Al-An'am (The Cattle): (40-41) Say: Have you considered...

After Allah the Exalted clarified the extreme ignorance of those disbelievers, He then described their state: when affliction or tribulation befalls them, they turn in fright to Allah and seek refuge in Him, and they do not rebel against obeying Him.

There are several issues concerning this verse:

Issue 1: The Grammar of Ar'aytuka (Have you considered)

Al-Farra' stated that the Arabs have two usages for the word Ar'ayt (رأيت):

1. Visual Sight: When you say to a man Ra'aytuka (I saw you), it means: "Did you see yourself?" This form is then dualized and pluralized: Ar'aytukumā (Did you two see?) and Ar'aytukum (Did you all see?).
2. Inquiry/Informing: When you say Ar'aytuka and intend "Inform me," you keep the tā' (ت) open in all cases: Ar'aytaka, Ar'aytukumā, Ar'aytukum, Ar'aytukunna.

Knowing this, we state:

The Basrans hold that the second pronoun, the kāf (ك) in Ar'aytuka, has no grammatical position (i.e., it is not an object). The proof is His saying: {Say: Have you considered this one whom You have honored?} (Al-Isra: 62). It is also said: Ar'aytuka Zaydun mā sha'nuhu (Have you considered Zayd to me, what is his state?). If you assigned a grammatical position to the kāf, it would be as if you were saying: Ar'ayta nafsaka Zaydun mā sha'nuhu (Did you see yourself, Zayd, what is his state?), which is corrupt speech. Thus, it is established that the kāf has no grammatical position; rather, it is a particle for direct address.

Al-Farra' said: If the kāf were for emphasis (tawkīd), the dual and plural forms would fall upon the tā' (as they do when the kāf is absent). Since the tā' remains open when addressing the plural, and the plural marker falls upon the kāf, this indicates that the kāf is not mentioned for emphasis. Do you not see that if the kāf were dropped, it would not be correct to say Ar'aytu (I saw) to a group? This proves that the verb is directed towards the kāf, and it is a necessary, indispensable component.

Al-Wāḥid responded to this by saying that this argument is refuted by the kāf in dhālika (that) and ulā'ika (those), where the plural marker falls upon them even though the kāf is merely a particle of address, devoid of nominal status. And Allah knows best.

Issue 2: Recitation Variations of Ar'aytukum

Nāfi' recited Ar'aytukum and similar forms throughout the Qur'an by softening the hamza (making it an intermediate sound between hamza and alif, a standard phonetic reduction). Al-Kisā'ī omitted the hamza entirely throughout the Qur'an. The rest recited it with the hamza.

Softening the hamza means rendering it as an intermediate sound between the hamza and alif, following standard phonetic reduction rules. Al-Kisā'ī's method is sound, and 'Īsā ibn 'Umar recited it this way, which is common in poetry. Arabs have spoken similarly by omitting the hamza for ease, as they say Was'lahu (Ask him) instead of Was'ilhu. Ahmad ibn Yaḥyā cited the verse:

Here, he omitted the hamza, intending Fa-albisūnī (Then clothe me) with the hamza affirmed. As for those who recited by softening the hamza, the reason is that the hamza is the root letter of the verb, and Allah knows best.

Issue 3: The Meaning of the Verse

The meaning of the verse is that Allah the Exalted commanded the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): Say, O Muhammad, to these disbelievers: If the punishment of Allah comes to you in this world, and the punishment comes to you at the Hour of Resurrection, will you revert to someone other than Allah to repel that affliction and harm, or will you revert concerning it to Allah the Exalted?

Since it is self-evident that they only revert to Allah the Exalted to repel affliction and tribulation, and not to the idols and statues, He rightly said: {You call upon, if you are truthful. But it is Him you call upon} (meaning: you do not revert in seeking the removal of affliction and tribulation except to Allah the Exalted).

Then He said: {And He removes that for which you call upon Him} (meaning: He removes the harm for which you called upon Him), {and you forget what you associate with Him}. There are two interpretations for this phrase:

1. Ibn 'Abbās said: It means you abandon the idols, and you do not call upon them because you know they neither benefit nor harm.
2. Al-Zajjāj said: It is possible that the meaning is that in your abandonment of calling upon them, you are like one who has forgotten them. This is the view of Al-Ḥasan, who said: They turn away with the turning away of one who forgets. A parallel is His saying: {Until, when you were in the ships and they sailed with them by a good wind and they rejoiced therein, there came a violent wind and the waves came upon them from every side} (Yūnus: 22), and they did not mention the idols.

Issue 4: The Promise of Answering Supplication

This verse indicates that Allah the Exalted may answer supplication if He wills, and may not answer it, because He said: {And He removes that for which you call upon Him, if He wills}. A person might argue that His saying: {Call upon Me; I will respond to you} (Ghāfir: 60) implies a certainty of the answer being granted. How can these two verses be reconciled?

The answer is that sometimes Allah affirms the answer with certainty, and sometimes He does not affirm it, either according to His sheer Will (as our companions [Ash'arites] hold), or according to the consideration of what is best (maṣlaḥa) (as the Mu'tazila hold). Since both realities occur, the two verses have been revealed in these two ways.

Issue 5: The Logic of the Argument

The essence of this statement is as if Allah the Exalted is saying to the worshippers of idols: If you revert to Allah when hardships descend, and not to the idols, why then do you proceed to worship idols from which you derive absolutely no benefit? This statement is only effective if the mention of proof and evidence is accepted. However, if that is rejected and blind imitation (taqlīd) is deemed obligatory, then this statement is void. Thus, this verse is established as the strongest evidence that the foundation of religion is proof and evidence. And Allah knows best.

{And certainly did We send to nations before you, then We seized them with adversity and affliction that perhaps they might humble themselves. Then why did they not humble themselves when Our might reached them? But their hearts became hardened, and Satan made attractive to them what they were doing.}