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wa-qāla lladhīna kafarū li-lladhīna ʾāmanū law kāna khayran mā sabaqūnā ʾilayhi wa-ʾidh lam yahtadū bihī fa-sa-yaqūlūna hādhā ʾifkun qadīmun
The faithless say about the faithful, ‘Had it been [anything] good, they would not have taken the lead over us toward [accepting] it.’ And since they could not find the way to it, they will say, ‘It is an ancient lie.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Ahqaf - Verse 11
11. And those who disbelieve say of those who believe: “Had it [the Islamic faith] been a good thing, they would not have preceded us thereto!” And when they have not let themselves be guided by it, they say: “This is an ancient lie!”
The enemy does not enter from one single way and his words and logic are not in the same vein. At times he says: “Islam is worthless or else we would have preceded in embracing it. He sometimes says the call to embrace the Islamic faith is an age old and precedent lie.” The blessed Verse addresses either the disbelievers from Quraysh or the Jews or disbelievers in general who were the Noble Prophet’s (S) contemporaries. Since they regarded themselves as wealthy, noble, magnanimous, scholars, and knowledgeable, they considered the Noble Prophet’s (S) poor Companions, e.g. ‘Ammar, Suhayb, and Ibn Mas’ud as unworthy and weakling.
To persuade the believers they said unto them that had there been merits and felicity in following Muhammad (S), we would have preceded you in embracing the Islamic faith. According to the blessed Verse, since disbelievers did not find their way toward felicity and merits and were deprived of guidance and their vanity and prejudice impeded their hearts from being enlightened by the Qur’anic light and admitting the true source of the Qur’an, they pretend ignorance and say this Qur’an is a fabrication attributed by Muhammad (S) to God.
The content of the Verse resembles one31 as per which disbelievers said that the Qur’an is nothing save ancient lies (in hadha asatir al-awwalin).
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