Qur'an 10:99
| Verse's Information | |
|---|---|
| Sura | Sura Yunus |
| Verse | 99 |
| Juz' | 11 |
| Content Information | |
| Place of Revelation | Mecca |
| About | Undesirability of forced faith |
| Related Verses | Qur'an 2:256 |
Verse 99 of Sura Yunus (Qur'an 10:99) emphasizes the futility of forced faith and states that if God had willed, all humans on earth would have believed without exception; however, Divine tradition is based on freedom and free will in accepting faith. Commentators have said that this verse was revealed in response to the grief of Prophet Muhammad (s) over people not believing, to console him and clarify that the Prophet's duty is only in conveying the message and he cannot force people to believe. According to a narration, the verse was revealed in response to Muslims who suggested to the Prophet (s) to use power to force people into faith.
Commentators consider the verse as an expression of a fixed Divine law that faith must be based on understanding, will, and choice, and matters of the heart do not form under pressure and compulsion. Therefore, faith based on coercion is merely superficial and lacks true value. Some commentators have considered this verse a clear answer to the theory of Determinism, which does not value human will and choice. It is also said that Divine wisdom requires humans to be free so that Divine trial, reward, and punishment in the Hereafter make sense.
Futility of Forced Faith
Verse 99 of Sura Yunus is considered to state the point that believing in God and His Messenger out of coercion and compulsion is worthless.[1] According to Naser Makarem Shirazi, in this verse, addressing Prophet Muhammad (s), it is emphasized that if forced faith were useful, your Lord would have been more deserving to force all people on earth to accept faith with His own will.[2]
Commentators consider the revelation of this verse to be because Prophet Muhammad (s) was sad about people not believing, and God consoled him by revealing this verse[3] and lightened his responsibility in conveying the religion.[4] Of course, in a narration from Imam al-Rida (a), it is stated that a number of Muslims asked Prophet Muhammad (s) to force some people to accept Islam so that the power of Muslims against enemies would increase. In response to them, the Prophet considered this act an innovation and that he would not like to meet God with its prevalence. After this statement of the Messenger of God, verse 99 of Sura Yunus was revealed.[5]
This verse is considered to complement previous verses which state that faith in emergency situations, such as the time of the descent of Divine Punishment, is not beneficial.[6]
Absence of Determinism and Compulsion in Faith
Many commentators, under verse 99 of Sura Yunus, have addressed the theological issue of the role of human will and choice in accepting faith, stating that there is no compulsion from God to accept faith, nor can the Prophet (s) force humans to believe.[7]
According to commentators such as Allama Tabataba'i and Muhammad Sadiqi Tehrani, God in this verse, addressing His Prophet, speaks of a Divine tradition that faith is a matter of choice and freedom of will; meaning that if Divine will had been that all humans on earth should believe, such a thing would have happened and no one could have violated this will. However, God's tradition is based on people's freedom in the matter of faith and lack of compulsion in faith, and for this reason, do not tire yourself as you do not have the power to force them to believe.[8]
Commentators such as Fadlallah and al-Modarresi have also said in this regard that human hearts incline towards faith and choose it only under the influence of strong reasoning and good advice; whereas if humans, under compulsion or duress, outwardly confess to faith, this faith will not penetrate their hearts because faith and belief are matters of the heart and matters of the heart are not subject to compulsion.[9]
Shaykh al-Tabrisi, the author of the commentary Majma' al-bayan, has considered this verse as a proof for the invalidity of the theory of determinists who believe that Divine will is permanent and is not limited by human will and desire.[10]
Based on this, it is also said that God's use of His power is in accordance with His wisdom, and since His wisdom requires people to be free, He never forces them to believe with His coercive power.[11] According to Muhammad Jawad Mughniyya, a Shi'a commentator from Lebanon in the 14th century, God has emphasized the absence of compulsion in faith in several verses in the Qur'an. In his opinion, this emphasis by God is because faith out of compulsion contradicts the wisdom of testing people in this world, and if there were compulsion, reward and punishment in the Hereafter would have no meaning.[12]
Notes
- ↑ Mughniyya, al-Kāshif, vol. 4, p. 194; Riḍāyī Iṣfahānī, Tafsīr-i Qurʾān-i Mihr, vol. 9, p. 151.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 8, p. 390.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 206; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 8, p. 390.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 5, p. 435; Mughniyya, al-Kāshif, vol. 4, p. 194.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 1, pp. 123–124.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 206; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 8, p. 390.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 10, p. 126; Ṣādiqī Tihrānī, al-Furqān, vol. 14, pp. 169–170; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 8, p. 390; Faḍl Allāh, Min waḥy al-Qurʾān, vol. 9, p. 133; Mudarrisī, Min hudā l-Qurʾān, vol. 4, p. 460.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 10, p. 126; Ṣādiqī Tihrānī, al-Furqān, vol. 14, pp. 169–170.
- ↑ Faḍl Allāh, Min waḥy al-Qurʾān, vol. 9, p. 133; Mudarrisī, Min hudā l-Qurʾān, vol. 4, p. 460.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 206.
- ↑ Qarāʾatī, Tafsīr-i nūr, vol. 3, p. 624.
- ↑ Mughniyya, al-Kāshif, vol. 4, p. 194.
References
- Faḍl Allāh, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Tafsīr min waḥy al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār al-Malāk, 1439 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
- Mudarrisī, Sayyid Muḥammad Taqī. Min hudā l-Qurʾān. Tehran, Dār Muḥibbī l-Ḥusayn (a), 1419 AH.
- Mughniyya, Muḥammad Jawād. al-Kāshif fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom, Dār al-Kitāb al-Islāmī, 1424 AH.
- Qarāʾatī, Muḥsin. Tafsīr-i nūr. Tehran, Markaz-i Farhangī-yi Dars-hāyī az Qurʾān, 1388 Sh.
- Riḍāyī Iṣfahānī, Muḥammad ʿAlī. Tafsīr-i Qurʾān-i Mihr. Qom, Pzhūhish-hā-yi Tafsīr wa ʿUlūm-i Qurʾān, 1387 Sh.
- Ṣādiqī Tihrānī, Muḥammad. al-Furqān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1406 AH.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī... al-. ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā. Beirut, Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1404 AH.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1393 AH.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan... al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1408 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan... al-. al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.