Surah Al-An'am 6:109

Asking for Miracles and Swearing to Believe if They Come

Allah states that the idolators swore their strongest oaths by Allah,

(that if there came to them a sign...) a miracle or phenomenon,

(they would surely believe therein.) affirming its truth,

(Say: "Signs are but with Allah.") 6:109 meaning: Say, O Muhammad - to those who ask you for signs out of defiance, disbelief and rebellion, not out of the desire for guidance and knowledge - "The matter of sending signs is for Allah. If He wills, He sends them to you, and if He wills, He ignores your request." Allah said next,

(And what will make you perceive that (even) if it came, they will not believe) It was said that `you' in `make you preceive' refers to the idolators, according to Mujahid. In this case, the Ayah would mean, what makes you -- you idolators -- preceive that you are truthful in the vows that you swore Therefore, in this recitation, the Ayah means, the idolators will still not believe if the sign that they asked for came. It was also said that `you' in, `what will make you preceive', refers to the believers, meaning, what will make you preceive, O believers, that the idolators will still not believe if the signs come. Allah also said,

("What prevented you (O Iblis) that you did not prostrate, when I commanded you") 7:12 and,

(And a ban is laid on every town (population) which We have destroyed that they shall not return (to this world again).) 21:95 These Ayat mean: `What made you, O Iblis, refrain from prostrating, although I commanded you to do so, and, in the second Ayah, that village shall not return to this world again. In the Ayah above 6:109, the meaning thus becomes: What makes you perceive, O believers, who wish eagerly for the disbelievers to believe, that if the Ayat came to them they would believe Allah said next,

(And We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away, as they refused to believe therein for the first time,) Al-`Awfi said that Ibn `Abbas said about this Ayah, "When the idolators rejected what Allah sent down, their hearts did not settle on any one thing and they turned away from every matter (of benefit)." Mujahid said that Allah's statement,

(and We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away, ) means, We prevent them from the faith, and even if every sign came to them, they will not believe, just as We prevented them from faith the first time. Similar was said by `Ikrimah and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam. `Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn `Abbas said, "Allah mentions what the servants will say before they say it and what they will do before they do it. Allah said;

(And none can inform you like Him Who is the All-Knower.) 35:14 and,

(Lest a person should say, "Alas, my grief that I was undutiful to Allah.") 39:56 until,

("If only I had another chance, then I should indeed be among the doers of good.") 39:58. So Allah, glory be to Him, states that if they were sent back to life, they would not accept the guidance,

(But if they were returned, they would certainly revert to that which they were forbidden. And indeed they are liars.) 6:28 Allah said,

(And We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away (from guidance), as they refused to believe therein for the first time,) meaning: `If they were sent back to this life, they would be prevented from embracing the guidance, just as We prevented them from it the first time, when they were in the life of this world." Allah said,

(and We shall leave them...) and abandon them,

(in their trespass...) meaning, disbelief, according to Ibn `Abbas and As-Suddi. Abu Al-`Aliyah, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and Qatadah said that `their trespass' means, `their misguidance'. m

(to wander blindly) or playfully, according to Al-A`mash. Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Abu Al-`Aliyah, Ar-Rabi`, Abu Malik and others commented, "to wander in their disbelief."

Muhammad bin Ka'ab berkata, "Orang Quraisy berkata kepada Nabi saw, "Wahai Muhammad, engkau menceritakan bahwa Musa a.s. memiliki tongkat yang dipukulkan ke batu, lalu keluar dua belas mata air, Isa a.s. menghidupkan orang-orang mati dan kaum samud memiliki unta. Maka datangkanlah kepada kami sebagian hal tersebut, kami akan mempercayaimu." Rasulullah saw menjawab, "apa yang kalian mau?" Orang Quraisy menjawab, "Bukit Safa jadikan emas." Rasul menjawab, "kalau aku lakukan, apakah kalian mengimaniku." Mereka menjawab, "ya, demi Allah kami semua mengikutimu." Lalu Rasulullah saw berdoa, maka datanglah Jibril a.s. dan berkata, "jika engkau mau Bukit Safa dijadikan emas, namun saya tidak diperintahkan untuk mendatangkan mukjizat, untuk didustakan kecuali ditimpakan siksa, atau dibiarkan agar bertobat sebagian mereka." Maka Allah menurunkan ayat ini.

Allah menjelaskan bahwa orang-orang musyrik bersumpah dengan nama Allah dengan segala kesungguhan bahwa seandainya Nabi dapat mendatangkan mukjizat seperti yang mereka harapkan, niscaya mereka akan percaya bahwa ayat-ayat yang diterima Nabi itu benar-benar datang dari Allah dan mereka akan mengakui bahwa Muhammad adalah utusan Allah. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa keingkaran mereka kepada ayat-ayat Allah telah memuncak. Mereka sebenarnya tidak sanggup memahami bukti-bukti kebenaran yang terkandung dalam ayat-ayat yang diterima oleh Nabi, kemudian mereka mengusulkan agar diturunkan tanda-tanda kebenaran yang lain. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa mereka hanyalah mencari-cari persoalan untuk menjatuhkan pribadi Nabi dengan jalan meminta turunnya mukjizat, padahal mukjizat-mukjizat itu diberikan berdasarkan izin Allah dan kebijaksanaan-Nya, tidak tergantung pada kehendak serta kemauan seseorang.

Allah memerintahkan kepada Nabi bahwa sesungguhnya ayat-ayat itu datang dari Allah semata, jadi kekuasaan menurunkan wahyu itu tidak di tangan Muhammad melainkan di tangan Allah yang diberikan menurut kehendak-Nya.

Allah berfirman:

Tidak ada hak bagi seorang rasul mendatangkan sesuatu bukti (mukjizat) melainkan dengan izin Allah. (ar-Ra'd/13: 38)

Sesudah itu Allah menjelaskan kepada kaum Muslimin yang mengharapkan datangnya mukjizat kepada Nabi, untuk memenuhi permintaan orang-orang kafir itu bahwa meskipun diturunkan mukjizat sesuai dengan permintaan mereka, mereka tidak akan pernah beriman. Oleh sebab itu orang Islam tidak perlu menghiraukan tuntutan mereka itu.