The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 470
CH. 6 AL-AN'ĀM have not made thee a keeper over them nor art thou over them a guardian. 849 PT. 7 بوكيل وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ And revile not those whom. 109 they call upon beside Allah, lest فَيَسُبُّوا الله عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ كَذلِكَ they, out of spite, revile Allah in their ignorance. Thus "unto زَيَّنَا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ ثُمَّ إِلى رَبِّهِمْ every people have We caused مَّرْجِعُهُمْ فَيُنَبِّتُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ their doing to seem fair Then unto their Lord is their return; and He will inform them of what they used to do. 850 "6:123; 9:37; 10:13; 27:5; 40:38; 49:8. they serve the purpose of establishing the guilt of those who reject them so that they become answerable to God for their rejection. 849. Commentary: The Arabic words rendered as, if Allah had enforced His will, they would not have set up gods with God, do not, and indeed cannot, mean, as some may suppose, that the idolaters commit sins because God so wills. They only mean that God has made man a free agent in matters of faith and has not forced His will on him. If He had enforced His will and compelled man to believe and act rightly, man could not have gone against His will. But in His infinite wisdom, He has made man a free agent in this respect. The verse thus makes it clear that Allah does not compel any person to accept the truth but leaves it to his option. If He had thought of compelling the people, He would certainly have compelled them 910 to follow the truth; but in the interests of man himself it has not pleased God to use compulsion. The concluding words, We have not made thee a keeper over them, nor art thou over them a guardian, are also intended to echo the same truth, i. e. just as God does not compel man to accept the truth, the Holy Prophet also cannot compel anybody, for he is only a Messenger of God. The words (keeper) and 1, (guardian or disposer of affairs) are intended to signify that the Prophet is neither responsible for disbelievers nor is he the disposer of the actions of their affairs. For a fuller discussion of the words and JS, see 3:174 & 11:58. 850. Commentary: In the foregoing verses, the Quran has spoken rather contemptuously of the utter helplessness of the false deities whom people associate with God. This might lead some Muslims