6:111 Al-An'aam (The Cattle)

ولو أننا أجبنا طلب هؤلاء، فنزَّلنا إليهم الملائكة من السماء، وأحيينا لهم الموتى، فكلموهم، وجمعنا لهم كل شيء طلبوه فعاينوه مواجهة، لم يصدِّقوا بما دعوتهم إليه -أيها الرسول- ولم يعملوا به، إلا من شاء الله له الهداية، ولكن أكثر هؤلاء الكفار يجهلون الحق الذي جئت به من عند الله تعالى.

تفسير الآيتين 110 و111 : { وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَارَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَنَذَرُهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ } أي: ونعاقبهم، إذا لم يؤمنوا أول مرة يأتيهم فيها الداعي، وتقوم عليهم الحجة، بتقليب القلوب، والحيلولة بينهم وبين الإيمان، وعدم التوفيق لسلوك الصراط المستقيم. وهذا من عدل الله، وحكمته بعباده، فإنهم الذين جنوا على أنفسهم، وفتح لهم الباب فلم يدخلوا، وبين لهم الطريق فلم يسلكوا، فبعد ذلك إذا حرموا التوفيق، كان مناسبا لأحوالهم. وكذلك تعليقهم الإيمان بإرادتهم، ومشيئتهم وحدهم، وعدم الاعتماد على الله من أكبر الغلط، فإنهم لو جاءتهم الآيات العظيمة، من تنزيل الملائكة إليهم، يشهدون للرسول بالرسالة، وتكليم الموتى وبعثهم بعد موتهم، وحشر كل شيء إليهم حتى يكلمهم { قُبُلًا } ومشاهدة، ومباشرة، بصدق ما جاء به الرسول ما حصل منهم الإيمان، إذا لم يشأ الله إيمانهم، ولكن أكثرهم يجهلون. فلذلك رتبوا إيمانهم، على مجرد إتيان الآيات، وإنما العقل والعلم، أن يكون العبد مقصوده اتباع الحق، ويطلبه بالطرق التي بينها الله، ويعمل بذلك، ويستعين ربه في اتباعه، ولا يتكل على نفسه وحوله وقوته، ولا يطلب من الآيات الاقتراحية ما لا فائدة فيه.

يقول تعالى ولو أننا أجبنا سؤال هؤلاء الذين أقسموا بالله جهد أيمانهم لئن جاءتهم آية ليؤمنن بها فنزلنا عليهم الملائكة تخبرهم بالرسالة من الله بتصديق الرسل كما سألوا فقالوا "أو تأتي بالله والملائكة قبيلا" وقالوا لن نؤمن لك حتى نؤتى مثل ما أوتي رسل الله " وقال الذين لا يرجون لقاءنا لولا نزل علينا الملائكة أو نرى ربنا لقد استكبروا في أنفسهم وعتو عتوا كبيرا" "وكلمهم الموتى" أي فأخبروهم بصدق ما جاءتهم به الرسل "وحشرنا عليهم كل شيء قبلا" قرأ بعضهم قبلا بكسر القاف وفتح الباء من المقابلة والمعاينة وقرأ آخرون بضمهما قيل معناه من المقابلة والمعاينة أيضا كما رواه علي بن أبي طلحة والعوفي عن ابن عباس وبه قال قتادة وعبد الرحمن بن زيد بن أسلم. وقال مجاهد قبلا أي أفواجا قبيلا قبيلا أي تعرض عليهم كل أمة بعد أمة فيخبرونهم بصدق الرسل فيما جاءوهم به "ما كانوا ليؤمنوا إلا أن يشاء الله" أي إن الهداية إليه لا إليهم بل يهدي من يشاء ويضل من يشاء وهو الفعال لما يريد "لا يسأل عما يفعل وهم يسألون" لعلمه وحكمته وسلطانه وقهره وغلبته وهذه الآية كقوله تعالى "إن الذين حقت عليهم كلمة ربك لا يؤمنون ولو جاءتهم كل آية حتى يروا العذاب الأليم".

And if We had sent down the angels to them and the dead had spoken with them as they have requested and We had gathered against them all things in droves read qubulan plural of qabīl meaning ‘throng upon throng’ or read qibalan meaning ‘before their very eyes’ and they were witness to your truthfulness yet they would not have believed as God already knows unless God willed that they believe and they did; but most of them are ignorant of this.

On Signs and Miracles

The previous verses had mentioned how obstinate people failed to benefit from clear signs of Allah and open miracles of His Messenger and kept on denying the message of truth. The present verses mention how they took a new turn, and demanded particular miracles from the Holy Prophet ﷺ . As reported by Ibn Jarir, the Quraysh chiefs asked that they be shown the miracle of turning the Mount of Safa into solid gold; if so, they would accept that he was a prophet and messenger, and that they would embrace Islam. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: All right, make a solid agreement that, if this miracle is shown, all of you will become Muslims. They took solemn oaths. The Holy Prophet ﷺ stood up to pray that Allah turns the Mount into gold. Sayyidna Jibra'il (علیہا السلام) came with Wahy which said: If you wish, We shall make this whole Mount a Mount of gold, but the consequence will be that, according to the customary Divine Law, all of them - if they still fail to believe - shall be destroyed through a mass punishment, as has been happening with past communities who demanded a miracle which was shown, yet they reverted back to denial when the wrath and punishment of Allah overtook them. Since the Holy Prophet ﷺ was aware of their habitual obstinacy, and because he was in mercy the foremost, he said that he was not going to pray for that miracle anymore. Thereupon, the following verse was revealed: وَأَقْسَمُوا بِاللَّـهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَانِهِمْ (And they swore by Allah on eloquent oaths - 109). Reported here is the sworn saying of the disbelievers that they would embrace Islam if they can see the miracle demanded by them. After that, in the sentence which follows immediately, it was said: إِنَّمَا الْآيَاتُ عِندَ اللَّـهِ (Signs are, definitely, with Allah - 109). This contains an answer to their saying. It has been declared here that all signs and miracles are within the power and control of Allah Ta` a1a. As for the miracles already manifested, they too were from Him - and those being demanded now, they too lie within His absolute control. But, according to the dictate of reason and justice, they had no right to make such a demand - because, the Holy Prophet ﷺ claims to be a Messenger of Allah, in support of which, he has already presented proofs and evidences in the form of miracles. Now, the other party does have the right to question these proofs and evidences by showing the proofs of their being false. But, the attitude of not cross-examining evidences presented and yet demanding some other evidences would be like the scenario in a law court where the respondent would avoid cross-examining the witness presented by the plaintiff and take the plea that he does not accept the evidence of these witnesses and that he would accept what is said particularly by such and such a person in his statement. Obviously, no court would consider this plea worth hearing.

Similar is the case of the veracity of a prophet or Rasul of Allah. To that end there are many clear signs and miracles before those who disbelieve. Now, unless they prove that these signs and miracles are false, they have no right to say that they would rather like to see a miracle of this or that kind before they could believe.

After that, upto the end of the cited verses, Muslims have been directly instructed that their duty is to stay firm on the true faith in their individual capacity, as well as convey it to others correctly and properly. If they, even then, show signs of rigidness and obstinacy, one should not worry about them because no one has to be forced into becoming a Muslim. If this was what could be done by force, who can claim to have greater coercive power than Allah Ta` ala. He Himself would have made everyone a Muslim. And in order to give Muslims their peace of heart, it was also explained in the verse that these people will not believe even if Allah were to show them the miracles of their choice openly and clearly. The reason was that their denial was not based on any misunderstanding or lack of awareness. In fact, it was due to their hostility and obstinacy - a disease which cannot be treated by miracles. In verse 111 وَلَوْ أَنَّنَا نَزَّلْنَا إِلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ , it has been said that these people, if they were shown all miracles demanded by them, in fact, even if they were made to meet with angels and talk to the dead, they would still not believe. In the two verses that follow (112 113), the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been comforted by saying that the hostility of such people against him is nothing surprising. Past prophets too had their enemies - so, let him not be sad about it.

Were We to send down the angels to them, were the dead to speak to them, and were We to muster all things in front of them, they would still not have faith, unless God willed. He is speaking about those rejected by the Presence, those driven away by severance. “If We were to send the angels of heaven-the proximate and the cherubim, the emissaries and the pi- ous, the watchers over the decree and the measuring out, the trustees of the Exalted Threshold- to the earth to invite the abandoned to Us and to report about Us; and if We were to muster the dead in the earth to direct them to Our threshold; and if We were to bestow eloquence on all the animals and inanimate things, the entities and bodies of the created things, the form and essence of the determined things, and the instances and individuals of the known things and send these to them to offer them the signs of Our divinity and the signposts of Our lordhood so that they may see and know all of the reports, still, as long as I, who am the Lord, did not want and did not show them the road, they would not have faith and they would not find the way to recognize Us. How can a handful of dust talk about the eternal were it not for the eternal solicitude and want of the Generous?” Who is the heart that it should scatter pearls without You? What is the body that it should run a kingdom without You? By God, intelligence does not know the way without You, the spirit has not the gall to remain without You The belief of the Folk of the Sunnah is that as long as the Exalted Lord does not make Himself recognized to the servant's heart, and as long as He does not fix the marks that bear witness to the eternal attributes in the servant's heart, the servant will not find the road to recognition of Him. This is why the ulama of the Sunnah and the leaders of emulation have said, “Recognition becomes necessary when transmitted, requisite when conveyed, and acquired when made known.” Indeed, it is a candle, but when will He light it? It is a pearl, but where will He deposit it? God says, “It is one of My secrets that I deposit in the hearts of those whom I love among My servants.