The meaning of the words of Allah, “and know that Allaah comes in between a person and his heart” [al-Anfaal 8:24]
Question

                What is the meaning of the words of Allah (interpretation of the meaning): “and know that Allaah comes in between a person and his heart” [al-Anfaal 8:24].
Praise be to Allah.
      The verse means what it appears to mean, which is that 
      Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, controls the affairs of His 
      slaves. So He may guide one person and open his heart to faith and guide 
      him to Islam, or He may place some reluctance in his heart and make him 
      uneasy about the religion of Allah, which prevents him from coming to 
      Islam, so He comes in between a person and his heart, as it says in the 
      verse [interpretation of the meaning]: “And whomsoever Allaah wills to 
      guide, He opens his breast to Islam; and whomsoever He wills to send 
      astray, He makes his breast closed and constricted, as if he is climbing 
      up to the sky” [al-An ‘aam 6:125]. 

    So Allah is the One Who controls the affairs of His slaves 
    however He wills. So He opens the heart of one person to faith and guidance, 
    whilst another person is not helped and guided to that. End quote. 

    Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him)