Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:80
And his people argued with him. He said, "Do you argue with me concerning Allah while He has guided me? And I fear not what you associate with Him [and will not be harmed] unless my Lord should will something. My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge; then will you not remember?
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the explanation of His saying: وَحَاجَّهُ قَوْمُهُ قَالَ أَتُحَاجُّونِّي فِي اللَّهِ وَقَدْ هَدَانِ وَلا أَخَافُ مَا تُشْرِكُونَ بِهِ إِلا أَنْ يَشَاءَ رَبِّي شَيْئًا وَسِعَ رَبِّي كُلَّ شَيْءٍ عِلْمًا أَفَلا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ (80) (And his people disputed with him. He said: "Do you dispute with me concerning Allah, when He has indeed guided me? And I do not fear what you associate with Him as partners, except when my Lord wills something. My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge. Will you then not take heed?") (6:80)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And Ibrāhīm disputed with his people concerning the oneness of Allah and his disavowal of the idols. And their dispute with him consisted of their saying that their gods whom they worshipped were better than his god. Ibrāhīm said: "Do you dispute with me concerning Allah" — he says: Do you dispute with me concerning my professing the oneness of Allah and my sincere devotion of works to Him, and to nothing of the gods besides Him — "when He has indeed guided me" — he says: when my Lord has made me fit for the knowledge of His oneness, and has shown me the path of truth until I knew with certainty that nothing is worthy of being worshipped except Him — "and I do not fear what you associate with Him as partners" — he says: and I am not afraid of any of your gods whom you call upon besides Him, that it should strike me in my person with any evil or harm. And that is because they said to him: "We fear that our gods will strike you with evil, with leprosy or madness, because you make mention of them with evil!" Then Ibrāhīm said to them: I do not fear that what you associate as partners with Allah of these gods will strike me with harm or affliction, for they neither benefit nor harm — "except when my Lord wills something" — he says: but my fear is directed toward Allah who created me and created the heavens and the earth, for if He wills that something should befall me in my person or my property of what He wills — destruction or continuance, or increase or decrease, or anything else — then He strikes me with it, for He has the power to do so.
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, Ibn Jurayj used to say:
13466 - Al-Qāsim related to me, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "And his people disputed with him. He said: Do you dispute with me concerning Allah, when He has indeed guided me" — he said: his people called upon gods besides Allah, and they frightened him with their gods, that madness from them would strike him. Then Ibrāhīm said: "Do you dispute with me concerning Allah, when He has indeed guided me" — he said: I have known my Lord, I do not fear what you associate with Him as partners.
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— "My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge" — he says: and my Lord knows all things, nothing is hidden from Him, for He is the Creator of all things, and He is not like the gods that neither harm nor benefit and understand nothing; they are only hewn wood and a fashioned form — "Will you then not take heed?" — he says: Will you then not draw a lesson, O ignorant ones, so that you may perceive the error of that in which you persist — of your worship of a fashioned form and hewn wood that is incapable of harm or benefit, and understands nothing and contains nothing — and of your abandoning the worship of Him who created you and created all things, in whose hand lies the good, and to whom belongs the power over all things, and who knows all things.