Al-A'raf: (178) Whomever Allah guides...

In this verse, there are two issues:

The First Issue:

Know that when Allah (Exalted is He) described the misguided with the aforementioned description and clarified their state with the mentioned parable, He clarified in this verse that guidance is from Allah, and misguidance is from Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He).

At this point, the Mu'tazila became troubled and mentioned several interpretations:

1. The First Interpretation (mentioned by Al-Jubba'i and favored by Al-Qadi): That what is meant by "Whomever Allah guides" (مَن يَهْدِ ٱللَّهُ) is guidance to Paradise and reward in the Hereafter. Thus, he is the guided one in this world, treading the path of righteousness in what he is commanded. Allah (Exalted is He) clarified that He does not guide to the reward in the Hereafter except for one who possesses this description. And "Whomever He lets go astray" (وَمَن يُضْلِلْ) from the path of Paradise, "then those are the losers" (فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْخَـٰسِرُونَ).

2. The Second Interpretation: Some said that there is an omission in the verse. The meaning is: "Whomever Allah guides, and he accepts and adheres to His guidance, then he is the guided one. And whomever He lets go astray by not accepting, then he is the loser."

3. The Third Interpretation: That what is meant by "Whomever Allah guides" (مَن يَهْدِ ٱللَّهُ) is that whomever Allah describes as being guided, he is the guided one. This is because such a description is like praise, and Allah's praise is only attained for one who possesses that praised attribute. And "Whomever He lets go astray" (وَمَن يُضْلِلْ) means whomever Allah describes as being misguided, "then those are the losers" (فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْخَـٰسِرُونَ).

4. The Fourth Interpretation: That what is meant by "Whomever Allah guides" (مَن يَهْدِ ٱللَّهُ) is with gentle favors (الألطاف) and an increase in guidance, so he is the guided one. And whomever He lets go astray from that, due to his prior poor choice, He excludes him from being affected by those gentle favors for that reason, so he is among the losers.

Know that we have explained that conclusive rational proofs have indicated that guidance and misguidance can only originate from Allah in several ways:

1. The action depends on the realization of the motivator (الداعي), and the realization of the motivator can only be from Allah. Therefore, the action is only from Allah.
2. The opposite of what Allah knows is impossible to occur. So, whoever Allah knows will have faith (الإيمان) cannot commit disbelief (الكفر), and vice versa.
3. Everyone intends to attain faith and knowledge. If disbelief follows immediately, we know it is not from him but from another.

Then we say:

• As for the first interpretation: It is weak because it interprets "Whomever Allah guides" (مَن يَهْدِ ٱللَّهُ) as guidance in the Hereafter to Paradise, and interprets "then he is the guided one" (فَهُوَ ٱلْمُهْتَدِى) as guidance to the truth in this world. This results in a weakness in the structure (ركاكة في النظم). Rather, guidance and being guided must refer to one thing so that the speech has a good structure.

• As for the second interpretation: It requires assuming an extra omission (إضمار زائد), which contradicts the literal text. If we allowed opening the door to such omissions, negation could become affirmation and affirmation negation, and the Word of Allah (Glorified and Exalted) would cease to be a proof, as everyone could assume whatever they wished in the verse, and thus everything would lose its meaning.

• As for the third interpretation: It is weak because saying, "So-and-so guided so-and-so" (فلان هدى فلانا) does not convey in the language at all that he described him as being guided. Analogizing this to saying, "So-and-so caused so-and-so to go astray and disbelieve" (فلان ضلل فلانا وكفره) is an analogy in language that is fundamentally corrupt.

• As for the fourth interpretation: It is also invalid because, according to the Mu'tazila, all the gentle favors (الألطاف) within Allah's power have already been bestowed upon all disbelievers. Therefore, interpreting the verse this way is far-fetched. And Allah knows best.

The Second Issue:

Regarding His saying, "then he is the guided one" (فَهُوَ ٱلْمُهْتَدِى) [Al-A'raf: 178]:

It is permissible to affirm the Yā' (the letter 'ي') in it according to the original form, and it is permissible to omit it seeking lightness, as stated in the verse from the Book:

And among the verses of poetry is also:

Abu Al-Fath Al-Mawsili meant by this: Ka-khawāfi (with the Yā' omitted).

As for His saying, "And whomever He lets go astray" (وَمَن يُضْلِلْ), it means: and whomever Allah lets go astray and abandons (يخذله), "then those are the losers" (فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْخَـٰسِرُونَ), meaning they have lost this world and the Hereafter.