Tafsir of Surah Ash-Shura - Verse 16

A Warning to Those Who dispute concerning Matters of Religion

Here Allah warns those who try to hinder those who believe in Allah, from following His path.

وَالَّذِينَ يُحَآجُّونَ فِى اللَّهِ مِن بَعْدِ مَا اسَتُجِيبَ لَهُ

(And those who dispute concerning Allah, after it has been accepted,) means, those who dispute with the believers who have responded to Allah and His Messenger, and try to stop them from following the path of guidance.

حُجَّتُهُمْ دَاحِضَةٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ

(no use is their dispute before their Lord) means, it is futile before Allah.

وَعَلَيْهِمْ غَضَبٌ

(and on them is wrath,) means, from Him.

وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ

(and for them will be a severe torment.) means, on the Day of Resurrection. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and Mujahid said, "They disputed with the believers after they responded to Allah and His Messenger, and tried to prevent them from following the path of guidance, hoping that they would return to Jahiliyyah." Qatadah said, "These were the Jews and Christians who said to them, `Our religion is better than your religion, our Prophet came before your Prophet, and we are better than you and closer to Allah than you. "' This was nothing but lies. Then Allah says:

اللَّهُ الَّذِى أَنزَلَ الْكِتَـبَ بِالْحَقِّ

(It is Allah Who has sent down the Book in truth,) referring to all the Books which were revealed from Him to His Prophets.

وَالْمِيزَانَ

(and the Balance.) means, justice and fairness. This was the view of Mujahid and Qatadah. This is like the Ayat:

لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلَنَا بِالْبَيِّنَـتِ وَأَنزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَـبَ وَالْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ

(Indeed We have sent Our Messengers with clear proofs, and revealed with them the Scripture and the Balance that mankind may keep up justice) (57:25).

وَالسَّمَآءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ - أَلاَّ تَطْغَوْاْ فِى الْمِيزَانِ - وَأَقِيمُواْ الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلاَ تُخْسِرُواْ الْمِيزَانَ

(And the heaven He has raised high, and He has set up the Balance. In order that you may not transgress (due) balance. And observe the weight with equity and do not make the balance deficient.)(55:7-9)

وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّ السَّاعَةَ قَرِيبٌ

(And what can make you know that perhaps the Hour is close at hand) This is encouragement (to strive) for its sake, a terrifying warning, and advice to think little of this world.

يَسْتَعْجِلُ بِهَا الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهَا

(Those who believe not therein seek to hasten it,) means, they say, `when will this promise be fulfilled, if you are telling the truth' But they say this by way of disbelief and stubbornness, thinking that it is unlikely to happen.

وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مُشْفِقُونَ مِنْهَا

(while those who believe are fearful of it) means, they are afraid of it happening.

وَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهَا الْحَقُّ

(and know that it is the very truth.) means, that it will undoubtedly come to pass, so they prepare themselves for it and strive for its sake. It was reported through various chains of narration, a number reaching the level of being Mutawatir, in Sahih and Hasan narrations, in the Books of Sunan and Musnad. According to some versions, a man addressed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a loud voice, when he was on one of his journeys, calling out to him, "O Muhammad!" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied in a similar manner, "Here I am!" The man said, "When will the Hour come" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«وَيْحَكَ إِنَّهَا كَائِنَةٌ فَمَا أَعْدَدْتَ لَهَا؟»

(Woe to you! It will most certainly come. What have you done to prepare for it) He said, "Love for Allah and His Messenger." He said:

«أَنْتَ مَعَ مَنْ أَحْبَبْت»

(You will be with those whom you love.) According to another Hadith:

«الْمَرْءُ مَعَ مَنْ أَحَب»

("A man will be with those whom he loves.) This is Mutawatir beyond a doubt. The point is that he did not answer his question about when the Hour would happen, but he commanded him to prepare for it.

أَلاَ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُمَارُونَ فَى السَّاعَةِ

(Verily, those who dispute concerning the Hour) means, who dispute whether it will happen and think it is unlikely ever to come,

لَفِى ضَلَـلَ بَعِيدٍ

(are certainly in error far away.) means, they are clearly ignorant, because the One Who created the heavens and the earth is even more able to give life to the dead, as Allah says:

وَهُوَ الَّذِى يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ وَهُوَ أَهْوَنُ عَلَيْهِ

(And He it is Who originates the creation, then He will repeat it; and this is easier for Him) (30:27).

1\. i.e. after many people responded to the call of His prophets by accepting Islam.

Commentary

In the previous verses, all the people of the whole world had been invited towards the original ` din' (religion) common between all the revealed Books and between all the prophets (علیہم السلام) ، and were advised to be faithful to it and be steadfast in it. But some infidels, who had no intention of listening and accepting, started arguing with the Muslims, even at this invitation. Some narrations have it that some people of the Book, the Jews and the Christians, put forward the argument that our prophet came before yours and our Book was given before yours, hence our religion is superior to yours. And some narrations have it that this very argument was put forward by the infidels of Quraysh, because they called themselves followers of the religion of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) .

The Noble Qur'an has warned these people that the explanations and proofs in favour of Islam and Qur'an have been fully provided to you, and your own sensible and fair minded people, having accepted them, have embraced Islam, and now their argumentation is nothing but falsehood and misguidance. If they do not accept it, then divine punishment will visit them. This warning is followed by the statement that the Qur'an is from Allah and contains comprehensive commandments regarding Allah's rights and the rights of the human beings between one another.

Here the ‘Book’ means the original religion which was revealed through the prophets and ‘desire’ (ahwa’) refers to the fabrications which human beings on their own added to the original religion of Truth. The Prophet was instructed to be firm on the original religion. Even on the grounds of dawah considerations, he was forbidden to make any concessions to man-made religions. He was told that his duty was to uphold justice, i.e. to take decisions about religious differences and show what was right and what was wrong; which part was from God and which was later added to religion by way of human interpolation. ‘There is no contention between us and you’ means that, in spite of your quarrelling with us, we will not start quarrelling with you. In other words, even if you introduce negative tactics, we will unilaterally adhere to our positive approach. The responsibility of a dayee is simply to convey the message of Truth. All other matters are left to God. Harassing those who have accepted the Truth and embroiling them in unnecessary wrangling is the most oppressive and unworthy practice. Those who do so run the risk of incurring the wrath of God and facing severe punishment in the Hereafter.