An inquirer asks, “What is the intended meaning when forgetfulness (nisyan) is attributed to Allah Almighty in certain Quranic verses? And how should we understand these verses in relation to our Lord the Almighty?”

The term nisyan (forgetfulness) appears in many Quranic verses in connection with Allah. Despite Muslims’ memorization of the Quran across generations, it never occurred to any of them that the word implies forgetfulness in its linguistic sense. Instead, what immediately comes to mind is that Allah Almighty, by His will, withholds His mercy from the disobedient due to their prior neglect or “forgetting” His commands. This meaning is evident in multiple verses such as,

•  “So today We will forget them as they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs, and for rejecting Our signs” (Quran, 7:51).
• “Thus, did Our signs come to you, but you forgot them. And so today you will be forgotten” (Quran, 20:126).
• “They forgot Allah, so He forgot them. Indeed, the hypocrites are the defiantly disobedient” (Quran, 9:67).

According to Ibn ʿAbbas (may Allah be pleased with him), Allah’s words, “So today We will forget them as they forgot the meeting of this Day,” mean, “We will leave them without mercy, just as they failed to act in preparation for this Day of theirs.” This was mentioned by al-Tabari in his Tafsir (12:476).

Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said, “A servant will be brought before Allah on the Day of Resurrection and Allah will say to him, ‘Did I not grant you hearing and sight, wealth and offspring? Did I not subject for you livestock and fields, and allow you to enjoy comfort and leadership? Did you ever think you would meet this Day of yours?’ He will answer, ‘No.’ Allah will then say to him, ‘Today I forget you just as you forgot Me’” (recorded by at-Tirmidhi in his Sunan, Abu Dawud al-Sijistani in al-Ba‘th, Ibn Khuzaymah in At-Tawḥid, Ibn Ḥibban in his Sahih, and al-Bayhaqi in Shu‘ab al-Iman). Imam at-Tirmidhi classified the hadith as sound and singular, and explained that this “forgetting” refers to being left in punishment, not literal forgetfulness. The scholar Ibn ‘Arafah stated in his Tafsir (2:101), “Forgetfulness here means abandonment.”

And Allah the Almighty knows best.