سورة البقرة

Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him): When Allah mentioned these believers and praised them [in the previous verse], [in this verse] He mentioned the disbelievers, who are opposed to them in their disbelief.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) arrived in Medina, and the signs of his truthfulness, the proofs of his right, and the evidences of his prophethood appeared, the Jews plotted against him most fiercely. Among those who set out to refute and deny him were Malik ibn al-Sayf, Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, Hayy ibn Akhtab, Judayy ibn Akhtab, Abu Yasir ibn Akhtab, Abu Lubaba ibn Abd al-Mundhir, and Shu'ba. Malik said to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Do you claim to be the Messenger of Allah?" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Indeed it is so!" He said: "We will never believe in you unless this carpet beneath us, or this whip, or this donkey testify to your prophethood and truthfulness ..." [After a long conversation with the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), that Jew] went back to his mount to ride it, and the donkey came to him as a well-trained beast would. He had not gone seven or eight steps forward when Allah made the donkey speak, and it said: "O servant of Allah! What an evil servant you are — you witnessed the signs of Allah yet did not believe in them! I am a donkey whom Allah has honored with [the acknowledgment of] His oneness, and through this He has honored me, and I bear witness that there is no god but Him; He is the One, without any partner ..."! Then Ka'b said: "I have no need of it now that you have bewitched this beast of mine with your magic" ... [and they left from there ...] After they departed from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) without believing, Allah revealed: O Muhammad! Know that admonition avails nothing for the disbelievers, for it is the same for them whether you warn them, admonishing and frightening them, or do not warn them — they will not believe, they will not affirm your prophethood, even though they witnessed these signs and disbelieved. How then will they believe in you when you speak and call them?

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Disbelief (kufr) in the Book of Allah is of five kinds. One of these kinds is the disbelief of the deniers (juhud), which itself has two forms: opposition with knowledge, and opposition out of ignorance. As for those who oppose without knowledge, they are the ones referred to in this saying of Allah: إِنَّ الَّذینَ کَفَرُوا سَواءٌ عَلَیْهِمْ ... [Surely those who disbelieve, it is the same for them ...]. So they disbelieved and were obstinate without knowledge.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): What is meant by disbelief is [rejecting and failing to acknowledge] the oneness and unity of Allah.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The disbelief of deniers is of two kinds. One of the two is denial of Allah's oneness, and it is the saying of those who say, "There is no Lord, no Paradise, no Hell, no resurrection, and no gathering." These people are a group of the heretics (zanadiqah) and a group called the Materialists (Dahriyyah), who say: مَا يُهْلِكُنَا إِلَّا الدَّهْرُ [Nothing destroys us but time] — this was a view they invented for themselves and found agreeable without any proof. So Allah the Exalted said, "They only follow conjecture," and He said [about them]: إِنَّ الَّذِینَ کَفَرُوا سَواءٌ عَلَیْهِمْ أَ أَنْذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنْذِرْهُمْ لا یُؤْمِنُونَ [Surely those who disbelieve, it being alike to them whether you warn them, or do not warn them, will not believe].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): What is meant by the disbelief of deniers is denial of Allah's lordship (rububiyyah) ... as is stated in this saying of Allah: إِنَّ الَّذینَ کَفَرُوا سَواءٌ عَلَیْهِمْ أَ أَنْذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنْذِرْهُمْ لایُؤْمِنُونَ [Surely those who disbelieve, it being alike to them whether you warn them, or do not warn them, will not believe].

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): What is meant by إِنَّ الَّذِینَ کَفَرُوا [Surely those who disbelieve] is those who disbelieved in Allah and in what these believers believed in. [What these believers believed in is]: the oneness and tawhid (oneness) of Allah, the prophethood of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), the successorship of Ali (peace be upon him), the wali (guardian) of Allah and successor of His Messenger, and the pure, immaculate Imams (peace be upon them), the choicest and most blessed of His servants, who stand among the people to safeguard the interests of Allah's creation.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): When that group (the Jews) left the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) without believing, Allah sent down this verse: O Muhammad, know that admonition is of no benefit to the disbelievers, for whether you warn them of Allah's punishment or do not warn them, it makes no difference to them, and they will not believe.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): It makes no difference to them whether you warn them and frighten them, or you do not warn them and do not frighten them — [in either case] they will not believe.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Whether you warn them, admonish them and frighten them of Allah's punishment, or you do not warn them and do not frighten them, they will not believe.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Allah informs His Prophet from His knowledge of the unseen. These disbelievers are the very ones about whom Allah knows that they will not believe.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): They do not affirm your prophethood. They saw these signs and yet disbelieved; so how would they believe through your call and your speech?!

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): That is, they will not believe in the oneness (tawhid) of Allah.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): [Allah] made those signs manifest to them, but those disbelievers met them with disbelief.