Surah Ibrahim (14) — Ayah 10

(Ayah10) ➊ { قَالَتْ رُسُلُهُمْ اَفِي اللّٰهِ شَكٌّ … :} The messengers did not engage here in any logical or philosophical debate, rather they shook their nature, for every person understands that even the smallest thing, even a needle or a toy, does not come into being without a maker. Razi gave an example of this: if out of two children, one child slaps the other on the back of the head and hides, the other will never accept that the slap happened by itself, rather he will be certain that someone hit him. So, even a child’s nature does not accept that any action happens by itself, so now that you are mature and sensible, do you have doubt about that Allah who created such magnificent heavens and earth, for whom creating you is not at all difficult in comparison—whether He exists or not? And whether He is one or many? The tanween in {’’شَكٌّ ‘‘} is for indefiniteness, meaning: is there any doubt about Allah? This is an interrogative of denial, meaning there is no room for any kind of doubt about Him.

➋ {مِنْ ذُنُوْبِكُمْ:’’ مِنْ ‘‘} is for partition, meaning: so that He may forgive some of your sins. The meaning is that the sins committed before accepting Islam will be forgiven upon accepting Islam, and future sins will be judged according to your deeds and repentance. The forgiveness of the disbelievers’ sins is always mentioned with {’’ مِنْ ‘‘} (some), as here and in Surah Nuh and Ahqaf, whereas the forgiveness of the believers is mentioned without {’’مِنْ‘‘}, as in Surah Saff when describing the reward for jihad: «{ يَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوْبَكُمْ }» [الصف : ۱۲ ] “He will forgive you your sins.”

➌ { وَ يُؤَخِّرَكُمْ اِلٰۤى اَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى :} Meaning: He will keep you safe from punishment in this world until the time of death. (Qurtubi)

➍ { قَالُوْۤا اِنْ اَنْتُمْ اِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُنَا :} Meaning: In outward appearance, in eating and drinking, and in other human needs, you are humans like us; how can we accept your superiority over us? Your purpose is to stop us from worshipping the gods of our forefathers. The surprising thing is that these same disbelievers, who insist on denying the existence and oneness of Allah on the basis of following their forefathers in matters of religion and the Hereafter, do not bother to think that if they had followed their forefathers in worldly matters as well, then in every era of the world, whatever progress they made—even reaching the atomic bomb now—this progress would never have been possible. But look at their stubbornness: even after seeing the clear miracles of the prophets and hearing irrefutable arguments like {’’ اَفِي اللّٰهِ شَكٌّ فَاطِرِ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ ‘‘}, which shook them from within and they themselves admit to their restless doubt, they remain stuck on imitation and demand even clearer proof, but in worldly matters, they are never ready to settle for mere imitation of their forefathers.

10. 1. That is, do you have doubt about Allah, who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth? Moreover, he is inviting you to faith and monotheism only so that he may purify you from sins. Despite this, you are not ready to accept this Creator of the earth and the sky, and you are rejecting his invitation?

10. 2. This is the same objection that the disbelievers have always raised: how can a human being be worthy of receiving divine revelation and prophethood and messengership?

10. 3. This is the second obstacle: how can we abandon the worship of those deities whom our forefathers used to worship? While your purpose is to turn us away from their worship and direct us to the worship of Allah alone.

10. 4. Every prophet was accompanied by proofs and miracles; by this is meant such a proof or miracle that they longed to see, just as the polytheists of Makkah demanded various kinds of miracles from the Prophet ﷺ, which will be mentioned in Bani Israel.

10. Their messengers said: "Is there any doubt about Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth? He calls you so that He may forgive your sins and grant you respite for a specified term [14]." They replied, "You are but humans like us; you want to turn us away from what our forefathers worshipped. So bring us a clear miracle [15]."

[14]
Doubt About Allah:

Whether they are the polytheists of Makkah, the people of previous nations, or those of the present era, all of them certainly believe that the Creator of the heavens and the earth, that is, this entire universe, is Allah Almighty. On the basis of this very point, the prophets have always asked the polytheists: when Allah Almighty is the Creator and Owner of all things, it means that all authority and control also belong to Allah alone. Then how did your deities come to possess any authority or control? Therefore, abandon these deities and turn towards monotheism, and if you adopt this path, Allah will forgive all your sins. But if you do not believe in His invitation, He will grant you some respite so that you may reflect well upon your condition and reform yourselves. And if you still do not come to your senses, He will destroy you.

[15]
The Polytheists’ Response to the Prophets:

The responses of the polytheists to the prophets’ invitation have also always been the same. For example, one is that you are only human beings like us. You eat, drink, sleep, have wives and children, walk about, feel hunger, thirst, pain, illness, heat, and cold just like us, and every human weakness is present in you as it is in us. Then how can we accept that angels come to you and converse with you, and that you are Allah’s messenger? Then, since such polytheists’ thinking does not go beyond worldly interests, their second response has been that you want to remove us from the religion of our forefathers and present a new religion in order to establish your own leadership. So we are not ready to abandon the religion of our forefathers, nor can we leave those deities whom our ancestors worshipped. And their third response has been that we are not ready to accept your words until you show us some tangible miracle or present such a clear proof by which we can be certain of the truth of your claim to prophethood.