10. Surah Yunus
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَلَوْ شَاء رَبُّكَ
لآمَنَ مَن فِي
الأَرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ
جَمِيعًا...
10: 99. If it had been the Lord's Will, they would all have believed -- all who are on earth!
...أَفَأَنتَ تُكْرِهُ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَكُونُواْ مُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٩٩﴾
Wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will, to believe!
C1480. If it had been Allah's Plan or Will not to grant the limited Free-will that He has granted to man, His omnipotence could have made all mankind alike: all would then have had Faith, but that Faith would have reflected no merit on them.
In the actual world as it is, man has been endowed with various faculties and capacities, so that he should strive and explore, and bring himself into harmony with Allah's Will. Hence Faith becomes a moral achievement, and to resist Faith becomes a sin.
As a complementary proposition, men of Faith must not be impatient or angry if they have to contend against Unfaith, and most important of all, they must guard against the temptation of forcing Faith, i.e., imposing it on others by physical compulsion or any other forms of compulsion such as social pressure, or inducements held out by wealth or position, or other adventitious advantages.
Forced faith is no faith. They should strive spiritually and let Allah's Plan work as He wills.
وَمَا
كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ
أَن تُؤْمِنَ
إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِ
اللّهِ...
10: 100. No soul can believe, except by the Will of Allah,
C1481. To creatures endued with Will, Faith comes out of an active use of that Will. But we must not be so arrogant as to suppose that that is enough. At best man is weak, and is in need of Allah's grace and help.
If we sincerely wish to understand. He will help our Faith; but if not, our doubts and difficulties will only be increased. This follows as a necessary consequence, and in Quranic language all consequences are ascribed to Allah.
...وَيَجْعَلُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ ﴿١٠٠﴾
and He will place Doubt (or obscurity) on those who will not understand.
C1482. Rijs (from rajisa, yarjasu, or rajusa, yarjusu) has various meanings: e.g.,
- filth, impurity, uncleanness, abomination, as in 9:95;
- hence, filthy deeds, foul conduct, crime, abomination, thus shading off into previous, as in 5:93;
- hence punishment for crime, penalty, as in 6:125;
- a form of such punishment, viz., doubt, obscurity, or unsettlement of mind, anger, indignation, as in 9:125, and here, but perhaps the idea of punishment is also implied here.
Asad’s version
10:99 And [thus it is:] had thy Sustainer so willed, all those who live on earth would surely have attained to faith, all of them: 122 dost thou, then, think that thou couldst compel people to believe,
10:100 notwithstanding that no human being can ever attain to faith otherwise than by God's leave, 123 and [that] it is He who lays the loathsome evil [of disbelief] upon those who will not use their reason?"
[[ Asad’s notes - 122 The Qur'an stresses repeatedly the fact that, "had He so willed, He would have guided you all aright" (6:149)- the obvious implication being that He has willed it otherwise : namely, that He has given man the freedom to choose between right and wrong, thus raising him to the status of a moral being (in distinction from other animals, which can only follow their instincts). See, in this context, surah 6, note 143, as well as - in connection with the allegory of the Fall - surah 7, note 16.
123 I.e., by virtue of God's guidance and within the compass of what He has decreed to be maris nature, comprising the ability to discriminate between right and wrong. Since maris freedom of moral choice expresses itself in his willingness or unwillingness to conform to his true, God- willed nature, it can be said to depend, in the last resort, on God's grace. (Cf. in this respect surah 2, note 1 9, as well as surah 14, note 4.) ]]