بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah; the Entirely Merciful
the Especially Merciful
Allah Most High says to His beloved
Prophet ﷺ
وَوَجَدَكَ ضَالًّا فَهَدَىٰ
And He
found thee wandering in search for Him and guided thee unto Himself
(Sura
93: 7)
The word ضالّ as used in this Verse has caused controversy
as it ordinarily means “misguided” “erring” “astray”. However, this word has
several other meanings, and that meaning should be understood which is
befitting the status of the beloved Prophet ﷺ
Regrettably, certain English translations of the Holy Qur’an have
mistranslated this Verse resulting in denigration of the status of the beloved
Prophet ﷺ
The translation of Shi’ite translater, Ali Quli Qara’i: “Did He not find
you astray, and guide you?”
The translation of non-Muslim British orientalist, A. J. Arberry: “Did He
not find thee erring, and guide thee?”
These are other similar translations are incorrect for several reasons.
Elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an it is stated:
مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَىٰ
Your
Companion ﷺ
has not strayed, nor has he erred
(Sura
53: 2)
Therefore, to be consistent with the Holy Qur’an, a majority of the
classical exegetes have rejected the meaning that Allah found the Prophet ﷺ “astray” or “erring” and then guided him to
the Truth. They instead mention the reported incidents when the Prophet ﷺ while still a young child was once lost
somewhere in Mecca. At the time he was under the custody of his paternal
grandfather Abdul Muttalib, who was greatly distressed that the Prophet ﷺ was lost and he could not find him. Abdul
Muttalib was so distressed he went straight to the sacred Ka’ba and begged
Allah to return the Prophet ﷺ to
him. Incidentally, it was Abu Jahl who came across the beloved Prophet ﷺ and returned him to his grandfather.
Another incident is narrated that the Prophet and his uncle, Abu Talib, were
once lost on the way to Syria but were miraculously guided back to the way. So
here Allah is reminding the Prophet ﷺ of His favors of guiding him back to the
way when he was lost.
Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606H) has also explained another possible
meaning which is that the Prophet ﷺ was engrossed in the love of Allah, so
Allah guided him to Him. This is the translation put forward by Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad Qadiani and Ahmad Reza Khan Barelwi in modern times. Imam al-Razi writes:
الرابع عشر: الضلال بمعنى المحبة كما في قوله:
{ إِنَّكَ لَفِى ضَلَـٰلِكَ ٱلْقَدِيمِ }
[يوسف:
95] أي محبتك، ومعناه أنك محب فهديتك إلى الشرائع التي بها تتقرب إلى خدمة محبوبك
Reference: Tafsir al-Kabir; v.31, p.218
Here, Imam al-Razi has given the example of Prophet Jacob (peace be upon
him). When Prophet Joseph (peace be upon him) gave his brothers his Qamîs
(frock) as a means of curing the blindness of their father, when the brothers
returned to Prophet Jacob the latter said that he could smell the fragrance of
his son Joseph, to which the brothers replied:
قَالُوا تَاللَّـهِ إِنَّكَ لَفِي ضَلَالِكَ الْقَدِيمِ
They
said: “By Allah, you are still deeply engrossed in the same old love of yours.”
(Sura
12: 95)
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