Surah al-An`am (The Cattle) 6 : 148

Overview (Verses 148 - 149)

The Ultimate Argument in Defence of Falsehood
 
At this point in the passage, their last argument with which they tried to justify their erroneous beliefs and misguided practices comes under close scrutiny. They claim that they did not adopt those ill- founded beliefs by choice; rather, they were compelled to do so. Had God wished that they did not believe in these other gods and deities, He would have prevented them from doing so, since He is certainly able to accomplish whatever purpose He has in mind: “Those who associate partners with God will say: ‘Had God so willed, neither we nor our fathers would have associated any partners with Him; nor would we have declared anything as forbidden.’ In like manner did those who have lived before them deny the truth, until they came to taste Our punishment. Say: Have you any certain knowledge which you can put before us? You follow nothing but conjecture, and you do nothing but guess. Say: With God alone rests the final evidence. Had He so willed, He would have guided you all aright.” (Verses 148-149)
 
The question of free-will, free choice or compulsion has been the subject of lengthy and intense argument in the history of Islamic thought. Different schools of thought and intellectual groups and sects were always ready to defend their points of view. Greek philosophy and logic and Christian schools of divinity provided further ammunition in this fierce argument, complicating it still more and making it totally alien to the Islamic standpoint. Had those people on all sides of the argument adopted the simple, uncomplicated, serious and direct method of the Qur’ān, their arguments would not have taken this complicated course. Instead, they would have been spared much of their futile effort.
 
For our part, we examine the unbelievers’ argument and the Qur’ānic reply only to find that the whole question is clear, simple and precise: “Those who associate partners with God will say: ‘Had God so willed, neither we nor our fathers would have associated any partners with Him; nor would we have declared anything as forbidden’.” (Verse 148) In other words, they argue that their idolatrous beliefs, their unsanctioned prohibitions as well as their false assertions are all part of divine law, and they blame it all on God’s will and what He has determined for them. Had He willed otherwise, they would not have associated any partners with Him and would not have made anything unlawful.
 
What is the Qur’ānic reply to this claim? The Qur’ān declares that they lie the same way as those who had gone before them lied and denied the truth. Those earlier people who persisted with their denial of the truth were made to suffer God’s punishment and experience His might. The same fate awaits the new liars who follow in their footsteps: “In like manner did those who have lived before them deny the truth, until they came to taste Our punishment.” (Verse 148) This statement should shake and awaken people so that they reflect on the lessons that can be learned from the experience of earlier peoples.
 
The second point in the Qur’ānic reply aims at correcting the human method of reflection and deliberation. God has given people certain orders to fulfil and forbidden them certain things. They can have absolutely certain knowledge of all this. As for God’s will, it belongs to the realm that lies beyond the reach of human thought or human perception. They have no way of knowing it for certain. If this is the case and they cannot know the dictates of God’s will for certain, how is it, then, that they use this argument? “Say: ‘Have you any certain knowledge which you can put before us? You follow nothing but conjecture, and you do nothing but guess.’” (Verse 148) God’s orders and prohibitions are known to all with certainty. Why, then, do these people ignore such truth, in order to indulge in guesswork and follow paths that can lead them nowhere?
 
This is all that can be said on this question. God does not require people to know what He has chosen to keep to Himself of His will and how it operates. He only wants them to know what commandments He has issued to them and what things He has forbidden them so that they conduct their lives in accordance with these orders and prohibitions. When they try to acquire this knowledge, God states that He will guide them to it and open their hearts to receive it so that they may declare their submission to God. This is all that human beings need, it is all so clear and simple, and free from all the ambiguity imparted by endless controversy.
 
God is able, should He so will, to create human beings with a nature that can only follow His guidance. He is certainly able to force them to follow His guidance or to put His guidance in their minds so that they follow it without compulsion. However, He has willed otherwise. It is His will that He tests us by giving us the ability to follow His guidance or to remain in error. He wants to extend His help to those who wish to follow His guidance and make it easy for them, and, on the other hand, He wants to let those who follow error continue in their misguided ways. His will is done and it is manifested in the situation that shapes human life.
 
“Say: With God alone rests the final evidence. Had He so willed, He would have guided you all aright.” (Verse 149) The whole issue is very clear and expressed in a plain and simple statement to ensure that it is perfectly understood by all human beings. The endless debates and arguments about it are alien to the Islamic approach. Not a single school of philosophy or divinity has been able to arrive at a comfortable conclusion as a result of its treatment of this question. This is due to the fact that the methods adopted by these schools have always been unsuitable to the nature of the question.
 
It is the nature of any fact that determines the method of its treatment and how it should be expressed. When we deal with a material truism, we cannot adopt the laboratory approach. Similarly, a mathematical truth cannot be the subject of intellectual hypotheses. Hence, a truth that relates to the realm beyond human perception must be treated in a totally different way, relying, as we have already explained, on the practical manifestation and appreciation of this truth in its own field. It is most important that this question of choice and compulsion should be expressed in a way that is different from the type of intellectual approach that has given rise to all kinds of controversy in most communities and generations.
 
This religion of Islam has been revealed in order to establish a practical situation governed by clear commandments and prohibitions. To try to involve divine will, which cannot be perceived by our senses, is to try to traverse uncharted regions without guidance. It is a total waste of effort, which can be used more constructively elsewhere.