Translation
Those who persist in denial of God (and goodness in life), endeavor with their wealth and their person to restrain people from God’s guidance (of truth and justice). They will go on spending and exerting as such until a time when they will regret it and they will be exhausted. Those who deny the truth will be driven together towards their evil consequences [hell] so that God can separate the evil from the good, keep the evils together to lead them to their common evil consequence [hell]. They are indeed the ones to have compromised their lives. 407
Say to those who deny faith, if they disavow, God will forgive them; but if they return (to hostilities), then their fate will be similar to previous generations of deniers. You should resist and go to war (if needed) to put an end to all forms of persecutions and restore all pursuits of life [deen—ways of life] to God’s Way. Again, if they disavow their denials, God surely sees what they do. But if they return (to persecute you), then rest assured that God is your Patron and Protector, the Most Excellent Patron and the Most Excellent Helper. 408
Interpretation
407 Attention is drawn to unworthy pursuits in life of pleasure, injustice, denial of truth, and human indignity, wherein people spend money and personal energy for such causes, only to find that such causes will come to nothing at the end, and they will exhaust their resources and energies. Such pursuits are mechanisms by which God understand who strives to do good and who strives to do evil and collects evidence to confirm the evil consequences (natural outcomes) of evil deeds and evil intentions.
408 While evil people do evil things, good people are reminded that God is always forgiving evils if people amend their ways. Therefore, good people should not pass judgment prematurely and condemn people too early for their evils. Having said that, God is also urging good people to take a firm stance against all forms of evil and especially evils that are forced on people. Such deliberate and widespread evils should be resisted actively and, if need be, dealt with force to restore balance in society and let the freedom to pursue goodness prevail. Good people are also given assurance by God that He is always on the side of goodness and will provide support and protection to the extent that we show such commitments and exertions.
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REFLECTION
The presence of evil in society and those who wish to propagate and benefit from evils such as drug dealing, war economies, excessive profiteering, religious hegemony, racial divides, gender inequality, wanton violations of environmental purity, and abuse of natural resources should be a constant reminder for good people to reflect and to act to restore the natural balance in our world—socially, politically, economically, and environmentally.
ACTION
Active propagation of goodness in a society is a human imperative that is actively aided by God and encouraged by God. Each one of us can and should play an active role in restraining evil and restoring goodness in our life, no matter where we live and what constraints we might face. God’s presence and help is always near if we truly seek out such help, which comes on the heels of our ardent and active commitments and demonstration of such commitments without compromising the principles of truth and justice.