The benefits of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Or He may destroy them for what they earned, and He forgives much. And He knows those who argue about Our signs; they have no escape.”

In this noble verse, there are benefits, among which is the threat of sinking ships, as He said: And you learned a little while ago that winds, in relation to ships, are divided into three categories: a suitable, good wind; a stormy, destructive, sinking wind; and a calm wind that leaves the ship stationary on the surface of the water.
So, among its benefits is the threat of sinking ships through sins.
And among the benefits of the verse is the warning against sins, and that they are a cause for punishments, as He said: .
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) forgives many of the evil deeds and does not punish for them, as He said: meaning that even with the sinking of the ships, Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) forgives much.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is the threat to those sinners that they have no escape from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as He said: .
And among them is the condemnation of arguing to negate the truth, which is derived from His saying: As for arguing to establish the truth, it is obligatory where a person is skilled at it and does it well. Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: And He the Exalted said: So, arguing to establish the truth and negate falsehood is obligatory, but on the condition that the person has knowledge of what he is arguing with. If he has no knowledge, it is obligatory that he not argue, because if he argues to establish the truth without knowledge, the case may turn against him; he will be presented with doubts he cannot refute, and at that point he will be silenced. And the silencing of the one who argues for the truth, its harm is not only to himself, but to himself and to the truth for which he is arguing to establish it.
Does arguing occur by instinct or by practice? The answer is: by both. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) may grant a person the strength of argument, quick wit, and speed of response, and this is from Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Or he may have little of this in his original nature, but through arguing he practices. For this reason, some of the scholars, when they wanted to clarify an issue and establish it, would put themselves in the position of an arguer; they would raise an objection to themselves and then answer it, then another objection and answer it, until they practiced arguing.
It is mentioned that an uneducated man was arguing with a Christian who said to him: “You Muslims are unjust.” He said: “In what way?” He said: “Because you permit marrying from us, but you do not permit us to marry from you.” If this objection were brought to a person who does not know how to argue, he would say: “That is correct.” So the uneducated man said: “We believe in your Messenger, but you do not believe in our Messenger. If you believe in our Messenger, we will marry you.” Is this a valid argument or not? It is valid, without doubt. If it is valid from an uneducated man, this is proof that arguing can be by instinct and by practice and training.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that there is no escape for one who opposes Allah and His Messenger from the punishment of Allah, as He said: It is known that “knows” (ya'lam) takes two objects, so where are its two objects? The clause: , what is it called? It is called a suspended clause (ta'liq). And we mentioned to you that “think” (zanna) and its sisters can be active, suspended, and negated.
Now, His saying: Is this praise or condemnation? It is condemnation. Now, how is it condemnation when Allah commanded arguing with the People of the Book? We say that arguing to reveal and explain the truth is commanded, and the arguing that is the opposite, to negate the truth and reveal falsehood, is that for which the threat is issued. That is all.