Az-Zukhruf · Makki · ayah 58 of 89

Az-Zukhruf 43:58

وَقَالُوٓا۟ ءَأَـٰلِهَتُنَا خَيْرٌ أَمْ هُوَ ۚ مَا ضَرَبُوهُ لَكَ إِلَّا جَدَلًۢا ۚ بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ خَصِمُونَ

“And they said, "Are our gods better, or is he?"[1444] They did not present it [i.e., the comparison] except for [mere] argument. But, [in fact], they are a people prone to dispute.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Their question about which was better was never a search for truth, only a rope to twist, by a people who love quarrelling.

A reflection

Argument for its own sake

Mā ḍarabūhu laka illā jadalā: they only put it to you for argument's sake. Allah exposes the motive behind the clever objection. One early commentator explains: there was no seeking of the truth in it. Another modern commentary says they did not raise this example out of love of reaching the truth, but out of love of argument.

The root j-d-l has a vivid picture in the lexicons. Jadala is to twist a rope hard and firm. A jadīl is a tightly twisted halter. From this comes jidāl, dispute, as if each side is twisting the other away from his position. Another view links it to wrestling a man down onto hard ground.

So argument, in this picture, is not a shared search. It is two people each trying to wring the other into a new shape. Nobody is looking for the truth. Each is looking for the other's surrender.

One commentary notes that they knew perfectly well their objection did not hold. The ayah they quoted was about lifeless idols. But they twisted it anyway, because the pleasure of the twist was the point.

Most of us know this feeling. Some arguments we enter to learn. Others we enter to win, and we can feel the difference in our chest. In the second kind, a good point from the other side feels like a threat, not a gift.

A couple argue for an hour about whose turn it was to call the plumber. Afterwards, neither can remember why it mattered so much. The leak is still dripping.

Before your next argument, ask yourself honestly: am I twisting a rope, or looking for the truth? If it is the rope, let go of your end.

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.