Tafseer of Quran 10:44

[Imraan]

Assalam walaikum

Allah said: Indeed, Allah does not wrong the people at all, but it is the people who are wronging themselves.(Qur'an 10;44)

I believe people do bad stuff or commit sin out of their free will (same for good deeds). However when a person receives good or bad in any aspect, then that is from Allah swt.... (the qadr of Allah swt).

Can anyone elaborate on this please with real life examples, better yet apply it to my scenario where I am going through many trials especially the past 3 years.

Are my calamities being inflicted on me purely due to
- The free will of wrongdoing people.

- The free will of wrongdoing people and they have been allowed to do it by the will of Allah swt.

- My sins or our sins and thus, are our sins being expiated during our time in dunya because of it by the will of Allah swt. Commit sin = be served your calamities for correction.

- It being written for me and my family to take in calamities as a test, no matter which way we look at it, it is by the qadr of Allah swt that right now this very moment we should be suffering a calamity of some form, if it wasnt failed marriage, persecution, oppression, criminal damage then surely it would have been something else right at this very moment as willed by Allah swt.

Let us remember those innocent kids or even all innocent as a whole (as an example) in war zones who are sin free, where they are having calamities inflicted on them constantly. How does quran 10:44 apply here?

Apologies I find interpreting the Quran hard sometimes.

Please remember me and my family in your prayers. Jazak Allah

[Imraan]

From Islamic Studies website :

اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يَظۡلِمُ النَّاسَ شَيۡـئًا وَّلٰـكِنَّ النَّاسَ اَنۡفُسَهُمۡ يَظۡلِمُوۡنَ‏

(10:44) Surely Allah does not wrong men; they rather wrong themselves.⁵²


52. “Allah does not wrong mankind” because He gives them ears to hear, eyes to see and hearts to feel and ponder, and everything that is required to enable them to discriminate between right and wrong, truth and falsehood. But it is “But mankind wrong themselves” by refusing to make the right and proper use of their faculties and by following their lusts and enjoying the things of this world. Naturally this has made their eyes so blind and their ears so deaf and their hearts so dead that they are incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong, good and bad, for their conscience has also become dead.

[IslamLife00]

Wa 'alaykumussalaam

It is true that Allah never does wrong - it is we who do wrong, and when we do wrong, we actually wrong ourselves.

Mentioned in surat Al Kahf 32 - 41 : And present to them an example of two men: We granted to one of them two gardens of grapevines, and We bordered them with palm trees and placed between them [fields of] cropsEach of the two gardens produced its fruit and did not fall short thereof in anything. And We caused to gush forth within them a river.And he had fruit, so he said to his companion while he was conversing with him, "I am greater than you in wealth and mightier in [numbers of] men."And he entered his garden while he was unjust to himself. He said, "I do not think that this will perish - ever.And I do not think the Hour will occur. And even if I should be brought back to my Lord, I will surely find better than this as a return."His companion said to him while he was conversing with him, "Have you disbelieved in He who created you from dust and then from a sperm-drop and then proportioned you [as] a man? But as for me, He is Allah, my Lord, and I do not associate with my Lord anyone.And why did you, when you entered your garden, not say, 'What Allah willed [has occurred]; there is no power except in Allah '? Although you see me less than you in wealth and children,It may be that my Lord will give me [something] better than your garden and will send upon it a calamity from the sky, and it will become a smooth, dusty ground,Or its water will become sunken [into the earth], so you would never be able to seek it."

In ayat 36, Allah tells us, this man who is arrogant, does not praise Allah for what He has bestowed him, even disbelieve - is wronging himself.

Then Allah tells us what He did to this man. 42 - 44 :
And his fruits were encompassed [by ruin], so he began to turn his hands about [in dismay] over what he had spent on it, while it had collapsed upon its trellises, and said, "Oh, I wish I had not associated with my Lord anyone."And there was for him no company to aid him other than Allah, nor could he defend himself. There the authority is [completely] for Allah, the Truth. He is best in reward and best in outcome.

Allah punishes this man for his wrong doing - his wrongdoing is the reason of him being punished by Allah. His gardens are destroyed because of his own wrongdoing - he wrongs himself.

[IslamLife00]

In hadith Qudsi, Allah forbids us wrong one another, and tell us (as He always tells us again and again) about the reckoning :

On the authority of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (ﷺ) is that among the sayings he relates from his Lord (may He be glorified) is that He said : My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another. O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you, O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and will not attain benefitting Me so as to benefit Me. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more that a needle decreases the sea if put into it. O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good, praise Allah, and let him who finds other than that, blame no one but himself. (Sahih Muslim, At Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah)


So when we commit wrongdoing, we should know the time will come for us to receive consequences of our wrongdoing.
Maybe Allah will punish us in this dunya, maybe in the grave, maybe in the Hereafter - this is all His Judgement.
And for those who wrong us, they should know, they too will receive consequences of their wrongdoings.
Remember the man in the story, who is arrogant belittling the other man who has less.


Al Mulk 2 : [He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving -
For as long as we are still alive, we can always repent and avoid committing more wrongdoing.
As for your situation, if you take time to reflect and be honest to yourself - you know what wrong you have done, what wrong others have done to you.
That is between you and Allah and those who have wronged you. On Judgement Day, there will be Judgement between Allah and you, and there is also Judgement between you and others.


Since you mentioned war zone, here is a video Gen. Wesley Clark former NATO commander, mentioned some wars are planned years before these wars happened :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8YtF76s-yM