The Verse "Ask the People of Reminder"

And We did not send before you [O Muhammad] except men to whom We revealed. So ask the people of the reminder if you do not know. (16:43)

As an example, in Mr. Qara'ati's book Lessons from the Qur'an, this verse is used in defense of taqlid — interpreting that the maraji' are "the people of reminder" and this verse recommends asking them. However, three responses can be given:

1. It must be noted that recommending to ask is not the same as recommending taqlid. Taqlid means following without attaining knowledge, and this verse does not indicate that. Rather, from the phrase "if you do not know... ask," it is understood that one should ask with the aim of knowing and acquiring knowledge, not for mere blind following. If that were the case, the verse could have said "follow the people of the reminder if you do not know." But the use of "ask... if you do not know" makes it clear that the goal and end of asking must be the acquisition of knowledge.

2. Those who do not practice taqlid, but instead, as mentioned in the Introduction and as will be explained in If We Do Not Imitate, What Should We Do?, strive to know their religion from correct sources (engaging in tafaqquh), they too act upon this verse: if they do not know something, they ask the people of reminder. The difference is that when a marja' answers "my opinion is such," the people of taqlid are content with that — while still not "knowing" the reasoning behind that opinion, they consider their duty to this verse fulfilled. In contrast, the people of tafaqquh, by the very same verse, ask the marja' "why?" to resolve what they "do not know" to the extent possible. So in reality, the people of tafaqquh continue to act upon this verse as long as they have time and ability, while the people of taqlid suspend acting upon it after a single question.

3. The style and context of this verse and the verses before and after it do not indicate taqlid or baseless following. On the contrary, the atmosphere is one of proof, evidence, thought, and reason. Evidence for this claim is the next verse:

   [We sent them] with clear proofs and scriptures. And We revealed to you the reminder that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them and that they might give thought. (16:44)

   As can be seen, the previous verse commanded asking the people of reminder. In this verse, God says to the Prophet (peace be upon him): We have revealed the reminder to you so that you may explain to the people what has been sent down to them. It is clear that the intent is the people's following of the Messenger accompanied by explanation and clarification, not following without clarification. Consequently, following others besides the Messenger is also only permitted with explanation. The verse continues "that they might give thought," whereas in taqlid, thought has no place — the muqallid considers reflecting on verses and narrations to be the work of specialists!

   Another piece of evidence is in Surah al-Anbiya', where a very similar sentence is repeated in verse 7: "And We sent not before you, [O Muhammad], except men to whom We revealed. So ask the people of the reminder if you do not know." Then in verse 10 it says: "We have certainly revealed to you a Book in which is your mention. Then will you not reason?" (21:10). Again, the discussion is about the revelation of the Book and the reminder, and the rebuke "will you not reason?" The following verses mention how many towns whose people were wrongdoers were destroyed. So the context is about reasoning in actions, avoiding injustice, and establishing justice. It would be very difficult to infer from these verses that God has asked people to suspend their thinking and blindly follow the people of reminder without demanding proof and evidence, or that they should only reason in beliefs and leave reasoning in matters of daily life to the jurists!

Further Analysis of "[We sent them] with clear proofs and scriptures"

In addition to the three answers above, deeper reflection on the phrase "with clear proofs and scriptures" which appears in the next verse immediately after "ask the people of the reminder if you do not know" may lead to significant conclusions. Many translators have struggled with this verse because if they interpret verse 44 independently, it is unclear what the verb of the phrase "with clear proofs and scriptures" is. To solve this problem, Allamah Tabataba'i connected this phrase to verse 43, rendering it as: "We did not send before you except men to whom We revealed [with proofs and scriptures]... if you do not know, ask the people of the reminder (43). And We revealed to you the reminder that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them and that they might give thought (44)." Other translators have more or less taken the same meaning — that this phrase completes the beginning of verse 43, and God intended to say "And We did not send before you except men to whom We revealed with clear proofs and scriptures" (hypothetical form A).

However, searching for the usage of "yūḥī" and "nūḥī" in the Qur'an shows that this verb is not used with the preposition "bi" and an object; rather, it comes with "inna" and "an," such as "Say, 'It is only revealed to me that your god is one God...'" (21:108). With such translations, the eloquence of the Qur'an would be impaired: if God intended "with clear proofs and scriptures" to be read after "We revealed to them," why was this phrasing not placed directly there, instead of at such a distance and in an awkward position? Even if one says it was for beauty and rhythm of speech, the question remains whether the actual combination is truly more beautiful or rhythmic than (hypothetical form A). Besides these problems, two new solutions can be proposed:

1. One possibility is that the phrase "with clear proofs and scriptures" naturally completes the immediately preceding phrase "you do not know," meaning "ask the people of knowledge, if you do not have knowledge of the clear proofs and scriptures." In this case, the meaning would be: seek from the people of reminder the clear proofs and what is written in the scriptures (not merely the personal opinion of the people of reminder). If so, this verse does not command taqlid but rather opposes it. As evidence that "you do not know [of something]" can mean "you do not have knowledge of that thing," see verses 26-27 of Surah Ya Sin:

   He said, "I wish my people could know (26) of how my Lord has forgiven me..." (36:26)

2. Even if we do not accept the above possibility and look for another referent for "with clear proofs and scriptures," the next closest candidate after "if you do not know" is "ask." That is, a second possibility is that "with clear proofs and scriptures" completes "ask," meaning "ask the people of reminder about the clear proofs and scriptures" or "demand the clear proofs and scriptures from the people of reminder." This would convey a meaning similar to what was proposed in possibility 1. The following verses are evidence that "ask [about/for] something" is used in this manner:

   ... the Most Merciful — so ask about Him one well-informed. (25:59)
   (At least four translators — Ayati, Khorramshahi, Fooladvand, and Qara'ati — have translated the preposition "ba" in this verse as "about.")

   A supplicant asked for a punishment bound to happen. (70:1)

If we accept this meaning, we face fewer grammatical difficulties and have a better explanation (compared to the interpretation offered by Allamah Tabataba'i and some other translators): verse 43 has its own independent meaning and syntax — "ask the people of reminder if you do not know" — and verse 44 expands on it: if you understood the message of verse 43 and are to ask, now about what? "Ask about the clear proofs and scriptures." It is more logical and grammatical for the word "ask" (is'alū) to be elliptically implied here. The subsequent sentences then follow about sending clear proofs to the Prophet, etc. In summary, if any of these possibilities is correct, then these verses command exactly the opposite of taqlid. Mr. Taheri, at the beginning of his New Treatise, also rejects taqlid by referring to this same verse^[1].

Parent page: The Qur'an Has Not Recommended Taqlid

Return to: Table of Contents