In some verses, God makes it clear that his book is descended as “a guidance for the people and clear proofs [that are of] guidance and [a] criteria [for discerning the truth]”. In other verses, God seems to suggest that the Quran is only beneficial for a select group of people, that it is a “cure for the believers and it does not increase for the wrongdoers except loss”. From the one side, the Prophet is sent as a “warner” to all humanity, the book is a guide to all people and on the other hand, we are told that this book and its message create more problems for the wrongdoers. So which is it? Let’s explain each set of verses in more depth to arrive at a potential answer.
Allah says in the second chapter, “this book is a guidance for the pious”. Or He says in chapter 79 after relaying the story of Pharaoh and his miserable fate, that only those “who fear” and carry humbleness in their hearts will be able to take heed: “indeed there is a lesson in this for those who have fear (humbleness)”. From this we understand that the Quran’s potential as a book of guidance is unlocked for those who prepare their hearts to receive its light. The individuals who places their hearts in a state of allowing and receiving, the light of the Quran will penetrate their hearts and open doors of wisdom and growth for them. It helps their flourishment and carries them to a level where God places with them “a light with which he walks amongst the people”. On the contrary, those who close the doors of their hearts and minds are voluntarily blocking the light. They will not be an example of those “who listen to the speech and follow the best of it”. As such, the first step in growth is deciding that growth is possible. It is the conviction that growth can be received from the divine source, His messenger and the Quran. Practically this means those who treat the Book as an archaic remnant of the ancient past by not allowing its guidelines to direct their lives, are effectively in a state of disallowing when it comes to the Quran.
This explanation is sufficiently plausible. However, how can we reconcile this limited utility of the Quran with its global claim? After all, the Prophet recited verses of the Quran for hard-headed polytheists of Mecca who preferred to cover their ears than to hear its verses. If the Quran increases their loss, then why does it claim to be a guidance to all of humanity?
The answer lies in the distinction between “warning” and “guiding”, and between “potentiality” and “actuality”. In short, the Quran in actuality warns all people, but only in potentially guides all people. Let’s unpack that idea.
What we mean by the former is that the Quran effectively warns and informs all people about their beginnings, current life and final fate. It warns them about the coming of a day where all matters are settled and the rights and wrongs of the people are accounted for. In its capacity to warn of the dangers of living a life without God and preparing for a hereafter of unrest and turmoil, the Quran is effective in broadcasting that message to all of its recipient. In this way, the message of the Quran is global and applies to every person who receives it.
However, it is in its capacity to guide and develop individuals that the Quran is potentially global not actually so. While the Quran warns all people regardless of their spiritual state, it will only guide humanity if the grounds for it are present, even if at a minimal and partial level. The foundation upon which the guidance is made possible is the spiritual readiness of the individual. The more you expand the aptitude to receive, the larger the volume of guidance you will be gifted with.
However, the two ideas also tie in together. The aim of the “warning” is to shake the hearts of even the most wicked and stone-hearted of individuals. The language of the Quran in its miraculous power was aimed for this very purpose. God’s artistry in his composition of the Quran, from its form to its matter, is to arouse the the pure emotions, the deeper instincts and truthful intuitions of humans so that they open their hearts to receive the “guidance”.
It is according to this understanding why the Quran increases loss for the wrongdoers. They receive the warning of the Quran, but they turn their backs to its solution. There are two losses here: the initial and the consequent. His initial loss was his life without God. His second loss is his voluntary choice to turn back to God after His invitation. It is one problem living with an illness, and it is another to ignore its cure after knowledge of its availability. The initial state is spiritual loss due to ignorance; the consequent state is spiritual loss coupled with arrogance.
