Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 114 of 165

Al-An'am 6:114

أَفَغَيْرَ ٱللَّهِ أَبْتَغِى حَكَمًا وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ إِلَيْكُمُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ مُفَصَّلًا ۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَاتَيْنَـٰهُمُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ يَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُۥ مُنَزَّلٌ مِّن رَّبِّكَ بِٱلْحَقِّ ۖ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلْمُمْتَرِينَ

“[Say], "Then is it other than Allāh I should seek as judge while it is He who has revealed to you the Book [i.e., the Qur’ān] explained in detail?" And those to whom We [previously] gave the Scripture know that it is sent down from your Lord in truth, so never be among the doubters.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Asked to name an arbiter, the Prophet will seek no judge but the One who already ruled, in a Book set out piece by piece.

A reflection

The friend you keep asking until someone agrees

A woman has a decision to make, and in her heart she has already made it. She asks one friend, who frowns. She asks a second, who hesitates. She asks a third, who says go for it. That is the friend she quotes for the rest of the year.

Most of us do this. We do not reject the verdict we dislike. We simply keep shopping for a judge. The idolaters of Makkah did it openly. Some commentaries report that they said to the Prophet ﷺ: set up an arbiter between us and you. One adds that they wanted rabbis or bishops to rule on him from their own books.

The answer he is told to give is a question. A-fa-ghayra Allāhi abtaghī ḥakaman: 'Shall I seek a judge other than Allah?' The word order matters. 'Other than Allah' comes first, before the verb. One commentary explains that the denial is aimed precisely there. Seeking a judge is not the fault. Seeking one other than Him is.

This is where the ego shrinks. Every appeal beyond His verdict assumes there is a higher court. My feelings. The majority. The expert I happen to like. The friend who says yes. Each is a judge I chose because I already knew what it would say. The ayah pulls the ground from under all of them. There is no bench above His.

Does He need to insist on being the only judge, as if jealous of rivals? No. A judge who gains nothing from either side is the only one who can be trusted completely. One commentary notes that ḥakam is a stronger word than ḥākim. Anyone who rules is a ḥākim, even unjustly. Only one who rules by truth, again and again, earns the name ḥakam. He gains nothing from the verdict. You gain everything from accepting it.

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.