Surah At-Taghaabun (64) — Ayah 2

(Ayah 2) ➊ {هُوَ الَّذِيْ خَلَقَكُمْ فَمِنْكُمْ كَافِرٌ وَّ مِنْكُمْ مُّؤْمِنٌ:} That is, it is only the One possessing such attributes Who created you, and, instead of making you, like other creatures, bound in every matter by His creative command, He made both the paths of faith and disbelief clear to you and gave you the choice to follow either of them. Now, the truth was that you should have shown gratitude to your Creator by believing in Him, but instead, you split into two groups. Thus, some of you are disbelievers and some are believers. Now, do not think that there will be you will not be questioned regarding your disbelief, or that there will be no reward for believing, rather, whatever you are doing, Allah Almighty is fully watching it, and He will give everyone punishment or reward according to his deeds. Here, {’’ فَمِنْكُمْ كَافِرٌ ‘‘} is mentioned first because the purpose is to express displeasure that even with such attributes and being your Creator, many among you are disbelievers. Besides, it also expresses that the disbelievers are more in number. (See Bani Isra'il: 89; Saba: 20) The same thing is stated in this verse as is detailed in the following verses of Surah Dahr, it is said: « اِنَّا خَلَقْنَا الْاِنْسَانَ مِنْ نُّطْفَةٍ اَمْشَاجٍ نَّبْتَلِيْهِ فَجَعَلْنٰهُ سَمِيْعًۢا بَصِيْرًا (2) اِنَّا هَدَيْنٰهُ السَّبِيْلَ اِمَّا شَاكِرًا وَّ اِمَّا كَفُوْرًا (3) اِنَّاۤ اَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكٰفِرِيْنَ سَلٰسِلَاۡ وَ اَغْلٰلًا وَّ سَعِيْرًا (4) اِنَّ الْاَبْرَارَ يَشْرَبُوْنَ مِنْ كَاْسٍ كَانَ مِزَاجُهَا كَافُوْرًا » [ الدہر : ۲ تا ۵ ] "Indeed, We created man from a mixed drop, We test him, so We made him hearing and seeing. Indeed, We showed him the way, whether he becomes grateful or ungrateful. Surely, We have prepared for the disbelievers chains and shackles and a blazing fire. Indeed, the righteous will drink from a cup whose mixture is of camphor."

➋ From this verse, it is understood that at the time of creation, no one is a disbeliever, rather, at birth every human is upon the natural disposition, then later he either chooses disbelief or remains firm upon faith. For details, see the exegesis of Surah Rum (30 to 32).

➌ It is also understood that there are only two types of all people: either they are believers, who believe in Allah Almighty, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Day of Judgment, and destiny, or they are disbelievers; there is no third type who is neither a believer nor a disbeliever. If a believer commits a sin, he will not be declared outside of faith or a disbeliever because of it, nor will it be said that he is neither a believer nor a disbeliever, rather, he is a believer with deficient faith, and he will be called a believer as long as he believes in those things whose being part of the religion is known to all. If he denies any of these things or does an act that is a sign of apostasy, then he is no longer a believer but a disbeliever.

12. 1. That is, nothing will harm our Messenger from this, because his duty is only to convey. Imam Zuhri says, it is Allah's task to send the Messenger, the Messenger's task is to convey, and the people's task is to accept (Fath al-Qadeer).

2. He is the One who created you; then among you is one who disbelieves [3] and among you is one who believes, and Allah sees well [4] all that you do.

[3] This verse can have several meanings. One is that Allah is the One who created you, then some among you accept this fact that indeed our Creator is Allah, while others are not even willing to accept this; they outright deny the existence of Allah, claiming that we are born and die merely under the cycle of time. The second meaning is that Allah created man upon sound natural disposition (fitrah), so that he, like all other creatures of Allah, remains obedient and submissive to Him. But some people remain firm upon this sound nature, while others, influenced by their environment, choose the paths of disbelief. This meaning is confirmed by the Prophetic saying in which he said: “Every child is born upon the (sound) fitrah, then his parents make him a Jew or a Christian (etc.)” [بخاری۔ کتاب القدر۔ باب جف القلم علیٰ علم اللّٰہ۔۔]
And the third meaning is that Allah created man with the power of will and choice, and with intellect and discernment. Now, whoever misuses these blessings granted by Allah, he sets out on the path of disbelief, and whoever uses them correctly, he is the believer.

[4] Not only does He see, but He will also reward or punish you for it. He also observes if a believer performed a good deed, how much sincerity of intention was present in it. Accordingly, He will decrease or increase his reward.