Surah Al-Ahqaf: Verse 11 - وقال الذين كفروا للذين آمنوا... - English
Tafsir of Verse 11, Surah Al-Ahqaf
English Translation
And those who disbelieve say of those who believe, "If it had [truly] been good, they would not have preceded us to it." And when they are not guided by it, they will say, "This is an ancient falsehood."English Transliteration
Waqala allatheena kafaroo lillatheena amanoo law kana khayran ma sabaqoona ilayhi waith lam yahtadoo bihi fasayaqooloona hatha ifkun qadeemunTafsir of Verse 11
Commentary
لَوْ كَانَ خَيْرًا مَّا سَبَقُونَا إِلَيْهِ (Had it [ Islamic faith ] been a good thing, these [ weak and poor ] people would not have preceded us [ in proceeding ] towards it._ 46:11) Arrogance and pride pervert the human intellect also. An arrogant person considers his own opinions and deeds to be the criteria for determining right and wrong, good and bad. If he does not like anything, no matter how well it is believed to be by others, he considers all those people to be stupid, while he himself is stupid. The arrogance and pride of the infidels was of this very kind, and since they did not like Islamic faith, they used to say about it's lovers that had it been a good thing, they themselves would have been the first to adopt it, and that one should not trust the choice of these poor people.
Ibn Mundhir (رح) etc., have reproduced a narration according to which this verse was revealed about a slave-girl of Sayyidna ` Umar Ibn Khattab ؓ named Zunairah who had embraced Islam when he was still a disbeliever. She used to be beaten up and threatened by him, so that she might give up Islam somehow or the other, and the kuffar of Quraish used to say that had Islamic faith been a good thing, such a worthless woman as Zunairah would not have preceded us in embracing it. (Mazhari)
