Surah Ash-Shu'ara 26:9

Which was revealed in Makkah

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The Qur'an and the Disbelievers turning away;

They could be compelled to believe if Allah so willed At the beginning of the explanation of Surat Al-Baqarah we discussed the letters which appear at the beginning of some Surahs. Allah's saying:

(These are the Ayat of the Book Mubin.) means, these are the verses of the Clear Qur'an, i.e. the clear and unambiguous Book which distinguishes between truth and falsehood, misguidance and guidance.

(It may be that you are going Bakhi` yourself,) means, destroy yourself -- because of your keenness that they should be guided and your grief for them.

(that they do not become believers.) Here Allah is consoling His Messenger for the lack of faith of those among the disbelievers who do not believe in him. This is like the Ayat:

(So destroy not yourself in sorrow for them) (35:8).

(Perhaps, you would Bakhi` yourself, over their footsteps, because they believe not in this narration) (18:6). Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Qatadah, `Atiyyah, Ad-Dahhak, Al-Hasan and others said that:

(It may be that you are going Bakhi` yourself,) means, `kill yourself.' Then Allah says:

(If We will, We could send down to them from the heaven a sign, to which they would bend their necks in humility.) meaning, `if We so willed, We could send down a sign that would force them to believe, but We will not do that because We do not want anyone to believe except by choice.' Allah says:

(And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together. So, will you then compel mankind, until they become believers.) (10:99)

(And if your Lord had so willed, He could surely, have made mankind one Ummah...) (11:118) But Allah's will has acted, His decree has come to pass, and His proof has been conveyed to mankind by mission of Messengers and the revelation of Books to them. Then Allah says:

(And never comes there unto them a Reminder as a recent revelation from the Most Gracious, but they turn away therefrom.) meaning, every time a Scripture comes from heaven to them, most of the people turn away from it. As Allah says:

(And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly.) (12:103)

(Alas for mankind! There never came a Messenger to them but they used to mock at him.) (36:30)

(Then We sent Our Messengers in succession. Every time there came to a nation their Messenger, they denied him...) (23:44). Allah says here:

(So, they have indeed denied, then the news of what they mocked at will come to them.) meaning, they denied the truth that came to them, so they will come to know the news of the consequences of this denial after a while.

(And those who do wrong will come to know by what overturning they will be overturned) (26:227). Then Allah tells those who dared to oppose His Messenger and disbelieve in His Book, that He is the Subduer, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, Who created the earth and caused every good kind of crop, fruit and animal to grow therein. Sufyan Ath-Thawri narrated from a man from Ash-Sha`bi that people are a product of the earth. So whoever enters Paradise is good and noble, and whoever enters Hell is base and vile.

(Verily, in this is an Ayah,) meaning an evidence of the power of the Creator of all things. He spread out the earth and raised the canopy of the heavens, yet despite that the majority of people do not believe, rather they deny Him, His Messengers, and His Books, and they go against His commands doing the things He had prohibited. His saying:

(And verily your Lord, He is truly the All-Mighty,) means, the One Who has power over all things, to subdue and control them,

(the Most Merciful. ) means, towards His creation, for He does not hasten to punish the one who sins, but He gives him time to repent, and if he does not, then He seizes him with a mighty punishment. Abu Al-`Aliyah, Qatadah, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and Ibn Ishaq said: "He is Almighty in His punishment of those who went against His commands and worshipped others besides Him." Sa`id bin Jubayr said: "He is Most Merciful towards those who repent to Him and turn to Him."

Kemudian Allah mencela orang-orang kafir yang tidak mau mempergunakan akal pikiran mereka untuk memperhatikan bahwa apa yang terjadi di alam ini menunjukkan kekuasaan Allah. Seandainya mereka mau memikirkan dan merenungkan ciptaan Allah, tentu mereka akan menjadi orang-orang yang beriman kepada Allah dan rasul-Nya. Mereka tidak akan lagi menyembah berhala yang tidak dapat memberikan manfaat sedikit pun dan tidak pula menolak bahaya dan kemudaratan, baik bagi dirinya sendiri maupun para penyembahnya.

Orang kafir itu memang tidak memperhatikan berbagai macam tumbuh-tumbuhan yang beraneka warna, masing-masing mempunyai kekhususan sendiri baik daun, bunga, dan buahnya. Padahal semuanya tumbuh di tanah yang sejenis dan diairi dengan air yang sama, tetapi menghasilkan buah-buahan yang berlainan bentuk, warna, dan rasanya. Tidakkah yang demikian itu menunjukkan kekuasaan dan kebijaksanaan Pencipta-Nya? Namun kalau hati sudah tertutup perasaan sombong dan takabur, pikiran sudah dipengaruhi oleh ketamakan untuk memperoleh pangkat, kedudukan, dan kekayaan, maka tertutuplah semua jalan untuk mencapai kebenaran. Apa saja yang bertentangan dengan kemauan mereka semuanya jahat dan jelek dalam pandangan mereka.

Inilah faktor-faktor yang memalingkan mereka dari berpikir dan merenungkan kekuasaan Allah. Oleh karena itu, kebanyakan mereka tetap dalam keingkaran, kekafiran, dan selalu menantang risalah dan kebenaran yang dibawa oleh Nabi Muhammad. Mereka selalu mengingkari hari Kiamat, hari kebangkitan, dan hari perhitungan, karena tidak mau memikirkannya. Mereka hanya mau bersenang-senang saja di dunia ini, sehingga merasa tidak ada gunanya memikirkan bagaimana keadaan sesudah mati. Menurut mereka, jasad yang mati itu pasti hancur menjadi tanah dan tidak akan kembali.

Sebenarnya Allah kuasa untuk menghancurkan mereka dengan berbagai macam cara seperti Allah menghancurkan umat-umat dahulu yang durhaka. Ada yang dihancurkan dengan topan dan banjir besar, ada yang dimusnahkan dengan gempa yang dahsyat, dan ada pula dengan suara keras yang mengguntur. Namun demikian, Allah mempunyai sifat rahmat dan kasih sayang. Oleh sebab itu, Allah tidak menimpakan kepada kaum musyrik Mekah siksa azab yang ditimpakan kepada umat-umat terdahulu, dengan harapan mungkin ada di antara orang-orang kafir yang membangkang dan menantang itu atau anak cucunya yang akan beriman.

Al-Quran menyatakan bahwa semua benda mati dan makhluk hidup di alam semesta ini diciptakan berpasang-pasangan. Dalam ayat di atas dicontohkan mengenai tumbuhan. Namun demikian, sebenarnya konsep berpasangan tidak saja hanya pada tumbuhan, tetapi di hampir semua ciptaannya. Dalam Al-Qur'an dinyatakan, di antaranya:

"Maha Suci Dia yang telah menciptakan pasangan-pasangan semuanya, baik dari apa yang ditumbuhkan oleh bumi dan diri mereka maupun dari apa yang tidak mereka ketahui." (Yasin/36: 36).

"Dan segala sesuatu telah Kami ciptakan berpasang-pasangan..." (adz-dzariyat/51: 49).