سورة غافر

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): When a Christian man committed adultery with a Muslim woman, and when they seized him to carry out the hadd punishment on him, he became Muslim. The ruling in such a case is that he is to be beaten until he dies; for Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: فَلَمَّا رَأَوْا بَأْسَنا قالُوا آمَنَّا بِاللهِ وَحْدَهُ وَ کَفَرْنا بِما کُنَّا بِهِ مُشْرِکِینَ فَلَمْ یَکُ یَنْفَعُهُمْ إِیمانُهُمْ لَمَّا رَأَوْا بَأْسَنا سُنَّتَ اللهِ الَّتِی قَدْ خَلَتْ فِی عِبادِهِ وَ خَسِرَ هُنالِکَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ [But when they saw Our punishment, they said: We believe in Allah alone and we deny what we used to associate with Him. But their faith did not benefit them when they saw Our punishment — the way of Allah which has already gone forth concerning His servants; and there the falsifiers lost.].

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): One day they brought a Christian man who had committed adultery with a Hashimite woman. As soon as his eye fell upon Ma'mun, he became Muslim! Ma'mun became angry and asked the jurists: "What is to be done with this person?" They said: "Accepting Islam wipes out his previous sins!" He asked Imam Rida (peace be upon him), and he said: "Kill him, for he embraced Islam when he witnessed the torment and the punishment. Allah says: فَلَمَّا رَأَوْا بَأْسَنا قالُوا آمَنَّا بِاللهِ وَحْدَهُ [But when they saw Our punishment, they said: We believe in Allah alone]."

Imam Hadi (peace be upon him): Ja'far ibn Rizqullah says: "They brought before Mutawakkil a Christian man who had slept with a Muslim woman. The caliph decided to carry out the hadd on him. At that very moment he became Muslim ... Mutawakkil wrote the matter to Imam Hadi (peace be upon him) and asked its ruling. The Imam (peace be upon him) wrote in reply to the letter: 'He must be beaten until he dies ...' In his reply the Imam recited this verse: بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ. فَلَمَّا رَأَوْا بَأْسَنا قالُوا آمَنَّا بِاللهِ وَحْدَهُ وَ کَفَرْنا بِما کُنَّا بِهِ مُشْرِکِینَ [In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful. But when they saw Our punishment, they said: We believe in Allah alone and we deny what we used to associate with Him]."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): کَفَرْنا بِما کُنَّا بِهِ مُشْرِکِینَ [We deny what we used to associate with Him] — that is, we disavowed those we associated with Him.

Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Muhammad al-Hamadani that he said to Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him): "Why did Allah drown Pharaoh, while he had believed in Him and confessed the oneness of Allah?" He said: "Because he believed at the moment he saw [Allah's] power and severity, and belief under such circumstances is not accepted. This is the ruling of Allah the Exalted that has been [in force] among the earlier and later generations. Allah the Exalted said: فَلَمَّا رَأَوْا بَأْسَنَا قَالُوا آمَنَّا بِاللهِ وَحْدَهُ وَکَفَرْنَا بِمَا کُنَّا بِهِ مُشْرِکِینَ * فَلَمْ یَکُ یَنفَعُهُمْ إِیمَانُهُمْ لَمَّا رَأَوْا بَأْسَنَا [But when they saw Our punishment, they said: We believe in Allah alone and we deny what we used to associate with Him. But their belief did not benefit them when they saw Our punishment] ... And Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: 'On the day when some of the signs of your Lord come to pass, the belief of persons who did not believe before, or did not perform any good in their belief, shall not benefit them.' (al-An'am/158) And in this way, when Pharaoh drowned, he said: 'I believe that there is no god except the One in whom the Children of Israel have believed, and I am among the Muslims!' Then it was said to him: [but he was addressed:] 'Now?!! While you disobeyed before, and were among the corrupters!' (Yunus/90-91) ... Pharaoh, while he was clad in iron and steel from head to foot, when he drowned, Allah the Exalted cast his body onto an elevated place so that it would be a lesson for all, and all could see him upon a raised place, while his body had become heavy on account of the iron and steel he was wearing. And the nature of a heavy object is that instead of going up, it must come down — and this itself is a sign and mark of the power of Allah the Exalted. Another reason is that when Allah the Exalted drowned Pharaoh, he sought help from Musa and did not take refuge with the court of Allah. As a result, Allah the Exalted revealed to Musa (peace be upon him): 'O Musa! You did not help Pharaoh because you did not create him, and if he had sought help from Me, I would have saved him.'"