, 15/173.
[4] See Mizan, 13/332.
[5] See also Tibyan, 7/60; Nemuneh, 12/471; Mizan, 13/332.
[6] Alusi, 8/283-284, who discards this opinion as being contrary to what is known.