Al-An'am (The Cattle): (109) And they swore by Allah with their most solemn oaths...

It is known that the Almighty recounted a doubt raised by the disbelievers that cast aspersions on the Prophet's (PBUH) prophethood. This doubt was their saying: "This Qur'an has only been brought to us because you study with the scholars and debate with the peoples who know the Torah and the Gospel. Then you gather these Surahs and these verses in this manner." The Almighty then responded to this doubt with what preceded. This verse, however, contains another doubt, which is their saying: "Whatever the case may be with this Qur'an, it is not a miracle at all. If you, O Muhammad, had brought us a compelling and clear, manifest miracle, we would have believed you." And they swore to that, emphasizing their oath. Thus, the purpose of this verse is to establish this doubt.

There are several issues within the verse:

Issue 1: The Meaning of "Swearing an Oath" (Al-Qasam)

Al-Wahidi said: The oath is called Qasam (قسم) because the oath is established to confirm the news a person reports, whether affirming something or denying it. Since the report is susceptible to truth and falsehood, the reporter needs a means to favor the side of truth over the side of falsehood, and that is the oath (Hulf). Since the need to mention the oath arises when people are divided into believers and deniers upon hearing the report, they named the oath Qasam. They derived the form from Af'al (أفعل) and said: Aqsama fulan, yuqsimu, iqsaaman (So-and-so swore an oath), intending that he emphasized the oath he chose and attributed the truthfulness to the oath he selected through the Hulf and Yamin (oath).

Issue 2: Reasons for Revelation (Asbab al-Nuzul)

Several views are mentioned regarding the reason for revelation:

1. They said: When the Almighty revealed: {If We willed, We could send down upon them from the sky a sign, and their necks would submit to it in humility} (Ash-Shu'ara: 4), the polytheists swore by Allah that if a sign came to them, they would surely believe in it, and then this verse was revealed.
2. Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi said: The polytheists said to the Prophet (PBUH): "You tell us that Moses struck the rock with his staff and water burst forth, that Jesus brought the dead back to life, and that Salih brought forth the she-camel from the mountain. So, bring us a sign too, so we may believe you." The Prophet (PBUH) asked: "What do you desire?" They replied: "Make the hill of Safa turn into gold for us," and they swore that if he did so, they would all follow him. The Prophet (PBUH) stood up to supplicate, and Gabriel (peace be upon him) came and said: "If you wish, it will be so. But if it happens and they still do not believe, they will be punished. If you refrain, some of them might repent." The Prophet (PBUH) said: "Rather, some of them might repent." Then Allah revealed this verse.

Issue 3: Interpretation of the Verse

• Al-Kalbī and Muqātil said: When a man swears by Allah, that is the utmost extent of his oath (jahd yaminuhu).
• Al-Zajjaj said: They exaggerated in their oaths.

There is disagreement regarding the intended meaning of this sign:

1. It refers to what was narrated about turning the Safa hill into gold.
2. It refers to the things mentioned in the verse: {And they say, "Never will we believe you until you cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us"} (Al-Isra: 90).
3. The Prophet (PBUH) used to inform them that the punishment of complete annihilation used to descend upon previous nations who denied their prophets. The polytheists requested a similar sign.

Several views exist regarding the meaning of the word 'inda (with/at):

1. It may mean that Allah alone possesses the power to bring forth such signs, as miracles proving prophethood must be things that no one other than Allah Almighty can bring about.
2. It may mean that the knowledge of whether bringing forth these miracles would compel these disbelievers to believe or not is only with Allah. The meaning of 'inda in this sense is like in the verse: {And with Him are the keys of the unseen}.
3. It may mean that although these signs are currently non-existent, Allah can bring them into being whenever He wills. They are like things stored with Allah, which He reveals when He wills, and you do not have the right to dictate when you demand them. The word 'inda in this sense is like in the verse: {And there is not a thing except that with Us are its treasuries} (Al-Hijr: 21).

Abu Ali (al-Farisi) said that Mā (what) is interrogative, and the subject of yush'irukum (will make you realize) is the pronoun Mā itself. The meaning is: What will make you realize their belief? The object is omitted, and omitting the object is common. The meaning is: What will make you realize their belief, meaning, even if these signs came to them, they would not believe.

Ibn Kathir and Abu 'Amr read {أنها} (annaha) with a kasra (i.e., annaha) as a new sentence, which is the preferred reading. The structure would be: The speech is complete at {وما يشعركم} (And what will make you realize), meaning: What will make you realize what their action will be? Then a new sentence begins: {أنها إذا جاءت لا يؤمنون} (that when it comes, they will not believe).

Sibawayh narrated that he asked Al-Khalil about reading an (with fatha). He asked why it couldn't mean "perhaps they will not do it." Al-Khalil replied that this is not appropriate here because if one read {وما يشعركم أنها} (with fatha), it would become an excuse for them.

The explanation of Al-Khalil becomes clear with an example: If you host a banquet and ask the town leader to attend but he doesn't, and someone tells you, "If you had gone yourself, he would have attended," and you reply, "What makes you realize that if I had gone myself, he would have attended?" the meaning is: Even if I went myself, he still would not attend. Similarly here, {وما يشعركم أنها إذا جاءت لا يؤمنون} (with fatha) would mean: If the sign comes, they will believe. This would necessitate bringing the signs and would make this statement an excuse for the disbelievers to demand the signs. However, the purpose of the verse is to refute their argument for demanding signs. This is Al-Khalil's explanation.

The rest of the reciters read {أنها} (annaha) with a fatha. There are views on this reading:

1. Al-Khalil said that {أن} (an) means la'alla (perhaps/maybe). The Arabs say: I'tī as-sūq an-naka tashtarī lanā shay'an (Go to the market, perhaps you will buy something for us). So, it is as if the Almighty said: Perhaps when it comes, they will not believe. Al-Wahidi said that {أن} meaning la'alla is common in their speech, citing poetry examples where an is used for la'alla. Al-Sahib of Al-Kashshāf supports this view by citing the reading of Ubayy: {أم لم تنذرهم لا يؤمنون} (Or have you not warned them? They will not believe).

2. In this reading (with fatha), {لا} (lā) is considered an emphatic particle (silah), similar to {ما منعك ألا تسجد} (What prevented you from prostrating?) (Al-A'raf: 12), meaning "from prostrating." Also like {وحرام على قرية أهلكناها أنهم لا يرجعون} (And forbidden to the town which We destroyed is that they will not return) (Al-Anbiya: 95), meaning "that they will return." Thus, the meaning here would be: What makes you realize that when it comes, they will believe? Al-Zajjaj said this. However, this view is weak because if the word lā were superfluous, it would be superfluous in all interpretations, whereas the one who reads {أنها} with kasra does not treat the word lā as superfluous. Thus, it is established that this word cannot be considered superfluous. Abu Ali al-Farisi asked: Why can it not be superfluous in one interpretation and meaningful in the other?

The reciters also differed on {لا يؤمنون}:

• Some read it with Yā’ (he/they will not believe), which is the preferred view because the statement {وأقسموا بالله} (And they swore by Allah) refers to specific people. The evidence is the subsequent verse: {And if We were to send down to them the angels...}, and not all people fit this description. The meaning is: What makes you realize, O believers, that perhaps when the sign they demanded comes, they will not believe? Thus, the Yā’ is appropriate.
• Hamzah and Ibn 'Amir read it with Tā’ (you will not believe). This is a shift from the third person (absent) to the second person (address). The addressees in {تؤمنون} are the absent ones who swore, about whom Allah informed that they would not believe.
• Mujahid and Ibn Zayd held that the address in {وما يشعركم} is to the disbelievers who swore. Mujahid said: "What makes you realize that you will believe if it comes?" This supports the reading with Tā’.

If the address in {وما يشعركم} is to the disbelievers (as per Mujahid), then the reading with Tā’ is appropriate. If the address is to the believers (as per the first view), it is because they wished for the sign to descend so the polytheists would believe. This is the preferred view: It is as if it is said to the believers: You wish for that, but what makes you realize that they will believe?

Issue 4: Implications of the Verse

The essence of the discussion is that the people demanded strong miracles from the Messenger and swore that if they appeared, they would believe. Allah revealed that even though they swore to this, Allah knows that if they appeared, they would not believe. If this is the case, wisdom does not require Him to grant their demand.

Al-Jubba'i and Al-Qadi mentioned that this verse indicates several rulings related to supporting the Mu'tazilite doctrine:

The verse indicates that if there were a known act of grace (lutf) that would cause them to believe, Allah would certainly perform it. If it were permissible for Him not to perform it, this response would lack purpose, because if Allah would not grant their demand whether they believed or not, then linking the refusal to grant the demand to their lack of belief would not be coherent or sound. Therefore, this verse indicates that Allah is obligated to perform every act of grace within His power and wisdom.

This statement is only sound if manifesting these miracles has an effect in compelling them toward belief. According to the Jabriyyah (determinists), this is false, because, in their view, belief occurs only through Allah's creation. If He creates it, it occurs; if He does not create it, it does not occur. Therefore, performing acts of grace has no effect in compelling the accountable person toward obedience.

My Response: What Al-Qadi said is not necessarily required.

Regarding the first point: The people said: "If you bring us a sign, O Muhammad, we will believe you." This statement actually contains two premises:

1. If you bring us these miracles, we will believe you.
2. If premise (1) is true, then you must bring them to us.

Allah refuted them on the first premise, showing that even if He manifested them, they would not believe. He did not address the second premise at all, although it remains implicitly present.

Someone could argue: Suppose they will not believe when the miracles are shown, why is it not obligatory for Allah to show them? This only becomes necessary if it is established before this discussion that grace (lutf) is obligatory upon Allah. In that case, this desired conclusion from the verse is reached. However, since Al-Qadi used this verse as proof for the obligation of grace, his argument is weak.

Regarding the second point (that if everything is by Allah's creation, these graces have no effect): We maintain that the effective cause of an action is the combination of power, the incentive (dā'ī), and the knowledge that this grace will result, which is one part of the incentive. Under this framework, this grace does have an effect in bringing about the action.

{And We will turn over their hearts and their eyes just as they did not believe in it the first time, and We will leave them in their transgression, wandering blindly.}