The Qur'anic Dialogue with Non-Muslims

Occasion: Transcription of a khatira delivered on 28 August 2020 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

What is the Qur'anic dialogue like when the Lord of Might, glorified be He, speaks with non-Muslims? Come, let us listen to the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: ﴿إِنَّ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ جَنَّاتِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ﴾ (Indeed, for the righteous with their Lord are the Gardens of Bliss) [al-Qalam: 34].

The Law of Thinking Before the Law of Performance

This verse is a comment on the story of the owners of the garden, after Allah made them know His power to punish them in this world. These owners of the garden were young men who went out wanting to harvest the crop before the poor came and saw them, so they wanted to take everything for themselves. So the Lord of Might wanted to teach them that in life there is a law of thinking before there is a law of performance, and that there are laws of thinking before there is a law of application.

And look at the matter in people's lives: the legislators in the constitutional courts, and in the Shura Council or the Senate somewhere, these are the ones who think and make the laws and then transmit them to societies, and people have only to carry them out. So people in this case are executors of a law that was set down beforehand. But Allah, glorified and exalted be He, when He sent down to us a Qur'anic constitution, sent down a constitution that obliges us to think before applying, so we have an intellectual law before we have an applied law.

So He, glorified be He, taught them that «this is not how camels are brought to water»; that is, this is not the way in which you obtain wealth: that you withhold the rights of others or monopolize them for yourself. So Allah took away from them the comfort of life and the wealth they were in: ﴿فَطَافَ عَلَيْهَا طَآئِفٌ مِّن رَّبِّكَ … فَأَصْبَحَتْ كَٱلصَّرِيمِ﴾ (Then a visitation from your Lord came upon it … and it became as though harvested) [al-Qalam: 19–20].^[1]

One Garden and a Garden No One Can See

Then came the comment: ﴿كَذَٰلِكَ ٱلْعَذَابُ ۖ وَلَعَذَابُ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ أَكْبَرُ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ﴾ (Such is the punishment; and the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if only they knew) [al-Qalam: 33], and after it: ﴿إِنَّ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ جَنَّاتِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ﴾. You had one garden, a single orchard, and yet you were stingy with it toward others, and, sadly, you lost it. So what of those who have nothing of it at all? These, if they attach themselves to Allah, blessed and exalted be He, with true attachment, Allah brings into being for them a garden that none of creation can look upon, or see, or perceive its secrets, except them, by what Allah has made them know in their souls of contentment, and in their hearts of stability. Are we agreed?

Shall We Treat the Muslims Like the Criminals?

Then the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, says: ﴿أَفَنَجْعَلُ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ كَٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ﴾ (Then will We treat the Muslims like the criminals?) [al-Qalam: 35].

What do you think? Let us place, at the outset, this rule, or this choice, or this balance, before people of reason: either a person is rational and thoughtful and chooses what is most correct, or he has no reason and so leaves the circle of discussion. You know this: when we hold a competition in order to run qualifying rounds from it, two hundred people apply for the competition, so how many go through to the qualifiers? Twenty, so you have excluded a hundred and eighty. Imagine: only twenty are those who enter the qualifiers, and the qualifiers themselves are stages. So let us look for a senior figure to address: ﴿أَفَنَجْعَلُ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ كَٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ﴾? What do you think?

If they say: Yes, we make the Muslims like the criminals, then they have broken the laws of the universe. It is never right to treat a person who entered your house with your permission as you treat a person who entered to steal. Is that reasonable? That you treat the one who comes knocking at your door and says: I am coming to ask for your daughter's hand, or to propose to her, as you treat the one who comes to assault those in the house? Or that you treat the one who meets you in the street and says: Excuse me, I need ten dollars from you, so lend them to me, as you treat the one who comes to rob you?

What Is the Matter with You? How Do You Judge?

So Allah, glorified and exalted be He, answers them: ﴿مَا لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ﴾ (What is the matter with you? How do you judge?) [al-Qalam: 36]. Well, perhaps what you say is found in some book, in some place: ﴿أَمْ لَكُمْ كِتَـٰبٌ فِيهِ تَدْرُسُونَ﴾ (Or do you have a scripture in which you study?) [al-Qalam: 37]. Do you have a revealed way sent down by someone, and another book that tells you other than what all people and humanity and reason know? If you have a book, sir, then choose from it: ﴿إِنَّ لَكُمْ فِيهِ لَمَا تَخَيَّرُونَ﴾ (Indeed, you would have in it whatever you choose) [al-Qalam: 38].

And pay attention to this courtesy. Is it part of the perfection of justice that you make your opponent the one who judges? This is not part of the perfection of justice, but part of the perfection of grace. For the level of justice is that a judge rules from the middle, but the perfection of grace is that you say to your opponent: This is my case between me and you, so judge in it as you wish. This is what Allah, blessed and exalted be He, says: you would have in it whatever you choose.

And if you have no book, then we say that we have a book, and it is the way of Allah, glorified and exalted be He: the Qur'an which He sent down to His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, and we speak by it. So you are between having a book or not having one.

Oaths Binding Until the Day of Resurrection

Then: ﴿أَمْ لَكُمْ أَيْمَـٰنٌ عَلَيْنَا بَـٰلِغَةٌ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ ۙ إِنَّ لَكُمْ لَمَا تَحْكُمُونَ﴾ (Or do you have oaths from Us, binding until the Day of Resurrection, that you shall have whatever you judge?) [al-Qalam: 39]. Imagine that our Lord, glorified and exalted be He, is asking the disbelievers and saying to them: Did we ever stand facing one another and you swore to us an oath, so that we are bound by it and will fulfill it? Or was there between us and you a written contract, or a theoretical agreement? Then, this claim does not hold in the first place, for its holder dies after a little while; so even if he said: I have an oath with You, O Lord, he is going to You in any case, and he has no continuity until the Day of Resurrection in any way. ﴿أَمْ لَكُمْ أَيْمَـٰنٌ عَلَيْنَا بَـٰلِغَةٌ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ﴾, then He repeats: you would have whatever you choose, you would have whatever you judge.

Sir, you are the judge and you are the opponent, and what you want I do and go along with you in it, but speak with logic, speak with what is right.

And the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted be He, says: ﴿سَلْهُم أَيُّهُم بِذَٰلِكَ زَعِيمٌ﴾ (Ask them which of them will vouch for that) [al-Qalam: 40]. That is: since we cannot speak with the rest of the people and no one answers us, let them choose from among themselves someone to speak for them.

When Allah, Mighty and Majestic, presents such proofs, and you read to the end of the surah, then by Allah, you will see something wondrous. You will see something wondrous in the Qur'anic dialogue with the polytheists.

Two Purposes of This Dialogue

And when the Lord of Might, glorified be He, presents this discursive dialogue, He presents it only for two matters.

The first matter: to establish the proof against the polytheists who oppose the call; as if He were saying to them: The proof is against you, so submit and be safe.

And the other matter: to teach the Muslims how to enter a discussion at the highest levels of refinement. For when you argue with anyone, Allah has set the way for you: ﴿ٱدْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِٱلْحِكْمَةِ وَٱلْمَوْعِظَةِ ٱلْحَسَنَةِ﴾ (Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction) [al-Naḥl: 125], ﴿وَلَا تُجَـٰدِلُوٓا۟ أَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ إِلَّا بِٱلَّتِى هِىَ أَحْسَنُ﴾ (And do not argue with the People of the Book except in the way that is best) [al-ʿAnkabūt: 46]. And that is at all levels: whether you are the one beginning the speech, let it be at a better level, or you are responding to speech, let it be at a better level. And likewise the Muslim should be in all his states.

I ask Allah, glorified and exalted be He, to guide us to the most rightly guided speech, to the soundest logic, to the most truthful expression, and to the most sincere intention. O Allah, we ask You to grant us pure, clear souls, and God-fearing, tranquil hearts, and to give weight to our minds, and to guide us to the best speech and the best action.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The verses are from Sūrat al-Qalam. The speaker cited ﴿فَطَافَ عَلَيْهَا طَآئِفٌ مِّن رَّبِّكَ فَأَصْبَحَتْ كَٱلصَّرِيمِ﴾ in abbreviated form; this has been preserved in the body with the ellipsis mark (…) because between the two parts in the muṣḥaf comes «وَهُمْ نَآئِمُونَ». And the verse of al-ʿAnkabūt appeared in his speech with the wording «ولا تجادل» and has been set down here with the text of the muṣḥaf.