يَعِظُكُمُ اللَّهُ أَن تَعُودُوا لِمِثْلِهِ أَبَدًا إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
Allah advises you lest you should ever repeat the like of it, should you be faithful.
EXEGESIS
Yaʿiẓukum (advises you) is from waʿẓ, which is an exhortation meant to scare someone of the ill consequence of their possible action, or to encourage them to do some good.[1]
EXPOSITION
This verse is a reminder that the believers should never breach God’s command in such a manner. If someone repents for a mistake, they should firmly decide to never return to it.[2]
Allah advises you: the exegetes have interpreted this to mean that ‘God prohibits you’ or ‘has made it forbidden for you’,[3] and while this is not the literal meaning of waʿẓ (advice), in this context the waʿẓ is a binding one that must be followed. Actually, the terms used for advice, like waʿẓ, waṣiyyah, etc., when used by God, imply necessity and obligation. This applies for most of the rulings in the surah and this is why the surah begins with the exhortation, [This is] a surah which We have sent down, and prescribed it (verse 1).
Lest you should ever repeat the like of it: the like of it has a very wide scope and includes so much more than just slandering the wife of the Prophet. It is about respecting the Messenger of God and his family, about respecting the rules set by God, and being a community of believers who follow the path of God, not the path of Satan, as soon advised in verse 21.
Should you be faithful: a requirement of faith is to abide by God’s instructions. As discussed in the Introduction, the main theme of the surah is about the ‘clear command’ of God to the believers on how to conduct themselves in a Muslim society and how to construct a community of believers. If they truly wish to be a community of believers, they must follow His manifest signs (verse 1). This is more explicitly referenced in the next verse.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.[4]
- No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.[5]
[1] Raghib, p. 876.
[2] Nemuneh, 14/402.
[3] Tabrisi, 7/208.
[4] Hebrews 10:26.
[5] 1 John 3:6.