Transliteration:( Yaaa aiyuhal lazeena aamanoo atee'ul laaha wa Rasoolahoo wa laa tawallaw 'anhu wa antum tasma'oon )
"O believers! Obey the command of Allah and His Messenger [43] and turn not away from him after hearing him [44]."
Obedience to both Allah and His Messenger ﷺ is obligatory for all believers. While following Allah's commands is foundational, obeying the Prophet ﷺ—in his commands and example—is equally essential. Even the religious scholars, under the guidance of the Sunnah, hold authority in religious matters. However, absolute imitation in action applies only to the Prophet ﷺ, as certain actions were exclusive to his noble status.
The verse uses “from him” in singular form to emphasize that turning away from the Prophet ﷺ is essentially turning away from Allah. After hearing his command, to reject or ignore it is considered disobedience to divine guidance. This reinforces the unity of authority between Allah and His Messenger ﷺ, and the serious nature of dismissing that guidance.
20. O you who believe! Obey Allah and His Messenger, and turn not away from him while you are hearing. 21. And be not like those who say: “We have heard,” but they hear not. 22. Verily, the worst of living creatures with Allah are the deaf and the dumb (the disbelievers), who understand not. 23. Had Allah known of any good in them, He would indeed have made them listen; and even if He had made them listen, they would but have turned away with aversion.
Allah commands His believing servants to obey Him and His Messenger and warns them against defying him and imitating the disbelievers who reject him. Allah said,
(and turn not away from him…), neither refrain from obeying him or following his commands nor indulge in what he forbade,
(while you are hearing.) after you gained knowledge of his Message,
(And be not like those who say: “We have heard,” but they hear not.)
Ibn Ishaq said that this Ayah refers to the hypocrites, who pretend to hear and obey, while in fact they do neither. Allah declares that these are the most wicked creatures among the Children of Adam,
(Verily, the worst of living creatures with Allah are the deaf) who do not hear the truth,
(and the dumb) who cannot comprehend it,
(who understand not. ) These indeed are the most wicked creatures, for every creature except them abide by the way that Allah created in them. These people were created to worship Allah, but instead disbelieved. This is why Allah equated them to animals, when He said,
(And the example of those who disbelieve is as that of him who shouts to those that hear nothing but calls and cries.) ﴿2:171﴾, and,
(They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones.) ﴿7:179﴾
It was also said that the Ayah (8:22) refers to some of the pagans of Quraysh from the tribe of Bani `Abd Ad-Dar, according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and Ibn Jarir. Muhammad bin Ishaq said that this Ayah refers to hypocrites, as we stated. There is no contradiction here, because both disbelievers and hypocrites are devoid of sound comprehension, in addition to having lost the intention to do good. Allah states here that such are those who neither have sound understanding nor good intentions, even if they have some type of reason,
(Had Allah known of any good in them, He would indeed have made them listen.)
He would have helped them understand. However, this did not happen because there is no goodness in such people, for Allah knows that,
(even if He had made them listen…) and allowed them to understand,
(they would but have turned…), intentionally and out of stubbornness, even after they comprehend,
(with aversion.), to the truth.
(8:20) Believers! Obey Allah and His Messenger and do not turn away from him after you hear his command.
There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.
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