Al-Jathiyah · Makki · ayah 17 of 37

Al-Jathiyah 45:17

وَءَاتَيْنَـٰهُم بَيِّنَـٰتٍ مِّنَ ٱلْأَمْرِ ۖ فَمَا ٱخْتَلَفُوٓا۟ إِلَّا مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا جَآءَهُمُ ٱلْعِلْمُ بَغْيًۢا بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَقْضِى بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ فِيمَا كَانُوا۟ فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ

“And We gave them clear proofs of the matter [of religion]. And they did not differ except after knowledge had come to them - out of jealous animosity between themselves. Indeed, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ.”

Saheeh International

Essence

They did not split because they lacked knowledge; they split after it arrived, because each wanted to stand higher than the other.

A reflection

The data was clear; the egos were not

We usually assume that people disagree because they do not know enough. Give everyone the facts, and the argument will settle. This ayah describes the opposite. 'They did not differ until after knowledge had come to them.'

Two classical commentators draw out the irony. Knowledge is the very thing that should remove disagreement. These people turned what should have ended their dispute into what fixed it in place. And the cause, they say, was not doubt. It was enmity and envy.

Picture a research team that has spent three years on a study. The results come back and they are clear. Everyone in the lab can read the graphs. And then the team splits. Not over what the data shows, but over whose name goes first on the paper, who presents at the conference, who gets the next grant. Within a year there are two rival groups publishing contradictory interpretations of the same numbers. The disagreement looks scientific. It began as a question of who would stand higher.

That is the pattern the ayah exposes. Many disputes that wear the clothes of principle are really about position. The commentators name it plainly: seeking leadership, rank and prestige.

This has an uncomfortable implication for religious people. More knowledge does not automatically produce more unity. A community can have libraries of learning and still fracture, because learning is not the same as humility. The Children of Israel had the Book, the wisdom and the prophets (45:16). They divided anyway.

The ayah offers a test for any argument you are in. If the facts were settled tomorrow, would the dispute end? If not, it was never really about the facts. It was about who wins.

The cure is not more information. It is a heart that does not need to be on top.

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.