Hud: (14) But if they do not respond...

Analysis of the Command Structure

Know that the preceding verse contained two addresses:

1. Address to the Messenger: His saying, {Say: Then bring ten Surahs like it, forged} (Hud: 13).
2. Address to the Disbelievers: His saying, {And call upon those you call upon besides Allah} (Yunus: 38).

When this was followed by {But if they do not respond * to you}, it is ambiguous:

• Possibility A: It refers to the disbelievers failing to meet the challenge of producing a counter-Surah due to its impossibility.
• Possibility B: It refers to those they call upon besides Allah failing to respond (i.e., failing to help them).

Because of this ambiguity, the exegetes differed on two main opinions:

This view holds that the address is to the Messenger (PBUH) and the believers. The meaning is: If the disbelievers do not respond to you by producing a counter-Surah, then know that it was revealed with the knowledge of Allah.

• Meaning: Establish yourselves upon the knowledge you possess, increase in certainty, and stand firm that it is revealed from Allah.
• Regarding {Then are you Muslims?}: This means, "Then are you sincere (in faith)?" Some suggest an implied phrase: "Then say, O Muslims, to the disbelievers: Know that it was revealed with the knowledge of Allah."

This view holds that the address is to the disbelievers. The meaning is: If those whom you call upon besides Allah do not respond to you by helping you produce a counter-Surah, then know, O disbelievers, that this Qur'an was revealed only with the knowledge of Allah. Then are you Muslims (i.e., will you submit now that the proof is established against you)?

• Why this view is stronger:
  1. In Opinion 1, one needs to assume that {Then know} is either a command for steadfastness or requires an implied preceding statement (like "Say..."). This second view requires no such implication, making it preferable.
  2. The pronoun reference should return to the nearest mentioned subject, which aligns with this second possibility.
  3. The first address was specifically to the Messenger {Say: Then bring...} (Hud: 13), while the second was to the group of disbelievers {And call upon those you call upon besides Allah} (Yunus: 38). Since {But if they do not respond * to you} addresses a group, it is more appropriate to link it to the address made to the group (the disbelievers).

Questions Regarding the Verse

Answer: They failed to respond to you in challenging the Qur'an (i.e., producing a counter-Surah). Some suggest they failed to respond to the call for faith in general, but this is considered distant.

Answer:

1. If we link the phrase to the believers, it is clear.
2. If we link it to the Messenger, there are two answers:
   • It means, "if they do not respond to you and the believers," as the Messenger and the believers were jointly challenging them. (Note: In another place, the text says, "if they do not respond to you, then know.")
   • It is permissible that the plural pronoun is used to magnify the Messenger (PBUH).

Answer: The people claimed the Qur'an was forged against Allah. Allah responded: If it were forged, creation would be capable of producing its like. Since they are incapable of doing so, it is proven to be from Allah.

• Therefore, {that it was revealed with the knowledge of Allah} is a metaphor for it being from Him and by His decree, just as a ruler says, "This judgment was issued with my knowledge."

Answer: There are several perspectives:

1. Refutation of Idolatry: Since Allah commanded the Messenger to ask the disbelievers to seek help from their idols in meeting the challenge, and their inability became apparent, it showed that these idols are utterly useless for any objective. If so, the claim that they are gods is invalidated. Thus, their failure in the challenge, after seeking help from the idols, refutes the divinity of the idols and proves the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH). Therefore, {And that there is no god but He} points to the falsehood of the claim of the idols' divinity.
2. Proof by Consequence: It is established in Usul al-Fiqh that affirming the oneness of God can be proven by the statement of the Messenger (PBUH). Thus, the argument is: Since the opponents' inability to produce a counter-Surah is proven, the truth of the Qur'an is established, and the truthfulness of Muhammad (PBUH) in his claim of prophethood is established. Since he was truthful in claiming prophethood, his statement {that there is no god but He} is also established as true.
3. A Warning: Mentioning {And that there is no god but He} serves as a threat. It is as if He is saying: Since the Messenger's truthfulness in his claim of prophethood is proven by this evidence, and you know that there is no god but Allah, then fear His might and punishment, abandon persistence in disbelief, and accept Islam. This is similar to His saying in Surah Al-Baqarah regarding the challenge verse: {But if you do not—and you will never do—then fear the Fire, whose fuel is people and stones, prepared for the disbelievers} (Al-Baqarah: 24).

Regarding {Then are you Muslims?}

• If we hold that the address is to the believers, it means encouragement toward increasing sincerity (Ikhlas).
• If we hold that the address is to the disbelievers, it means encouragement toward embracing Islam itself.

Surah Hud (11:15-16)

{Whoever desires the life of this world and its adornment, We will give them their deeds in full therein, and they will not be deprived thereof. Those are the ones for whom there is nothing in the Hereafter except the Fire. And vain is what they did therein, and worthless is what they used to practice.}