The word Dīn can mean recompense itself as well as religion both. At its root, it meant a loan that had a deadline to return it.59 Since a loan is returned like for like, this root came to be used to mean like for like recompense, which is what justice is. Secondly, just as a loan is tied and bound to a person for which he will be asked and is responsible to return, so are people responsible for their actions, for which they will be questioned. Your actions are a kind of a loan that you are responsible for.
Secondly, the Qurʾān has used the word Dīn in the meanings of religion and creed in numerous places. Just as a loan is tied and bound to the person under a loan, so are his beliefs and creed firmly bound and settled in his heart. A loan is something that is binding the person while a creed is something that is binding the heart. This usage is rooted in Arabic itself:
ديّنت الرجل في القضاء وفيما بينه وبين الله
I believed (dīn) the man to be truthful in the court and also in what is between him and Allah. (I accept what the man is saying in court and consider him truthful before Allah as well i.e he is not lying inside)
) نوّيته فيما حلف “ (والنية محلها القلب : ض - وديّنت الحالف
I interpreted/ judged (dīn) the person who took an oath on the intention I assume he meant - (I interpret his oath according to what I presume he intended.) Such judgment and belief is presumed inside the heart.60 So from these usages, Dīn came to be used to mean inner beliefs and creeds held inside the heart, but the Qurʾān combines them seamlessly to highlight that recompense for actions - of justice being delivered to people for their actions - is the religion of Islam itself. It is its central pillar and core. If you deny it, you deny Islam. There is no Islam without it.
Imagine a father who is very kind and loving to his child despite his repeated mistakes and failures in his studies. This child gets deluded by the kindness of his father and assumes that he will never get strict with him for his failures. Then one day, when he fails yet again, the father gets strict and imposes restrictions on him you can’t do this, you can’t go out during these times, you must study at these times, no more electronic devices and so on. The child gets shocked, what changed? How did father suddenly become so strict? The father was the same all along, he was just being kind and patient with him, hoping he would change.
Allah is being kind and patient with sinners. He is never not just. It is the same God. You cannot use this kindness of Allah to presume He will not take you to account for your sins one day because that would be a defect or flaw on His part. Since Allah is al karīm, it necessitates that He be just as well. His graciousness does not entail that He will not take people to account for their deeds.
The word ( كلا No!) is to express divine displeasure over the fact that His kindness and graciousness is being misused to commit sins and to increase in His disobedience instead of thanking Allah and being grateful to Him for it.
The particle ( بل translated as rather) can also be a بل الإنتقالي in which case it would be translated as “furthermore”, instead of “rather.” On top of getting deluded concerning Allah and by His graciousness to commit more sins, such a person also denies justice being delivered to him for his actions and this is the position of most of the scholars. In this case, this represents a bigger sin because a common use of
this device ( )بل الإنتقالي is to move from a thing of smaller magnitude to one of a bigger
one. Not only are you deluded by the kindness of your Lord, but even greater than that, you deny the attribute of justice to Him by believing He will not take you to account for your deeds. Dīn also means the religion of Islam itself as explained above. Not only do you use the graciousness of Allah to commit sins, but even greater than that is your crime of rejecting the religion of Islam. Both of these meanings are contained inside this verse.
No! Rather, you deny the religion/ the recompense
The word Dīn can mean recompense itself as well as religion both. At its root, it meant a loan that had a deadline to return it.59 Since a loan is returned like for like, this root came to be used to mean like for like recompense, which is what justice is. Secondly, just as a loan is tied and bound to a person for which he will be asked and is responsible to return, so are people responsible for their actions, for which they will be questioned. Your actions are a kind of a loan that you are responsible for.
Secondly, the Qurʾān has used the word Dīn in the meanings of religion and creed in numerous places. Just as a loan is tied and bound to the person under a loan, so are his beliefs and creed firmly bound and settled in his heart. A loan is something that is binding the person while a creed is something that is binding the heart. This usage is rooted in Arabic itself:
ديّنت الرجل في القضاء وفيما بينه وبين الله
I believed (dīn) the man to be truthful in the court and also in what is between him and Allah. (I accept what the man is saying in court and consider him truthful before Allah as well i.e he is not lying inside)
) نوّيته فيما حلف “ (والنية محلها القلب : ض - وديّنت الحالف
I interpreted/ judged (dīn) the person who took an oath on the intention I assume he meant - (I interpret his oath according to what I presume he intended.) Such judgment and belief is presumed inside the heart.60 So from these usages, Dīn came to be used to mean inner beliefs and creeds held inside the heart, but the Qurʾān combines them seamlessly to highlight that recompense for actions - of justice being delivered to people for their actions - is the religion of Islam itself. It is its central pillar and core. If you deny it, you deny Islam. There is no Islam without it.
Imagine a father who is very kind and loving to his child despite his repeated mistakes and failures in his studies. This child gets deluded by the kindness of his father and assumes that he will never get strict with him for his failures. Then one day, when he fails yet again, the father gets strict and imposes restrictions on him you can’t do this, you can’t go out during these times, you must study at these times, no more electronic devices and so on. The child gets shocked, what changed? How did father suddenly become so strict? The father was the same all along, he was just being kind and patient with him, hoping he would change.
Allah is being kind and patient with sinners. He is never not just. It is the same God. You cannot use this kindness of Allah to presume He will not take you to account for your sins one day because that would be a defect or flaw on His part. Since Allah is al karīm, it necessitates that He be just as well. His graciousness does not entail that He will not take people to account for their deeds.
The word ( كلا No!) is to express divine displeasure over the fact that His kindness and graciousness is being misused to commit sins and to increase in His disobedience instead of thanking Allah and being grateful to Him for it.
The particle ( بل translated as rather) can also be a بل الإنتقالي in which case it would be translated as “furthermore”, instead of “rather.” On top of getting deluded concerning Allah and by His graciousness to commit more sins, such a person also denies justice being delivered to him for his actions and this is the position of most of the scholars. In this case, this represents a bigger sin because a common use of
this device ( )بل الإنتقالي is to move from a thing of smaller magnitude to one of a bigger
one. Not only are you deluded by the kindness of your Lord, but even greater than that, you deny the attribute of justice to Him by believing He will not take you to account for your deeds. Dīn also means the religion of Islam itself as explained above. Not only do you use the graciousness of Allah to commit sins, but even greater than that is your crime of rejecting the religion of Islam. Both of these meanings are contained inside this verse.
59 Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 2, p. 685-686
60 Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 2, p. 686