The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 29
CH. 10 YŪNUS وَمَا كَانَ النَّاسُ إِلَّا أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً PT. 11 20. And "mankind were but one community, then they differed not been for a word that had فَاخْتَلَفُوا وَلَوْلَا كَلِمَةٌ سَبَقَتْ مِنْ among themselves; and had it رَّبِّكَ لَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ فِيْمَا فِيْهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ gone before from thy Lord, it would have already been them judged between concerning that in which they differed. 1295 "2:214. 11:111; 20:130; 41:46. great inborn capacities and capabilities. He entertains the foolish belief that he cannot have access to God without the aid of an intermediary, and also that God cannot condescend to come to him except through the medium of those who have already attained His nearness. Islam is opposed to both these views. It does not allow us to entertain any such suspicion about God, nor does it permit us underrate our own natural powers. God has created man that he may attain His nearness and He does not tolerate that anyone should intervene between Him and His creatures. Even the Prophets of God are intermediaries. They are only Divine Messengers and Warners, and their intercession is also based on Divine sanction. See also 2:49. to not The expression, Would you inform Allah of something He knows not, contains an excellent refutation of shirk (idolatry). It purports to say that if God had appointed anyone as intercessor either in the heavens or in the earth, a declaration would have been made by Him to that effect. But no such announcement has ever been made by God. It is the people themselves who declare that such and such a person has been appointed as an intercessor, and so they, as it were, inform God of something which He does not know. The words, Holy is He, are meant to point out that it is incompatible with the perfection of God that He should first create man for a certain purpose and then should Himself place obstacles in his way, or should reveal no guidance to warn him of those obstacles. 1295. Commentary: The expression, And mankind were but one community, then they differed among themselves has three meanings: (1) That God caused men to follow the one true path in the beginning of creation but then they deviated from it. God not only endowed man with the capacity to find the right path but also directed him to it through revealed guidance; but man forsook that path and fell into error. (2) That they are being always and continuously shown the right path 1237