35. “The polytheists say, ‘Had Allah willed, neither we nor our forefathers would have worshiped anything besides Him, nor would we have forbidden anything without His command.’ Those before them did the same. Are the messengers charged with anything but clear conveyance?”

That is, the polytheists sought to justify their polytheism by appealing to Allah’s will. They claimed that, had Allah willed otherwise, they would not have associated partners with Him or forbidden any of the [livestock] He had made lawful—such as the bahīra, wasīla, hām, and the like—without His command. This argument is false. Were it valid, Allah would not have punished those before them for associating partners with Him, yet He subjected them to the severest punishment. Had He loved that conduct from them, He would not have punished them for it. Their sole purpose was to reject the truth brought by the messengers; they themselves knew full well that they had no argument against Allah.

Allah commanded and prohibited them, enabled them to (1) fulfill what He had charged them with, and endowed them with a capacity and will from which their actions proceed. Their appeal to divine decree and predestination is therefore among the falsest of all claims. Moreover, everyone knows through direct experience that a person has the ability to perform any act he wills, provided no one prevents him. Thus, they combined rejecting what Allah says, rejecting His messengers, and denying what is established by reason and sensory experience.

“Are the messengers charged with anything but clear conveyance?” That is, a plain and manifest conveyance that reaches hearts and leaves no one with any argument against Allah. Once the messengers have conveyed their Lord’s commands and prohibitions to them, if they then appeal to predestination against the messengers, the messengers bear no further responsibility for them; their reckoning rests only with Allah, Mighty and Majestic.