100 Preface وَما كانَ لِنَفسٍ أَن تُؤمِنَ إِلّا بِإِذنِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَيَجعَلُ الرِّجسَ عَلَى الَّذينَ لا يَعقِلونَYusuf AliNo soul can believe, except by the will of God,1 and He will place Doubt2 (or obscurity) on those who will not understand.To creatures endued with Will, Faith comes out of an active use of that Will. But we must not be so arrogant as to suppose that that is enough. At best, man is weak and in need of God’s grace and help. If we sincerely wish to understand, He will help our Faith; but if not, our doubts and difficulties will only be increased. This follows as a necessary consequence, and in Qur-ānic language all consequences are ascribed to God, the Cause of Causes.Rijs (from rajisa, yarjisu, or rajasa, yarjasu) has various meanings: e.g., (1) filth, impurity, uncleanness, abomination, as in 9:95; (2) hence, filthy deeds, foul conduct, crime, abomination, thus shading off into (1), as in 5:90; (3) hence punishment for crime, penalty, as in 6:125; (4) a form of such punishment, viz., doubt, obscurity, or unsettlement of mind, anger, indignation, as in 9:125, and here, but perhaps the idea of punishment is also implied here.