{Those who forgot Allaah} [59:19] are the unbelievers

1-5-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

And be not like those who forgot Allah (i.e. became disobedient to Allah) and He caused them to forget their ownselves, (let them to forget to do righteous deeds). Those are the Fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah).Who is adressed in this verse? Muslims? Non muslims?BaarakaAllahu feek.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

What is meant by {those who forgot Allaah} in the verse are the unbelievers. Ibn Juzayy's Tafseer reads: “And do not be like those who forgot Allaah, i.e. the unbelievers. And forgetting here could refer to abandonment or negligence. That is, they forgot the right of Allaah so He made them forget their own rights and forget observing them.” [End of quote]

Also, Zaad al-Maseer fi ‘Ilm at-Tafseer by Ibn al-Jawzi reads: “{And be not like those who forgot Allaah}, i.e. they abandoned His commands so He made them forget themselves; that is, He made them forget their fate so they did not act in obedience and they did not do good deeds. Ibn ‘Abbaas said: "He is referring to (the Jewish tribes of) Banu Quraythah, Banu An-Nadheer and Banu Qaynuqaa’." ”

Allaah Knows best.