Surah Ash-Shura (42) — Ayah 10

(Ayah 10) ➊ {وَ مَا اخْتَلَفْتُمْ فِيْهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ … :} Although this verse is the speech of Allah Almighty, it has been made to be spoken by the tongue of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), just as Surah Al-Fatiha is made to be spoken by the tongues of the servants.

➋ In the previous verses, the attributes of Allah Almighty that have been mentioned—that He is the Owner and Guardian of everything in the heavens and the earth, life and death are in His hand, and He is fully capable over everything—these attributes themselves prove what is stated in this verse: that when He is the Owner, then He is also the Ruler, and the decision of the disputes that arise among humans is also His task. Whether the dispute is in belief or in action, in acts of worship or in dealings, in declaring something good or bad, or in declaring something lawful or unlawful—in short, in every matter, the decision belongs to Him alone. To give anyone else the right to legislate or to decide what is lawful or unlawful is, in reality, worshipping him and making him a partner with Allah Almighty. He said: « اِنِ الْحُكْمُ اِلَّا لِلّٰهِ اَمَرَ اَلَّا تَعْبُدُوْۤا اِلَّاۤ اِيَّاهُ » [ یوسف : ۴۰ ] "The command is for none but Allah. He has commanded that you worship none but Him." See also Surah Yusuf (67), Al-An'am (57), Al-Ma'idah (44), Al-Kahf (26), and Surah Al-Qasas (70, 88).

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would make every decision through the revelation of Allah Almighty and under His command, so his (peace and blessings be upon him) decision is the decision of Allah Almighty, and Allah Almighty has made it a condition of faith to refer every dispute to Allah and His Messenger, as He said: « فَاِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِيْ شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوْهُ اِلَى اللّٰهِ وَ الرَّسُوْلِ اِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِاللّٰهِ وَ الْيَوْمِ الْاٰخِرِ » [النساء : ۵۹ ] "Then if you dispute over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day." And He said: « فَلَا وَ رَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ حَتّٰى يُحَكِّمُوْكَ فِيْمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوْا فِيْۤ اَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِّمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَ يُسَلِّمُوْا تَسْلِيْمًا » [ النساء : ۶۵ ] "But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they make you judge in all disputes between them, then find in themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in full submission."

➌ The Jews and Christians gave their rabbis and monks the authority to decide what is lawful and unlawful, so Allah Almighty said that they took their rabbis and monks as {’’ اَرْبَابًا مِّنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ ‘‘}. See the commentary of Surah At-Tawbah (31).

➍ The Jews and Christians, for a long time, gave the authority to declare lawful and unlawful not to the heavenly law but to their rabbis and monks. Eventually, they even abandoned this formality and, instead of their heavenly book or their rabbis and monks, took this authority themselves in the name of democracy: that whatever the majority of the public decides is the truth, and whatever their elected representatives declare lawful by majority is lawful, and whatever they declare unlawful is unlawful. Today, if the majority declares something lawful, it is lawful; a few days later, if the majority declares it unlawful, it is unlawful. Now every restriction of the Torah that was burdensome to their nature was broken; by mutual consent, adultery was declared permissible, stoning was abolished, the act of the people of Lot was declared permissible, retribution in murder and amputation was ended, and interest was declared lawful. In short, in the name of democracy, a new law was invented in which the lord, messenger, and law were all considered to be human beings; thus, the servants were seated on the throne of the Owner.

➎ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ لَتَتْبَعُنَّ سَنَنَ مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمْ شِبْرًا شِبْرًا وَذِرَاعًا ذِرَاعًا، حَتّٰی لَوْ دَخَلُوْا جُحْرَ ضَبٍّ تَبِعْتُمُوْهُمْ، قُلْنَا يَا رَسُوْلَ اللّٰهِ! الْيَهُوْدُ وَالنَّصَارٰی؟ قَالَ فَمَنْ؟ ] [ بخاري، الاعتصام بالکتاب والسنۃ، باب قول النبي صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم : ’’ لتتبعن سنن من کان قبلکم‘‘: ۷۳۲۰، عن أبي سعید الخدري رضی اللہ عنہ ] "You will surely follow the ways of those before you, hand span by hand span and arm's length by arm's length, so much so that if they entered a lizard's hole, you would follow them." We said: "O Messenger of Allah! The ways of the Jews and Christians?" He said: "Who else?"

Muslims, in the best generations and for some time after, adhered solely and only to the Qur'an and Sunnah; this was the era of Islam's progress and ascendancy. Then imitation of certain Imams began, and in their names, such groupings and sectarianism arose that some people, even knowing that their Imam's statement was in clear contradiction to Allah and His Messenger, insisted on their Imam's statement. The pattern of making rabbis and monks as lords began to appear among the people of Islam just as it did among the People of the Book, until this true religion was divided into many sects. Everyone had separate mosques, separate courts, and separate judges; the unity of the Ummah, which was only achieved by accepting the Book and Sunnah as the judge, was shattered, and the energies of the Muslims, instead of being spent on jihad against the disbelievers and its preparation, began to be spent against each other. These were the rulers, these were the judges; calls for reform continued to be raised, but to no avail. Thus, for some time, despite deviation from the Book and Sunnah, the rule of Muslims continued in the form of separate kingdoms, but as a result of mutual corruption and abandonment of jihad, all Muslim countries except two or four fell into the hands of Christian or communist disbelievers, who forcibly implemented their disbelieving laws in these countries. Then neither the laws of the Book and Sunnah remained nor the schools of the Imams. Everywhere, the rule of the disbelievers prevailed, and, like the Children of Israel, the whip of Allah's punishment began to fall upon the Muslims in the form of slavery to the disbelievers. Muslims continued to struggle and pray for freedom, until Allah Almighty had mercy on them, and as a result of their struggle for freedom and the mutual world wars of the disbelievers, many Muslim countries gained independence. After that, as a result of jihad, many countries were also freed from the control of the communists, but in all countries, the ruling class maintained the same system of government of disbelief that existed during the time of the disbelievers, in which decisions are not made according to the commands of Allah and His Messenger, but according to laws made by humans. Thus, the prophecy of Muslims following in the footsteps of the People of the Book was fulfilled. The religion of Allah Almighty remained only for prayer, fasting, etc.; from homes, markets, courts, and the halls of government, the command of Allah Almighty was exiled, and in its place, the worship of the idol of democracy began. However, in some countries, the formality was observed of calling it "Islamic democracy," although in Islam the command belongs to Allah, and in democracy, it belongs to the servants; both are opposites and can never be combined. This is just like calling wine "Islamic wine" and usury "Islamic usury" and declaring them lawful, as this injustice has also previously been committed by Muslims against themselves. Many of their ruling classes implemented the statements of those scholars in their kingdoms who declared only wine made from grapes and dates unlawful, and abolished the prescribed punishment for drinking all other intoxicating drinks, even if they caused intoxication. As a result, the great empires of the Muslims were drowned in a sea of wine, with both rulers and subjects drinking, and drinking considering it lawful. Similarly, by declaring many forms of usury permissible and implementing "Islamic usury," the storm of greed and desire ended the tradition of sympathy and self-sacrifice, and the unlawful desire for wealth made Muslims heedless of the Hereafter.

The reality is that even now, the salvation of Muslims in both this world and the Hereafter lies in returning once again to the decision of Allah and His Messenger and adopting obedience to Him in their entire lives. InshaAllah, the time is coming when once again the Caliphate on the Prophetic methodology will be established, in which only the command of Allah will prevail on the earth of Allah. This is the prophecy of the truthful Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and will certainly be fulfilled. Our task is to strive; if Allah wills, we will see that blessed day with our own eyes, otherwise those who come after us will surely see it. We pray to Allah Almighty to include us among those servants who will continue to fight to uphold the true religion until the Day of Resurrection. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ لَنْ يَّبْرَحَ هٰذَا الدِّيْنُ قَائِمًا يُقَاتِلُ عَلَيْهِ عِصَابَةٌ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِيْنَ حَتّٰی تَقُوْمَ السَّاعَةُ ] [ مسلم، الإمارۃ، باب قولہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم : ’’لا تزال طائفۃ من أمتي ظاھرین علی الحق…‘‘ : ۱۹۲۲، عن جابر بن سمرۃ رضی اللہ عنہ ] "This religion will always remain established, and a group of Muslims will continue to fight for it until the Day of Resurrection is established."

➏ { فَحُكْمُهٗۤ اِلَى اللّٰهِ:} The decision of every dispute being referred to Allah Almighty includes the decision of the Shariah rulings as well, as mentioned above, and also that in this world, all the disputes among people will be clearly decided by Allah Almighty on the Day of Resurrection. In this world, the disbelievers may continue to claim that they are upon the truth, but there, the truth of the Prophets and their followers and the falsehood of the disbelievers will become clear to everyone, as Allah Almighty said: « قُلِ اللّٰهُمَّ فَاطِرَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ عٰلِمَ الْغَيْبِ وَ الشَّهَادَةِ اَنْتَ تَحْكُمُ بَيْنَ عِبَادِكَ فِيْ مَا كَانُوْا فِيْهِ يَخْتَلِفُوْنَ» [ الزمر : ۴۶ ] "Say: O Allah! Creator of the heavens and the earth! Knower of the unseen and the seen! You will judge between Your servants concerning that wherein they used to differ."

➐ { ذٰلِكُمُ اللّٰهُ رَبِّيْ:} That is, the same Allah whose few attributes have been mentioned in the above verses, which you also acknowledge, which are briefly that He is the Mighty and Wise, the Most High and Great, the Forgiving and Merciful, the True Guardian, the One who gives life to the dead and is fully capable over everything, the One who decides all disputes—He alone is my Lord. When not even one of these attributes is found in anyone else, how can I accept anyone else as my Lord?

➑ { ’’ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ ‘‘} (Upon Him alone I have relied) is a past tense verb, and {’’ وَ اِلَيْهِ اُنِيْبُ ‘‘} (and to Him alone I turn) is a present tense verb, which contains the meaning of continuity and permanence. {’’ عَلَيْهِ ‘‘} and {’’ اِلَيْهِ ‘‘} coming first gives the meaning of restriction, so the translation is "upon Him alone" and "to Him alone." That is, from the beginning I have relied only upon Him, and now in every matter I turn only to Him, I take every ruling from Him, I have every dispute decided by Him, I seek forgiveness from Him for every sin, and I consider only Him to be the truth.

11. 1. By this difference is meant the difference in religion, just as there are differences among Judaism, Christianity, Islam, etc., and every follower of a religion claims that his religion is true. And to recognize the path of truth, Allah's Qur'an is present. But in this world, people are not willing to accept this divine word as their own and as an arbitrator. In the end, only the Day of Resurrection remains, in which Allah will decide these differences and will admit the truthful to Paradise and the others to Hell.

10. And in whatever matter you differ, its decision [9] rests with Allah. That is Allah, my Lord; in Him I have placed my trust [10], and to Him I turn in repentance.

[9]
How Can Disputes Be Resolved?

Since the true religion was sent by Allah Himself through revelation to His Messenger and His servants, if the servants differ in this religion, then the right to decide among them also belongs to Allah alone. He informs people that the religion He sent was indeed this, and that they, at such and such points, created mutual differences by making incorrect interpretations. What happens is that every law-bearing Prophet forms the believers into one community. Later, people create differences within it and split into various sects. Then, when another Prophet comes, Allah reveals to him and informs the people of the original religion. In this way, Allah decides the disputes of people in this world, and in the Hereafter, the decision Allah will make regarding these disputes will be in an open court. Those who differed will be formally presented. Then testimonies will be established against them, and they will be told what the original religion was and how, through various tricks and deceptions, they distorted the face of the true religion. They themselves went astray and led others astray as well. And its other meaning is that in all matters of dispute, one should refer to the Word of Allah, that is, the Quran. Then, since the Quran makes obedience to the Messenger obligatory and equates it with obedience to itself, therefore, both the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger should be referred to. The only way to avoid sectarianism and disputes is for a person to submit wholeheartedly before the Book and the Sunnah. And this meaning is also supported by Surah An-Nisa, verses 59 and 64.

[10] That is, I have decided to always place my trust in Allah. So whenever I face any difficulty, I turn to Him alone.