Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:112

Surah Al-An'am (The Cattle): Verse 112

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِيٍّ عَدُوًّا شَيَاطِينَ الْإِنسِ وَالْجِنِّ يُوحِي بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ الْقَوْلِ غُرُورًا ۚ وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ مَا فَعَلُوهُ ۖ فَذَرْهُمْ وَمَا يَفْتَرُونَ

(And thus We have appointed for every prophet an enemy—devils from mankind and jinn—who inspire each other with embellished speech to deceive. But if your Lord had willed, they would not have done so. So leave them and what they fabricate.)

Issue 1: The Connection of {And thus} (وكذلك)

There are two views regarding what this phrase refers back to:

1. It is connected to the preceding verse: {And thus We have adorned for every nation their deeds} (6:106). Meaning: Just as We did that, thus We appointed for every prophet an enemy.
2. It means: We appointed for you (O Prophet) an enemy, just as We appointed enemies for the prophets before you. Thus, وكذلك is a conjunction based on the meaning of what preceded, as the preceding context indicates that God appointed enemies for the Prophet (PBUH).

Issue 2: God Appointing Enemies (Theological Implication)

The apparent meaning is that God Himself appointed those enemies for the Prophet (PBUH), even though enmity is an act of disobedience and disbelief. This implies that God is the Creator of good and evil, obedience and disobedience, faith and disbelief.

• The Mu'tazilite response (Al-Jubba'i): The meaning of "making" (جعلنا) here is judgement and declaration. If a person judges someone to be a disbeliever, it is said that he has made him a disbeliever. Similarly, since God informed the Prophet (PBUH) that these people were his enemies, it is stated that He "made" them his enemies.
• Abu Bakr al-Asamm's response: When God sent Muhammad (PBUH) to all people and favored him with miracles, they became envious of him. This envy became the cause of intense enmity. Therefore, it is said that God "made" them his enemies. (He cites the poet Al-Mutanabbi: "You are the one who made them envious of me.")
• Al-Ka'bi's response: God commanded the prophets to have enemies and informed them of their enmity. This necessitates them becoming enemies to the prophets, as enmity requires action from both sides. Therefore, it is permissible to say that God "made" them enemies of the prophets.

Scholarly Critique: These answers are very weak because actions are ultimately traced back to the motives, which are created by God. When this is established, our (Ash'ari) doctrine is confirmed.

Further Discussion on Enmity: Enmity and friendship cannot arise solely by human choice. A person might reach a point where they are utterly incapable of removing that state of enmity from their heart, or even hiding its outward signs, no matter how much effort or trickery they employ. If the arising of enmity and friendship in the heart were dependent on human choice, the person would have to be capable of changing enmity into friendship and vice versa. The poets recognized that this is beyond human capacity, as Al-Mutanabbi said:

"The heart is commanded to forget you, But nature refuses to obey the messenger."

Similarly, a lover, despite intense passion, may try every trick to remove their love and fail. If the arising of that love and hatred were by choice, they would not be incapable of removing it.

Issue 3: Grammatical Analysis of {devils} (شياطين)

There are two grammatical possibilities for the word شياطين:

1. It is in apposition (Badal) to عدوا (enemy).
2. عدوا (enemy) is the second object (Maf'ul Thani), and the structure is: "And thus We made the devils of mankind and jinn an enemy (singular for plural) to every prophet."

Issue 4: The Meaning of Devils of Mankind and Jinn

There are two main views:

1. The meaning refers to the wicked/rebellious ones (مردة) among mankind and jinn. The term Shaytan (devil) applies to every arrogant transgressor among both groups. This view is held by Ibn Abbas, Ata, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, and Qatadah. They state that there are devils among the jinn, and devils among mankind. If a jinn devil fails to mislead a believer, it goes to a rebellious human—the devil of mankind—and incites him against the believer. The evidence is the Hadith where the Prophet (PBUH) asked Abu Dharr: "Have you sought refuge in God from the evil of the devils of mankind and jinn?" When Abu Dharr asked if humans have devils, the Prophet replied: "Yes, they are worse than the devils of the jinn."
2. All of them are offspring of Iblis (Satan). God divided His offspring into two groups: one sent to whisper to humans, and the other to whisper to jinn. Thus, both groups are the devils of mankind and the devils of jinn.

• Some prefer the first view because the verse is a complaint against the foolishness of the disbelievers, who are the enemies and the devils.
• Others prefer the second view because the structure of the verse implies an idafa (genitive construction) linking devils to mankind and jinn (شياطين الإنس والجن). This addition implies difference (i.e., they are distinct categories). In this case, the devils are a type distinct from the jinn, and they are the offspring of Iblis.

Issue 5: The Meaning of عدوا (Enemy) as Singular for Plural

Al-Zajjaj and Ibn al-Anbari state that عدوا (singular) means أعداء (plural). Ibn al-Anbari cited poetry as evidence where the singular stands for the plural:

"If I do not benefit my friend with my affection, Then my enemy will not be harmed by my hatred." (He meant my enemies.)

This usage has parallels in the Quran, such as: {the honored guests of Abraham} (51:24), where the plural adjective المكرمين describes the singular ضيف (guest).

Counter-Argument: There is no need for this complex interpretation. The meaning could simply be: "And thus We made for each one of the prophets one enemy," as every prophet is not required to have more than one enemy.

فَذَرْهُمْ وَمَا يَفْتَرُونَ (So leave them and what they fabricate.)

Regarding the phrase: {some of them inspiring others with embellished speech as deception} (يوحي بعضهم إلى بعض زخرف القول غرورا):

This means that those devils whisper to one another.

The Nature of Whispering: We must acknowledge that not every sin committed by a human is due to the whispering of a devil; otherwise, it would lead to an infinite regress or a vicious circle among the devils. Therefore, we must admit that these evils and sins ultimately trace back to an initial evil or a preceding sin that occurred without the whispering of another devil.

The Mechanism of Whispering: Once this principle is established, we say that those devils, just as they cast suggestions to humans and jinn, also whisper to one another. Scholars have different views on this:

• Some say that spirits are either celestial or terrestrial. Terrestrial spirits are either good and pure, commanding obedience (the terrestrial angels), or wicked and foul, commanding evil deeds (the devils). Just as good spirits command people toward good, they command each other toward good. Just as wicked spirits command people toward evil, they command each other toward evil and increase it.
• This association only occurs when there is a type of affinity between the human souls and those spirits. If human souls are pure and free from blameworthy traits, they align with the pure spirits. If they are wicked and characterized by blameworthy traits, they align with the wicked spirits.
• There are many types of purity and many types of wickedness/deficiency. According to each type, there are groups of humans and groups of terrestrial spirits that align based on this similarity and congruence.
• If this alignment is in the realm of good deeds, the motivator is an angel, and the strengthening of that thought is Ilham (inspiration). If it is in the realm of evil, the motivator is a devil, and the strengthening of that thought is Waswasa (whispering/temptation).

Analyzing the Terms in the Verse:

Given this principle, God described this situation by saying: {some of them inspiring others with embellished speech as deception}. We must interpret three terms:

1. Inspiration/Revelation (الوحي): This refers to quick signaling or speech.
2. Embellished/Adorned (الزخرف): This is something whose interior is false, but whose exterior is outwardly beautified. If someone "embellishes" their speech, they adorn it with falsehood and lies. Everything that is beautifully deceptive is muzakhraf.
   • Deeper Analysis: A person is only inclined toward something if they believe it contains superior benefit and advantage. This is why the "Agent of Choice" is called chosen—because he seeks good and benefit. If this belief corresponds to reality, it is truth, sincerity, and Ilham (inspiration), originating from an angel. If the belief does not correspond to reality, then its exterior is adorned, because in their belief, it causes superior benefit, while its interior is corrupt and false because the belief does not match reality. Thus, it is embellished.
3. Deception/Delusion (غرورا): Al-Wahidi states that غرورا is in the accusative case as an adverbial accusative (Maf'ul Mutlaq), referring to the meaning. Since the meaning of inspiring embellished speech is the act of deceiving, it is as if He said: "They deceive with deception."
   • Deeper Analysis: The deceived person is one who believes a thing contains benefit and interest when, in reality, it does not. Deception (الغرور) is either the essence of this ignorance or a state arising from this ignorance.

It is clear that the influence of these wicked spirits upon one another cannot be expressed with a more complete or powerful phrase indicating the full intent than {some of them inspiring others with embellished speech as deception}.

{And if your Lord had willed, they would not have done so.}

Our scholars use this as proof that disbelief and faith are subject to God's Will. The Mu'tazilites interpret this as referring to the Will of compulsion (مشيئة الإلجاء). This issue has been thoroughly discussed previously, so there is no benefit in repeating it here.

{So leave them and what they fabricate.}

Ibn Abbas said this means: Leave them to what Iblis has adorned and deceived them with. Al-Qadi said this statement contains a severe warning against disbelief and a complete encouragement toward faith. It implies the removal of distress from the Prophet's heart, as he is shown the types of punishment God has prepared for the people due to their disbelief, and the levels of reward prepared for him due to his patience with their foolishness and his kindness toward them.

Verse 113:

وَلِتَصْغَىٰ إِلَيْهِ أَفْئِدَةُ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ وَلِيَرْضَوْهُ وَلِيَقْتَرِفُوا مَا هُم مُّقْتَرِفُونَ

(And [this is done] so that the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter may incline toward it, and that they may be pleased with it, and that they may commit what they are committing.)