|
In various
verses of the Quran a phrase “yahdee man yashao” or
"yahdee
man yureedu" (22:16)
appears which is
commonly translated as “He (Allah) guides those whom He Wills”
[2:142, 2:213; 2:272, 6:88, 10:25, 14:4, 16:93, 24:46, 28:56,
35:8, 39:23, 74:31].This begets confusions in many minds that
if guidance depends upon Allah’s Will, then there is nothing
one can do about it. There is no use of making any effort to
attain guidance- When Allah shall Will, we will be guided. If
Allah shall not Will, we cannot attain guidance no matter how
much we strive for it.
Although the
phrase “yahdee man yashao” is usually translated as “He
guides those whom He Wills”, it is perfectly correct,
according to the Arabic Grammar, to translate this phrase as
“He guides those who will (to be guided)”. But this does not
remove the basic confusion i.e. Does Allah guide all those who
will to be guided? Or there is something that we must do in
order to attain guidance? In other words, are there any rules
or laws or criteria according to which the guidance is
attained or Does Allah select some people randomly or (dare we
say) blindly to guide.
In our daily
life, we make friends whom we will, we go to places where we
will, we read books which we will and so on and so forth. When
we make such statements or implicitly have such things in
mind, does that mean we make such choices randomly or blindly.
Certainly not, in our usual practice. Although we do whatever
we will, but there are always some inexplicit criteria in our
minds which governs our choice.
Now what about
Allah; when He says in the Quran “He guides whom He wills”.
Are there any principles, laws, rules or criteria according to
which Allah guides or there is no such thing? If there are
some criteria, are they explicitly told by Allah so that we
could fulfil those criteria to attain guidance or has He kept
these criteria inexplicit? If these are inexplicit, then again
there is nothing that we can do; we shall have to wait
passively until Allah Wills to guide us.
When we see, in
the Quran, the verses related about the guidance (huda), we
come to know that there are, in fact, some criteria explicitly
given in the Quran according to which Allah guides. These
criteria are given in the following:
Allah guides
unto Himself who turns to Him (time after time, time and time
again) [42:13]
Allah guides all
who seek His approval to ways of peace and safety [5:16]
Those who
believe, and work righteousness, - their Lord will guide them
because of their faith [10:9]
…Allah does not
let go people astray except those who themselves depart from
the right way ( Fasiqeen) [2:26]
How shall Allah
Guide those who reject Faith after they accepted it and bore
witness that the Messenger was true and that Clear Signs had
come unto them? …[3:86]
If you call them
to guidance, they will not obey: For you it is the same
whether you call them or you hold your peace! [7/193]
…Allah does not
guide those who do not put things in the right perspective
(Zaalimeen).[3/86]
**************************
Quran is a
guidance that is meant to be for the whole mankind [2:185]
It becomes a
beneficial guide only for those who believe in it [hudan warahmatunlilmu/mineena]
[27:77] and who (wish to) lead a goodly life (muhsineen)
[31:3]
It guides the
believers as well as gives them glad tidings for a better life
in this world and the hereafter [Hudan
wabushra lilmu/mineena] [27:2]
It guides to the
mode of life of those who preserve themselves from the perils
(of this life and the Hereafter) [hudan lilmuttaqeena] [2:2]
and it gives eminence only to those who are men of
understanding [40:54]
|
