Al-Kashshaf on Al-An'am 6:80

Surah Al-An'am 6:80

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ﲢ ﲣ ﲤ ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ ﲶ ﲷ ﲸ ﲹ ﲺ ﲻ ﲼ ﲽ ﲾ

And his people argued with him. He said, "Do you argue with me concerning Allah while He has guided me? And I fear not what you associate with Him [and will not be harmed] unless my Lord should will something. My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge; then will you not remember?

{And his people argued with him. He said: "Do you argue with me concerning Allah, while He has guided me? And I do not fear what you associate with Him, unless my Lord should will something. My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge. Will you not then remember?"}

"And his people argued with him": They had argued with him regarding the Oneness of Allah and the negation of partners alongside Him, denying this.

"While He has guided me": Meaning, to the Oneness (Tawhid).

"And I do not fear what you associate with Him": They had threatened him that their deities would cause him harm.

"Unless my Lord should will something": This means: "Except at the time my Lord wills something to be feared." The word "time" is omitted. It means: I do not fear your deities at any time, for they possess no power to benefit or harm, unless my Lord wills to afflict me with something fearful from their direction—should I commit a sin that warrants the descent of misfortune—such as if He were to pelt me with a star, or a fragment of the sun or moon, or make them capable of harming me.

"My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge": It is neither strange nor unlikely that it is within His knowledge to inflict upon me what is feared from their direction.

"Will you not then remember?": So that you may distinguish between the true and the false, and between the capable and the incapable.

{And how should I fear what you associate, while you do not fear that you have associated with Allah that for which He has not sent down to you any authority? So which of the two parties is more entitled to security, if you should know?}

"And how should I fear": Why should I fear, due to your intimidation, something that is safe from fear and to which no harm can be attributed in any way?

"While you do not fear": You do not fear that which is the source of all fear: your associating with Allah that for which He has not sent down any "authority" (i.e., proof), for there can be no valid proof for association. It is as if he said: "Why do you deny me security in a place of security, while you do not deny yourselves security in a place of fear?"

He did not say, "Which of us is more entitled to security, I or you?" to avoid praising himself, so he shifted to saying, "Which of the two parties"—meaning the party of the polytheists and the party of the monotheists.

{Those who believe and do not mix their belief with injustice, those will have security, and they are [rightly] guided.}

"And do not mix their belief with injustice": They did not mix their belief with a sin that makes them corrupt (fisq). The word "mixing" (labs) rejects the interpretation of "injustice" (zulm) as "disbelief" (kufr).

{And that was Our argument which We gave to Abraham against his people. We raise in degrees whom We will. Indeed, your Lord is Wise, Knowing.}

"And that": This refers to all the arguments Abraham (peace be upon him) used against his people, from his saying, "When the night covered him..." to his saying, "...and they are guided."

"Which We gave": We guided him to them and granted him success in them.

"We raise in degrees whom We will": Meaning in knowledge and wisdom.

{And We gave to him Isaac and Jacob. All [of them] We guided. And Noah, We guided before; and among his descendants, David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward the doers of good.}

"And among his descendants": The pronoun refers to Noah or Abraham.

"David": Conjoined to Noah, meaning: "And We guided David."

{And Zechariah and John and Jesus and Elias—and all were of the righteous. And Ishmael and Elisha and Jonah and Lot—and all [of them] We preferred over the worlds.}

"And among their fathers": In the accusative case, conjoined to "all" (kullan), meaning: "And We preferred some of their fathers."

{And [some] among their fathers and their descendants and their brothers—and We chose them and We guided them to a straight path. That is the guidance of Allah by which He guides whom He wills of His servants. But if they had associated others with Allah, then worthless would have been to them what they were doing.}

"But if they had associated": Despite their excellence, their precedence, and the degrees raised for them, they would have been like others in the nullification of their deeds, as the Almighty and Holy said: "If you should associate [anything] with Allah, your work would surely become worthless" (Az-Zumar: 65).

{Those are the ones to whom We gave the Scripture and authority and prophethood. But if the disbelievers deny it, then We have entrusted it to a people who are not therein disbelievers.}

"The Scripture": He means the genus.

"But if they deny it": The Scripture, wisdom, and prophethood, or just the prophethood.

"These": Meaning the people of Mecca.

"A people": They are the prophets mentioned and those who followed them, evidenced by His saying: "Those are the ones whom Allah has guided, so from their guidance take an example."

The meaning of "entrusting" them with it is that they were granted success to believe in it and uphold its rights, just as a man is entrusted with something to take care of, attend to, and protect. The ba in "therein" (biha) connects to "disbelievers," and in "disbelievers" (bikafirin) it serves to emphasize the negation.

{Those are the ones whom Allah has guided, so from their guidance take an example. Say, "I ask of you no payment for it. It is not but a reminder for the worlds."}

"So from their guidance take an example": He specified their guidance for imitation; do not imitate anyone but them. This is the significance of placing the object first. By "their guidance" is meant their method of believing in Allah, His Oneness, and the fundamentals of religion, not the specific laws (shara'i'), for those differ—and they are guidance as long as they are not abrogated. Once abrogated, they are no longer guidance, unlike the fundamentals of religion, which are guidance forever. The ha in "take an example" (iqtadih) is for pausing and is dropped in continuous recitation. It is considered good to prefer the pause because the ha is fixed in the Mushaf.

Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:80

Al-Kashshaf