194. What is meant by the term “had Allah known”

In verses (8:23, 8:70) we find the phrase “ Had Allah known about the goodness in their hearts”

This might send a wrong signal to people who may begin to ask whether there are things that Allah would not know about.

This kind of a thought is bound to arise, because the Almighty says in many verses, He is Omnipotent and there is nothing in the world that he is not aware of.

Hence , God is definitely aware of whether there is goodness in their hearts. We need to believe these verses in a way not contradicting the attributes of God

It should be read with the meaning “had there been goodness in their hearts” instead of ‘Had Allah known about the goodness in their hearts”. 

Allah would have known very well had there been any goodness in their hearts.

If it needs to be concluded that Allah is unaware of goodness in their hearts means they do not have goodness at all, and if they possessed a least level of goodness they would have accepted the true message, is what is conveyed by this verse of the Quran