Surah Al-Qamar (The Moon): Verse 43

{أَكُفَّارُكُمْ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أُولَئِكُمْ . . .} (Are your disbelievers better than those [nations]?)

This is a warning to them so that they do not feel secure from the punishment, as they are not better than those who were destroyed before them. In this verse, there are several issues to consider:

Issue 1: The Addressee and the Use of Plural

The address is directed at the people of Mecca. Therefore, "your disbelievers" (كُفَّارُكُمْ) should refer to some of them. If it referred to all of them, the phrasing should have been: "Are you better than those?" (أَأَنْتُمْ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أُولَئِكُمْ).

If it refers only to some of them (the persistent disbelievers), how can the subsequent verse say, {أَمْ لَكُمْ بَرَاءَةٌ} ("Or do you have a guarantee/immunity?") instead of "Or do they have a guarantee?" (أَمْ لَهُمْ), similar to how one says, "The noble ones came to us, so we honored them," not "so we honored you"?

Answer (Two perspectives):

1. The Persistent Disbelievers: The intended meaning is "Are your disbelievers who persist in disbelief and will not repent, better than those [previous nations] who persisted?" A great number of the disbelievers in Mecca at the time of the address were certain that the punishment would occur. Punishment only happens after it is known that no one among the people will believe. Thus, the threat is directed at those among them who insist on disbelief: "Are those among you who persist in disbelief better than those who persisted before?" This makes the threat valid even if directed at only a portion of them.
2. The Meaning of {أَمْ لَكُمْ بَرَاءَةٌ}:
   • General Immunity: It means, "Do you all possess an immunity, so that the persistent one among you is safe because he is among a people who have immunity?"
   • Conditional Immunity: It means, "Do you have immunity if you persist?" In this case, the address is general, and the threat is also general, but the condition (persistence) is omitted.

Issue 2: The Meaning of "Better" (خَيْر)

What is meant by {خَيْرٌ} (better)? The word "better" implies that two things share a praiseworthy quality, with one having a greater degree of it. Yet, the disbelievers possessed neither goodness nor any praiseworthy quality.

Answer (Several perspectives):

1. Denying Shared Participation: The word "better" does not necessarily require both parties to share the quality. This is supported by the verse by Hassan (referring to the Prophet PBUH and his satirist):

   "Do you follow him when you are not his equal? The worse of you is the ransom for the better of you." Here, "better" is exclusively attributed to the Prophet (PBUH), and "worse" to the satirist, with no shared quality between them.

2. Their Own Claim: It refers to what they themselves claimed: "Do your disbelievers claim that they are better than the previous disbelievers who were destroyed?" The previous idolaters also claimed goodness for themselves and those before them, believing that their destruction was due to celestial causes (like the alignment of unfavorable stars).
3. Strength: It could mean: "Are your disbelievers stronger than those?" Strength (قُوَّة) is often considered a praiseworthy attribute by custom.
4. Relative Comparison of Attributes: Every possible being possesses both praiseworthy and blameworthy attributes. When comparing two entities, the term "better" is used when looking at the praiseworthy aspects, and "worse" when looking at the blameworthy ones. If you look at two disbelievers and say one is "better" than the other, you might mean one is better in beauty or appearance. If you look at two believers who harm you, you might say one is "worse" than the other, meaning worse in causing harm, not worse in faith. Similarly here, "Are your disbelievers better?" means: Do they possess any attribute that could save them from punishment, which the others lacked? If they possess something that saves them, they are better. If they possess nothing that saves them, but God spared them out of His grace, not due to their inherent qualities, then they are not better.

Issue 3: {أَمْ لَكُمْ بَرَاءَةٌ} (Or do you have a guarantee?)

This points to another means of salvation. Salvation is either due to an inherent quality they possess, or it is not.

• If salvation is due to an inherent quality they possess, and that quality was absent in previous nations, then they are better than them.
• If salvation is not due to an inherent quality, it must be due to God's grace, forgiveness, and security granted to them.

The verse then asks: Are you better than them (and thus spared), or are you not better than them, yet God secured you while He destroyed them? Since both possibilities (being better or being spared by grace) are negated, they should not feel secure.

The phrase {فِي الزُّبُرِ} (in the scriptures) points to a subtle meaning: A rational person only feels secure if they have certainty of safety or possess clear signs that approach certainty. The verse asks: "Do you have a guarantee that is trustworthy and repeatedly mentioned in the scriptures?"

This is because what is found in some books might be open to interpretation or subject to alteration and corruption, as happened with the Torah and the Gospel. The question is: Have you obtained a repeated guarantee in books that makes you secure from punishment? If not, security is unwarranted.

However, no such guarantee exists in any book, not even one, nor anything resembling one. Therefore, their security stems from extreme heedlessness.

At this point, the superiority of the believer becomes clear: Despite the promise in the Book of God—which falsehood cannot approach—the believer remains fearful, even if he reaches the rank of saints and prophets. This is because the verses of warning might imply specific exceptions, meaning every individual could potentially be excluded from the community. Thus, the believer is fearful in this world, while the disbeliever is secure. In the Hereafter, the situation is reversed.

Then, the Almighty said:

{أَمْ يَقُولُونَ نَحْنُ جَمِيعٌ مُنْتَصِرٌ} (Or do they say, "We are a multitude, [who will be] victorious"?)