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Ayah 26 of Surah Āl-i Imrān

In the Name of Allah

Continuation of Researches by Esteemed Philosopher, Professor Mousavi

Ayah 26 of Surah Āl-i Imrān

Is man's honor or disgrace predestined by God or does man cause his own honor or disgrace in the world through his deeds?

Quli Al-Lahumma Mālika Al-Mulki Tu'utī Al-Mulka Man Tashā'u Wa Tanzi`u Al-Mulka Mimman Tashā'u Wa Tu`izzu Man Tashā'u Wa Tudhillu Man Tashā'u ۖ Biyadika Al-Khayru ۖ 'Innaka `Alá Kulli Shay'in Qadīrun

(Ayah 26 of Surah Āl-i Imrān)

Say: "O Allah. Lord of Power (And Rule), Thou givest power to whom Thou pleasest, and Thou strippest off power from whom Thou pleasest: Thou enduest with honour whom Thou pleasest, and Thou bringest low whom Thou pleasest: In Thy hand is all good. Verily, over all things Thou hast power."

"Mālika Al-Mulki" means: O Allah. Lord of Power and Rule,

"Tu'utī Al-Mulka Man Tashā'u": "You give power to whom You wish." It is You who gives power.

"Wa Tanzi`u Al-Mulka Mimman Tashā'u": "And You take away power from whom You please." And it is You who takes away power.

"Wa Tu`izzu Man Tashā'u": "And You endow with honor whom You wish." It is You who endows honor; both worldly honor and religious honor.

"Wa Tudhillu Man Tashā'u": "And You bring low whom You please." It is You who has the power to bring low.

"Biyadika Al-Khayru": "In Thy hand is all good" All good is in Your hand.

"Innaka `Alá Kulli Shay'in Qadīrun": "Verily, over all things Thou hast power." You have power over all things.

Here three subjects were discussed:

Al-Lahumma (O Allah)
Having power
Honor

In other words, the above three fundamental subjects are hidden in this Holy Ayah. We will not discuss in detail the subject of 'power' here; but will talk about the subject of 'honor', which is an inner issue.

Question: Does this Ayah not constitute predestination (Jabr)?

The above question is very significant as the mentioned Ayah (26 of Surah Āl-i Imrān) on the outward shows that 'giving power' and 'endowing with honor' are both predestined.

If we only rely on the two above statements in this Ayah outwardly, everyone should lie idly in their houses and be inactive and God will give power and honor if He wishes and He will take away honor and power whenever He wishes. This is what is understood from this Ayah outwardly.

Esteemed researcher, Professor Mousavi on Ayah 26 of Surah Āl-i Imrān:

However, in my opinion this Ayah is very important. We do not say this Ayah is within the Mutashabehaat Ayat (verses with multiple interpretations) but rather it is part of the Muhkumaat (verses with very clear and straightforward meanings). However, the clarity seems to be a little difficult. What we say here is according to research done by us. We are not interpreting the Ayah, not at all. I have stated repeatedly that we do not interpret the Ayat, but rather do research on some points which come to our minds hoping that we get to the bottom of the meanings.

Therefore, what we say is only an 'explanation' and not an 'interpretation; we say this because we do not want to be caught on the Day of Judgment. How do we know what the heart of the Holy Quran truly is? Therefore, we do not interpret the Ayat. Unless one gets to a place where he is truly able to receive manifestations of divine will, he will not be able to taste anything from the heart and truth of the Holy Quran. This is difficult for us.

Explanations by Professor Mousavi:

Does this honor and power, which we are discussing, stem from the Jabarut (world of divine power) or from the Nasut (material world)? Or are giving honor and endowing with power predestined?

Can we say honor and power are determined before our births? In other words, is the basis of honor determined in our mothers' wombs? There is a hadith (narration by Prophet Mohammad or Imams), which on the outward says: "Prosperous is he who was prosperous in his mother's womb and deprived from God's kindness is he who was deprived of the same in his mother's womb." We discussed this before. We said that our prosperity and adversity are not predestined. These all depend on factors such as the mother's food during pregnancy and her temperament. In other words, prosperity and adversity depend on factors such as the food the mother eats not on God's order.

Can we say that the basis of everyone's honor or disgrace is determined before his birth? Can we say these depend on the food, the father's loin or the mother's womb or on the moment of contact of the sperms and ovule?

If the basis of honor and disgrace was as mentioned in the above paragraph, we would have no obligations in this world and nothing would be counted as a sin. It does not seem logical that honor and disgrace are given to us in our mothers' wombs.

Therefore:

1. Maybe each person's honor or disgrace stems from before his birth, i.e. in Jabarut (world of divine power). Tu`izzu Man Tashā'u Wa Tudhillu Man Tashā'u: You endow with honor whom You wish and You bring low whom You please. Some say this Ayah means: Allah endows with honor in Jabarut (world of divine power) whom He wishes and brings low in the mentioned world whom He pleases. This constitutes absolute Jabr (predestination).

2. Or probably each person's honor or disgrace stems from before his birth in his mother's womb. In this case too, we would have no obligation. This too constitutes Jabr (predestination) to some extent.

However, Esteemed researcher and divine philosopher, professor Mousavi believes:

It is better to say honor or disgrace stems from the time one enters the path of science and research especially that of divine philosophy, wisdom and gnosis.

In this case we can easily comprehend the meaning of honor and disgrace. In other words, all ways are presented to us and then we are told to determine our own honor or disgrace.

If one's parents are good at purifying their child from within, this child will be guided towards honor and if not, he will move towards disgrace. If children attend good schools, they will be guided to honor and if they do not attend such schools they will move towards disgrace. If they are not placed under the supervision of a pure master, or if their lives are such that they have no facilities[1], they will move towards disgrace.

Verily, if we consider 'Tu`izzu Man Tashā'u Wa Tudhillu Man Tashā'u' (You endow with honor whom You wish and You bring low whom You please) in the Nasut (material world), i.e. after our creation in the third world, in the world where we have obligations, we have free will and choose honor or disgrace through our own free will. In other words, we achieve honor through our obligations.

If the parents are careful in purifying their child, they have provided him with honor. We have seen around us that one child, two, five, ten, hundred children who are under their parents' careful supervision certainly become prosperous, whether to a high degree or to a lower degree. However, there are some exceptions, like children who have not been under good supervision and turn out to be prosperous.

Therefore, what some say that this Ayah constitutes predestined honor and disgrace from God's side is not correct.

Those who say this Ayah constitutes predestination have not understood its meaning. They have merely relied on what this Ayah says on the outward.

Quli Al-Lahumma Mālika Al-Mulki (Say: O Allah. Lord of Power and Rule), O Allah it is You who presented honor, disgrace, power and ability in Jabarut (world of divine power) and it is You who gave us honor or disgrace in the Nasut (material world). You showed us the ways leading to honor and disgrace through wisdom, religion and your messengers.

Therefore, when this Ayah says, 'You endow with honor whom You wish and You bring low whom You please' it means whoever facilitates the basis of honor for himself, Allah will confirm it and whoever facilitates the basis of disgrace for himself, Allah will confirm it. Therefore, philosophically, Allah's Will comes along man's will. He does not predestine things for those He has created. If he predestined things, the system of punishment and reward and Heaven and Hell would all be questionable.

Verily, the final signature is with Allah. He is the absolute cause. But Allah never wants disgrace for one who facilitates the basis for true honor for himself and Allah never provides honor for one who moves towards disgrace.

There is another issue here: What are honor and disgrace themselves?

Some say: Honor depends on size. In other words, those who have many things; the rich and those who have a lot of land and many houses have honor.

And others say ….

[1] Predestination has two categories in the world: a) predestination, which is the result of divine destiny, which is the topic of the discussion in the mentioned Ayah under the statements Tu`izzu Man Tashā'u Wa Tudhillu Man Tashā'u (You endow with honor whom You wish and You bring low whom You please.) and b) predestination, which is the result of the material world. In this article our purpose is to reject predestination enforced by Allah. In other words, Allah never brings anyone low unless the person, himself facilities his own disgrace; it is not God who gives disgrace. However, it should be mentioned here that there is another type of predestination in the world which has no connection with God, and is related to the material world. For example, a person is born into a family where there are no facilities for his progression, development and perfection or he is prevented from following the path of science. Allah states in the Holy Quran that if one complains of such predestination on the Day of Judgment saying, "I did not have the conditions to acquire the perfection I deserved," Allah will reply, "Was my land not wide enough? Why did you not migrate or change your surroundings?" Here a lot more needs to be discussed. For example man can remove such predestination enforced on him through his free will and great ambition. However, this is sometimes not possible and in such a case, where there is no solution, it is said that the person will be given in the metaphysical world even greater bounty than that which he could have received in this world but has not received due to predestination resulting from the material world. This shows the extreme degree of Allah's Mercy and Justice.