People Without Knowledge vs. People With Faith
Those who are without knowledge demand special signs of God. For those who have faith these signs are absolutely clear. We have in Surah Baqrah 2:118:Say those without knowledge : “Why speaks not Allah unto us? Or why comes not unto us a Sign?” So said the people before them words of similar import. Their hearts are alike. We have indeed made clear the signs unto any people who hold firmly to faith (in their hearts).We notice one thing immediately about this verse. It is not about people of knowledge and those without it. It is not about people of faith and without it. From the first set it chooses the latter while from the second set it chooses the former. Clearly people of knowledge are left out of this verse. And so are the people without faith. What about them ? Answer is simple. The people of knowledge are those for whom the Signs of Lord are clear – they are knowledgeable about it , they are the people of knowledge.
As far as the people without faith are concerned there are anyway excluded from our discussion as has been made clear in the beginning of this series of posts.
Now both of above two points may leave something to be desired in the mind of an alert reader. Let us take the second point first. So the question is about a person who does not have faith but would like to have it. This is a very good case indeed. The reality is that this person is a seeker. The favour of Lord Most High on mankind is that a seeker ends up getting it – the faith. So there is a good news here.
To complete the argument it might be asked as to how will this person get his faith. This is a matter of guidance and it is not voluntary. Lord has kept guidance with Him. We can only seek it, ask for it and pray for it. As said above Lord Most High guides a seeker. (As a related observation ) It is also incombant upon every believer to call people to Lord Most High with beautiful preaching.
Finally the question may be asked as to why the knowledgeable people have been kept out of this Verse. The simple answer is that it is not required. Peopleof knowledge are already fortunate. Lord Most High is showing His Mercy to those who do not have the knowledge – perchance they may hear.
