Does Allah Misguide Anyone

Home Does Allah Misguide Anyone?

By: Dr. Mansoor Alam

Most Muslims begin any religious speech or sermon by reciting a traditional prayer and
praise to Allah, and the Prophet (S) and his family. In this prayer, the following words are
constantly heard:

"Maee yahdihillahu fala mudilla lah, wa maee yudlilhu fala haadiya lah."

And the translation of this is usually given as:

"Whomever Allah guides, no one can misguide, and whomever Allah misguides, no
one can guide."

Please keep these words in mind, while we look at the following facts from the Quran:

"And if, as is sure, there comes to you guidance from Me, whomsoever follows my
guidance, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. But those, who reject Faith and
belie our Signs, they shall be companions of Fire, They shall abide therein." (2:38-39,
Yusuf Ali)

"Say, ‘The Truth is from your Lord’: Let him who will, believe; and let him who will,
reject…" (18:29, Yusuf Ali)

Now if Allah gives the freedom to accept or reject His guidance as is absolutely clear
from the above verses, how can He also say that whomever He guides no one can
misguide and whomever He misguides no one can guide? Clearly, these are two
contradictory statements and Allah is beyond contradiction (4:82). Furthermore, there is
nothing in the Quran which will lead to doubt (2:2, 32:2). Therefore, this requires us to
stop and seriously think and ponder. We cannot simply say "Allah knows best." Or we
cannot say "The Ulema know best," and move on as we usually do in such cases. Doing
this is akin to giving an architect a contract to build our house, and then not caring to
check what the architect is building. Wouldn’t it be foolish to leave everything to him
while we ourselves go on with our daily routine? Perhaps when the architect is done and
we move into our house, much to our surprise, we might find he has built us something we
did not want. But in the case of the afterlife, it would be a shame if we go to move into our
house only to see that our beloved architects have built our houses in the hellfire. This is
why we need to double-check our "architects of Islam." The Ulema or religious scholars,
always remind the Muslim masses of their ignorance of Islam. Perhaps they do not want
us to analyze what they are building for us. That is why Iqbal says that we have to check

file:///E|/quranflash/Does%20Allah%20Misguide%20Anyone.htm (1 of 5)12/19/2009 7:06:26 AM

Does Allah Misguide Anyone

ourselves and ask our own hearts:

"Ai Musalman apne dil se pooch, Mullah se na pooch."

"Oh Muslims! Ask your own hearts, do not ask the Mullahs (religious scholars)."

So let us ask ourselves: Why this contradiction? Obviously, there is some problem in our
scholars’ interpretation and understanding of this issue. Also, we cannot simply brush this
off by saying, "Since the majority of our Islamic scholars (i.e. Ijma’), agree on this issue,
therefore we have to accept these two contradictory statements." Or, we also cannot accept
the fact that this has been passed on by our ancestors and therefore, we have to accept this
contradiction. The Quran says that kuffar and mushrikun used to say these things (2:170,
5:104, 31:21, 34:43, 43:21-24). Once again, we need to double-check our beloved
architects of Islam, so that we can see for ourselves whether or not the house they are
building is on a shaky foundation.

The final authority is only One, and that authority is Allah. And since our only contact
with Allah is through his book, Al-Quran, the authority in Islam is therefore the Quran.
The Quran is the only book which Allah has taken the responsibility to protect (15:9). No
one can change it (6:34, 18:27, 10:64). It is complete (6:115). Nothing essential has been
left out of it (6:38, 6:59, 10:61, 34:3). Those who do not decide matters according to what
Allah has revealed (i.e. the Quran) are kafirs (5:44).

Coming back to the central question now: Does Allah personally misguide anyone? Most
Muslims have one scapegoat which they always use when they are faced with such
situations. They say, "Allah can do anything. He has unlimited power and control over
everything and everyone." If that is the case, then why did Allah send His Book of
guidance to us? Why did He send all His messengers? Why did our Prophet (S) face so
many enemies in daily life as well as in the battlefields? Why did he (S) and the sahaba
(R) suffer so much throughout their lives, for the sake of Allah? Allah has all the powers
and he can do anything! He could have directly punished all the enemies of the Prophet
(S)- but He didn’t. Instead, He ordered them to fight the enemies of Islam; to go to
battlefields; and give their lives if need be- so much so, that they were warned that those
who would try to run away from the battlefield will go directly to Hell (8:16).

There is yet another side of this usual reply of "Allah knows best," or "Allah can do
anything." First, if that is so, then why do we need all these Ulema and religious scholars
anyway? Since Allah can do anything (e.g. send anyone to Hell or Heaven as he pleases,
give wealth or poverty to anyone, dignity or poverty to anyone, etc.), then why do human
beings have to be held accountable for their deeds. It doesn’t seem fair and just or even
logical to send someone to Hell if Allah misguided him or her. Second, the Quran clearly
tells that it is Iblees who says that God misguided him and put him in the wrong (15:39).

file:///E|/quranflash/Does%20Allah%20Misguide%20Anyone.htm (2 of 5)12/19/2009 7:06:26 AM

Does Allah Misguide Anyone

So is it not our duty to pause and seriously reflect on these extremely important questions
impacting our lives—here as well as in the hereafter?

Before we come to resolve the above mentioned contradiction, it may help us in our
search for an answer, if we pose another question: Does nature misguide us? This question
is easy to comprehend as we are directly in contact with nature. We human beings impact
nature directly by our activities and are impacted by it in our daily lives.

Does Nature Misguide Anyone?

The very question seems strange at first. But this will help us in drawing meaningful
conclusions as there is a parallel argument in our search for an answer to our original
question, "Does Allah misguide anyone?"

Nature has provided guidance to human beings since time immemorial- or, more
appropriately, since the dawn of civilization. From the stars guiding the bedouin Arabs in
the vast desert (without any signposts or milestones), to the ships, airplanes, and space
vehicles equipped with sophisticated, modern, computerized navigation systems- it is
Nature which ultimately provides the guidance for following the desired (right) path. It is
also nature that provides indications in case of failure (wrong path). Nature provides
guidance regarding truth and falsehood in every field of human knowledge and scientific
endeavor. It is not nature that misguides, but our imperfect knowledge, improper designs,
and improper observations misguide us. The moment knowledge advances to the level of
perfect understanding in accordance with nature, human beings succeed in their missions.
So, nature provides the touchstone (guidance) to test the validity of all the scientific
hypotheses in the various areas of knowledge.

Now, let us consider another parallel argument. The question "Does Allah Misguide
Anyone," can be cast as "Does the Quran Misguide Anyone?" This is because Allah has
said whatever he had to say to humanity in its finality, totality, and completeness is in the
Quran (6:115, 6:38, 10:37, 5:48). There will not come any other book from Allah, nor any
other prophet from Allah after our last prophet (S) as declared by Allah in the Quran
(33:40). Therefore, our relationship to Allah is only through His book, the Quran and
nothing else.

Allah tells us the Quran was sent to guide and give glad tidings to the momineen (2:97).
Those who will follow the Quran will benefit from it; those who will not, will suffer the
consequences (10:108). Those who will follow it will be guided, and no one can misguide
them, and those who will not follow it, will be misguided, and no one can guide them. Can
there be any question or doubt about this? Clearly not. Can there be more than one
interpretation of this statement? Obviously not. It is our choice whether or not to follow
the Quran and after our choice is made, we get what we deserve. It is our choice which

file:///E|/quranflash/Does%20Allah%20Misguide%20Anyone.htm (3 of 5)12/19/2009 7:06:26 AM

Does Allah Misguide Anyone

data to enter into the calculator, and based on that, we get the right or wrong answer
(guidance or misguidance). We cannot say the manufacturer magically chooses who will
get right and who will get wrong answers. This is up to the person, and how he or she uses
the calculator. In the same way, Allah does not magically choose who will be guided or
misguided, rather it is up to the person to choose the Quran as his guidance. If he chooses
the Quran, he will be guided. If he chooses anything else, he will be misguided and no one
can guide him. Therefore, the saying should be better translated as:

"Whomever Allah guides (i.e. those who independently choose to follow the Quran), no
one can misguide, and whomever Allah misguides (i.e. those who choose to follow other
than the Quran), no one can guide."

OR

"Whoever follows the Quran will be guided by Allah, and no one can misguide, and
whoever does not follow the Quran, will not be guided by Allah, will be misguided,
and no one can guide."

Allah does not directly do things for us; we have to do ourselves and follow his laws.
Allah does not change our condition until we change our selves (i.e., change our
psychology, mental attitudes and behavior) (13:11). However, there are many verses
where Allah says that He does or does not do things for human beings. As we know Allah
does not directly control the affairs of the human world—be they political, social, military
or psychological. This confusion is removed by using the term "Allah’s law" instead of
"Allah". After all, our contact with Allah is only through His laws. Allah has given us
certain potential and we have to actualize it using His laws. This is very obvious in the
material world. We use Allah’s laws in the material world (i.e., natural laws) for all kinds
of scientific progress. Similarly, we have to use His laws (i.e., the Quran) in the human
world for moral, ethical, and spiritual progress as well.

Let us list a few verses from the Quran to give some examples to illustrate the point
above. [The translation is taken from Taqi-u-ddin Al-Hillali and Mohsin Khan.]

"Surely, Allah [i.e., Allah’s law] wastes not the reward of the
Muhsinun." (9:120)

"Surely, Allah [i.e., Allah’s law] guides not the plot of the betrayers." (12:52)

"Verily, Allah [i.e., Allah’s law] does not set right the work
of Al-Mufsidun (evil-doers, corrupts etc.). (10:81)

"And Allah [i.e., Allah’s law] guides not the people who are Al-Fasiqun (rebellious,

file:///E|/quranflash/Does%20Allah%20Misguide%20Anyone.htm (4 of 5)12/19/2009 7:06:26 AM

Does Allah Misguide Anyone

disobedient to Allah). (9:24)

file:///E|/quranflash/Does%20Allah%20Misguide%20Anyone.htm (5 of 5)12/19/2009 7:06:26 AM