Question posed by A Non Muslim:
Why would allah put a seal on a person's heart, make him blind and deaf to the 'truth' and then punish him in hell? (sura 2 aya 6 and 7)
My Reply:
Islam has the following elementary concept that one has to believe in inorder to be considered a believer/muslim.
A.L.M. This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear Allah; Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them; And who believe in the Revelation sent to thee, and sent before thy time, and (in their hearts) have the assurance of the Hereafter.They are on (true) guidance, from their Lord, and it is these who will prosper. (Chapter 2 Al-Baqra:1-5)
1. Believing in the fact that there is no doubt in Quran and all previous scriptures in their original form were sent by Allah(SWT).
2. Believing in the unseen.
3. Establishing regular Salat (prayer).
4. Paying charity.
5. Believing in all prophets and their message/books.
6. Believing in the here after.
Now coming back to the actual verse in question:
As to those who reject Faith, it is the same to them whether thou warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe. Allah hath set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and on their eyes is a veil; great is the penalty they (incur). (Chapter 2 Al-Baqra:6-7)
The verse in focus doesn’t imply that Allah had sealed up the hearts of the unbelievers so that they won't believe, rather it means that when they rejected the above mentioned pre-requisites of belief and chose or adopted for themselves a way contrary to the one presented by the Quran, Allah sealed up their hearts and ears as a consequence/punishement of their acts. The Quran simply states a law of nature i.e. if one takes a biased view of a concept and deliberately developes prejudice against it in his mind; he could neither see any virtue in it or hear anything in its favor nor could open his heart to consider it with wisdom and passion. This is a true fact that can be witnessed in our daily lives and is commonly referred to as a “tunnel/biased vision”.
