Al-An'am (The Cattle): (104) Clear Proofs Have Come to You...

Issues in the Verse:

When the Almighty established these manifest proofs and overwhelming arguments concerning these sublime and noble divine matters, He returned to affirming the matter of the call, the delivery of the message, and prophethood, saying: {Qad jā'akum baṣā'ir min rabbikum} (Clear proofs have come to you from your Lord).

• "Baṣā'ir" (بصائر) is the plural of baṣīrah (بصيرة). Just as baṣar (بصر) is the name for complete, perfect perception obtained through the eye in the head, baṣīrah is the name for complete perception obtained in the heart.
  • Allah says: {Bal al-insānu 'alā nafsihi baṣīrah} (Nay, man is evidence against himself) (Al-Qiyāmah: 14), meaning he has complete knowledge of himself.
• What is intended by {Qad jā'akum baṣā'ir min rabbikum} are the preceding verses (proofs). These verses themselves are not baṣā'ir (clear proofs), but due to their strength and majesty, they necessitate baṣā'ir for whoever understands them and grasps their realities. Since these verses are the means for attaining baṣā'ir, the verses themselves are named baṣā'ir.
• The purpose of this verse is to clarify what relates to the Messenger and what does not relate to him.

1. That which relates to the Messenger: This is the call to the true religion, the delivery of the evidence and clear signs therein. It means that the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not fall short in delivering, clarifying, and removing doubts concerning them. This is what is meant by {Qad jā'akum baṣā'ir min rabbikum}.

2. That which does not relate to the Messenger: This is their readiness to believe and abandon disbelief. This does not concern the Messenger but rather their own choice; its benefit and harm return to them.

• The meaning is: Whoever sees the truth and believes, he sees for his own self and benefits it. Whoever is blind to it, he is blind against his own self and harms it through his blindness.
• {Wa mā anā 'alaykum bi-ḥafīẓ} (And I am not a guardian over you). I only guard your deeds and recompense you for them. I am only a warner; Allah is the Guardian over you.

This verse contains four rulings mentioned by the Qadi (Judge):

1. The purpose of these clear proofs is that people benefit from them by choice, thereby deserving reward, not that they are forced or compelled, as that would nullify this purpose.
2. Allah has only shown us benefits, and the purposes of these benefits return to us, not to Allah.
3. When a person turns away from contemplation and reflection, he harms himself; he is only afflicted due to his own failing, not from his Lord.
4. He is capable of both actions (believing or disbelieving), which is why it is said: {Fa-man abṣara fa-li-nafsihi wa man 'amiyya fa-'alayhā} (So whoever sees, it is for his own self, and whoever is blind, it is against it).
   • The judge notes that this refutes the position of the Jabriyyah (predestinarians) regarding created beings and the idea that Allah tasks someone without granting them the ability (to perform the task).

• Know that whenever the Mu'tazilah introduce discussions on wisdom, philosophy, command, and prohibition, there is no way to counter them except by questioning the necessity (of the command/prohibition), as this demolishes everything they mention.

• What is meant by "abṣār" (seeing) here is knowledge, and by "al-'umiyy" (blindness) is ignorance.
• This is analogous to His saying: {Fa-inna-hā lā ta'mā al-abṣāru wa lākin ta'mā al-qulūbu allatī fī aṣ-ṣudūr} (For indeed, it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts) (Al-Hajj: 46).

The commentators said that the meaning of {Fa-man abṣara fa-li-nafsihi wa man 'amiyya fa-'alayhā} is: "I will not compel you to believe as a guardian over you or an agent."

• They stated that this was the case before the command to fight (Qitāl). Once the command to fight was issued, he became a guardian over them (in enforcing the faith).
• Some say the verse of fighting abrogates this verse, but this is unlikely. It seems these commentators are keen on multiplying instances of abrogation without necessity. The truth, as established by the scholars of Usul al-Fiqh (Principles of Jurisprudence), is that the default is the absence of abrogation, so effort must be made to minimize it as much as possible.

{Wa kadhālik nuṣarrifu al-āyāti wa li-yaqūlū darasta wa li-nubayyinahu li-qawmin ya'lamūn}

(And thus do We detail the verses, so that they may say, "You have studied," and so that We may make it clear for a people who know.)