| An-Nahl (The Bees): (9) And upon Allah is the straight path...

It is known that after the Almighty explained the proofs of Monotheism, He said: {And upon Allah is the straight path} (An-Nahl: 9).

This means that these proofs were mentioned and explained to remove excuses and eliminate the cause, so that whoever perishes, perishes upon clear evidence, and whoever lives, lives upon clear evidence.

In this verse, there are several issues:

Issue 1: The Meaning of "The Straight Path"

Al-Wahidi said: "Al-Qasd (straightness/directness) means the straightness of the road. It is said: Tariq qasd (a direct path) or qasid (a direct route) if it leads you to your objective. Knowing this, there is an omission in the verse. The meaning is: And upon Allah is the explanation of the straight path.

Then He said: {And of them there are those that deviate} (wa minha ja'ir). 'Ja'ir' means unjust, deviating. The linguistic meaning of jawr (deviation) is inclining away from the truth. The pronoun in {And of them} refers back to as-sabeel (the path), which is feminine in the dialect of Hijaz. Thus, it means: And of the path, there is that which deviates, not aiming for the truth, which refers to the various types of disbelief and misguidance. And Allah knows best.

Issue 2: The Obligation of Guidance

The Mu'tazila argued: This verse indicates that it is obligatory upon Allah (Exalted is He) to guide and illuminate the way to the religion and to remove impediments and excuses, because the Almighty said: {And upon Allah is the straight path}. The word 'ala (upon) implies obligation, as in His saying: {And for Allah [it is] for the people to perform Hajj to the House} (Aal 'Imran: 97).

This verse also indicates that the Almighty does not misguide anyone, nor does He lead them astray, nor does He turn them away from it. This is because if He were the agent of misguidance, He would have said: {And upon Allah is the straight path} and {and upon Him is the deviating one} or said: wa 'alayhi al-ja'ir (and upon Him is the deviation). Since He did not say that, but rather stated that the straight path is upon Him, while He did not state that the deviation of the path is upon Him, but rather said: {And of them there are those that deviate}, this proves that the Almighty does not misguide anyone from the religion.

Our companions (Ahl al-Sunnah) responded by saying that what is meant by "upon Allah" is, according to His grace and generosity, to clarify the true religion and the correct doctrine. As for clarifying the manner of misleading and deviation, that is not obligatory. This is the intended meaning, and Allah knows best.

Issue 3: The Will Regarding Guidance

His saying: {Had He willed, He would have guided you all} (wa law sha'a lahadakum ajma'een) indicates that the Almighty did not will the guidance of the disbelievers, nor did He desire faith from them. This is because the word law (if) implies the non-existence of one thing due to the non-existence of another. His saying: {Had He willed, He would have guided you} means: If He had willed your guidance, He would have guided you. This implies that the Almighty did not will their guidance, and consequently, He did not guide them, which proves the intended meaning.

Al-Asamm responded to this by saying that the meaning is: If He had willed to compel you to faith, He would have guided you. This indicates that the will for compulsion did not occur.

Al-Jubba'i responded by saying the meaning is: And if He had willed, He would have guided you to Paradise and to attaining reward, but He does not do that except for those who deserve it. He did not mean guidance to faith, because faith is within the capacity of all accountable persons.

Some others responded by saying the meaning is: And if He had willed, He would have guided you to Paradise initially, as a favor. However, the Almighty made the great status known to you by establishing clear proofs. So whoever adheres to them attains those stations, and whoever deviates from them misses them and ends up in punishment. And Allah knows best.

It is known that we have mentioned these statements repeatedly and in various contexts along with the refutations, so there is no benefit in repeating them here.

| {It is He Who sends down water from the sky for you; from it is drink, and from it is the growth by which you feed [your livestock]} (An-Nahl: 10)

| {He causes to grow for you thereby crops, olives, palm trees, grapevines, and all kinds of fruit. Indeed in that is a sign for people who give thought.} (An-Nahl: 11)