Surah Al An'aam Notes (103-110)

(103)Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives [all] vision; and He is the Subtle, the Acquainted.

(104)There has come to you enlightenment from your Lord. So whoever will see does so for [the benefit of] his soul, and whoever is blind [does harm] against it. And [say], "I am not a guardian over you."

(105)And thus do We diversify the verses so the disbelievers will say, "You have studied," and so We may make the Qur'an clear for a people who know.

(106)Follow, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you from your Lord - there is no deity except Him - and turn away from those who associate others with Allah .

(107)But if Allah had willed, they would not have associated. And We have not appointed you over them as a guardian, nor are you a manager over them.

(108)And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah , lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge. Thus We have made pleasing to every community their deeds. Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them about what they used to do.

(109)And they swear by Allah their strongest oaths that if a sign came to them, they would surely believe in it. Say, "The signs are only with Allah ." And what will make you perceive that even if a sign came, they would not believe.

(110)And We will turn away their hearts and their eyes just as they refused to believe in it the first time. And We will leave them in their transgression, wandering blindly.

(6:103) Vision Perceives Him Not

... “Vision perceives Him not…” [لاَّ تُدْرِكُهُ الاٌّبْصَـرُ].

 The word tud’riku is from the word idraak which means “to comprehend or encompass”. 

The word absar is the plural of the word basar [بْصَـر] which means“vision, sight or ability to see”. 

Mentioned here are particular attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala:

1. He is unperceivable,

2. Allah is All-Perceiving.

 Meaning no vision can grasp Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala in this life but Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala watches His entire creation fully, and His “seeing” encompasses all of them. This can be best understood from the incident of Prophet Musa `alayhi salaam.

Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala narrates in Surah Al-‘A`raf Ayah 143, “And when Musa arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, ‘My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You.’ [Allah] said, ‘You will not see Me, but look at the mountain; if it should remain in place, then you will see Me.’ But when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He rendered it level, and Musa fell unconscious. And when he awoke, he said, ‘Exalted are You! I have repented to You, and I am the first of the believers.’”

It is the belief of the Muslims that Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala cannot be seen in this life but on the Day of Resurrection, Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala will reveal Himself to His believing servants. It has been mentioned in Surah Qiyamah Ayaat 22 and 23, “[Some] faces, that Day, will be radiant, Looking at their Lord.”

Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala is the Most Subtle, bringing forth all things, Well-Acquainted with their position and place. In Surah al-Mulk Ayah 14, He says,“Does He who created not know, while He is the Subtle, the Acquainted?”

(6:104)  The Virtue of Baseera

Basa’ir [بَصَآئِر] is the plural of baseera which means “to have insight, perception or enlightenment”. 

It is the power through which one can acquire the knowledge of things which do not fall within the range of perception through the senses. That is, a person doesn’t just look at a thing but also understands its purpose.

Basa’ir here refers to the proofs and evidences in the Qur’an and the Message of Allah’s Messenger sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam. Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala says whoever sees and understands the reality will take benefit from it. 

And whoever turns a blind eye and says, “what’s the purpose of all this,” such a person will only harm himself. Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala then ends this ayah by commanding the Prophet sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam to say that he is neither responsible nor a watcher over them. Rather he is only a Messenger conveying the Message.

(6:105) Allah Diversifies His Ayaat

 Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala says that this is how He explains His Ayaat and makes them plain and clear to suffice the ignorance of the ignorant. From here it can be inferred that all aids to guidance in the form of miracles, signs, proofs, and the matchless Qur’an itself were all solid means to help see truth. Then, there was the spectacle of a total Ummiyy expressing with inimitable eloquence volumes of knowledge and reality through his blessed speech which had left the wise wondering. All of this was a mean to help people know and see the truth as it was. This ayah was a response to the idolaters and unbelievers who denied the Messenger sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam and accused him of being tutored from somewhere.

Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala ends this ayah by saying that this is how He explains the matter to a people who know truth, and thus follow it, and know falsehood, and thus avoid it. Allah’s wisdom is perfect, He allows the unbelievers to stray, and He guides the people who have knowledge.

(6:106)  Follow the Revelation

The word ittabi’ [اتَّبِعْ] means “to follow, obey and act accordingly”.

 Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala guides the Prophet sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam to a specific course of action. He tells the Prophet not to worry about the acceptance or non-acceptance of the call. The best response to their accusations and criticisms was to keep following the Wahi [revelation, i.e. the Qur’an] that he received from his Rabb. He should continue preaching with his message of truth that was the belief that no one is worthy of worship but Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala. Believing in Allah and remaining steadfast on the way ordained by Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala should free the Prophet sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam from worrying about the unbelievers and their unfortunate non-acceptance of the call.

Then it was said, “…and turn away…” [وَأَعْرِضْ] meaning forgive them, be forbearing and endure their harm and ignore them. We should remember that this ayah was revealed at the end of Makkan period and the opposition was intense. When a person is in a non-authoritative and helpless position facing intense opposition what can he do, realistically? Be patient and overlook the opposition. Violence won’t help rather it might bring more harm. Therefore, the Prophet sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam was commanded to turn away from what they were saying until Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala brought relief to him, supported him and made him triumphant over them. Turn away can be explained as: Don’t pay any attention to them; don’t associate yourself with them; don’t do what they are doing; if they are saying blasphemous statements about Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala don’t join them; if they are eating haram don’t eat with them.

 (6:107)  Had Allah Willed

If Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala had willed He could have forced the mushrikeen to believe in Him. He would have directed all people to guidance, and not even one of them would have committed Shirk. Allah’s is the perfect will and wisdom in all decrees and decisions, and He is never questioned about what He does, while they all will be questioned. Therefore, the Prophet sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam should not worry about them.

He has not been made a hafeez [حَفِيظ] or a wakeel [وَكِيل] over them.

 Hafeez means “a watcher who observes their statements and deeds”.

Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala has neither made him to stand guard over what they do nor has he been authorized to punish them. He should not have any anxiety on their account. Why was this said? It is because if a person keeps watching others and busies himself in that, he won’t be able to do any of his own work. The Prophet sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam was given the responsibility of spreading the message of Allah, he could not afford to waste his time or energy being concerned over what other people are doing in their lives.

What does “had Allah willed He would have guided them” mean?

 Does that mean Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala “chose” for them to be unbelievers? No. Rather it means Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala doesn’t “force” a people to choose a path in life. It’s not the way of Allah. He gives people a free will. They can choose any path that they will. The Question is: Which path will we choose, the path of Allah or the path of misguided people? Everyone will be recompensed for what they chose for themselves.

(6:108)  The Prohibition of Insulting Others’ False Gods

The word tasubbu [تَسُبُّواْ] is from seen-ba-ba [Subb] which means “to insult, to call names or to abuse”. 

Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala prohibits His Messenger and the believers from insulting the false deities of the idolaters. Insulting their deities will lead to a bigger evil than its benefit, for the idolaters might retaliate by insulting the God of the believers, Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but He. 

`Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn `Abbas radhiAllahu `anhu commented on this Ayah: “They (unbelievers) said, ‘O Muhammad! You will stop insulting our gods, or we will insult your Lord.’” Thereafter, Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala prohibited the believers from insulting their idols.

It is worth noticing that in the ayah it was said, “…lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge…” meaning while they would be insulting in retaliation they do not even have the knowledge about the One Who they are abusing. They will utter bad words about Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala out of ignorance but it would be due to the provocation of the Muslims. Therefore, we should refrain from insulting or speaking bad things about others’ false deities. We should simply ignore them.

The Prophet sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam said,

مَلْعُونٌ مَنْ سَبَّ وَالِدَيْه

“Cursed is he who insults his own parents!” The Companions asked, “O Allah’s Messenger! And how would a man insult his own parents?” He said,

يَسُبُّ أَبَا الرَّجُلِ فَيَسُبُّ أَبَاهُ وَيَسُبُّ أُمَّهُ فَيَسُبُّ أُمَّه

“He insults a man’s father, and that man insults his father, and insults his mother and that man insults his mother.”

At the end of this ayah, Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala says, “Thus We have made pleasing to every community their deeds,” meaning every deed is made fair seeming to its followers which is why they keep on doing it. The idols were made pleasing for the idolaters which is why idolaters’ love and defense for their idols was intense; which is why they kept on worshipping them and following the rituals that they followed. This has been true for every nation that has lived on this earth. Every nation finds their rituals pleasing no matter how misguided they may be.

All people will return to their Lord for the Final Gathering. Then they will be compensated for their deeds, good for good and evil for evil.

(6:109)

The word jahda [جَهْدَ] is from the root letters jeem-ha-dal and jahd is “to put one’s maximum strength in something”.

The idolaters swore by Allah their strongest oaths that if a miracle is shown to them they will surely believe in it. The Prophet sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam was told to reply that the Signs that they sought were with Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala. If He wills, He will send them, and if He wills, He can ignore their requests.

The reality is that there was a long list of miracles that the unbelievers demanded. We read about some of them in Surah Al-Isra Ayaat 90 – 93, “And they say, ‘We will not believe you until you break open for us from the ground a spring. Or [until] you have a garden of palm trees and grapes and make rivers gush forth within them in force [and abundance]. Or you make the heaven fall upon us in fragments as you have claimed or you bring Allah and the angels before [us]. Or you have a house of gold or you ascend into the sky. And [even then], we will not believe in your ascension until you bring down to us a book we may read.’”

Therefore, the address at the end of Ayah 109 changes from the idolaters to the Muslims, “…And what will make you perceive that even if a sign came, they would not believe…” It means O believers what will make you realize that if even the idolaters are shown the miracle they will still not believe. The demand for miracles is not made out of their genuine yearning for the truth. Rather a person that does not want to believe only he puts demands. These are mere excuses for not believing.

(6:110)

The word nuqallibu [نُقَلِّبُ]  means “to turn something about”.

The word afidatahum [أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ] is from the root letters fa-hamza-dal and it means“hearts”.

 While absarahum [أَبْصَـرَهُمْ] is the plural of basar which means“vision”.
 Meaning that the unbelievers’ hearts will be turned away such that they will see the miracles yet they will not feel it. Fuad is a heart that feels emotions. Why will their heart not feel anything? It is because when the first time they were shown a miracle they did not believe. Al-`Awfi said that Ibn `Abbas radhiAllahu `anhu said about this Ayah, “When the idolaters rejected what Allah sent down, their hearts did not settle on any one thing and they turned away from every matter (of benefit).”

This tells us that the people of Makkah were shown a miracle before this ayah was revealed. What miracle was that? It was the splitting of the moon. When they saw the moon split they called it magic and denied the Messenger sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam.

Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala ends the Ayah by saying, Wanadharuhum “…And We will leave them…” meaning abandon them to wander blindly in their disbelief and misguidance.

Lessons to learn

• We should make du’a for baseera and not just basara. We should not be materialistic and desire stuff but also ask for insight for understanding the reality of things. Don’t just look at something say, “O wow” and move on. Reflect on it as well.

• If a person does something good it’s for his own benefit.

• (106) we learn about the obligation of knowing and following the commands of Qur’an.

• In the face of criticism a person should focus on what he intends to do. We should ignore their criticism, opposition and mockery. Everything that is said in this dunya is not worth our attention. We should learn to ignore. This way we will be at peace. We need to learn how to select beneficial information, and not waste our energies on everything that is being said.

• We learn the obligation of turning away from the mushrikeen [idolaters]. Turning away means we should not participate in anything that has to do with their Shirkya practices. Don’t get involved in their practices and rituals.

• (107) we learn that a person should convey the message of Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala. If people accept it, it’s for their own benefit. If they reject it then their matter is with Allah, we are not a hafeez or wakeel over them.

• We also learn that Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala has given us free will, we should not abuse this blessing. We will be questioned about what choices we made in this life. How we utilized our time and skills?

• (108), we learn the obligation of leaving all those actions that lead to a greater evil. For example, during the Makkan period the Muslims endured severe hardship had they revolted at that time or answered back to the strong Quraysh a war would have erupted while Muslims were still too weak. Therefore, they let it go and even persevered a three year complete boycott. 

• We learn the obligation of leaving those things that may offend or provoke other people. Any action that provokes another person should be stayed from. We should convey to the people what’s allowed and not allowed but there should be wisdom in our approach. For example, there is a wife who is unhappy about her domestic responsibilities or has financial concerns. If she starts yelling at her husband the moment he steps in, it might provoke the husband to yell back at her. No solution will be reached rather their differences will widen. On the other hand, if she watches her emotions and is careful about the “right time” to talk, the husband might actually listen to her. Similarly, a mother will be yelling at her children to clean their room and sometimes children answer back their parents with even a higher tone. Therefore, the manner in which we talk to others is really important.

• (109), we learn that the 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 subhanahu wa ta`ala. He Himself would have made everyone a Muslim.

• (110), we learn that when Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala invites us towards guidance or gives us an opportunity to do good we should hasten towards it. If we delay our response or show our indifference Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala has the capability of blocking our hearts permanently. We will be deprived of benefiting from blessed opportunities in the future. This is a punishment.