Al-Qasas · Makki · ayah 48 of 88

Al-Qasas 28:48

فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمُ ٱلْحَقُّ مِنْ عِندِنَا قَالُوا۟ لَوْلَآ أُوتِىَ مِثْلَ مَآ أُوتِىَ مُوسَىٰٓ ۚ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفُرُوا۟ بِمَآ أُوتِىَ مُوسَىٰ مِن قَبْلُ ۖ قَالُوا۟ سِحْرَانِ تَظَـٰهَرَا وَقَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا بِكُلٍّ كَـٰفِرُونَ

“But when the truth came to them from Us, they said, "Why was he not given like that which was given to Moses?" Did they not disbelieve in that which was given to Moses before? They said, "[They are but] two works of magic supporting each other,[1110] and indeed we are, in both, disbelievers."”

Saheeh International

Essence

When the truth came, those who had asked for a messenger demanded a different sign, because evidence was never their real obstacle.

A reflection

The goalposts that keep walking

Read 28:47 and 28:48 side by side and watch the goalposts move. Before the messenger came, the cry was: if only You had sent us a messenger. After he came, it was: if only he had been given what Musa was given. One classical commentator states it bluntly. Before the mission they clung to one pretext, and after it to another. The aim was never the evidence.

The demand itself is specific. The commentators list what they had in mind: the staff, the shining hand, the parted sea, or a scripture sent down all at once. Each sounds like a reasonable condition. Each is also a moving target.

A man in his thirties spends a year viewing flats. The first is too far from the station. The second is near the station but noisy. The third is quiet but has no garden. The fourth has a garden, but the kitchen is dark. By the twelfth, his sister asks him gently whether he wants to move at all. After a long pause, he admits he does not. Every objection was true. None of them was the reason.

That is the mirror. When the reasons keep changing but the answer never does, the reasons are not reasons. They are cover for a decision already made. The ayah shows it in a people, but the pattern lives in every heart. I will pray properly when work calms down. I will give when I earn more. I will change once the children are older. Each condition is met, and a new one arrives.

So test your own conditions with one honest question. If this were met tomorrow, would I truly act? If the answer is 'probably not', the condition was never the obstacle. Name the real one. It is usually smaller than the wall of excuses built to hide it, and far easier to bring to Allah.

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.