Al-Ma'idah 18: The Jews and Christians said; “We are Allah’s sons and beloved ones”. Say (to them); “If so, why does Allah punish you due to your sins? The truth is, you are people Allah has created. Allah forgives those amongst you who desire (to be forgiven from Allah) and Allah punishes those among you who do not. The bounties of all things in the heavens and the earth and between them belong to Allah. At the end, the return is to Allah”.

A. Metin Saruhan · 16 February 2022 · Misinterpreted Verses

The misinterpretation

Jews and Christians said we are the sons and lovers of God. Say; So why does he punish you for your sins? Indeed, you are one of the people He created. He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills. Whatever is in the heavens, on the earth and between them belongs to Allah. In the end, the return is only to Him.

The right translation

The Jews and Christians said; “We are Allah’s sons and beloved ones”. Say (to them); “If so, why does Allah punish you due to your sins? The truth is, you are people Allah has created. Allah forgives those amongst you who desire (to be forgiven from Allah) and Allah punishes those among you who do not. The bounties of all things in the heavens and the earth and between them belong to Allah. At the end, the return is to Allah”.

Explanation

Since the word dilama occurs in many places in the Holy Qur'an, we will copy it by putting the footnote about dilama that we wrote earlier under each Verse. The reason is that when a person opens this Verse here, he does not look at the other Verses, so he can be informed here by reading the text of the word begging, which we have opened in the other Verses.

This is where this verse goes wrong: He forgives whom He wills and chastises whom He wills. The truth is: Except those who seek forgiveness (from Him). Our Lord's will is not over people in the worldly realm. Our Lord does not discriminate between people. If we elaborate on this point, it will be better understood. We will repeat the opening of this verse as a repetition.

Allah (swt) created man as a particle of His Spirit. He gave man a mind to govern himself and to judge himself with his own will. In this case, He made a covenant with human beings. Our Lord says in the 172nd verse of Surah A'râf: (172- He made the descendants of the children of Adam to bear witness against themselves, so that on the Day of Resurrection you may not say, "We were ignorant of this," and said, "I am your Lord: I am your Lord. (They said) yes, we bear witness (to that).

So after man was created in the realm of Lahut, when he made a covenant with Allah (swt), whatever he wanted from our Lord, Allah (swt) gave him what he wanted and wrote his destiny. After that, if Allah (swt) removes His will from man and our Lord exercises His will on man, what does He want from man? If Allah, who has the power and might, places whom He wills in Paradise and whom He wills in Hell, if He creates whoever He wills as a disbeliever and whoever He wills as a Muslim, if He bestows His mercy on whomever He wills and withholds His mercy from whomever He wills, are we not characterizing our Lord by making Allah (swt) unjust among His servants?

In this case, those who ask Allah will be guided. Those who turn their backs on Allah and do not embrace the religion of Islam, those who rebel against the commands of our Lord, disregard the laws of Allah, ascribe partners to Allah, or obey the Verses of Allah's Verses that suit them and deny the others, will surely be punished as they deserve, and they will be included in Hell, the place of torment, which is said to be an evil bed.

This world is the shadow of the Hereafter. In this world, if people disobey the laws of the state, cheat people, kill people, etc., and commit crimes outside the laws of the state, and they are caught for their crimes and sent to prison after being sentenced by a judge, did the judge send these people to prison or did they punish themselves for their crimes? Of course, they are punishing themselves for their crimes.

So, when people make a covenant with Allah (swt) in the Elestu bi Rabbikum address, their own desires and wishes become their destiny. Within this destiny, people are either punished or rewarded for the actual deeds they have done with their desires and wishes. They will be rewarded for their own actions. In this case, Allah (swt) does not have any will on people with the decisions they make with their own will while they are living in the world. Those who ask Allah will go to heaven and those who ask Allah will go to hell.

This is entirely the result of the actual actions of human beings based on the decisions they make within their own will. Those who ask Allah for guidance will be guided. Those who turn their backs on Allah and do not embrace the religion of Islam, those who rebel against the commands of our Lord, those who disregard the laws of Allah, those who associate partners with Allah, or those who obey the verses of Allah's revelations that suit them and deny the others, will surely be punished accordingly and they will be included in Hell, the place of torment.

What is said in the video

Verse 18 of Surah Al-Ma'idah has also been rendered wrongly.

The Jews and the Christians said: we are the sons of Allah and His beloved, His beloved. Who says these things? The Jews and the Christians. Sir, 'we are the sons of Allah and His beloved,' they said. Say: then why, for your sins, does He punish you? Of course: you will commit sins, and Allah will judge with justice. Why then, if you are His beloved, His sons, does He not forgive you your sin but punish you? Rather, you too are among the people He created. That is, you are no different from other people. I'm reading the wrong one, but these parts are right. He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills.

Come on, now look, it changed. Now it has switched to Allah's willing. Whatever is in the heavens, on earth and between them, its ownership belongs to Allah. Right. And in the end the return will be to Him. It is to Him, it says. The wrong part here is: He forgives whom He wills, He wrongs whom He wills. Whereas what do we say? Then why does He punish you for your sins? Rather, you too are among the people He created. He forgives those of you who wish, and punishes those who wish. That is, the people's wishing. Now, does a person wish for punishment? Well, if you don't keep Allah's command, eat and drink all the provision Allah Almighty has given, and continue in that disbelief, will Allah Almighty then forgive you?

Surely, can one who knows and one who doesn't, one who strives and one who doesn't, be equal? In that case, surely Allah Almighty, if in return for the blessings He gave you you are ungrateful, will call you to account.