سَيَقُولُ ٱلَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا۟ لَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ مَآ أَشْرَكْنَا وَلَآ ءَابَآؤُنَا وَلَا حَرَّمْنَا مِن شَىْءٍ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ كَذَّبَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ ذَاقُوا۟ بَأْسَنَا ۗ قُلْ هَلْ عِندَكُم مِّنْ عِلْمٍ فَتُخْرِجُوهُ لَنَآ ۖ إِن تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَإِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلَّا تَخْرُصُونَ 148
Translations
Those who associated [others] with Allāh will say, "If Allāh had willed, we would not have associated [anything] and neither would our fathers, nor would we have prohibited anything." Likewise did those before deny until they tasted Our punishment. Say, "Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow not except assumption, and you are not but misjudging."
Transliteration
Sayaqolu alladhina ashrakoo law sha'a Allahu ma ashrakna wa la abauna wa la harramma min shay'in. Kadhalika kadhdhaba alladhina min qablihim hatta dhaqoo ba'sana. Qul hal indakum min 'ilmin fakhrijuhu lana. In tattabi'oon illa azhzhanna wa in antum illa takhrusun.
Tafsir (Explanation)
The polytheists will claim that their idolatry and religious innovations are decreed by Allah's will, thereby attempting to shirk responsibility for their disbelief. Allah refutes this excuse by noting that previous generations made identical claims before experiencing His punishment, and He commands the Prophet to challenge them: if they possess true knowledge for their practices, let them produce it—for they merely follow conjecture and guesswork. Ibn Kathir emphasizes that this response exposes the illogical nature of blaming Allah while simultaneously choosing falsehood, as Allah's will does not compel people to commit sin, but rather grants them free choice within His sovereignty.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears within Surah Al-An'am, a Meccan surah revealed during the early period of prophethood when the Prophet faced intense opposition from the pagan Arabs of Mecca. The ayah directly addresses the Meccan polytheists' common defense of their idolatry—claiming divine predestination absolves them of responsibility—and was revealed to refute this excuse and clarify the concept of human accountability before Allah.
Related Hadiths
The Hadith of Jabir (Sahih Muslim) where the Prophet stated: 'Every son of Adam is a sinner, but the best of sinners are those who repent,' connects to the theme of human responsibility and choice. Additionally, the Hadith in Sunan At-Tirmidhi regarding predestination where the Prophet clarified that people are not forced into sin reinforces this ayah's message of human agency.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that blaming Allah for our sins and spiritual misguidance is a false excuse—we possess free will and must take responsibility for our choices and beliefs. In contemporary life, it calls us to seek authentic knowledge from credible sources rather than following inherited customs or popular opinion without reflection, and to recognize that true guidance requires conscious effort and sincere seeking, not passive fatalism.