| Al Imran: (83) Then is it other than the religion of Allah...

It is known that in the first verse, the Almighty established that belief in the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was legislated by Allah and obligatory upon all previous prophets and nations.

Therefore, whoever dislikes this must be seeking a religion other than the religion of Allah. For this reason, He said next: {Then is it other than the religion of Allah they seek?}

In this verse, there are several issues:

Issue 1: Recitation Variants

Hafs, from 'Asim, recited {they seek} (yabghūna) and {they return} (yarji'ūna) with the letter Yā’ (with a dot underneath). This is for two reasons:

1. To relate back to His saying: {And those are the defiantly disobedient} (Al Imran: 82).
2. Because Allah mentioned the taking of the covenant to clarify that the Jews and Christians are obligated to believe in Muhammad (PBUH). When they persisted in their disbelief, He stated this in a tone of denunciation: {Then is it other than the religion of Allah they seek?}

Abu 'Amr recited {you seek} (tabghūna) with the letter Tā’ (as a direct address) to the Jews and other disbelievers, and {they do not return} (lā yarji'ūna) with the Yā’ to refer to all accountable beings mentioned in His saying: {And to Him submits, willingly or unwillingly, whosoever is in the heavens and the earth...}

The rest of the reciters used the Tā’ in both instances as a direct address, because what preceded it was addressed to them, like His saying: {Do you affirm, and have you accepted...} (Al Imran: 81). Furthermore, it is not far-fetched to address both the Muslim and the disbeliever, and everyone, saying: "Do you seek other than the religion of Allah," while knowing that everyone in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, and that your return is to Him. This is like His saying: {And how can you disbelieve when Allah's verses are recited to you, and among you is His Messenger?} (Al Imran: 101).

Issue 2: Grammatical Analysis of the Interrogation

The Hamza (interrogative particle) implies either denunciation of their action or affirmation that they are indeed doing it. The position of the Hamza is on the word {they seek} (yabghūna), meaning: "Do they seek other than the religion of Allah?" This is because the interrogation pertains to actions and occurrences. However, Allah preceded the object, {other than the religion of Allah}, over the verb, because the object is more significant in that the denunciation implied by the Hamza is directed towards the false object of worship.

As for the Fā’ (then), it connects one clause to another, and there are two interpretations:

1. The meaning is: "And those are the defiantly disobedient, so they seek other than the religion of Allah."

It should be noted that if one said, "And other than the religion of Allah they seek," it would be permissible. However, the Fā’ carries an additional benefit, as if to say: "After this emphasized covenant, confirmed by these eloquent affirmations, do you still seek [another religion]?"

Issue 3: Context and Reason for Revelation

It is narrated that a group of the People of the Book disputed before the Messenger (PBUH) regarding the religion of Abraham (peace be upon him), with each group claiming to be the most entitled to it. The Prophet (PBUH) said: "Both groups are innocent of the religion of Abraham." They replied: "We are not satisfied with your judgment, nor do we follow your religion." Then this verse was revealed.

I find it unlikely that this verse should be confined to this specific incident because, under that assumption, this verse would be disconnected from what preceded it, whereas the interrogative form implies a connection to the preceding context.

The correct interpretation is that since this covenant was mentioned in their books and they were aware of it, they knew the truthfulness of Muhammad (PBUH) in prophethood. Thus, nothing remained for their disbelief except mere enmity and envy, making them like Iblis, whom envy led to disbelief.

Allah the Almighty informed them that if they are seeking a religion other than the religion of Allah, and a deity other than Allah, then He clarified that rebellion against Allah and turning away from His judgment is unbecoming of the rational. He said: {And to Him submits, willingly or unwillingly, whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, and to Him they will return.}

In this statement, there are two issues:

Islam means surrender, compliance, and submission.

Knowing this, there are several ways to understand the submission of everyone in the heavens and the earth to Allah:

The First Way (The most correct in my view): Everything other than Allah is contingent in its existence (mumkin li-dhātihi). Every contingent being exists only through His creation and ceases to exist only through His annihilation. Therefore, everything other than Allah is submissive and yielding to the majesty of Allah in both the beginning and end of its existence. This is the ultimate form of compliance.

Furthermore, there is a subtlety in this view: His saying {And to Him submits} implies exclusivity (ḥaṣr), meaning: "And to Him alone submits everyone in the heavens and the earth, and not to anyone else." Thus, this verse proves that the Necessary Existent is One, and everything else exists only through His decree and perishes only through His annihilation, whether it is intellect, soul, spirit, body, substance, accident, agent, or action. A verse similar in indicating this meaning is His saying: {And to Allah prostrates whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth...} (Ar-Ra'd: 15), and {And there is not a thing except that it exalts [Allah] with praise of Him...} (Al-Isra: 44).

The Second Way: No one can prevent what He wills. They must submit to Him either willingly or unwillingly. The righteous Muslims submit willingly regarding religious matters, and they submit unwillingly regarding things that contradict their nature, such as illness, poverty, and death. As for the disbelievers, they submit to Allah in all circumstances unwillingly, because while they do not submit regarding religion, they are surrendered to Him unwillingly in other matters, as they cannot repel His decree and destiny.

The Third Way: Muslims submit willingly, and disbelievers submit unwillingly at the moment of their death, based on His saying: {But their faith was not to benefit them when they saw Our wrath} (Ghafir: 85).

The Fourth Way: All creation submits to His Divinity willingly, evidenced by His saying: {And if you asked them, "Who created the heavens and the earth?" they would surely say, "Allah"} (Luqman: 25). They submit to His commands and the imposition of pain unwillingly.

The Fifth Way: The submission of all occurred at the time the covenant was taken, which is His saying: {And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], "Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes, we testify."} (Al-A'raf: 172).

The Sixth Way: Al-Hasan said: Willing submission is exclusive to the inhabitants of the heavens. As for the inhabitants of the earth, some submit willingly and some unwillingly. I say that the Almighty mentioned this regarding the creation of the heavens and the earth in His saying: {Then He said to it and to the earth, "Come willingly or by compulsion." They said, "We come willingly."} (Fussilat: 11), and therein are wonderful secrets.

As for His saying {and to Him they will return}, it means that whoever opposes Him in this worldly life, his return will be to Him, to the place where no one possesses harm or benefit except Him. This is a great warning to those who oppose the true religion.

Al-Wahidi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Ṭaw'an (willingly) means compliance. One says ṭā'ahu yuṭawwi'uhu ṭaw'an if he complies with him and submits. If he follows his command, he has obeyed him (aṭā'ahu). If he agrees with him, he has complied with him (ṭāwa'ahu). Ibn al-Sikkit said: One says ṭā'a lahu and aṭā'a.

Thus, {willingly} (ṭaw'an) and {unwillingly} (karāhatan) are in the accusative case (naṣb) as an adverbial source (maṣdar) taking the place of a circumstantial state (ḥāl), meaning ṭā'i'īn (willingly) and kārihīn (unwillingly), like saying atānī rākizan (he came to me running). It is not permissible to say atānī kalāman (he came to me speaking) to mean mutakalliman (speaking), because speech is not a manner of coming. And Allah knows best.

! 7 < { Say, "We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any one of them, and we are Muslims to Him." } > 7 !

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