(Lo! the guilty are in error and madness… Lo! We have created every thing by measure) [54:47-49]. Abu’l-Qasim ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Sarraj informed us (by dictation)> Abu Muhammad ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al-Ka‘bi> Hamdan ibn Salih al-Ashajj> ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Abi Rawwad> Sufyan al-Thawri> Ziyad ibn Isma‘il al-Makhzumi> Muhammad ibn ‘Abbad ibn Ja‘far> Abu Hurayrah who said: “The Quraysh came to dispute the question of Destiny. Allah, exalted is He, therefore revealed (Lo! the guilty are in error and madness… Lo! We have created every thing by measure)”. This was narrated by Muslim from Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah> Waki‘> Sufyan. By Allah, I bear witness that Abu’l-Harith Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahim al-Hafiz informed us in Jurjan; he said: “By Allah, I bear witness that Abu Nu‘aym Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Bazzaz informed us; he said: ‘By Allah, I bear witness that I heard ‘Ali ibn Jandal saying: ‘By Allah, I bear witness that I heard Abu’l-Hasan Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ubayy in Khurasan say: ‘By Allah, I bear witness that I heard ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Saqr al-Hafiz say: ‘By Allah, I bear witness that I heard ‘Ufayr ibn Ma‘dan say: ‘by Allah, I bear witness that I heard Salim ibn ‘Amir say: ‘By Allah, I bear witness that I heard Abu Umamah al-Bahili say: ‘By Allah, I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, say: ‘This verse was revealed about the deniers of Destiny (al-Qadariyyah): (Lo! the guilty are in error and madness… Lo! We have created every thing by measure). Abu Bakr ibn al-Harith related to us> ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Asfahani> Jarir ibn Harun> ‘Ali al-Tanafisi> ‘Ubayd Allah ibn Musa> Bahr al-Saqa’> A Shaykh from Quraysh> ‘Ata’ who said: “The bishop of Najran came to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: ‘O Muhammad, you claim that sins are created by measure and that the seas and heaven are also created by measure. If it is true that the seas and heaven are created by measure, sins nevertheless cannot be’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘You are Allah’s adversaries!’ And then Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Lo! the guilty are in error and madness) up to His words (Lo! We have created every thing by measure)”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
