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Towards Understanding the Quran
With kind permission: Islamic Foundation UK
Introduction to Tafheem | Glossary | Verbs
Tafsirs: Maarif | Dawat | Ishraq | Clear

 Surah Al-An'am 6:111-113 [14/20]
  
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Verse Summary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
۞ وَلَوْAnd (even) if
أَنَّنَا[that] We (had)
نَزَّلْنَآ[We] sent down
إِلَيْهِمُto them
ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةَthe Angels
وَكَلَّمَهُمُand spoken to them
ٱلْمَوْتَىٰthe dead
وَحَشَرْنَاand We gathered
عَلَيْهِمْbefore them
كُلَّevery
شَىْءٍthing
قُبُلاًface to face,
مَّاnot
كَانُواْthey were
لِيُؤْمِنُوٓاْto believe
إِلَّآunless
أَن[that]
يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُAllah wills.
وَلَـٰكِنَّBut
أَكْثَرَهُمْmost of them
يَجْهَلُونَ(are) ignorant.
﴿١١١﴾
وَكَذَٲلِكَAnd thus
جَعَلْنَاWe made
لِكُلِّfor every
نَبِىٍّProphet
عَدُوًّاan enemy -
شَيَـٰطِينَdevils
ٱلْإِنسِ(from) the mankind
وَٱلْجِنِّand the jinn,
يُوحِىinspiring
بَعْضُهُمْsome of them
إِلَىٰto
بَعْضٍothers
زُخْرُفَ(with) decorative
ٱلْقَوْلِ[the] speech
غُرُورًا‌ۚ(in) deception.
وَلَوْBut if
شَآءَ رَبُّكَyour Lord had willed
مَا فَعَلُوهُ‌ۖthey (would) not have done it,
فَذَرْهُمْso leave them
وَمَاand what
يَفْتَرُونَthey invent.
﴿١١٢﴾
وَلِتَصْغَىٰٓAnd so that incline
إِلَيْهِto it
أَفْــِٔدَةُhearts
ٱلَّذِينَ(of) those who
لَا(do) not
يُؤْمِنُونَbelieve
بِٱلْأَخِرَةِin the Hereafter,
وَلِيَرْضَوْهُand so that they may be pleased with it
وَلِيَقْتَرِفُواْand so that they may commit
مَاwhat
هُمthey
مُّقْتَرِفُونَ(are) committing.
﴿١١٣﴾


وَلَوۡ اَنَّـنَا نَزَّلۡنَاۤ اِلَيۡهِمُ الۡمَلٰٓـئِكَةَ وَكَلَّمَهُمُ الۡمَوۡتٰى وَ حَشَرۡنَا عَلَيۡهِمۡ كُلَّ شَىۡءٍ قُبُلًا مَّا كَانُوۡا لِيُؤۡمِنُوۡۤا اِلَّاۤ اَنۡ يَّشَآءَ اللّٰهُ وَلٰـكِنَّ اَكۡثَرَهُمۡ يَجۡهَلُوۡنَ‏  وَكَذٰلِكَ جَعَلۡنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِىٍّ عَدُوًّا شَيٰطِيۡنَ الۡاِنۡسِ وَالۡجِنِّ يُوۡحِىۡ بَعۡضُهُمۡ اِلٰى بَعۡضٍ زُخۡرُفَ الۡقَوۡلِ غُرُوۡرًا​ ؕ وَلَوۡ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ مَا فَعَلُوۡهُ​ فَذَرۡهُمۡ وَمَا يَفۡتَرُوۡنَ‏  وَلِتَصۡغٰٓى اِلَيۡهِ اَفۡـئِدَةُ الَّذِيۡنَ لَا يُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ بِالۡاٰخِرَةِ وَلِيَرۡضَوۡهُ وَلِيَقۡتَرِفُوۡا مَا هُمۡ مُّقۡتَرِفُوۡنَ‏ 

Translation
(6:111) Even if We had sent angels down to them and the dead had spoken to them, and even if We had assembled before them all the things, face to face, they would still not believe unless it be Allah's will that they believe.78 Most of them behave in utter ignorance. (6:112) And so it is that against every Prophet We have set up the evil ones from among men and jinn, some of them inspire others with specious speech only by way of. delusion.79 Had it been your Lord's will, they would not have done it.80 Leave them alone to fabricate what they will. (6:113) So that the hearts of those who do not believe in the Life to Come might incline towards this attractive delusion, and that they may be well pleased with it and might acquire the evils that they are bent on acquiring.

Commentary

78. The people under discussion are so perverse that they do not prefer to embrace the Truth in preference to falsehood by rightly exercising their choice and volition. The only way that is left for them to become lovers of the Truth is, therefore, that by His overpowering will God should render them truth-loving not by their choice and volition, but by metamorphizing their very nature. Such a course, however, goes against the wisdom which underlies the creation of man. Hence it is futile to expect God to intervene in the matter and to force those people to believe by the exercise of His will.

79. The Prophet (peace be on him) is told that he should not be unnerved even if the evil ones among both mankind and the jinn stood united against him and opposed him with all their might. For this was not the first time that such a thing had happened. Whenever a Prophet came and tried to lead people to the Truth, all the satanic forces joined hands to defeat his mission. 'Specious talk' signifies all the trickery and manoeuvring to which the enemy resorts, all his efforts aimed at sowing doubts about Islam and undermining people's faith in it, so as to arouse them against both the Prophet (peace be on him) and his message. Taken as a whole, these are characterized as 'delusion', for the weapons used in their crusade by the opponents of the Truth have the effect of deluding others as well as themselves, no matter how beneficial and successful those weapons may appear to be.

80. Furthermore, we should always bear in mind that, according to the Qur'an, there is a tremendous difference between 'God's will' and 'God's good pleasure'. The failure to differentiate between the two often gives rise to serious misconceptions. If a certain thing takes place in accord with the universal will of God, and thus by His sanction, that does not necessarily mean that God is pleased with it. Nothing at all takes place in the world unless God permits it to take place, unless He makes it a part of His scheme, and unless He makes it possible for that event to take place by creating its necessary conditions. The act of stealing on the part of a thief, the act of homicide on the part of a murderer, the wrong and corruption of the wrong-doer and the corrupt, the unbelief of the unbeliever and the polytheism of the polytheist - none of these are possible without the will of God. Likewise, the faith of the believer and the piety of the pious are inconceivable without the will of God. In short, both these require the will of God. But whereas the things in the first category do not please Him, those in the second do.
Even though the will of God is oriented to ultimate good, the course of the realization of that good is paved with conflict between the forces of light and darkness, of good and evil, of what is sound and pure on the one hand and what is corrupt and defiled on the other. With larger interests in view, God has endowed man with the disposition of obedience as well as of disobedience. He has created in man Abrahamic and Mosaic as well as Nimrodic and Pharaonic potentialities. Both the pure, unadulterated human nature and the satanic urges are ingrained in man's being and have been provided with the opportunity to work themselves out by coming into conflict with each other. He has granted those species of His creatures who are possessed of authority (viz. man and jinn) the freedom to choose between good and evil. Whosoever chooses to act righteously has been given the power to do so, and the same is the case with him who chooses to be evil. People of both categories are in a position to use material resources within the framework of the broader considerations underlying God's- governance of His universe. God will be pleased, however, only with those who are working for good. God likes His creatures to exercise their freedom of choice properly and commit themselves to good of their own volition.
Unlike the angels, who carry out God's commands without resistance from any quarter, the task entrusted to men is to strive to establish the way of life sanctioned by God in the face of opposition and hostility from evil-doers and rebels against Him. In the framework of His universal will, God allows even those who have chosen the path of rebellion to strive for the realization of their goals, even as He grants the believers every opportunity to strive along the path of obedience and service to God. Despite this granting of freedom and choice to all there is no doubt that God is pleased with, and guides, directs, supports and strengthens the believers alone because their overall direction is to His liking. Nevertheless, they should not expect that by His supernatural intervention God will either force those who are disinclined to believe into believing or that He will forcibly remove the satanic forces - among both men and jinn - who are resolved to spare neither their mental and physical energy nor their material resources to impede the triumph of the Truth. Those determined to strive in the cause of the Truth, and of virtue and righteousness are told that they must prove their earnest devotion by waging a fierce struggle against the devotees of falsehood. For had God wanted to use miracles to obliterate falsehood and usher in the reign of the Truth, He would not have required human beings to accomplish the task. He could have simply seen to it that no evil one remained in the world, leaving no possibility for polytheism and unbelief to exist.