Fussilat · Makki · ayah 52 of 54

Fussilat 41:52

قُلْ أَرَءَيْتُمْ إِن كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ ثُمَّ كَفَرْتُم بِهِۦ مَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنْ هُوَ فِى شِقَاقٍۭ بَعِيدٍ

“Say, "Have you considered: if it [i.e., the Qur’ān] is from Allāh and you disbelieved in it, who would be more astray than one who is in extreme dissension?"”

Saheeh International

Essence

Suppose it really is from Allah, and you have rejected it unexamined: who could be further from the road than you?

A reflection

The cost of not checking

"Say: have you considered, if it is from Allah and then you disbelieve in it?" Two classical commentators explain the argument with great care. Your rejection of the Quran, says one, does not rest on any decisive proof that has given you certainty. Before examination, the matter is open. It may be from Allah or it may not. And you have not examined it. You have gone a long way in opposing something that may well be true.

The other draws the practical conclusion. The falsehood of the Quran is not self-evident, so before any proof both possibilities stand. If it is true, persistent rejection is among the gravest causes of punishment. So the reasonable course is to stop resisting and return to examining the evidence. If it proves true, accept it. If it proves false, leave it. But stubborn refusal before examination is far from reason.

Picture a small fishing boat heading home at dusk. The skipper hears a faint, broken call on the radio: a Mayday, perhaps, from somewhere off the headland. It could be children playing with a handset. Turning back to check will cost an hour and the evening's sale at the harbour. Not checking, if it is real, could cost lives. He turns the boat round.

He is not certain the call is genuine. He simply knows which mistake he could not live with.

That is the ayah's reasoning, and it is not a trick. It asks only for what any careful person does when the stakes are high and the question is open: look properly before deciding. The Quran is confident about what an honest look will find. But it begins by asking only for the look.

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.