Al-An'am (The Cattle): (35) And if their turning away is hard on you...

Issues in the Verse:

It is narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that Al-Harith ibn Amir ibn Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with a group from Quraysh. They said: "O Muhammad, bring us something from God as the prophets used to do. We will believe you." Allah refused to bring it to them, so they turned away from the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). This grieved him greatly, and this verse was revealed.

The meaning is: If their turning away from believing in you and the truth of the Qur'an is hard on you, then if you are able, seek a tunnel in the earth or a ladder to the sky (to bring them a sign).

The answer to this challenge is omitted, and this omission is considered eloquent because the meaning is clear in people's minds.

• Nafaq (Tunnel): A passage in the earth that provides an exit to another place. The term is derived from the burrowing of the jerboa (jerboa), which digs a hole, then emerges from another spot, as if it is tunneling through the earth to create an exit. Similarly, the hypocrite (munafiq) is named so because he conceals what he shows, like the jerboa's hidden exit.
• Sullam (Ladder): Derived from salāmah (safety), it is something that delivers you to your ascent.

The purpose of this statement is to cut off the Prophet's hope for their belief and to prevent him from being distressed by their turning away from faith and embracing disbelief.

{And if Allah had willed, He could have gathered them to the guidance.}

This means: If Allah had willed to guide them, He would have gathered them to guidance. Wherever they are gathered to guidance, it necessitates that Allah willed to guide them. This indicates that the Exalted does not desire faith from the disbeliever; rather, He wills for him to remain in disbelief.

What supports this apparent meaning is that the disbeliever's capacity for disbelief is either fit for faith or not fit for it.

1. If it is not fit for faith, then the capacity for disbelief necessitates disbelief. The Creator of this capacity must have intended this disbelief from him, inevitably.
2. If this capacity is fit for disbelief, it is also fit for faith. When the capacity is equal regarding both outcomes, it is impossible for one outcome to be favored over the other without a preponderant factor (dā'iyah murajjiḥah). The occurrence of this factor is not from the servant, otherwise, it would lead to an infinite regress (tasalsul).

Therefore, it is established that the Creator of that preponderant factor is Allah (Exalted is He). It is also established that the combination of capacity and the occurring factor necessitates the action. Thus, it is established that the Creator of the combination of that capacity and that factor necessitating disbelief intends that disbelief and does not intend that faith.

This certain proof is strong and apparent from this verse, and no proof is stronger than the proof aligning with the apparent meaning of the Qur'an.

The Mu'tazila Stance: They say the meaning is: "If Allah had willed to compel them to faith, He would have gathered them to it." Al-Qadi explains that compulsion (iljā') is when Allah informs them that if they attempt anything other than faith, He will prevent them from it, causing them to refrain from any action other than faith.

• Example: If someone is in the presence of a ruler surrounded by many guards, and this person knows that if he intended to kill the ruler, they would kill him immediately, this knowledge prevents him from intending to kill the ruler, making him compelled to abandon that action. So it is here.

Our Response to the Mu'tazila: Allah refrained from this compulsion because it would nullify their accountability (taklīf), making their actions as if they never occurred. Allah only willed that they benefit from what they choose by their own will, as a means to reward, and this can only happen through choice.

If Allah willed them to act upon faith while the call to faith and the call to disbelief were equal, this would be imposing what is beyond capacity (taklīf mā lā yuṭāq), as commanding them to achieve preference while they are equal is commanding the combination of two impossibilities.

If He willed them to act upon faith after one side was already preponderant (due to the preponderant factor mentioned above), then the favored side would be necessary to occur, and the less favored side would be impossible to occur. All these scenarios contradict what they claim regarding possibility (mumkinah) and choice. Therefore, their view is entirely refuted. And Allah knows best.

{So do not be among the ignorant.}

This is a prohibition against the Prophet (PBUH) falling into that state (of excessive grief/despair). This prohibition does not imply that he would actually commit such an act, just as the verse {And do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites} (Al-Ahzab: 48) does not indicate that he obeyed them or accepted their religion.

The intent is that it is not appropriate for him to grieve intensely over their rejection, nor should he despair over their turning away from him. If he did so, his state would approach that of the ignorant. The purpose of the stern address is to distance and deter him from such a state. And Allah knows best.

{Indeed, those who hear will respond, but the dead whom Allah will resurrect, then to Him they will be returned.}