Ghafir · Makki · ayah 35 of 85

Ghafir 40:35

ٱلَّذِينَ يُجَـٰدِلُونَ فِىٓ ءَايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ سُلْطَـٰنٍ أَتَىٰهُمْ ۖ كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِندَ ٱللَّهِ وَعِندَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يَطْبَعُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ قَلْبِ مُتَكَبِّرٍ جَبَّارٍ

“Those who dispute concerning the signs of Allāh without an authority[1371] having come to them - great is hatred [of them] in the sight of Allāh and in the sight of those who have believed. Thus does Allāh seal over every heart [belonging to] an arrogant tyrant.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Arguing against Allah's signs with no proof is loathed in heaven and on earth, and the arrogant heart is finally stamped with its own shape.

A reflection

Not arguing, but arguing without proof

Many people grow up with an unspoken rule. Faith means not arguing. Questions about religion are a sign of weak belief, and debate is something the pious avoid. Read quickly, this ayah seems to confirm it. Those who dispute about Allah's signs are hateful to Him.

Read the whole phrase. Bi-ghayri sulṭānin atāhum: without any authority that has come to them. The blame does not fall on disputing. It falls on disputing with nothing.

One classical commentary draws the conclusion plainly. Condemning those who argue without proof shows that arguing with proof is good and right. It also shows that blind imitation is void. Another explains sulṭān as any sound proof at all, whether from revelation or from reason. The people in view had neither. They argued anyway.

The root of sulṭān carries a strong picture. A hand strong enough to stop yours, and in the same word, a proof strong enough to storm the heart. An argument without sulṭān is all grip and no hand. It pushes, but there is nothing in it.

Two friends in a car argue for forty minutes about the year a film came out. Both are certain. Neither looks it up. By the end, neither is defending a date. Each is defending himself.

That is the kind of dispute this ayah describes: one with no interest in what is true, only in not being moved. Islam has never feared a question asked honestly. What it names as hateful is the argument that has already decided never to be answered.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.