Tafsir of Surah Al-Qasas - Verse 56

Allah guides Whom He wills

Allah says to His Messenger : `O Muhammad:

لاَ تَهْدِى مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ

(Verily, you guide not whom you like)' meaning, `the matter does not rest with you; all that you have to do is convey the Message, and Allah will guide whom He wills, and His is the ultimate wisdom,' as He says:

لَّيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَاهُمْ وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ

(Not upon you is their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills.) (2:272)

وَمَآ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ

(And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly.) (12:103) This Ayah is even more specific than the following:

إِنَّكَ لاَ تَهْدِى مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ

(Verily, you guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills. And He knows best those who are the guided.) meaning: Allah knows best who deserves to be guided and who deserves to be misguided. It was recorded in the Two Sahihs that this Ayah was revealed concerning Abu Talib, the paternal uncle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He used to protect the Prophet, support him and stand by him. He loved the Prophet dearly, but this love was a natural love, i.e., born of kinship, not a love that was born of the fact that he was the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. When he was on his deathbed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called him to Faith and to enter Islam, but the decree overtook him and he remained a follower of disbelief, and Allah's is the complete wisdom. Az-Zuhri said: "Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib narrated to me that his father, Al-Musayyib bin Hazan Al-Makhzumi, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "When Abu Talib was dying, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to him and found Abu Jahl bin Hisham and `Abdullah bin Abi Umayyah bin Al-Mughirah with him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«يَا عَمِّ قُلْ: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ، كَلِمَةً أُحَاجُّ لَكَ بِهَا عِنْدَ الله»

(O my uncle, say La ilaha illallah, a word which I may use as evidence in your favor before Allah in the Hereafter.) Abu Jahl bin Hisham and `Abdullah bin Abi Umayyah said: `O Abu Talib, will you leave the religion of `Abdul-Muttalib' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ kept urging him to say La ilaha illallah, and they kept saying, `Will you leave the religion of `Abdul-Muttalib' -- until, at the very end, he said that he was on the religion of `Abdul-Muttalib, and he refused to say La ilaha illallah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«وَاللهِ لَأَسْتَغْفِرَنَّ لَكَ مَا لَمْ أُنْهَ عَنْك»

(By Allah, I shall certainly seek forgiveness for you unless I am told not to.) Then Allah revealed:

مَا كَانَ لِلنَّبِىِّ وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ أَن يَسْتَغْفِرُواْ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَلَوْ كَانُواْ أُوْلِى قُرْبَى

(It is not (proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allah's forgiveness for the idolators, even though they be of kin) (9:113). And there was revealed concerning Abu Talib the Ayah,

إِنَّكَ لاَ تَهْدِى مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ

(Verily, you guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills.)" This was recorded (by Al-Bukhari and Muslim) from the Hadith of Az-Zuhri.

The Excuses made by the People of Makkah for not believing, and the Refutation of Their Excuses

وَقَالُواْ إِن نَّتَّبِعِ الْهُدَى مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَآ

(And they say: "If we follow the guidance with you, we would be snatched away from our land.") Allah tells us that this is the excuse which was given by some of the disbelievers for not following true guidance. They said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:

إِن نَّتَّبِعِ الْهُدَى مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَآ

(If we follow the guidance with you, we would be snatched away from our land.), meaning, `we are afraid that if we follow the message of guidance that you have brought, and go against the pagan Arab tribes around us, they will seek to do us harm and wage war against us, and they may snatch us away from wherever we may be.' Allah said in response to them:

أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّن لَّهُمْ حَرَماً ءَامِناً

(Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary,) meaning, the excuse they give is a lie and is false, because Allah has put them in a secure city and a venerated sanctuary which has been safe from the time it was built -- how could this sanctuary be safe for them when they believed in disbelief and Shirk, and how could it not be safe for them when they become Muslims and follow the truth

يُجْبَى إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ

(to which are brought fruits of all kinds, ) means, all kinds of fruits from the surrounding regions, from At-Ta'if and elsewhere. Similarly, the people of Makkah engaged in trade and other goods also came to their city.

رِّزْقاً مِّن لَّدُنَّا وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(a provision from Ourselves, but most of them know not.) - this is why they said what they said.

Commentary

The word as am hidayah (guidance) is used for several meanings. One meaning is to show the path, which does not necessarily mean that the one shown the path will reach his destination. Another meaning of hidayah is to make one reach his destination. According to first meaning of the word it is but obvious that the Holy Prophet ﷺ and all other prophets were guides, and that imparting guidance was within their control, because it was the obligation of their duty. If they did not have the control over imparting guidance, how could have they fulfilled their obligation? Therefore, the statement made in this verse that he did not have control over guidance, relate to the second meaning of this word that is to make one reach his destination. It means that it was not his duty or obligation to put faith in one's heart in order to make him convert to Islam by his teachings and preaching. This is in the control of Allah Ta` ala only. The meaning and types of hidayah have already been discussed in detail under Surah Al-Baqarah.

Sahih Muslim has reported that this verse was revealed about the Holy Prophet ﷺ 's uncle, Abu Talib. It was his great desire that Abu Talib should accept the faith. It was for this desire that he was advised that it was not within his control to put faith in anybody's heart. It is observed in Ruh ul-Ma’ ani that one should abstain from discussing or passing judgment unnecessarily on the subject of acceptance of faith or otherwise by Abu Talib, because this may hurt the Holy Prophet ﷺ 's feelings for his natural love toward his uncle. (وَاللہُ سبحانَہُ و تعالیٰ اَعلَم)

There are two types of acceptance of any proposition. One is by virtue of it being the Truth. The other by reason of it being current in one’s own circle. It is those who accept the Truth for the sake of Truth who are guided by God: it was people of this kind who placed their faith in the Quran and the Prophet in the earlier period of Islam. A number of Christians and Jews embraced the faith as soon as they heard the Quran. These were such as had been steadfast in their acceptance of the true teachings of previous prophets. They had, therefore, quickly recognised the last of the Prophets, just as they had recognised the previous prophets. But, in order to maintain their ability to do so, they had to go through various stages of ‘patience.’ They kept their minds free of those influences which render a man incapable of recognising the Truth, these being historical and social factors which create that frame of mind which causes a man to change the religion of God into the religion of a group. Man reaches the stage when he is able to recognise only the religion which he inherits from his group. He fails to recognise the religion which comes to him from outside. To keep oneself free of these influences, one has to make great psychological sacrifices. That is why this process has been called ‘patience’. Those who exercise patience will be given a double reward: one because of their sacrifice in not allowing their erstwhile faith to become a group faith, and the other because of their capacity to recognise truth on merit, in the sense that when the new prophet came before them, they recognised him and rallied to his support. It is in those who have the ability to recognise the Truth that high moral qualities develop. They are good even to those who harm them. They help others so that God may help them. They pursue a course of turning away from useless discussions, so that they may not become involved in futile debates.