Tafsir of Al-Furqan 25:41-44

Al-Furqan: (41-44) And when they see you...

After Allah the Almighty explained the extreme denial of the polytheists regarding the Prophet's prophethood and the doubts they raised, He then clarified that when they saw the Messenger, they mocked him. They did not stop at merely disbelieving in him; rather, they escalated to scorn and contempt, with some saying to others: {Is this the one whom Allah has sent as a Messenger?}

There are several issues concerning this:

1. They mocked him. This mockery is explained by His saying: {أهاذا الذى بعث الله رسولا} (Is this the one whom Allah has sent as a Messenger?). This is immense ignorance because mockery occurs either based on his appearance or his attributes.
   • The first is false because the Prophet (peace be upon him) had a better appearance and creation than them. Even if he hadn't, he did not claim distinction through appearance, but through evidence (Hujjah).
   • The second is false because he claimed distinction through the manifestation of miracles, which they could not refute. In reality, they are the ones deserving of mockery. Yet, due to their impudence, they reversed the situation and mocked the Messenger (peace be upon him). This indicates that the futile person, at all times, has nothing but foolishness and impudence.

2. They used to say about him: {إن كاد ليضلنا عن ءالهتنا لولا أن صبرنا عليها} (He almost led us astray from our gods had we not been patient with them). This indicates several things:
   • First: They termed his call as misguidance (إضلال). This shows their extreme veneration for their gods and their perception of his action in turning them away as a great offense. This implies they believed their path was the truth. This refutes the view of the Ahl al-Ma'arif (Gnostics) who claim that only one who knows the proofs commits disbelief, because these people were ignorant, yet Allah attributed disbelief and misguidance to them. Their statement {لولا أن صبرنا عليها} (had we not been patient with them) also indicates this.
   • Second: This statement shows the Prophet's seriousness and diligence in turning them away from idol worship. If not for his effort, they would not have said, "He almost led us astray...". Indeed, the Prophet (peace be upon him) exerted himself in presenting proofs and answering doubts, enduring their foolishness and rudeness.
   • Third: This indicates their admission that they offered no actual objection or counter-argument to the Prophet's proofs; their opposition was purely based on denial and blind imitation (تقليد). Their phrase {لولا أن صبرنا عليها} points to denial and imitation. If they had a genuine objection to his proofs, mentioning it would have been preferable to mentioning mere denial and insistence, which is the habit of the ignorant. This shows they were overpowered by his argument, and all they had left was sheer impudence.
   • Fourth: The verse indicates that when the Prophet's proof became clear to them, they became like madmen. First, they mocked him; then, they described him as almost leading them astray unless they met him with denial and insistence. This latter statement implies they conceded the strength of his argument and intellect. The former statement (mockery) is only fitting for the ignorant and incapable. Since they combined both statements, it shows they were bewildered regarding his status—sometimes mocking him with impudence, and sometimes describing him in terms fitting only a perfect scholar.

Furthermore, when Allah recounted their speech, He exposed their method in three ways:

1. His saying: {وسوف يعلمون حين يرون العذاب من أضل سبيلا} (And they will know, when they see the punishment, who is more astray in their path). Since they described him as misleading in their statement, Allah clarified that when they witness the inescapable punishment, it will become clear to them who the misleader and who the misguided truly are. This is a severe warning against willful blindness and turning away from reasoning and reflection.

2. His saying: {أرءيت من اتخذ إلاهه هواه أفأنت تكون عليه وكيلا} (Have you seen the one who takes his desire as his god? Then would you be a guardian over him?). Allah clarified that the extent of their ignorance and turning away from proofs was due to the dominance of imitation (التقليد), and that they took their desires as gods. They submitted to whatever their desires dictated, whether evidence supported it or not. Here are some discussions:
   • First: {أرأيت} (Have you seen) is a word used for informing and questioning, but here it expresses astonishment at the ignorance of such a person.
   • Second: {اتخذ إلاهه هواه} (He took his desire as his god) means he took what he desired as his god, or a god he desired. Some say it is inverted, meaning "he took his desire as his god," but this is weak because {اتخذ إلاهه هواه} implies restriction: "He took nothing as his god except his desire." This meaning is not achieved by inversion. Ibn Abbas said: Desire is a god that is worshipped. Sa'id ibn Jubayr said: A polytheist man would worship an idol, and if he saw a better one, he would throw away the first and worship the second.
   • Third: {أفأنت تكون عليه وكيلا} (Then would you be a guardian over him?) means: Are you a guardian to protect him from following his desire? No, you are not.
   • Fourth: Similar verses are His saying: {لست عليهم بمسيطر} (You are not over them a controller) (Al-Ghashiyah: 22), {وما أنت عليهم بجبار} (And you are not over them a compeller) (Q: 45), and {لا إكراه فى الدين} (There is no compulsion in religion) (Al-Baqarah: 256). Al-Kalbi said the verse of fighting abrogated this.

3. His saying: {أم تحسب أن أكثرهم يسمعون أو يعقلون} (Or do you think that most of them hear or reason?). The {أم} (Am) here is disjunctive, meaning "rather, do you think." This indicates that this censure is more severe than the preceding one, warranting a shift in focus to the fact that they are deprived of hearing and intellect. Due to their extreme obstinacy, they do not listen to speech, and if they hear it, they do not reflect upon it, as if they possess neither intellect nor hearing. They are likened to cattle because they do not benefit from speech, do not engage in contemplation, pursue immediate sensory pleasures, and turn away from seeking lasting, intellectual happiness.

Here are some questions:

Question 1: Why did He say {أن أكثرهم} (that most of them) and not all of them? Answer: Because among them were those who knew Allah and understood the truth, but they abandoned Islam merely for the sake of prestige, not out of ignorance.

Question 2: Why were they made worse than cattle? Answer: For several reasons:

• First: Cattle obey their masters and those who feed and care for them; they distinguish between kindness and harm, seeking what benefits them and avoiding what harms them. These people, however, do not obey their Lord, nor do they distinguish between Allah's favor upon them and the harm inflicted by Satan, their enemy. They do not seek the greatest benefit (reward) nor avoid the greatest harm (punishment).
• Second: Just as the hearts of cattle are devoid of knowledge, they are also devoid of ignorance (which is holding a belief contrary to reality with conviction). As for these people, their hearts, having been emptied of knowledge, are filled with ignorance. They do not know, nor do they know that they do not know; rather, they are insistent that they do know.
• Third: The lack of knowledge in cattle causes no harm to anyone, but the ignorance of these people is the source of great harm, as they divert people from the path of Allah and seek to make it crooked.
• Fourth: Cattle know nothing, yet they are incapable of seeking knowledge. These ignorant people are not incapable of seeking it. The one deprived of seeking high ranks when incapable is not deserving of blame like the one who is capable but chooses to abandon it due to bad choice.
• Fifth: Beasts do not deserve punishment for lack of knowledge, whereas these people deserve the greatest punishment for it.
• Sixth: According to some scholars, beasts glorify Allah, as stated in {وإن من شيء إلا يسبح بحمده} (And there is not a thing except that it exalts [praises] with His praise) (Al-Isra: 44), and {ألم تر أن الله يسجد له من في السماوات... والدواب} (Do you not see that to Allah prostrates whatever is in the heavens... and the beasts) (Al-Hajj: 18), and {والطير صافات كل قد علم صلاته وتسبيحه} (And the birds spreading their wings—each one knows its prayer and its glorification) (An-Nur: 41). If this is the case, the misguidance of the disbelievers is more severe and greater than the misguidance of these cattle.

Question 3: Since hearing and intellect are negated from them, how can they be blamed for turning away from religion, and why were the Messengers sent to them, given that intellect is a prerequisite for accountability? Answer: It is not meant that they lack intellect entirely, but rather that they do not benefit from that intellect. This is like a person saying to another who does not understand, "You are effectively blind and deaf."

{ألم تر إلى ربك كيف مد الظل ولو شآء لجعله ساكنا ثم جعلنا الشمس عليه دليلا * ثم قبضناه إلينا قبضا يسيرا * وهو الذى جعل لكم اليل لباسا والنوم سباتا وجعل النهار نشورا * وهو الذىأرسل الرياح بشرى بين يدى رحمته وأنزلنا من السمآء مآء طهورا * لنحيى به بلدة ميتا ونسقيه مما خلقنآ أنعاما وأناسى كثيرا}

(45) Have you not seen how your Lord extends the shadow? If He willed, He could have made it still. Then We made the sun its guide. (46) Then We draw it back to Us with an easy drawing. (47) And it is He who made for you the night as a covering, and sleep as rest, and made the day a time of rising. (48) And it is He who sends the winds as good tidings before the coming of His mercy, and We send down pure water from the sky, (49) That We may give life thereby to a dead land and give it to drink of what We have created—[both] grazing animals and many humans.)