Transliteration:( Am tureedoona an tas'aloo Rasoolakum kamaa su'ila Moosa min qabl; wa mai yatabaddalil kufra bil eemaani faqad dalla sawaaa'as sabeel )
213. The Yahud had come to the Holy Prophet asking the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم to let the entire QUR'AAN, be revealed at once. In reply to them Allah's Messenger had said your request is just as meaningless as when your forefathers had asked Hazrat Musa all to let them behold Allah Almighty. From this two issues emerge:
1. Questions bedevilled with mischief are prohibited.
2. To direct meaningless questions at the pious people is an act of showing disrespect to them. The correct thing is to speak less but act more. People who talk too much are usually bereft of action.
214. Irrelevant and mischievous questions are a sinful act, as was the case with the Yahud who had asked similar types of questions to the in respect of Holy Prophetصلى الله عليه وآله وسلم immediate revelation of the entire QUR'AAN and Hazrat Musa too, was asked to make it possible for them to behold Allah Almighty. Such types of questions not only are meaningless, but to raise them is totally prohibited.
108. Or do you want to ask your Messenger (Muhammad ) as Musa (Moses) was asked before (i.e. show us openly our Lord) And he who changes faith for disbelief, verily, he has gone astray from the right way.
In this Ayah, Allah forbade the believers from asking the Prophet numerous questions about matters that did not occur yet. Similarly, Allah said,
(O you who believe! Ask not about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you trouble. But if you ask about them while the Qur’an is being revealed, they will be made plain to you) (5:101).
This Ayah means, “If you ask about a matter after it is revealed, it shall be duly explained to you. Therefore, do not ask about matters that have not occurred yet, for they might become prohibited, due to your questions.†This is why the Sahih narrated,
(The greatest criminal among the Muslims is the one who asks if a thing is prohibited, which is not prohibited, and it becomes prohibited because of his asking about it.)
This is why when the Messenger of Allah was asked about a husband who finds another man with his wife; if he exposes the adultery, he will be exposing a major incident; if he is quiet about it, he will be quiet about a major matter. The Messenger of Allah did not like such questions. Later on, Allah revealed the ruling of Mula`anah ﴿Refer to Nur 24:6-9 in the Qur’an﴾. The Two Sahihs recorded that Al-Mughirah bin Shu`bah said that the Messenger of Allah “Forbade saying, `It was said’ and `He said,’ and wasting money and asking many questions.†Muslim recorded that the Prophet said,
(Leave me as I leave you; those before you were only destroyed because of their excessive questioning and disputing with their Prophets. Therefore, when I command you with a matter, adhere to it as much as you can, and when I forbid from something, avoid it.)
The Prophet only said this after he told the Companions that Allah has ordered them to perform Hajj. A man asked, “Every year, O Messenger of Allah†The Prophet did not answer him, but he repeated his question three times. Then the Prophet said,
(No. Had I said yes, it would have been ordained, and you would not have been able to implement it.)
This is why Anas bin Malik said, “We were forbidden from asking the Messenger of Allah about things. So we were delighted when a bedouin man would come and ask him while we listened.â€
Muhammad bin Ishaq said that Muhammad bin Abi Muhammad told him that `Ikrimah or Sa`id said that Ibn `Abbas said that Rafi` bin Huraymilah or Wahb bin Zayd said, “O Muhammad! Bring us a Book sent down from heaven and which we could read, and make some rivers flow for us, then we will follow you and believe in you.†Allah sent down the answer to this challenge,
(Or do you want to ask your Messenger (Muhammad ) as Musa was asked before (i.e. show us openly our Lord) And he who changes faith for disbelief, verily, he has gone astray from the right way).
Allah criticized those who ask the Messenger of Allah about a certain matter just for the purpose of being difficult, just as the Children of Israel asked Musa out of stubbornness, rejection and rebellion. Allah said,
(And he who changes faith for disbelief) meaning, whoever prefers disbelief to faith,
(verily, he has gone astray from the right way) meaning, he has strayed from the straight path, to the path of ignorance and misguidance. This is the case of those who deviated from accepting the Prophets and obeying them and those who kept asking their Prophets unnecessary questions in defiance and disbelief, just as Allah said,
(Have you not seen those who have changed the blessings of Allah into disbelief (by denying Prophet Muhammad and his Message of Islam), and caused their people to dwell in the house of destruction Hell, in which they will burn and what an evil place to settle in!) (14:28-29).
Abu Al-`Aliyah commented, “They exchanged comfort for hardship.â€
110. The Jews, who were addicted to hair-splitting arguments, instigated the Muslims to ask the Prophet a great many questions. God, therefore, cautioned the Muslims against following the example of the Jews in this matter, and admonished them against unnecessary inquisitiveness. The Prophet himself often warned the Muslims that excessive inquisitiveness (which was devoid of religious earnestness and the sincere desire to do God’s will) had been the ruin of earlier religious communities. (Muslim, ‘Fadail’, 130; Bukhari, ‘1’tisim’, 2 – Ed.) He stressed that people need not delve too deeply into questions left unelucidated by God or His Messenger. It was better to follow the injunctions which were clearly laid down, abstain from things prohibited, and avoid excessive inquiry about far-fetched, hypothetical issues, attending instead to questions of practical significance.
Related Ayat(Verses)/Topics