Juz’ 7 – Al Ma’idah 82 – Al An’am 110, Topic: Are all Questions Good Questions?

Are all Questions Good Questions?


Sorry for the break in the blog-posts. Time got away from me but we are now back on track!

In my work with the community one of the recurring obstacles is responding to questions, when the questioner desires a clear-cut black and white answer. In matters of spirituality, particularly in a tariqah where personal search is incredibly central, this becomes difficult and the questioners often become frustrated with a perceived lack of transparency. For this reason, I was fascinating to come across ayahs 101-105 in Surah al-Ma'idah which addresses the asking of questions.

O you who believe! Ask not about things which, if they were disclosed to you, would trouble you. And if you ask about them while the Quran is being sent down, they will be disclosed to you. God has pardoned this, and God is Forgiving, Clement (5:101). A people before you asked about these things, then came to be disbelievers therein (5:102). God has not established bahirah, or saibah, or wasilah, or ham. But those who disbelieve fabricate lies against god, and most of them do not understand (5:103). And when it is said unto them, "Come unto that which God has sent down, and unto the Messenger," they say, "Sufficient for us is that which we have found our fathers practicing." What! Even if their fathers knew naught and were not rightly guided? (5:104) O you who believe! You have charge of your own souls. He who is astray cannot harm you if you are right guided. Unto God shall be your return all together, and He shall inform you of what you used to do (5:105).

In reading the commentary on these verses, the scholars are not aligned on its interpretation. There is a sense that these verses were revealed in response to a certain person who was asking questions of the Prophet. Some commentators (p.328) understood these ayahs to warm individuals about asking questions because if they were to ask for clarification on practices, there was a chance Allah would actually increase the burden in their religious practice. This infers that ambiguity in "the rules" of religion is better, because one cannot be held accountable for what they don't know. For me, this is not a convincing interpretation. For one, Allah is warning people against asking about the rules he himself has established.

Another more convincing line of interpretation points out that the people asking questions were struggling to hold on to pre-Islamic practices which came before them. I think of this line of question as the questioner demanding to know how their preconceived frameworks ( a square) can fit into new frameworks brought by revelation (a circle). No matter what, the response will not satisfy their queries. It reminds me of questions many of us have to answer which begin with, "why don't you guys do X". This question is setup for unsatisfying responses, because the framework of "truth" underpinning the question is  very narrow in its scope.

This warning against certain kinds of questions is also relevant in the current sociopolitical climate in which we find ourselves. Although it is incumbent on us to respond to others, it is also important to identify that the intention of the question is tremendously important. If someone is not questioning to deepen their understanding, those questions are likely unanswerable.