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.
قُلِ
انظُرُواْ
مَاذَا فِي
السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالأَرْضِ...
10: 101. Say:
"Behold all that is in the heavens and on earth;"
...وَمَا تُغْنِي الآيَاتُ وَالنُّذُرُ عَن قَوْمٍ لاَّ يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿١٠١﴾
but neither Signs nor Warners profit those who believe not.
C1483. If Faith results from an active exertion of our spiritual faculties or understanding, it follows that if we let these die, Allah's Signs in His Creation or in the spoken Word which comes by inspiration through the mouths of His Messengers will not reach us any more than music reaches a deaf man.
فَهَلْ
يَنتَظِرُونَ
إِلاَّ مِثْلَ
أَيَّامِ الَّذِينَ
خَلَوْاْ مِن
قَبْلِهِمْ...
10: 102. Do they then expect (anything) but (what happened in) the days of the men who passed away before them?
...قُلْ فَانتَظِرُواْ إِنِّي مَعَكُم مِّنَ الْمُنتَظِرِينَ ﴿١٠٢﴾
Say: "Wait ye then: for I too, will wait with you."
The argument about Allah's revelation of Himself to man was begun in those early sections of this Sura and is being now rounded off towards the end of this Sura with the same formula.
10: 99
Asad And [thus it is :] had thy Sustainer so willed, all those who live on earth would surely have attained to faith, all of them [note 122] do you, then, think that you could compel people to believe, :
Pickthall And if thy Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together. Wouldst thou (Muhammad) compel men until they are believers?
Transliteration Wa lau sya_'a rabbuka la'a_mana man fil ardi kulluhum jami'a_(n), afa anta tukrihun na_sa hatta_ yaku_nu_ mu'minin(a).
[[ Ruby’s note 10:99 – This verse conveying that God does not will to impose faith on a human being. However if God wanted He could made everyone believe: He can do anything. The fundamental idea is that God has empowered a human with ability to think, reason and He has given a human the disposition or conscience [“fitra”] to be able to discern right from wrong. With this God has given a human the responsibility of “free will”. God does not generally interfere with the initial human decision making and choosing process. If God wanted He could have enforced faith into human beings, but He gave the choice to human beings, that is His Will. To help He has made the entire reality a message-box – signs inscribed in everything for one to see a greater Will and Patter, if one exercises reason with sincere desire to find truth one does come to believe. ]]
[[Asad’s note 122 – The Quran 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 wring, thus raising him to the status of a moral being (in distinction from other animals, which can only follow their instincts….See surah 6, note 143, as well as …..surah 7, note 16.]].
[[ Ali’s note 1480 -- 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. Forced faith is no faith. They should strive. (10.99) ]]
10: 100
Asad notwithstanding that no human being can ever attain to faith otherwise than by God’s leave [ note123] and [that] it is He who lays the loathsome evil [of disbelief] upon those who will not use their reason [note 124]?
Pickthall It is not for any soul to believe save by the permission of Allah. He hath set uncleanness upon those who have no sense.
Yuksel It is not for a person to acknowledge except by God's leave. He casts the affliction upon those who do not reason.
Transliteration Wa ma_ ka_na li nafsin an tu'mina illa_ bi iznilla_h(i), wa yaj'alur rijsa 'alal lazina la_ ya'qilu_n(a).
[[ Asad’s notes - 123 – I.e., by the virtue of God’s guidance and within the compass of what He has decreed to be man’s nature, comprising the ability to discriminate between right and wring. Since man’s freedom of moral choice expresses itself in his willingness of unwillingness to conform to his true, God-willed nature . it can eb said to depend, in the last resort, on God’s grace (cf. in this respect surah 2, note 19, as well as surah 14, note 4.).
Note 124- Cf. 8:22 and 55, as well as the corresponding note 58. As in those verses, unbelief is here shown to be the result of a person’s a-priori unwillingness to use his reason with a view to understanding God’s messages, be they directly expresses in the revelations granted to His prophets, or – as the Quran once again stresses in the next verse – open to man’s perception in the observable phenomena of His creation. ]]
[[ Ali’s notes - 1481 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. (10.100)
1482 Rijs (from rajisa, yarjasu, or rajusa, yarjusu) has various meanings: e.g., (1) filth, impurity, uncleanness, abomination, as in ix. 95; (2) hence, filthy deeds, foul conduct, crime, abomination, thus shading off into (1), as in v. 90; (3) hence punishment for crime, penalty, as in vi. 125; (4) a form of such punishment, viz., doubt, obscurity, or unsettlement of mind, anger, indignation, as in ix. 125, and here, but perhaps the idea of punishment is also implied here. (10.100)
]]
10: 101
Asad Say: “Consider whatever there is in the heavens and on earth!” But of what avail could all the messages and all the warnings be to people who will not believe?
Pickthall Say: Behold what is in the heavens and the earth! But revelations and warnings avail not folk who will not believe.
Yuksel Say, "Look at all that is in the heavens and the earth." But what good are the signs and warnings to a people who do not acknowledge?
10:102
Transliteration Qul-inzuru_ ma_za_ fis sama_wa_ti wal ard(i), wa ma_ tugnil a_ya_tu wan nuzuru 'an qaumil la_ yu'minu_n(a).