Al-Hajj · Madani · ayah 8 of 78

Al-Hajj 22:8

وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يُجَـٰدِلُ فِى ٱللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَلَا هُدًى وَلَا كِتَـٰبٍ مُّنِيرٍ

“And of the people is he who disputes about Allāh without knowledge or guidance or an enlightening book [from Him],”

Saheeh International

Essence

Some people argue about Allah with no knowledge of their own, no guide who has walked the road, and no book that gives light.

A reflection

Three lamps, and not one of them lit

The ayah does not simply say this man argues without knowledge. It names three things he lacks, one after another, each with its own lā. Several classical commentators read the three as the three ways anyone ever knows anything. ʿIlm is what the mind grasps directly, the plain and self-evident. Hudā is reasoning carried step by step, or a guide who has walked the road and can lead you along it. Kitāb munīr is revelation: a book from Allah that gives off its own light.

Picture a group of walkers on a high fell when the cloud comes down. One man takes charge and points confidently to the left. He has never walked this path before, so he has no knowledge. He has not followed anyone who has, so he has no guide. And he left the map in the car. Yet he is the loudest voice on the hill, and two of the group are already following him.

That is the shape of the dispute the ayah describes. It is not that the arguer chose the wrong source. He has none at all. One commentator says he argues from guesswork and estimation alone. Another calls it opinion and appetite with neither sound reason nor sound report behind it.

Notice what this implies. The Quran does not ask you to believe without any of the three. It offers all three at once. The ayat just before this one (22:5-7) lay out the evidence: the stages of the embryo, the dead earth stirring under rain. That is material for the mind. The Messenger stands among them as the guide. And the Book itself is being recited. The arguer stands in a room with three lamps and has decided to argue in the dark.

So before you speak about Allah, or about His religion, ask which lamp you are holding. If the honest answer is none of them, the most truthful thing you can do is stop and listen.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.