Surah al-A`raf (The Elevated Places) 7 : 102

Explanatory Note

The history of those communities reveals a predominant fact: “We found that most of them were untrue to their commitments; indeed We found most of them to be transgressors.” (Verse 102) The commitment mentioned in this verse may refer to the pledge God has received from human nature and to which reference is made later in the sūrah: “Your Lord brought forth their offspring from the loins of the children of Adam, and called them to bear witness about themselves: Am I not your Lord?’— to which they answer: ‘Yes, indeed, we do bear witness that You are.’” (Verse 172) It may also refer to the commitment to faith given by their forefathers who followed God’s messengers, but subsequent generations deviated, as happens indeed in every community. Successive generations deviate gradually until they go out of the fold altogether and sink back into ignorance, or jāhiliyyah.
 
Whatever the commitment is to which the sūrah is referring here, the fact remains that most of those communities were untrue to it. They followed their own fleeting whims and shifting desires. They could not fulfil their pledges.
 
“Indeed we found most of them to be transgressors.” (Verse 102) They deviate from God’s faith and from their original commitment. This is the result of following one’s capricious desires and taking solemn commitments lightly. Whoever turns away from God’s guidance, lacking the determination to fulfil the commitments he has made to Him, is hound to move away from faith into corruption and transgression. That was true of the people of those communities, and that was their end.