6. Surah al-Anam
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَلَوْ
شَاء
اللّهُ
مَا
أَشْرَكُواْ...
6: 107. If it had been Allah's Plan, they would not have taken false gods:
C935. Allah's Plan is to use the human will to co-operate in understanding Him and His relations to us. This is the answer to an objector who might say: "If He is All-powered, why does sin or evil exist in the world? Can He not destroy it?"
He can, but His Plan is different, and in any case it is not for a Teacher to force any one to accept the truths which he is inspired to preach and proclaim.
...وَمَا جَعَلْنَاكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًا وَمَا أَنتَ عَلَيْهِم بِوَكِيلٍ ﴿١٠٧﴾
but We made thee not one to watch over their doings,
nor art thou set over them to dispose of their affairs.
وَلاَ
تَسُبُّواْ
الَّذِينَ
يَدْعُونَ
مِن
دُونِ
اللّهِ
فَيَسُبُّواْ
اللّهَ
عَدْوًا
بِغَيْرِ
عِلْمٍ...
6 :108. Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they out of spite revile Allah in their ignorance.
...كَذَلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ ...
Thus have We made alluring to each people its own doings.
C936. A man's actual personal religion depends upon many things,
- his personal psychology,
- the background of his life,
- his hidden or repressed feelings,
- tendencies, or history (which psychoanalysis tries to unravel),
- his hereditary dispositions or antipathies, and
- all the subtle influences of his education and his environment.
The task before the man of Allah is:
1. to use any of these which can subserve the higher ends,
2. to purify such as have been misused,
3. to introduce new ideas and modes of looking at things, and
4. to combat what is wrong and cannot be mended:
all for the purpose of leading to the truth and gradually letting in spiritual light where there was darkness before.
If that is not done with discretion and the skill of a spiritual Teacher, there may be not only a reaction of obstinacy, but an unseemly show of dishonour to the true God and His Truth, and doubts would spread among the weaker brethren whose faith is shallow and infirm.
What happens to individuals is true collectively of nations or groups of people. They think in their self-obsession that their own ideas are right. Allah in His infinite compassion bears with them, and asks those who have purer ideas of faith not to vilify the weaknesses of their neighbors, lest the neighbors in their turn vilify the real truth and make matters even worse than before.
In so far as there is active evil, He will deal with it in His own way. Of course the righteous man must not hide his light under a bushel, or compromise with evil, or refuse to establish right living where he has the power to do so.
...ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّهِم مَّرْجِعُهُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿١٠٨﴾
In the end will they return to their Lord, and We shall then tell them the truth of all that they did.
6: 107
Pickthall Had Allah is willed, they had not been idolatrous. We have not set thee as a keeper over them, nor art thou responsible for them.
Transliteration Wa lau sya_'alla_hu ma_ asyraku_, wa ma_ ja'alna_ka'alaihim hafiza_(n), wa ma_ anta 'alaihim bi wakil(in).
6: 108
Asad But do not revile those [beings] whom they invoke instead of God [note 92], lest they revile God out of spite, and in ignorance: for, goodly indeed have we made their own doings appear unto every community [note 93]
Pickthall Revile not those unto whom they pray beside Allah lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance. Thus unto every nation have We made their deed seem fair. Then unto their Lord is their return, and He will tell them what they used to do.
Transliteration Wa la_ tasubbul lazina yad'u_na min du_nilla_hi fa yasubbulla_ha 'adwam bi gairi 'ilm(in), kaza_lika zayyanna_ likulli ummatin'amalahum, summa ila_ rabbihim marji'uhum fa yunabbi'uhum bima_ ka_nu_ ya'malu_n(a).
[[ Asad’s note 92 – This prohibition of reviling anything that other people hold sacred –even in contravention of the principle of God’s oneness – is expressed in the plural and is, therefore, addressed to all believers. Thus, while Muslims are expected to argue against the false beliefs of others, they are not allowed to abuse the objects of those beliefs and to hurt thereby the feelings of their erring fellow-men.]]