Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 2 Al-Baqarah, Ayat 253-253

تِلۡكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلۡنَا بَعۡضَهُمۡ عَلٰى بَعۡضٍ​ۘ مِنۡهُمۡ مَّنۡ كَلَّمَ اللّٰهُ​ وَرَفَعَ بَعۡضَهُمۡ دَرَجٰتٍ​ؕ وَاٰتَيۡنَا عِيۡسَى ابۡنَ مَرۡيَمَ الۡبَيِّنٰتِ وَاَيَّدۡنٰهُ بِرُوۡحِ الۡقُدُسِ​ؕ وَلَوۡ شَآءَ اللّٰهُ مَا اقۡتَتَلَ الَّذِيۡنَ مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِهِمۡ مِّنۡۢ بَعۡدِ مَا جَآءَتۡهُمُ الۡبَيِّنٰتُ وَلٰـكِنِ اخۡتَلَفُوۡا فَمِنۡهُمۡ مَّنۡ اٰمَنَ وَمِنۡهُمۡ مَّنۡ كَفَرَ​ؕ وَلَوۡ شَآءَ اللّٰهُ مَا اقۡتَتَلُوۡا وَلٰـكِنَّ اللّٰهَ يَفۡعَلُ مَا يُرِيۡدُ‏ ﴿2:253﴾

(2:253) And these Messengers (who have been designated to guide people), We have exalted some of them above the others. Among them are such as were spoken to by Allah Himself, and some He exalted in other respects. And We granted Jesus, son of Mary, Clear Signs and supported him with the spirit of holiness. Had He willed, those who had seen these Clear Signs would not have fought one another thereafter. But (it was not the will of Allah to prevent people from disagreement by compulsion, hence) they differed among themselves whereby some attained faith and others denied the Truth. Yet had Allah so willed they would not have fought one another. Allah does whatever He wills.275

Notes

275. The main cause of the differences which arose after people had received true knowledge through the Prophets, and which were even aggravated into feuds and wars, is not that God was helpless, and lacked the power to put an end to the fighting. Had He willed so, no one would have had the power to defy the teachings of the Prophets, to take the course of disbelief and rebellion against Him, and to spread mischief and corruption in His world. But it was not His will to deprive human beings of their free-will and choice, and to compel them to follow a particular course. He has created human beings on earth in order to test them and hence endowed them with the freedom to choose from the various alternative courses of belief and action.

God did not appoint the Prophets as policemen to force people to faith and obedience. He sent them, instead, with reasonable arguments and clear signs in order to invite people to righteousness. Hence the cause of all the differences and wranglings and fighting which took place was that people, in exercising the free-will granted to them by God, followed divergent courses. In short, people follow divergent ways precisely because of God's omnipotent will that men should have a choice. It would be a grave misunderstanding to hold that people follow different paths because God failed to persuade people to follow the path which He wanted them to choose.