In accordance with the divinely established system of freewill, guidance is a condition of Allah's will in the sense that He has decreed that He will guide only those who seek guidance. This is a very common Quranic terminology, for example it is stated that God grants success in the hereafter to
22:14"those who believe and do good deeds"
and the sentence ends with
"Allah does what He pleases".
Doing what He pleases in relation to success in the hereafter does not mean designating people haphazardly or arbitrarily regardless of their condition, but it means doing what He pleases in regards to the decreeing of laws and enforcing them, laws according to which
"Allah will cause those who believe and do good deeds to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow".
Divine guidance is a grace from God with which He rewards all who desire to be guided, reflecting that desire through certain sincere actions
28:56,24:46"from on high have We bestowed messages clearly showing the truth; but God guides onto a straight way [only] him that wills [to be guided]".
The ever recurrent divine statement
"Allah yahdi man yasha"
lit. means
"Allah guides whom wills".
Linguistically, it can equally be rendered as
"Allah guides whom He wills"
but it is closer both implicitly and explicitly to
"Allah guides whom wills to be guided"
since there are instances where the phrase is used with God as the direct subject 74:56. Both renditions still however carry the same meaning: Allah knows those who are willing and deserving His spiritual guidance and He will grant it to them
28:56"Allah guides whom He will/Allah yahdi man yasha and He knows best those who are willing to be guided".
This is the major point often missed by non-Muslims coming across this peculiar Quranic terminology, as well as some Muslims themselves who advocate predestination; the overarching principle in terms of freewill and causality is that God does as He said He will do, not as others want him to do. This is the meaning of God doing "what He wills". The prophets throughout the Quran have captured that notion to their people, including Jesus
5:116"If You should punish them - indeed they are Your servants; but if You forgive them - indeed it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise".
God doing "what He wills" to His creatures is connected to His might and wisdom; He will never do an injustice to anyone
4:40"Surely Allah does not do injustice to the weight of an atom, and if it is a good deed He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward".Further, by making the "release" of guidance strictly in God's will, contingent upon criteria He alone validates, leaves no room for pride, boldness and complacency in anyone regarding the matter. The expression appears in similar contexts in order to negate all prejudice, when speaking of forgiveness 5:18 or prophetic guidance 3:73-4.
It is a central theme of the Quran, sometimes inside a larger sura or in the form of an entire sura as in the fatiha, to teach the believer how to seek Allah's guidance.
Man has to first choose by himself the basic guidance that has been made available to all human beings, as pledged to Adam, in various forms such as revelations or scriptures
4:174"O People, surely there has come to you manifest proof from your Lord and We have sent to you clear light".
This verse manifests the supplicant's prayer in sura fatiha, where he asks God for guidance towards the right way. After having been exposed to this indiscriminate divine guidance, one is free to accept it as there is no coercion in religion 2:256,18:29. The finding of the right direction therefore originates first through man's own choice and inner struggle
47:17,91:7-8,13:11"surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition".
Once that basic, indiscriminate guidance is accepted, God further increases in guidance those that seek Him
3:101,4:175"Then as for those who believe in Allah and hold fast by Him, He will cause them to enter into His mercy and grace and guide them to Himself on a right path".
This is Allah's internal guidance. It is contingent on man's initial willingness to be guided, which is reflected in deeds and attitude. Countless verses reflect that notion including 2:213,4:69,5:16, 6:117,10:9,12:22,19:76,28:56,29:69,31:4-5,42:13,53:30,58:22,64:11,68:7 and many more verses where Allah declares that He best knows who are the followers of the right way and strive therein from those who choose to go astray, those who incline to truth, who obey and believe in Him, the doers of good, worship Him with certainty of heart, those who turn to Him and those who give priority to true faith above any other principle that may contradict it. These are the people that He guides, impresses faith on their hearts, bestows on them wisdom and knowledge 28:14 (as similarly stated by Solomon in Prov2:7), His mercy and grace 4:70,175.
These are the ones whose breasts are expanded so as to give them inner certainty and create a favorable receptacle for guidance 6:125,18:13,39:22-23. The most eminent of prophets such as Moses and Muhammad similarly had their chest expanded as they set themselves to face the tyrants of their times 20:25,94:1. The servants of God are further tranquilized, healed, and strengthened in their hearts 10:57,48:4. Just as the believing youths who had fled their land on account of the religious persecution and hid in a cave were increased and established in guidance 18:13-4. Solomon in the HB stated concerning God's guidance
Prov3:8"it shall be healing for your navel and marrow for your bones".
Long before, as Solomon was placed on the throne and shouldered with the responsibility of building the Temple, David his father admonished the nation through him, reminding him of that notion of conditional divine guidance
1Chr28:9"And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father and worship Him with a whole heart and with an eager soul, for the Lord seeks all hearts, and He understands the thoughts of every creation; if you seek Him, He will be found to you, and if you forsake Him, He will abandon you forever".
God's communications become self-evident to the rightly guided 29:49, making their "steps firm" 14:27,47:7 during their ascent to moral heights. Although this ascent may seem like an uphill climb, it ultimately leads to a pure, happy and fulfilled life for the God-conscious, whether in this world or the next 16:97,90:11-18,92:7.
Those that reject Resurrection and the Hereafter on the other hand live in mental torture as regards the higher meanings of all occurrences in this life 34:7-8. Contrary to those whose hearts are at peace and who walk firmly the path of this world, evil entities make the disbelievers' step "slippery" 3:155, an imagery employed in previous scriptures Jer23:12,Ps35:6 and sometimes attributed to God Ps73:18. This is because the righteous' way is enlightened while the one of the wicked is dark and crooked regardless of his perception of it, as here stated by Solomon
Prov5:18-19"But the way of the righteous is like the light of dawn; it shines ever brighter until the day is perfect. The way of the wicked is like pitch darkness; they do not know on what they stumble".
The notion of God guiding the righteous who walk in His way, making their steps firm by leveling and smoothing their path is expressed in the Hebrew Bible Isa26:7,Ps4:8,18:33,27:11,143:8,Jer31:8. David supplicated God for that
Ps5:9"O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness; because of those who lie in wait for me, make Your way straight before me".
The effect was that God
Ps18:37"enlarged my step[s] beneath me, and my ankles have not slipped".
Solomon depicted the one who attains spiritual and moral heights
Prov3:23"Then you shall go securely on your way, and your foot shall not stumble".
The prophet Habakkuk said concerning the uplifting nature of divine guidance
Hab3:19"The Sovereign Lord is my strength, He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights".
The rightly guided ones are given a clear discernement of right and wrong during that process
6:122,7:201,47:17,57:28"and make for you a light with which you will walk".
It is God-consciousness that prevents man from being misled into the path of the spiritually unaware. Elsewhere the Quran is very appropriately referred to as al-Furqan/the Criterion, precisely for its endowing the believer with the correct insight to discriminate between right and wrong
25:1,45:20"This (Quran) is visions for the people and guidance and mercy for a people who are certain"
and answer the call of
8:24"that which gives you life; and know that Allah intervenes between man and his heart".
In a hadith, the prophet Muhammad quotes Allah
"My servant continues to draw closer to Me with voluntary acts of worship until he becomes beloved to Me. And when I love him, I become the hearing with which he hears, and the seeing with which he sees".
It is interesting to note that in the hereafter, this spiritual light will become physical light. Only those who possessed it in this life will be able to use it to find their way in the hereafter. That sharpness of spiritual insight endowed upon those God deems fit is such that faith and righteousness become the dearest of values while unbelief and transgression become hated 49:7-8.
Love of Truth and aversion towards everything false and sinful is the natural outcome of the acceptance of the straight path. One becomes in a heightened state of spiritual awareness, constantly longing to be increased in divine knowledge and wisdom. It is however important to keep in view that the Quran here is not speaking of hatred towards the sinful person itself. There are countless verses encouraging rectitude and compassion indiscriminately even towards one's enemies, and regardless of the person's religion or lack thereof. Religious hatred is hatred for evil and evil deeds. This again, demonstrates the supreme pragmatism of the Quran; infatuated love and destructive hatred completely miss the mark. One hates for the sake of God and loves for the sake of God. One hates the evil deed because it harms the sinner, just as one loves the good deed because it brings one closer to guidance.
The HB surely echoes the theme of religious hatred although it amalgamates hatred towards the individual itself as reflected in David's
Psalms119:104-5,139:21-22"From Your precepts I shall gain understanding; therefore, I hate all ways of falsehood. Your words are a lamp for my foot, and light for my path...Did I not hate Your enemies, O Lord? With those who rise up against You, I quarrel. I hate them with utmost hatred; they have become my enemies".
Solomon reflected that notion too Proverbs2:7-10,13:5. Again in 2Sam22, the prophet David speaks of God's guidance as the lamp by which one walks in darkness, levelling the obstacles along the path,
making every step firm, a rock, forteress and shield of salvation. In his later days, he would state
Ps19:9"the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes".
It is obedience to God's commandements, meaning initial action and proof of submission to the divine will, that then causes one's inner self to be lit up. And just as transgression is hated by the upright, to turn away from it is just as hated by the spiritually dead Prov13:19.
The Quran, which repeatedly says it is a guidance for mankind, also says that its guidance is conditional on the internal disposition of the one who approaches it. That internal disposition is nurtured through deep reflection on the physical signs in the heavens and the earth, leading one to acknowledgement the unseen realities, such as a higher purpose of existence, the existence of a Creator and the inevitable return to Him. Finally one has to display sincerity in his thoughts and deeds, which characterizes itself through the person's readiness to put the revealed teachings into practice 2:1-4,45:1-6.
The same is stated by Jesus in his sermon Matt5 where he describes the bestowal of God's spiritual blessings as being contingent on righteousness and spiritual awareness. He says the same in the bags of gold parable where a master favors his servants with wealth proportionate to their abilities, like God favors his servants whom he graces with guidance depending on their degree of spiritual awareness. The more God-conscious in their faith and behavior, the more they are granted spiritual insight. The spiritually blind get nothing and are kept away from guidance as often stated by Jesus Mk4:10-12,Matt7:6,13:13-15.
Similarly to "Allah yahdi man yasha", in 42:13 Allah says that
"yahdi man yunib"
meaning
"he who turns".
Just like "man yasha", "man yunib" must be referring to the people not to Allah, because they are doing the action of Inabah (turning to Allah)
13:27"Surely Allah makes him who will go astray, and guides to Himself those who turn (to Him)/man anaba".
Therefore similarly "man yashaa", must mean those who already believe and who want to be guided by Allah
22:54"and most surely Allah is the Guide (hadi) of those who believe, into a right path".
That Quranic expression "Allah yahdi man yasha" or "Allah yahdi man yunib" is also used in other variants such as "Allah yahdi man yurid" and demonstrates again that principle of Allah guiding whom wills to be guided. For example in 6:104 Allah states that each one is free to follow the communications when they come to them and then through 22:16 Allah declares to have sent the Quran containing clear arguments, Allah guides through it "man yurid"/he who wills.
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