Surah Ya-Sin / Verse 7

The preceding verse described a prophetic mission intended to awaken people from heedlessness. The Quran now speaks of a group upon whom that invitation has no effect: people so entrenched in rejecting the truth that the divine decree concerning their outcome has become binding.

The expression haqqa l-qawl means that God's word or judgement has become established and certain. Here it refers to the fulfilment of the divine warning about the punishment of those who turn away from the truth and persist in misguidance.

This raises an important question: Did God decide in advance that these people must disbelieve, leaving them no choice in their own fate?

To understand the verse, we have to consider the relationship between human conduct and divine judgement. When someone repeatedly follows deceptive invitations and allows rejection of the truth to become deeply rooted within them, they may reach a state in which they are no longer willing to receive guidance.

Such a pattern is associated with arrogance and rebellion against the truth. In a Quranic dialogue about the Hereafter, those who went astray cannot place the full responsibility for their error on others; they themselves chose a course of transgression (As-Saffat:30–32)وَمَا كَانَ لَنَا عَلَيْكُم مِّن سُلْطَانٍ ۖ بَلْ كُنتُمْ قَوْمًا طَاغِينَWe had no authority over you; rather, you yourselves were a people who transgressed.فَحَقَّ عَلَيْنَا قَوْلُ رَبِّنَا ۖ إِنَّا لَذَائِقُونَOur Lord's word of judgement against us has now proved true; we shall surely taste the punishment.فَأَغْوَيْنَاكُمْ إِنَّا كُنَّا غَاوِينَSo we led you astray, for we ourselves had gone astray..

This misguidance can also be reinforced by such strong attachment to the present world that the Hereafter is forgotten and fleeting desires are preferred to lasting good. The Quran speaks of those who chose this world's life over the Hereafter and whose hearts, hearing and sight were sealed (An-Nahl:106–108)مَن كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِن بَعْدِ إِيمَانِهِ إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِ وَلَٰكِن مَّن شَرَحَ بِالْكُفْرِ صَدْرًا فَعَلَيْهِمْ غَضَبٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌWhoever rejects God after having believed—except someone forced to do so while their heart remains firm in faith—but those who willingly open their hearts to disbelief will incur God's anger, and a mighty punishment awaits them.ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمُ اسْتَحَبُّوا الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا عَلَى الْآخِرَةِ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْكَافِرِينَThat is because they preferred the life of this world to the Hereafter, and God does not guide people who persist in disbelief.أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ طَبَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَسَمْعِهِمْ وَأَبْصَارِهِمْ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْغَافِلُونَThey are the ones upon whose hearts, hearing and sight God has set a seal, and they are the heedless..

On this interpretation, the sealing of the heart is a consequence of persistently and knowingly choosing misguidance, not an arbitrary deprivation imposed without reason. By repeating wrongful choices, a person may close themselves off from accepting the truth and finally reach a state in which faith finds no place within them.

The fulfilment of divine judgement should therefore not be treated as unrelated to the people's own choices. God's knowledge of the outcome of human lives does not itself mean that people were compelled to disbelieve. The verse describes those who, by persisting in rejection, have established misguidance within themselves.

“So they do not believe” states the consequence. It is not simply a description of passing opposition, but of a settled condition in which rejection has become deeply entrenched.

Yet the Quran says “most of them”, not all. A little later the surah describes others who receive the warning and remain mindful of their Lord even when no one can see them.

The warning is addressed to people, but their responses differ. Some accept the truth and find a way forward, while others persist in rejection until they become deprived of guidance.

The verses that follow use striking images to depict the latter state: people whose ability to see and move towards the truth seems to have become blocked.