An-Nahl (The Bee)

9. “And upon Allah is to show the right way, and of them (the ways) are the deviating ones; and if He had willed He could have guided all of you.”

From among the affairs which Allah regards them as His Own obligations is leading people and providing them with proper guidance, as He remarks:

“Verily We take upon Ourselves to guide,”1

and again in this verse the Holy Qur’an states:

“And upon Allah is to show the right way…”

Here, the Qur’anic term /qasd/ signifies moderation, and the aim in referring to /qasd-us-sabil/ is the in-between way or the ‘straight way’.

Anyway, in pursuing the various blessings, which were discussed in the previous verses, the Qur’an points out here to one of the most important spiritual blessings of them, when it implies that it is up to Allah to show the right and straight path to the people, a path which has no deviation found in it.

The verse says:

“And upon Allah is to show the right way…”

As for this ‘straight path’ which alludes to either the ‘genetic’ or the ‘religious’ dimension, the commentators have offered various interpretations. However, their ideas are not incompatible with each other if they include both cases.

On the other hand, Allah has sent the prophets equipping them with revelations, adequate instructions and regulations required by man, so that, from the religious laws point of view be able to discriminate the good from the evil and, by means of kind of statements, to persuade man to cover the straight way and refrain him from the deviate paths.

Afterwards, as there are many deviating paths, He warns human beings, implying that some of these paths are deviating and have dead ends.

The verse says:

“…and of them (the ways) are the deviating ones…”

And since the blessings of freedom of choice and free will are among the most important factors in man’s perfection, the Qur’an refers to them with a short sentence and remarks in implication that if Allah wanted, He would lead all of you by compulsion to the straight path in such a way as you would not be able to deviate in the least from that path.

The verse continues saying:

“…and if He had willed He could have guided all of you.”

But, He did not do that, for compulsory guidance is neither something which makes one proud; nor is it a development for him.

Anyway, Allah has not deemed it appropriate to make people believers by compulsion; on the contrary, He has left man free to choose his own path.