Al-'Alaq: (11-12) Have you seen if he is...

Then the Almighty said: {Have you seen if he is on guidance * Or enjoined piety} (Al-'Alaq: 11-12). And in this, there are several issues:

Issue 1: To Whom is the Address Directed?

The address {Have you seen} (Ar'a-yta)—to whom is it directed? There are two views:

The First View: It is an address to the Prophet (peace be upon him). The evidence is that the preceding verse, {Have you seen the one who forbids * A servant when he prays}, and the following verse, {Have you seen if he denies and turns away}, are both addressed to the Prophet (PBUH). If we assigned the middle verse to someone other than the Prophet, the discourse would lose its beautiful coherence.

It is as if God is saying, "O Muhammad: Have you seen if this disbeliever—and He did not say if he were (لو كان), which would indicate the future—but rather if he is (إن كان), as if saying: Have you seen if he were to be on guidance and busy with his own self-reformation? Would that not have been appropriate for him, since he is a rational man of means? If he had chosen faith, guidance, and commanding piety, would that not have been better for him than disbelief in God and forbidding service and obedience to Him? It is as if the Almighty is saying: Lament how he forfeited high ranks for himself and settled for lowly ones.

The Second View: It is an address to the disbeliever. This is because God Almighty is like one witnessing both the oppressor and the oppressed, like a master standing before two servants, or a judge present with the plaintiff and the defendant, addressing one at one time and the other at another. After addressing the Prophet, {Have you seen the one who forbids * A servant when he prays}, He then turned to the disbeliever and said: "Have you seen, O disbeliever, if his prayer is guidance and his call to God is an enjoinment of piety? Do you still forbid him?"

Issue 2: The Addition of "Enjoining Piety"

Here is a question: What was mentioned at the beginning of the verse was the prayer: {Have you seen the one who forbids * A servant when he prays}. But what is mentioned here are two matters: {Have you seen if he is on guidance * Or enjoined piety}? Why was a second matter added, namely, {Or enjoined piety}?

The answer comes through several points:

1. The two actions that most troubled Abu Jahl regarding the Messenger of God (PBUH) were these two matters: the prayer and the call to God. Therefore, it is fitting that both are mentioned here.
2. The Prophet (PBUH) was never found in a state other than one of two conditions: either reforming himself, which is done through prayer, or reforming others, which is done by enjoining piety.
3. The Prophet (PBUH), in his prayer, was on guidance and was commanding piety. For everyone who saw him praying, their hearts softened, and they inclined toward faith. Thus, the act of prayer itself was a call through the language of action, which is stronger than the call through the language of speech.

{Have you seen if he denies and turns away}