Sūrat al-Anʿām
Section 10 of 21 · Surah Studies · Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Even If the Angels Came Down
And the final point concerns the disbelievers:
وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْـِٔدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَـٰرَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِهِۦٓ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَنَذَرُهُمْ فِى طُغْيَـٰنِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ
“We will upset their hearts and sights, as they did not believe in them at the first instance, and We will leave them wandering blindly in their rebellion.” (6:110)
We must leave them in their tyranny — wandering on in their tyranny; We must simply leave them so. As is known of Sūrat al-Anʿām, its major theme, apart from a few rulings here and there, is argument. It is a matter of answering; of stating facts; of giving the Prophet (peace be upon him) much guidance in how to answer, and of furnishing numerous particulars of fact, and especially such as people can relate to, which are axiomatic and inherently understood.
The mushrikīn kept asking, by way of delay or of mere pretext; they kept calling for new muʿjizāt, new miracles, new signs. At last they said that he must bring them physical miracles besides the Qur'an — physical miracles; they asked for truly extraordinary things to be done. So Allah (swt) says that they have no wish to believe:
۞ وَلَوْ أَنَّنَا نَزَّلْنَآ إِلَيْهِمُ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةَ وَكَلَّمَهُمُ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ وَحَشَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ قُبُلًا مَّا كَانُوا۟ لِيُؤْمِنُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ يَجْهَلُونَ
“If We had sent down to them the angels, and the dead had spoken to them, and (even if) We had gathered everything before them face to face, still, they were not to believe, unless Allah would have so willed. But, most of them adopt the way of ignorance.” (6:111)
Even were We to send down numberless angels upon the earth, and were the dead to speak to them, and were We to bring them everything, still they would not believe, unless Allah (swt) willed it, unless Allah had written it for them. They will not believe; and most of them are very ignorant. It is much foolishness. These are not even clever notions; they miss the point. They are not even intelligent. Were they intelligent they would at least understand; but these people were not even intelligent. They were very foolish.