Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 91 of 165

Al-An'am 6:91

وَمَا قَدَرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِۦٓ إِذْ قَالُوا۟ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ بَشَرٍ مِّن شَىْءٍ ۗ قُلْ مَنْ أَنزَلَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ ٱلَّذِى جَآءَ بِهِۦ مُوسَىٰ نُورًا وَهُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ ۖ تَجْعَلُونَهُۥ قَرَاطِيسَ تُبْدُونَهَا وَتُخْفُونَ كَثِيرًا ۖ وَعُلِّمْتُم مَّا لَمْ تَعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنتُمْ وَلَآ ءَابَآؤُكُمْ ۖ قُلِ ٱللَّهُ ۖ ثُمَّ ذَرْهُمْ فِى خَوْضِهِمْ يَلْعَبُونَ

“And they did not appraise Allāh with true appraisal[324] when they said, "Allāh did not reveal to a human being anything." Say, "Who revealed the Scripture that Moses brought as light and guidance to the people? You [Jews] make it into pages, disclosing [some of] it and concealing much. And you[325] were taught that which you knew not - neither you nor your fathers." Say, "Allāh [revealed it]." Then leave them in their [empty] discourse, amusing themselves.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Whoever says God made people and never spoke to them has measured Him with a tape made for themselves.

A reflection

A tape made for us

A tailor's apprentice measures a customer for a suit using a tape he has not checked. It is marked in centimetres where he reads inches. He writes the numbers down carefully and sends them off. Three weeks later the suit arrives, beautifully made, and small enough for a ten-year-old.

The ayah's verb comes from the same workshop. Qadara is to measure a thing: to probe it and find its true extent. One lexicon recalls a poet's line, 'Measure with your own forearm': know your size. And the ayah says of certain people that 'they did not measure Allah with His true measure'. They used a tape made for themselves.

The commentaries give the phrase several senses, all close. They did not honour Him as He deserves. They did not know Him as He deserves. They did not describe Him as He is. One early report adds that they did not believe He is able to do all things. A later commentator observes that every one of these is contained in the phrase.

That is the ego's habit. It sizes God by what it can picture. A God the size of my experience. A God who cannot be bothered with someone like me. A God who would never speak to a mere human being. Each one is a suit for a ten-year-old.

Someone may ask why He should care how we measure Him. Does He need our estimate? He does not. Our estimate adds nothing to Him and takes nothing away. It is our lives that are cut to the wrong size. Underestimate Him, and you either despair of His mercy or presume on it.

The same phrase appears twice more in the Quran. Once after a challenge: those called on besides Him could not create a fly (22:73-74). Once beside the Day when 'the whole earth will be within His grip, and the heavens folded in His right hand' (39:67). Humility begins by putting our own tape away.

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.