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.