Al-Kahf 7: Surely, We have made everything on earth an ornament for it (the world), so that people will witness to themselves who they truely are.

A. Metin Saruhan · 21 February 2022 · Misinterpreted Verses

The misinterpretation

We have made the world a special ornament for ourselves so that we can try which of the people will do better.

The right translation

Surely, We have made everything on earth an ornament for it (the world), so that people will witness to themselves who they truely are.

Explanation

The verse that has been misunderstood here is this: That We may try which of mankind is best in deeds. The truth is: We want people to prove (to themselves) what kind of a person they are (in their own desires and wishes).

Allah (swt) does not need to test people. To try means that a person has no idea about a person and tries them with some words or deeds to see what kind of person they are.

Our Lord does not need to test such people. He does not even need to test these worlds He has created and His creations within these worlds. Because our Lord says in His verse, "We create what We have created perfect". That He has also programmed these worlds and programmed the events that will happen until the Day of Judgment. The fact that our Lord is aware of every particle of these worlds is because He has created them with a knowledge that is unique to Himself, the magnitude of which is inconceivable. Therefore, no one can characterize our Lord as unaware of the future by saying about Him that He tried this and that.

Our Lord says in the 172nd Verse of Surah A'râf: "And We made a covenant with the descendants of the Children of Adam, and made them witnesses against their own souls, and said, 'We are your Lord. Here he made a covenant with the people, who were divided into three classes, one by one with our Lord, and wrote the desires and wishes of the people as their destiny.

In the 173rd verse of Surat al-A'râf: (Or our fathers used to associate partners with Allah. We were a generation after them (we followed in their footsteps) so that you may not say, "Will you destroy us because of those who commit falsehood?)

It was in this situation that Our Lord sent people to this world in order to make them witnesses for themselves. The truth of the verse is: We have sent mankind into the world so that they may prove (to themselves what kind of a person they are). Here, Our Lord has sent mankind into the world in this way for the manifestation of the attribute of Allah. Because no one will be able to question our Lord, and when a person sees the reward for what he has done, he will stop asking questions, and when he realizes what kind of a person he is, he will be sent to the places he deserves.

What is said in the video

We have come to Surah Al-Kahf. To Surah Al-Kahf; in Surah Al-Kahf's seventh verse there is a mistake. It says: 'So that We may test which of people to test which of them will do better deeds. Look, look, Allah Almighty does not know now this verse contradicts that verse: there is not a single living being until the Last Day of which We would not know what it will do, it says. Now, since Allah's words do not contradict one another — then, Allah Almighty, you could say: O my Lord, didn't You know the people who would come until the Last Day? And here, look, what do You say? 'So that We may test which of them will do good deeds.' 'We have made everything on earth, the world, an adornment for it,' it says.

He sent me into the world. 'Go on, act accordingly.' 'Right now you are good. You are a good person.' 'If you are bad tomorrow, I — you have turned to evil.' 'You are a bad person.' This does not befit Allah. Allah Almighty knows people. What will happen until the Last Day — not only all people on earth, but all His creation: where their sustenance is, when, what they will do — Allah Almighty, who knows all this, is not detached from His creation. If Allah Almighty were detached from His creation, His creatures would suffer injustice. Yes.

The correct version: 'So that people, within their own wishes and desires, prove to themselves what kind of people they are, We have made everything on earth, the world, an adornment for it.' We have made it an adornment for it. Yes.