Allahu a'alam (God Knows Best): Difference between revisions

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Allah knows best, in Arabic الله اعلم (''Allahu A'alam'', literally "Allah knew"), is an Islamic phrase that finds frequent usage in Islamic literature such as the [[tafsir]]. It is often used as a reply to questions about the history of the Islamic narrative that are difficult to answer and questions that cast a doubt on the truthfulness or authenticity of Islam.

The phrase, though originating in Islamic discourse, has become very common in all registers of Arabic. It used by people of all religious persuasions to indicate that a particular question has no answer which is known to the speaker. An example outside of a religious context might be a scientist speaking about what happened before the big bang in modern cosmology--modern mathematical models take us to the very earliest microseconds before the explosion of the singularity, however they cannot tell us anything about where the singularity came from or what it was doing, if anything, before the explosion; as most modern cosmological models also explain that time itself began with the big bang, the question of "what was before the big bang" lacks meaning as it would normally be understood. As such, when asked about such a thing which is basically unknowable to modern science, a cosmologist might answe "allahu 'alam" "God knows" id est I don't know, an admission of lack of knowledge.

==In the Qur'an==

The Qur'an uses Allahu A'alam a lot. It is often used as "'''wa-'''Allahu A'alam" meaning "'''and''' Allah knows best" (conjunctions are prefixed to words in Arabic).

===Allah knows things===

He knows difference between the two genders:

He knows that Abraham, Ishmael and Jacob were neither Jews nor Christians (though scholars Judaism consider them to have been Jews):

{{Quote|{{Quran|12|77}}|They said: If he steal, a brother of his did indeed steal before; but Yusuf kept it secret in his heart and did not disclose it to them. He said: You are in an evil condition and Allah knows best what you state.}}

==="Allah knows best" excuses===

In some verses, "Allah knows best" seems to be an excuse used by Muhammad against the critics of his religion.

People wanted to get some message directly from Allah, not via Muhammad, to be sure that Muhammad is not making it all up. But Muhammad reveals, that "Allah knows best" and then threatens the people with punishment.

People wondered why the Qur'an is [[Contradictions in the Quran|full of contradictions]] and why it needs an [[abrogation]] principle. Muhammad responds by revealing that "Allah knows best and you don't".

Jews knew some religious stories. They asked Muhammad to ask Allah to reveal to him those stories, so that they can compare them and if his stories are the same as theirs, then Muhammad is the messenger of god. One part of those stories was information about how long did dwellers of Ephesus in a cave dwell. Muhammad [[Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Quran|revealed 309, which was incorrect]]. So then he revealed that "Allah knows best":

Muhammad revealed a command for Muslims to use the phrase to respond to critics of Islam:

In the early tafsirs on the verse 68:1, we can read about [[The Islamic Whale|the whale]], called ن (Nun), which carries the Earth on its back <ref>Tanwir Al-Miqbas: "And from his narration on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas that he said regarding the interpretation of Allah's saying (Nun): '(Nun) He says: Allah swears by the Nun, which is the whale that carries the earths on its back while in Water, and beneath which is the Bull and under the Bull is the Rock and..."</ref>. However in the tafsir Al-Jalalayn, from the 15th century, the interpretation changed (for some reason) to "Allah knows best":

{{quote|Al-Jalalayn on 68:1|Nūn is one of the letters of the alphabet. '''God knows best''' what He means by it.}}

Saying "Allah knows best" instead of "I don't know" or "I am not sure" makes people more comfortable in their ignorance.  

One of the most notable atheists in the 21th century said:

{{quote|Richard Dawkins|“I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.”

}}

==See Also==

*[[Allahu Akbar]]

*[[In Sha Allah]]