Obedience to Leaders in Misguidance and Its Consequences

يَوْمَ تُقَلَّبُ وُجُوهُهُمْ فِي النَّارِ يَقُولُونَ يَا لَيْتَنَا أَطَعْنَا اللَّهَ وَأَطَعْنَا الرَّسُولَا  ۞ وَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا إِنَّا أَطَعْنَا سَادَتَنَا وَكُبَرَاءَنَا فَأَضَلُّونَا السَّبِيلَا  ۞ رَبَّنَا آتِهِمْ ضِعْفَيْنِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ وَالْعَنْهُمْ لَعْنًا كَبِيرًا

“On the Day when their faces are being turned over in the Fire, they will say, ‘If only we had obeyed Allah and the Messenger,’ And they will say: “Our Lord, we certainly obeyed our masters and our elite, and they misled us from the right path. Our Lord, give them double the torment and curse them and reject them completely!” [Q 33: 66-68]

Imām Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī (d. 310 AH / 923 CE) stated that on the Day of Judgement the disbelievers will say while they are in Hell: “Our Lord, we certainly obeyed our masters and our elite,” meaning that they obeyed them in shirk. They will also say: “and they misled us from the right path,” meaning that they diverted us from reaching the truth, from the path of guidance, from believing in You, affirming Your Oneness, and sincerely obeying You in this worldly life.

Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Qurṭubī (d. 671 AH / 1273 CE) mentions that Qatādah ibn Diʿāmah al-Sadūsī (d. 117 AH / 735 CE) said that the phrase “our masters” refers generally to the leaders and heads of shirk and misguidance. That is, we obeyed them in disobeying You and in whatever they called us to, so they misled us from the path, namely the path of tawḥīd. With regard to the statement, “Our Lord, give them double the torment,” Qatādah said that it refers to a punishment in this life and a punishment in the Hereafter. It has also been said that it means a punishment for disbelief and a punishment for misguidance.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar Ibn Kathīr (d. 774 AH / 1373 CE) mentioned regarding the statement of Allah ﷻ: “On the Day when their faces will be turned over in the Fire, they will say: ‘If only we had obeyed Allah and the Messenger,’” that they will be dragged into the Fire upon their faces and their faces will be disfigured in Hell. At that point, they will wish that they had been among those who obeyed Allah and His Messenger ﷺ in this worldly life. Ṭāwūs ibn Kaysān (d. 106 AH / 724 CE) said that “our masters” refers to their notables, and “our elite” refers to their scholars. This was reported by Ibn Abū Ḥātim. The meaning is that they followed their masters, namely the leaders and elite of the shaykhs, in opposition to the Messenger ﷺ, believing that these individuals possessed substance and authority. They thought that they were upon something, whereas in reality they were upon nothing. The statement, “Our Lord, give them double the torment,” means due to their disbelief and because they led others astray.

Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Nāṣir al-Saʿdī (d. 1376 AH / 1956 CE) commented on the statement, “Our Lord, we certainly obeyed our masters and our elite,” meaning that they obeyed them in misguidance, and “they misled us from the right path.” They acknowledged that both they and their leaders were deserving of punishment, so they cursed those who misled them by saying: “Our Lord, give them double the torment and curse them and reject them completely.” Allah ﷻ will then say: “For each is a portion.” All of them participated in disbelief and sin, and therefore they will all share in the punishment, though some will receive a punishment proportionate to the severity of their crimes.

Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā al-Najmī (d. 1429 AH / 2008 CE) commented regarding the verse: “Our Lord, we certainly obeyed our masters and our elite. Our Lord, give them double the torment and curse them and reject them completely.” He said: O servant of Allah, what did they obey them in? It is obligatory that we take the Messenger ﷺ alone as an Imām. It is not permissible to elevate anyone to a status that causes us to follow him in opposition to the Messenger ﷺ.

Shaykh Rabīʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī (b. 1351 AH / 1931 CE) stated that the followers of the people of innovation are placed alongside them. If they support, assist, and defend them, then they are their soldiers. They are together, just as the soldiers of Pharaoh were together with him. “Our Lord, we certainly obeyed our masters and our elite. Our Lord, give them double the torment and curse them and reject them completely.” The followers are the weak ones, those whom the people of falsehood deceived, betrayed, and drove to oppose the truth and wage war against the people of truth. Such followers take the same ruling as their leaders. However, if some of those who have been deceived are identified, there is no harm in clarifying the truth for them. If they persist after clarification, then they are placed alongside those they followed.

Reference

Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī (d. 310 AH / 923 CE), Jāmiʿ al-Bayān ʿan Taʾwīl Āy al-Qurʾān, Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah, ed. Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir, 1st edn., 2000, commentary on Qurʾān 33:67–68.
Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Qurṭubī (d. 671 AH / 1273 CE), al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyyah, 2nd edn., 1964, vol. 14.
Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar Ibn Kathīr (d. 774 AH / 1373 CE), Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm, Riyadh: Dār Ṭayyibah, 2nd edn., 1999, commentary on Qurʾān 33:66–68.
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Nāṣir al-Saʿdī (d. 1376 AH / 1956 CE), Taysīr al-Karīm al-Raḥmān, Riyadh: Dār al-Salām, 1st edn., 2002.