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sa-yaqūlūna li-llāhi qul fa-ʾannā tusḥarūna
They will say, ‘[They all belong] to Allah.’ Say, ‘Then how are you so deluded?’
— Ali Quli Qarai
23Al-Mu’minūnالمؤمنونVerse 89 of 118
The Believers23. Al-Mu’minūnالمؤمنون
Al Mu’minūn
The Believers
MeccanVerse 89 of 118
Surah al-Mu’minun - Verse 88-90
88. “Say: ‘In Whose hand is the dominion of all things, and Who protects (all), but is never protected, if you have knowledge?’”
89. “They will say: ‘(It belongs) to Allah.’ Say: ‘How then are you bewitched?’”
90. “Nay, We have brought them the Truth, and verily they are liars.”
In the first holy verse here they are asked again about the sovereignty over the heavens and the earth. The noble verse announces:
“Say: ‘In Whose hand is the dominion of all things, and Who protects (all), but is never protected, if you have knowledge?’”
They know who the absolute sovereign is, for here is their answer:
“They will say: ‘(It belongs) to Allah.’...”
Nevertheless, they say something far from the truth their hearts claim and thus they are deluded.
“...Say: ‘How then are you bewitched?’”
These are the facts that they confess to at every stage. They acknowledge Him as the Owner of existence, and they confess that He is the Creator of all things and is the All Wise Manager and Ruler. Can He Who has such power and ability, Whose dominion is so all pervasive not be able to gather together and reconstitute a human being who had passed away and had returned to dust, given that he had been made from dust in the beginning? Why did they evade the facts? Why did they condemn the Prophet (S) as insane or as a sorcerer, when their hearts confessed that these facts were true? Indeed they belied with their egos what they believed in the core of their being.
The verse says:
“Nay, We have brought them the Truth, and verily they are liars.”
This phrase implies that what had been sent to them through the Prophet (S) was not magic or anything else, it was the Truth but they refused to acknowledge it. Allah and His prophets had left no stone unturned when they proclaimed the message. Those who have closed their eyes to it have deviated and, indeed, many of them stubbornly stick to their lies. From the verses of The Holy Qur’an, it can be accurately inferred that the deniers of the Resurrection were mostly against the idea of a physical resurrection. They thought it is incredulous that a human being, who had disintegrated into dust, could be returned to life.
Because of this, many verses stress upon the power of Allah and show examples of it in the world of existence in order to eliminate this skepticism and their wonder. In the verses above, this issue is addressed in three ways:
A) His power over the earth and its inhabitants.
B) The heavens and the Mighty Throne.
C) The power of His management over the world of creation.
These three ways can be placed under one heading; guiding and challenging the unbelievers while they are presented as responses to their various opinions. There is another probability that each of these three issues refers to one of view points of the deniers of Resurrection. It implies that if their denial is based on the idea that human beings that have been dead and gone would be outside Allah’s power, they are wrong, for they acknowledge that Allah is the Lord of the earth and all that is within it.
If it is because resurrecting the dead requires a powerful Lord, they themselves call Him the Lord of the heavens and the ‘Arsh. If this denial is because they doubt the existence of an all powerful administrator of this world and the world to come or the giving of a new life to the dead, this denial would not be valid because they have acknowledged the power of His management over the entire world of existence and that He looks after the needs of all creatures. Thus, there is no room for their denial.
The concordance of the unbelievers’ answers:
(“They will say: ‘(It belongs) to Allah...”) 11
strengthens the first commentary. It is interesting that the first, second, and third answers respectively appear in the following forms:
“...Will you not then remember?” 12
“...Will you not then keep from evil?” 13
“...How then are you bewitched?” 14
These reproaches and reprimands, indeed, as the discourse progresses show a logical progression in educating and guiding the unbelievers. Condemning a person has three levels; first, a light upbraiding, then a firm reprimand, and finally a severe scolding.
Footnotes