الآية رقم (11) - كَدَأْبِ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا فَأَخَذَهُمُ اللّهُ بِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَاللّهُ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

(11) - (Theirs is] like the custom of the people of Pharaoh and those before them. They denied Our signs, so Allah seized them for their sins. And Allah is severe in penalty.)

‘custom’ refers to continuous action.

( كَدَأْبِ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ ) (Theirs is] like the custom of the people of Pharaoh and those before them.): It’s like what the people of the Pharoah did, like their custom. The Almighty exemplifies with the continuous disbelief and denial of the signs of Allah and what had been sent down to Moses (pbuh).

( كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا ) (…They denied Our signs ): A ‘sign’ refers to a miracle or a wonder.

{ فَأْتِ بِآيَةٍ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ}

(so bring a sign, if you should be of the truthful.”.) (Ash-Shu’araa: 154)

Meaning, a miraculous evidence.

They denied all the signs. Moreover, the signs of Allah are not only in the stunning miracles but also in existent miracles that go unnoticed like air, water, sunrise, sunset, rain, seas, rivers, to all what Allah (swt) has created:

 {وَفِي الْأَرْضِ آيَاتٌ لِّلْمُوقِنِينَ * وَفِي أَنفُسِكُمْ ۚ أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ}

(And on the earth are signs for the certain [in faith] %  And in yourselves. Then will you not see?) (Adh-Dhaariyat: 20-21)

So, Allah (swt) punished them for their denial of His signs. Allah has called all people to Islam which is generally the name of all religions:

 {مِّلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ ۚ هُوَ سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِن قَبْلُ}

(It is] the religion of your father, Abraham. Allah named you “Muslims” before [in former scriptures].) (Al-Haj: 78)

 أَمْ كُنتُمْ شُهَدَاءَ إِذْ حَضَرَ يَعْقُوبَ الْمَوْتُ إِذْ قَالَ لِبَنِيهِ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن بَعْدِي قَالُوا نَعْبُدُ إِلَٰهَكَ وَإِلَٰهَ آبَائِكَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ إِلَٰهًا وَاحِدًا وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ

(Or were you witnesses when death approached Jacob, when he said to his sons, “What will you worship after me?” They said, “We will worship your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac – one God. And we are Muslims [in submission] to Him.”.) (Al-Baqara: 133)

( فَأَخَذَهُمُ اللَّهُ بِذُنُوبِهِمْ ) (…so Allah seized them for their sins ): There is no criminalization without a text; and their crime is the sin that made the Almighty punishes them after He have warned them.

( وَاللَّهُ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ ) (…And Allah is severe in penalty): We all know that Islam is the religion of love and mercy. However, this doesn’t deny the fact that Allah is severe in punishment. Life can never go on without two wings: the first is the wing of desire, and the second is the wing of fear. Moreover, penalties are always there to implement any human statutory law.