Surah Al-An'am, Ayah 20

Allah is the Irresistible, Able to Bring Benefit and Protect from Harm

Allah states that He Alone brings benefit or harm, and that He does what He wills with His creatures, none can resist His judgment or prevent what He decrees,

وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلاَ كَـشِفَ لَهُ إِلاَّ هُوَ وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ بِخَيْرٍ فَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدُيرٌ

(And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is able to do all things.) Similarly, Allah said,

مَّا يَفْتَحِ اللَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ مِن رَّحْمَةٍ فَلاَ مُمْسِكَ لَهَا وَمَا يُمْسِكْ فَلاَ مُرْسِلَ لَهُ مِن بَعْدِهِ

(Whatever mercy, Allah may grant to mankind, none can withhold it, and whatever He may withhold, none can grant it thereafter) 35:2. It is recorded in the Sahih that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to supplicate,

In verse 20, there is a refutation of the saying of those who had said that they had checked with the Jews and the Christians and none of them were ready to attest to his truth as a Messenger of Allah. About that it was said: الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْرِ‌فُونَهُ كَمَا يَعْرِ‌فُونَ أَبْنَاءَهُمُ ; (That is, as for the Jews and Christians, they recognize Muhammad al-Mustafa as they would recognize their sons.

The reason is that there is, in the Torah and Injil, a full description of the physical features of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، of his home city and then his post-emigration place of residence, and of his habits and morals and achievements - all this in such details that it leaves no room for doubt in the recognition of his identity. In fact, this is not limited to the mention of the Holy Prophet ﷺ the Torah and the Injil carry even the detailed description of his noble Sahabah as well. Therefore, there was no possibility that anyone who recited the Torah and the Injil and believed in them would be unable to recognize the Holy Prophet ﷺ .

At this point, the simile given in the text is that of children - ` as they would recognize their sons.' Not said here is: as children recognize their parents. The reason is that the recognition of children by parents is most detailed and certain. Children remain before parents day and night under all conditions. From infancy to younger years, they are raised in the hands and laps of parents. So, the extent to which parents can recognize their children, their children cannot recognize them.

Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Salam ؓ عنہ belonged to the Jewish faith, then he became a Muslim. Sayyidna Faruq al-A'zam ؓ asked him: Allah Ta` ala says in the Qur'an that you recognize our Rasul as you would recognize your sons. What is the reason for it? Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Salam said: Yes, we know the Holy Prophet ﷺ from his qualities and features revealed by Allah Almighty through the Torah. Therefore, this knowledge of ours is certain and absolute. This is contrary to our offspring about whom one could doubt whether or not they were their children.

Sayyidna Zayd ibn Sa'nah who first belonged to the people of the Book had recognized the Holy Prophet ﷺ through the description of his qualities and features stated in the Torah and the Injil. There was only one quality which could not be confirmed from earlier information. So, this he confirmed by testing. That quality was : ` His forbearance will dominate his anger.' Then, he went to see the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، made his test and found him a true bearer of this quality. He instantly became a Muslim.

In the last verse (21), it was said that these people of the Book who, despite knowing the true identity of the Holy Prophet ﷺ do not accept Islam were simply ruining themselves at their own hands: الَّذِينَ خَسِرُ‌وا أَنفُسَهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ (Those, who have brought loss on themselves, they are not going to believe).

In the on-going struggle between the proponents, on the one hand of Truth and on the other of falsehood, the only decisive factor is the Book of God. There is nobody who knows the full facts or has any real authority except God. So God, the only Being who is capable of settling this dispute, has given an arbiter to the people in the form of the Quran. Now, man has only one course open to him. If he is not aware of the veracity of the Quran, he should investigate and satisfy himself that it is the Book of God. When he comes to know that it is really the Book of God, he should necessarily be satisfied with whatever is advocated therein. One who is not in agreement with the decision of the Quran runs the risk of being forced to accept its verdict in the Hereafter after much degradation and punishment. The Quran has been revealed so that, before the arrival of the time of Judgement, people may be made aware of what awaits them. The Prophet Muhammad performed this task during his prophethood and the same work has to be continued by his followers (ummah) till Doomsday. The Quran tells us in advance how God is going to treat people in the eternal world of the Hereafter. Those who are assigned the task of delivering this message to the people will be free of the responsibility once they have fully conveyed the message; but those to whom it is delivered will be free in the eyes of God only when they have accepted it and reformed themselves accordingly. The missionary’s responsibility ends with his ‘preaching’, while that of the addressee ends only on his ‘fulfilling his religious obligations’.