“Indeed, the worst of living creatures in Allah’s sight are the deaf and mute who do not reason.”

“Had Allah known any good in them, He would have made them hear. But even if He had made them hear, they would have turned away in aversion.”

He said this after His words:

“O you who believe, obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not turn away from him while you hear.”

“And do not be like those who say, ‘We hear,’ yet do not hear.”

His words, “Had Allah known any good in them, He would have made them hear,” do not mean merely making them hear the sound, for two reasons.

First, hearing in this sense is indispensable: the proof cannot be established against those being called to faith unless they hear it. As He said:

“If any of the polytheists seeks your protection, grant him protection so that he may hear the words of Allah; then convey him to his place of safety.”

He also said:

“That I may warn you through it, and whoever it reaches.”

And He said:

“We never punish until We have sent a messenger.”

Second, such hearing alone brings no benefit. All the disbelievers who listened to the Quran and rejected it experienced this, as noted above. This differs from being made to hear with understanding, which is what Allah grants to those in whom there is good. This is comparable to the Prophet’s statement, reported in the two Sahīh collections, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“When Allah intends good for someone, He grants him understanding of the religion.”

This verse and hadith indicate that if someone has not attained the hearing through which he understands what is said, Allah has not known any good in him and has not intended good for him. They also indicate that anyone in whom Allah knows good, or for whom He intends good, must be made to hear and granted understanding.

For the hadith makes clear that Allah grants understanding to everyone for whom He intends good. The former necessarily entails the latter, and the wording is general. Thus, anyone whom He has not granted understanding does not fall within that general statement, so Allah cannot have