Q:Some questions of challengers of times of prophets were answered and some were not. Even after getting the answers of showing miracles , disbelievers failed to continue to remain on their path of their disbelieves. Allah subhanautala has all the powers and how different scholars explained about wisdom behind not responding to some questions? Can you explore and share please

A:

The Wisdom Behind Allah’s Selective Response to Challengers’ Demands
Why Does the All-Powerful Not Always Answer Every Challenge?

Framing the Question Correctly
Before exploring scholarly answers, we must establish a critical distinction the Quran itself makes:
Two types of questions exist in the Quran: Type Nature Allah’s Response Su’al al-Istifham — Sincere inquiry seeking truth Humble, seeking guidance Always answered, often elaborately Su’al al-Tahaddi — Challenge demanding performance Arrogant, seeking to trap Sometimes answered, sometimes withheld — with wisdom

The questioner is asking about the second category. And this is where profound theological wisdom unfolds.

Part One: Quranic Evidence That Some Demands Were Deliberately Not Met
Case 1 — The Demands of Quraysh (Surah Al-Isra 17:90-93)
وَقَالُوا لَن نُّؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّىٰ تَفْجُرَ لَنَا مِنَ الْأَرْضِ يَنبُوعًا أَوْ تَكُونَ لَكَ جَنَّةٌ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَعِنَبٍ…
They demanded:
∙ A spring gushing from the earth
∙ A garden of dates and grapes
∙ The sky falling in pieces
∙ Allah and angels brought forth physically
∙ A house of gold
∙ Climbing to the sky — and even then they said they wouldn’t believe unless a book came down
Allah’s response was not to perform any of these. Instead:
قُلْ سُبْحَانَ رَبِّي هَلْ كُنتُ إِلَّا بَشَرًا رَّسُولًا
“Say: Glory be to my Lord — am I anything but a human messenger?” (17:93)
The refusal itself was the answer.
Case 2 — The Earlier Nations (Surah Al-Isra 17:59)
وَمَا مَنَعَنَا أَن نُّرْسِلَ بِالْآيَاتِ إِلَّا أَن كَذَّبَ بِهَا الْأَوَّلُونَ ۚ وَآتَيْنَا ثَمُودَ النَّاقَةَ مُبْصِرَةً فَظَلَمُوا بِهَا
“Nothing prevented Us from sending signs except that the former peoples denied them. We gave Thamud the she-camel as a visible sign — and they wronged her.”
This single ayah contains the entire theological explanation — the scholars drew heavily from it.

Part Two: What Happened When Demands WERE Met?
This is crucial context scholars emphasize — because the historical record is devastating for the challengers’ position.
The She-Camel of Thamud
∙ They demanded a miracle: a she-camel from solid rock
∙ Allah ﷻ gave it — visibly, undeniably
∙ They hamstrung her anyway (Surah Ash-Shams 91:14)
∙ Result: Total annihilation within three days
The Table of Food — Disciples of Isa ع
قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّنَا أَنزِلْ عَلَيْنَا مَائِدَةً مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ
They asked for a table from heaven as confirmation of faith. Allah granted it — but with a warning:
مَن يَكْفُرْ بَعْدُ مِنكُمْ فَإِنِّي أُعَذِّبُهُ عَذَابًا لَّا أُعَذِّبُهُ أَحَدًا مِّنَ الْعَالَمِينَ
“Whoever disbelieves after this — I will punish them with a punishment I have not inflicted on anyone in the worlds.” (5:115)
The People of Nuh ع
∙ 950 years of dawah
∙ Every argument addressed, every question answered
∙ Not a single new believer after the initial believers (Surah Nuh 71:5-6)
∙ Flood came
The pattern is undeniable: Meeting the demand did not produce faith. It only raised the stakes of punishment.

Part Three: The Scholars’ Explanations of Divine Wisdom

1. Imam Al-Razi رحمه الله — The Epistemological Argument
   (Mafatih al-Ghayb, Commentary on 17:59)
   Al-Razi argues that the problem is never the lack of evidence — it is the corruption of the faculty that processes evidence.
   He draws an analogy: if a man’s eyes have a disease, giving him more light does not help him see — it blinds him further. The Quran says:
   وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاءٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۙ وَلَا يَزِيدُ الظَّالِمِينَ إِلَّا خَسَارًا
   “We send down of the Quran what is healing and mercy for the believers — but it increases the wrongdoers only in loss.” (17:82)
   The same revelation heals one heart and hardens another. More miracles would produce the same bifurcation — except the punishment for rejection would be catastrophically greater (as seen with Thamud).
   Al-Razi’s conclusion: Withholding the demanded sign is itself a mercy — it keeps the door of repentance open longer.
2. Ibn Kathir رحمه الله — The Sunnatullah Argument
   (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Commentary on 6:109-111)
   وَلَوْ أَنَّنَا نَزَّلْنَا إِلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ وَكَلَّمَهُمُ الْمَوْتَىٰ وَحَشَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ قُبُلًا مَّا كَانُوا لِيُؤْمِنُوا إِلَّا أَن يَشَاءَ اللَّهُ
   “Even if We sent down angels to them, and the dead spoke to them, and We gathered everything before them — they would not believe unless Allah willed.” (6:111)
   Ibn Kathir explains: Allah’s knowledge is pre-eternal and total. He knows with absolute certainty who will believe and who will not. Performing miracles for those whose hearts are irreversibly sealed:
   ∙ Adds nothing to the probability of their faith
   ∙ Adds enormously to the severity of their punishment
   ∙ Disrupts the natural order established for the test of this world
   The Sunnah of Allah ﷻ in this Dunya is: Hidayah through contemplation, reflection, and free choice — not through coercion by spectacle.
3. Sayyid Qutb رحمه الله — The Free Will and Test Argument
   (Fi Zilal al-Quran, Commentary on Surah Al-Isra)
   Qutb makes perhaps the most philosophically penetrating argument:
   The entire structure of this world is built on the principle of Ibtila — trial.
   الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا
   “He who created death and life to test you — which of you is best in deed.” (67:2)
   If Allah ﷻ responded to every demanded challenge with a visible, undeniable cosmic spectacle:
   ∙ Faith would become compulsion, not choice
   ∙ The test would be nullified — no one can “fail” when the answer is written on the sky
   ∙ Human moral agency would be destroyed — you cannot be held accountable for believing what you had no real choice but to believe
   Qutb writes powerfully: “The miracle that compels belief is the miracle that destroys the human being’s dignity as a moral agent. Allah honored humanity by making faith a matter of insight and choice — not visual coercion.”
   This is why the Quran repeatedly says “for a people who reflect”, “for a people who reason” — the signs are there, but they require active engagement of the intellect and the will.
4. Imam Al-Ghazali رحمه الله — The Hikma of Concealment
   (Ihya Ulum al-Din & Al-Iqtisad fil-I’tiqad)
   Al-Ghazali approaches this from the angle of Divine Wisdom (Hikma) vs. Divine Power (Qudra).
   He makes a crucial distinction: Allah’s not doing something is never a limitation of power — it is always an expression of wisdom.
   He uses the analogy of a skilled physician: A doctor who has powerful medication does not administer it to every patient who demands it. The withholding is the expertise.
   Al-Ghazali argues three dimensions of this wisdom:
   a) Hikmat al-Tartib — Wisdom of Ordered Progression
   Guidance works through stages — the Quran was revealed over 23 years, not in one day. Similarly, signs are given in a pedagogically ordered sequence, not on demand.
   b) Hikmat al-Imtihan — Wisdom of Testing
   If every demand was met, the test loses meaning. The discomfort of unanswered demands is itself part of the sifting process that distinguishes genuine seekers from entertainment-seekers.
   c) Hikmat al-Hujja — Wisdom of Establishing Proof
   The existing signs — creation, order, the Quran, the Prophet ﷺ himself — are sufficient proof. Adding more miracles does not address the real problem, which is willful rejection, not insufficient evidence.
   وَإِن يَرَوْا كُلَّ آيَةٍ لَّا يُؤْمِنُوا بِهَا
   “Even if they see every sign, they will not believe in it.” (6:25)
5. Maulana Mawdudi رحمه الله — The Cosmic Order Argument
   (Tafheem ul-Quran, Commentary on Surah Al-An’am)
   Mawdudi brings a uniquely systematic lens. He explains that Allah ﷻ has established two parallel systems:
   System 1: Nizam al-Asbab — The causal order of the universe
   This is the world as we experience it — cause and effect, predictable laws, the basis of science and civilization.
   System 2: Nizam al-Khariq — The miraculous intervention system
   This operates outside the causal order and is used sparingly, purposefully, and always in service of the prophetic mission.
   Mawdudi argues: if Allah ﷻ responded to every demanded challenge, He would effectively abolish System 1. The universe would become chaotic — unpredictable, unscientific, unlivable. The very order that sustains life and civilization would collapse.
   Furthermore, he notes the psychological pattern of challengers: they never have a genuine tipping point. The Quran records:
   وَلَوْ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِم بَابًا مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ فَظَلُّوا فِيهِ يَعْرُجُونَ ۚ لَقَالُوا إِنَّمَا سُكِّرَتْ أَبْصَارُنَا
   “Even if We opened a gate in the sky and they ascended through it all day — they would say: Our eyes have been bewitched.” (15:14-15)
   The demand for miracles was never really about evidence. It was about avoiding accountability.

Part Four: The Deeper Psychological Reality the Quran Exposes
This is perhaps the most devastating insight — the Quran diagnoses the challenger, not just the challenge.
The Real Reason Disbelievers Made Demands:
بَلْ يُرِيدُ الْإِنسَانُ لِيَفْجُرَ أَمَامَهُ
“Rather, man desires to continue in his transgression.” (75:5)
وَجَحَدُوا بِهَا وَاسْتَيْقَنَتْهَا أَنفُسُهُمْ ظُلْمًا وَعُلُوًّا
“They rejected the signs — while their souls were inwardly certain of them — out of injustice and arrogance.” (27:14)
This ayah is shattering. The people of Fir’awn did not disbelieve because they lacked evidence. They disbelieved while privately certain of the truth. The demand for more miracles was performative — a social and political posture, not an intellectual one.
Scholars summarize: Kibr (arrogance) blocks Iman, not the absence of proof. More proof given to an arrogant heart only increases its arrogance.

Synthesis: Why Allah ﷻ Selectively Responds Reason Quranic Basis Scholar Meeting the demand wouldn’t produce faith anyway 6:111, 27:14 Ibn Kathir It would destroy the test structure of this world 67:2, 2:155 Sayyid Qutb It would collapse the cosmic causal order 15:14-15 Mawdudi The faculty for receiving evidence is already corrupted 17:82, 6:25 Al-Razi Withholding is mercy — it delays punishment 17:59 (Thamud) Al-Razi, Ibn Kathir The existing signs are already sufficient proof 52:35, 3:190 Al-Ghazali The real barrier is arrogance, not evidence 27:14, 75:5 All scholars

Closing Reflection
Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما is reported to have said about the challenged signs:
“Allah gave every prophet what was sufficient for their people to believe. Our Prophet ﷺ was given the Quran — and it remains, while the miracles of others passed. Whoever reflects on it finds more than enough.”
The most profound miracle is not a split sea or a speaking she-camel — it is a Book that has spoken to every generation for 1400 years, in every language, to every civilization, answering questions that had not yet been asked when it was revealed.
That is the standing challenge the Quran itself issues:
أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ ۚ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ غَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا فِيهِ اخْتِلَافًا كَثِيرًا
“Do they not reflect on the Quran? Had it been from other than Allah, they would have found in it much contradiction.” (4:82)
The sign is already here. The question is always — are we looking?