Tazkirul Quran(Maulana Wahiduddin Khan) — At-Tawbah 9:1 – Hud 11:123

The opportunity that people have been given to live and settle in the present world, is not on the basis of any right but is only for the purpose of trial. As long as God wishes, He keeps a man on the earth and when, in His wisdom, He judges, the period of his test to be over, He causes death to overtake him and he is carried away from here.

The opportunity that people have been given to live and settle in the present world, is not on the basis of any right but is only for the purpose of trial. As long as God wishes, He keeps a man on the earth and when, in His wisdom, He judges, the period of his test to be over, He causes death to overtake him and he is carried away from here.

The Prophet testified to the Truth to the fullest extent to his hearers. After the completion of his divine task, those who still did not embrace the Faith, lost their right to live on God’s earth. They had been kept here for the purpose of trial; on completion of the process of preaching and argumentation, the trial was over. Thereafter, why should they have had any lenience shown to them? This is why, after the completion of the work of the prophets, some sort of destructive calamity befell the unbelievers and they were annihilated. This is exactly what happened to the addressees of the Prophet Muhammad. But, it was not any calamity from the sky which descended upon them. The above-mentioned principle of God was implemented, in this case within the framework of a cause and effect system. First of all, by means of the superior Quranic style of expression and the superior character of the Prophet, the call to the Truth was conveyed to them. Then by giving domination to the monotheists over the Makkan polytheists, the process of argument was completed in their case. When all this was done and still they persisted in rejecting the Truth, they were accused of continuous breach of trust and violation of their pledge and an ultimatum was issued to them that they should reform themselves in four months time; otherwise they would be annihilated. All this was settled on the principles of God-fearing (taqwa) and not on the principle of national politics. The polytheists were silenced at the level of arguments; then they would be warned in advance that they would be given a number of months’ respite to reconsider the matter; the door was kept open for them till the last moment, so that those who repented might join those blessed by God; the case of some tribes who had not violated their agreement was kept separate from the case of those who had.

The Prophet testified to the Truth to the fullest extent to his hearers. After the completion of his divine task, those who still did not embrace the Faith, lost their right to live on God’s earth. They had been kept here for the purpose of trial; on completion of the process of preaching and argumentation, the trial was over. Thereafter, why should they have had any lenience shown to them? This is why, after the completion of the work of the prophets, some sort of destructive calamity befell the unbelievers and they were annihilated. This is exactly what happened to the addressees of the Prophet Muhammad. But, it was not any calamity from the sky which descended upon them. The above-mentioned principle of God was implemented, in this case within the framework of a cause and effect system. First of all, by means of the superior Quranic style of expression and the superior character of the Prophet, the call to the Truth was conveyed to them. Then by giving domination to the monotheists over the Makkan polytheists, the process of argument was completed in their case. When all this was done and still they persisted in rejecting the Truth, they were accused of continuous breach of trust and violation of their pledge and an ultimatum was issued to them that they should reform themselves in four months time; otherwise they would be annihilated. All this was settled on the principles of God-fearing (taqwa) and not on the principle of national politics. The polytheists were silenced at the level of arguments; then they would be warned in advance that they would be given a number of months’ respite to reconsider the matter; the door was kept open for them till the last moment, so that those who repented might join those blessed by God; the case of some tribes who had not violated their agreement was kept separate from the case of those who had.

The command to do battle given here after the lapse of four months of respite was not about an ordinary fight. This was God’s retribution imposed on those who denied the truth due to their rejection of the Prophet. By rejecting God’s prophet even after the completion of the process of arguments, they had made themselves liable to be left with no option but to accept the faith or fight. This was a special principle of God which related to the addressees of the Prophet and not to the general people. However, even after the completion of the process of preaching, this order was not made applicable immediately; even at the last stage they were given four months’ respite. Revenge does not know pardon. One with a revengeful mentality is satisfied only when he sees his opponent disgraced and destroyed. But the action taken against the polytheists of Arabia was not in any way connected with any type of revenge; it was based on an absolutely realistic principle. That is the reason why, in spite of the order being so severe, it was always open to them to embrace the Islamic religion and save themselves from punishment and acquire a respectable position in the Islamic brotherhood. For anybody’s repentance to be acceptable, only two practical conditions were enough—prayer (salat) and religious alms-giving (zakat). In times of conflict, if any individual from amongst the enemies says that he wants to understand Islam, Muslims have been ordered to give him protection, to give him an opportunity to be in their atmosphere and to try to see that the message of Islam is implanted in his heart. Even then, if he does not accept Islam, he should be led back to his place of residence under their protection. In wartime, it is usually unwise to give such a concession to the enemy, because it is quite possible that an enemy spy, taking advantage of this concession, may enter the Muslim camp and try to find out its strategic secrets. But, Islam holds that, the question of preaching in order to invite people towards the right path is so important that, in spite of this risk, its door should never be closed. If a man indulges in transgression unknowingly or out of ignorance, he will be treated with all possible lenience until his unawareness or ignorance is rectified.

When the Muslims attained a strong position, the Quraysh entered into treaties with them. However, the Quraysh were not happy with these agreements. They thought that their execution of these treaties with their ‘enemy’ was very much to their detriment. That is why they were always on the look-out for opportunities to violate their agreements and cause harm to Muslims or at least defame them. Obviously, when there is a clear breach of a treaty by one party, the carrying out of the agreement by the other party is no longer obligatory. This was the thinking of the Quraysh who felt that, with the rise of the Muslims, their leadership was at stake. However, there were other tribes (Banu Kinana, Banu Khuza’a, Banu Dhamra) who, unhampered by this psychological complication, had executed agreements with the Muslims and fulfilled them. When a period of respite of four months was announced, about nine months remained until the expiry of the periods of these agreements. The order was that these agreements be honoured till the last date, because that was the requirement of God-fearing. But after the expiry of this period, no such agreement was entered into with anybody and there were only two alternatives before the polytheists—either to embrace Islam or be ready for war.

When the Muslims attained a strong position, the Quraysh entered into treaties with them. However, the Quraysh were not happy with these agreements. They thought that their execution of these treaties with their ‘enemy’ was very much to their detriment. That is why they were always on the look-out for opportunities to violate their agreements and cause harm to Muslims or at least defame them. Obviously, when there is a clear breach of a treaty by one party, the carrying out of the agreement by the other party is no longer obligatory. This was the thinking of the Quraysh who felt that, with the rise of the Muslims, their leadership was at stake. However, there were other tribes (Banu Kinana, Banu Khuza’a, Banu Dhamra) who, unhampered by this psychological complication, had executed agreements with the Muslims and fulfilled them. When a period of respite of four months was announced, about nine months remained until the expiry of the periods of these agreements. The order was that these agreements be honoured till the last date, because that was the requirement of God-fearing. But after the expiry of this period, no such agreement was entered into with anybody and there were only two alternatives before the polytheists—either to embrace Islam or be ready for war.

When the Muslims attained a strong position, the Quraysh entered into treaties with them. However, the Quraysh were not happy with these agreements. They thought that their execution of these treaties with their ‘enemy’ was very much to their detriment. That is why they were always on the look-out for opportunities to violate their agreements and cause harm to Muslims or at least defame them. Obviously, when there is a clear breach of a treaty by one party, the carrying out of the agreement by the other party is no longer obligatory. This was the thinking of the Quraysh who felt that, with the rise of the Muslims, their leadership was at stake. However, there were other tribes (Banu Kinana, Banu Khuza’a, Banu Dhamra) who, unhampered by this psychological complication, had executed agreements with the Muslims and fulfilled them. When a period of respite of four months was announced, about nine months remained until the expiry of the periods of these agreements. The order was that these agreements be honoured till the last date, because that was the requirement of God-fearing. But after the expiry of this period, no such agreement was entered into with anybody and there were only two alternatives before the polytheists—either to embrace Islam or be ready for war.

The basis of social life rests on two things: kinship or mutual commitments or agreements. Man honours such rights as are based on blood relationships and the rights of those with whom he has agreements, in terms of his commitments to them. But when a man is overcome by the temptation of worldly interest, and its considerations, he forgets both these duties. For the sake of his petty interests, he forgets the rights of blood relations as well as rights flowing from agreements. Such people are transgressors; they are guilty in the eyes of God. Even if they escape the consequences in the world, they will not be able to save themselves from seizure by God in the Hereafter, unless they repent and desist from arrogance. However wicked an individual may have been in the past, he becomes a respectable member of the Islamic brotherhood if he makes amends and reforms himself. Thereafter, there remains no difference between him and other Muslims.

The basis of social life rests on two things: kinship or mutual commitments or agreements. Man honours such rights as are based on blood relationships and the rights of those with whom he has agreements, in terms of his commitments to them. But when a man is overcome by the temptation of worldly interest, and its considerations, he forgets both these duties. For the sake of his petty interests, he forgets the rights of blood relations as well as rights flowing from agreements. Such people are transgressors; they are guilty in the eyes of God. Even if they escape the consequences in the world, they will not be able to save themselves from seizure by God in the Hereafter, unless they repent and desist from arrogance. However wicked an individual may have been in the past, he becomes a respectable member of the Islamic brotherhood if he makes amends and reforms himself. Thereafter, there remains no difference between him and other Muslims.

The basis of social life rests on two things: kinship or mutual commitments or agreements. Man honours such rights as are based on blood relationships and the rights of those with whom he has agreements, in terms of his commitments to them. But when a man is overcome by the temptation of worldly interest, and its considerations, he forgets both these duties. For the sake of his petty interests, he forgets the rights of blood relations as well as rights flowing from agreements. Such people are transgressors; they are guilty in the eyes of God. Even if they escape the consequences in the world, they will not be able to save themselves from seizure by God in the Hereafter, unless they repent and desist from arrogance. However wicked an individual may have been in the past, he becomes a respectable member of the Islamic brotherhood if he makes amends and reforms himself. Thereafter, there remains no difference between him and other Muslims.

The phrase ‘leaders of disbelief’ referred to the Quraysh who, because of their position of leadership in Arabia, led the movement of opposition against Islam. This was the first prominent group to oppose the movement of Islam, wherever it arose. Its members, feeling that its superior position was being adversely affected by the pure call of Truth, were clever enough to pick out trivial points in the divine call in order to discredit it and they had the resources to thrust the Muslims into different types of difficulties in order to discourage them. 'They have no regard for their pledged word' is a very meaningful sentence. The pledges and treaties of those who oppose Islam out of enmity and obstinacy are uncertain and unreliable. The attitude is that of constant irritation with their opponent. There is no consistency in them. Even if they execute an agreement they are unable to uphold and maintain it for long due to the vagaries of their temperament. It does not take long for them to be overcome by their negative feelings and break their pledges.

The root of all wisdom is fear of God. The fear of God develops in man the readiness to accept the Truth; it awakens in man a certain consciousness that enables him to see realities in their original form. That is why it does not take the God-fearing man long to understand the Divine plan. He comes to know the will of God and dedicates himself to it with full confidence. He starts moving on that right path which ultimately leads to success. The fear of God makes a man’s eye tearful, and before God, it is only the tearful eye which is destined to be cooled in this world as well as in the Hereafter.

The root of all wisdom is fear of God. The fear of God develops in man the readiness to accept the Truth; it awakens in man a certain consciousness that enables him to see realities in their original form. That is why it does not take the God-fearing man long to understand the Divine plan. He comes to know the will of God and dedicates himself to it with full confidence. He starts moving on that right path which ultimately leads to success. The fear of God makes a man’s eye tearful, and before God, it is only the tearful eye which is destined to be cooled in this world as well as in the Hereafter.

The root of all wisdom is fear of God. The fear of God develops in man the readiness to accept the Truth; it awakens in man a certain consciousness that enables him to see realities in their original form. That is why it does not take the God-fearing man long to understand the Divine plan. He comes to know the will of God and dedicates himself to it with full confidence. He starts moving on that right path which ultimately leads to success. The fear of God makes a man’s eye tearful, and before God, it is only the tearful eye which is destined to be cooled in this world as well as in the Hereafter.

In the present world, when a man makes something the purpose of his life, he encounters many problems and demands in his efforts to achieve it. If the man is bent upon his purpose, he utilizes all his strength in overcoming these problems and fulfilling these demands. This is called jihad. In this world everyone has to face this jihad. Everyone has to prove how ardent he is about his purpose at the level of jihad; only then is it possible for him to succeed in achieving it. It is this struggle in the path of God which indicates to what extent the individual is serious about his purpose. To one who claims to have faith, events which test his faith occur again and again. Sometimes his heart becomes influenced by feelings of ill-will and jealousy towards somebody but his faith urges him to rid himself of all such feelings. Sometimes unpleasant words are on the tip of his tongue but his faith requires that he should hold his tongue at that time. Sometimes, in the course of his dealings, a right has to be honoured which is unpleasant to him, but faith exhorts him to fulfil all entitlements as a matter of justice, whether pleasant or unpleasant. Moreover, the call for truth sometimes reaches the stage when faith commands him to sacrifice his life and property to ensure its success. Going on fulfilling the requirements of faith at any cost, is known as jihad. In the present world, when a man adopts a broad-based purpose, he has necessarily to focus on the centralism of his purpose; he has to be loyal to his leader; and he should completely identify himself with the fellow-travellers on the same path. These things are fraught with a sense of purposefulness. Without these, the claim to lead a purposeful life would be false. Similarly, when a man seriously introduces religion into his life, it will necessarily happen that God, His Prophet and the faithful will become his friends and supporters (walijah); he will be at one with them in every respect. This matter becomes more critical when it is kept in view that its Assessor has full knowledge of its open and the hidden aspects. He will, therefore, deal with every individual in accordance with inner reality and not in accordance with his apparent outward aspect.

At the time when the Quran was revealed, the position in Arabia was that the Muslims had gathered round the Prophet Muhammad and the polytheists around the Ka‘bah. Till that time the histories of glories which we are now acquainted with had not yet become attached to the name of the Prophet Muhammad. He appeared to the people like an ordinary man. On the other hand, the Sacred Mosque of Makkah, because of the thousands of years of history attached to it, appeared to them a symbol of greatness and holiness. The polytheists saw themselves as being servants and retainers of the holiest shrine. On the contrary, when they saw the Muslims, they thought of them, under the circumstances prevailing at that time, as a group of people gathered around a madman.

At the time when the Quran was revealed, the position in Arabia was that the Muslims had gathered round the Prophet Muhammad and the polytheists around the Ka‘bah. Till that time the histories of glories which we are now acquainted with had not yet become attached to the name of the Prophet Muhammad. He appeared to the people like an ordinary man. On the other hand, the Sacred Mosque of Makkah, because of the thousands of years of history attached to it, appeared to them a symbol of greatness and holiness. The polytheists saw themselves as being servants and retainers of the holiest shrine. On the contrary, when they saw the Muslims, they thought of them, under the circumstances prevailing at that time, as a group of people gathered around a madman.

But this idea of the polytheists was absolutely wrong. They were making the mistake of comparing the outward appearances of things with the realities. Supplying drinking water to the visitors of the Sacred Mosque; cleaning the Mosque and lighting it; covering the Ka‘bah, attending to its floor and walls—all these are outward, showy deeds. How can they be equal to the deeds of a man who discovers God and spends the rest of his life caring about the Hereafter; who dedicates his life and property to God; who denies all other greatness and makes God his great one? The real discoverers of Truth are not those who discover it at the meaningless level of outward show, but those who are attached to Truth at the level of self-sacrifice and not simply at the level of superficial exhibitionism. There are two types of attachment: one is to ritual, in which a man performs deeds of a showy nature, but does not offer himself or his wealth for the cause of God. The other is one in which a man is so serious about his faith that if he is required to renounce anything for its sake, he does so willingly, and whatever he is required to give, he gives willingly. One who evinces the second kind of attachment will, after death, be blessed by God with great munificence.

But this idea of the polytheists was absolutely wrong. They were making the mistake of comparing the outward appearances of things with the realities. Supplying drinking water to the visitors of the Sacred Mosque; cleaning the Mosque and lighting it; covering the Ka‘bah, attending to its floor and walls—all these are outward, showy deeds. How can they be equal to the deeds of a man who discovers God and spends the rest of his life caring about the Hereafter; who dedicates his life and property to God; who denies all other greatness and makes God his great one? The real discoverers of Truth are not those who discover it at the meaningless level of outward show, but those who are attached to Truth at the level of self-sacrifice and not simply at the level of superficial exhibitionism. There are two types of attachment: one is to ritual, in which a man performs deeds of a showy nature, but does not offer himself or his wealth for the cause of God. The other is one in which a man is so serious about his faith that if he is required to renounce anything for its sake, he does so willingly, and whatever he is required to give, he gives willingly. One who evinces the second kind of attachment will, after death, be blessed by God with great munificence.

But this idea of the polytheists was absolutely wrong. They were making the mistake of comparing the outward appearances of things with the realities. Supplying drinking water to the visitors of the Sacred Mosque; cleaning the Mosque and lighting it; covering the Ka‘bah, attending to its floor and walls—all these are outward, showy deeds. How can they be equal to the deeds of a man who discovers God and spends the rest of his life caring about the Hereafter; who dedicates his life and property to God; who denies all other greatness and makes God his great one? The real discoverers of Truth are not those who discover it at the meaningless level of outward show, but those who are attached to Truth at the level of self-sacrifice and not simply at the level of superficial exhibitionism. There are two types of attachment: one is to ritual, in which a man performs deeds of a showy nature, but does not offer himself or his wealth for the cause of God. The other is one in which a man is so serious about his faith that if he is required to renounce anything for its sake, he does so willingly, and whatever he is required to give, he gives willingly. One who evinces the second kind of attachment will, after death, be blessed by God with great munificence.

But this idea of the polytheists was absolutely wrong. They were making the mistake of comparing the outward appearances of things with the realities. Supplying drinking water to the visitors of the Sacred Mosque; cleaning the Mosque and lighting it; covering the Ka‘bah, attending to its floor and walls—all these are outward, showy deeds. How can they be equal to the deeds of a man who discovers God and spends the rest of his life caring about the Hereafter; who dedicates his life and property to God; who denies all other greatness and makes God his great one? The real discoverers of Truth are not those who discover it at the meaningless level of outward show, but those who are attached to Truth at the level of self-sacrifice and not simply at the level of superficial exhibitionism. There are two types of attachment: one is to ritual, in which a man performs deeds of a showy nature, but does not offer himself or his wealth for the cause of God. The other is one in which a man is so serious about his faith that if he is required to renounce anything for its sake, he does so willingly, and whatever he is required to give, he gives willingly. One who evinces the second kind of attachment will, after death, be blessed by God with great munificence.

But this idea of the polytheists was absolutely wrong. They were making the mistake of comparing the outward appearances of things with the realities. Supplying drinking water to the visitors of the Sacred Mosque; cleaning the Mosque and lighting it; covering the Ka‘bah, attending to its floor and walls—all these are outward, showy deeds. How can they be equal to the deeds of a man who discovers God and spends the rest of his life caring about the Hereafter; who dedicates his life and property to God; who denies all other greatness and makes God his great one? The real discoverers of Truth are not those who discover it at the meaningless level of outward show, but those who are attached to Truth at the level of self-sacrifice and not simply at the level of superficial exhibitionism. There are two types of attachment: one is to ritual, in which a man performs deeds of a showy nature, but does not offer himself or his wealth for the cause of God. The other is one in which a man is so serious about his faith that if he is required to renounce anything for its sake, he does so willingly, and whatever he is required to give, he gives willingly. One who evinces the second kind of attachment will, after death, be blessed by God with great munificence.

For human beings, their families, their wealth and their economic interests have the greatest value. They consider these things the most important. They prefer these things to all other things and sacrifice their all for them. This sort of life is of the worldly type, and whatever the worldly person receives, he receives only in this world. There is nothing for him in the eternal life after death. As opposed to this, the other type of life is that in which a man gives the greatest importance to God, His Prophet and to efforts for the cause of God and, for the sake of these things, he is ready to leave everything else. It is the latter which is the God-worshipping life and for God’s worshippers, the doors of paradise will remain eternally open in the Hereafter. The first sort of life is based on worldly connections and worldly interests. The second is based on Faith. Whatever a man chooses to adopt as the basis of his life, it is always at the cost of having to leave all other things for its sake; he has to develop relations with some people and break off relations with others. Certain losses are absolutely unbearable to him and at the risk of his life and at the cost of the greater part of his wealth, he tries to avert them, but as regards certain other losses, he is not perturbed by their occurrence. Those who invest their all in worldly affairs, achieve worldly success. Similarly, the Hereafter will be the achievement of those who sacrifice everything else for its sake. Giving up a materially advantageous thing in favour of something apparently less advantageous is a serious matter. So much so that a man’s belief or disbelief comes to be determined on that basis. Just as in this world of God, open infidels are not destined to succeed, similarly there is no possibility of success for those who make tall claims of faith, but when faced with a critical situation, give preference to the world-oriented way. If such claimants of faith have any misconceptions about themselves, they will come to know of their fate at the time God pronounces His verdict.

Reliance on oneself develops sort of a haughtiness in a man which results in carelessness of external facts. He falls short in carrying out disciplinary regulations. Due to overweening self-confidence, he starts acting in an unrealistic manner, the result of which is necessarily defeat in this world of cause and effect. As opposed to this, having confidence in God is reliance on the greatest power. This develops humility in a man; he becomes extremely realistic; and realism is the key to all success.

In Ramadan of the year 8 Hijrah, the Muslims successfully subdued the Quraysh and conquered Makkah. This was a virtually bloodless entry into Makkah. But in the very next month of Shawwal of the year 8 Hijrah, they were defeated by the polytheistic tribes of Hawazin and Thaqif, though at the conquest of Makkah, the number of Muslims was only ten thousand, while in the battle against the Hawazin and the Thaqif their number was twelve thousand. The reason for this was that when the Muslims had marched against the Quraysh, they had set out simply relying on God. But while proceeding to fight against the Hawazin and the Thaqif, they were proud of the fact that they were the conquerors of Makkah; that they had an army of twelve thousand men; that now nobody could defeat them. They were successful when they had reposed confidence in God; when they reposed confidence in themselves, they had to face defeat. Reliance on oneself develops a sort of a haughtiness in a man which results in carelessness of external facts. He falls short in carrying out disciplinary regulations. Due to overweening self-confidence, he starts acting in an unrealistic manner, the result of which is necessarily defeat in this world of cause and effect. As opposed to this, having confidence in God is reliance on the greatest power. This develops humility in a man; he becomes extremely realistic; and realism is the key to all success.

In Ramadan of the year 8 Hijrah, the Muslims successfully subdued the Quraysh and conquered Makkah. This was a virtually bloodless entry into Makkah. But in the very next month of Shawwal of the year 8 Hijrah, they were defeated by the polytheistic tribes of Hawazin and Thaqif, though at the conquest of Makkah, the number of Muslims was only ten thousand, while in the battle against the Hawazin and the Thaqif their number was twelve thousand. The reason for this was that when the Muslims had marched against the Quraysh, they had set out simply relying on God. But while proceeding to fight against the Hawazin and the Thaqif, they were proud of the fact that they were the conquerors of Makkah; that they had an army of twelve thousand men; that now nobody could defeat them. They were successful when they had reposed confidence in God; when they reposed confidence in themselves, they had to face defeat. Reliance on oneself develops a sort of a haughtiness in a man which results in carelessness of external facts. He falls short in carrying out disciplinary regulations. Due to overweening self-confidence, he starts acting in an unrealistic manner, the result of which is necessarily defeat in this world of cause and effect. As opposed to this, having confidence in God is reliance on the greatest power. This develops humility in a man; he becomes extremely realistic; and realism is the key to all success.

Initially, when the entry of polytheists into the Sacred Mosque of Makkah was banned, Muslims were worried because, Arabia being a non-agricultural country, its economy was based on trade and commerce, and trade is based on mutually harmonious relations. Muslims thought that when the entry of polytheists into the Sacred Mosque ended, trade relations with them would also come to an end. But they did not keep in view the possibility that these very polytheists might soon embrace Islam. And that is exactly what happened. Due to the general acceptance of Islam by Arabs, trade activities were restored in a new form. Moreover, the result of this initial sacrifice was that finally Islam became an international religion. The doors of their economy, which seemed to be closed at a local level, were opened at a universal level.

If faith is active and alive, man attributes every event to God. He is able to understand a thing only when he forms an opinion about it with reference to God. He appreciates and understands the sweet smell of a flower when he finds the fragrance of God in it. He discovers the sum only when he comes to know of its donor. Every greatness seems to him the blessing of God. Every good reminds him of God’s Grace. Contrary to this, if man’s relation with God is reduced to the stage of a feeble belief, then God will become an unknown entity in the sphere of his active consciousness; he will start imagining God on the pattern of the visible things of the world. Those of feeble belief start seeing their Creator in the same way as they see the things of the world known to them. They bring the Creator down to the level of the created ones. This was the condition of the ancient Jews and the Christians during the period of their deviation from the true faith. At that time the concept of God they had was relegated to the position of a flimsy belief. Accordingly they started giving to their great ones and saints the status which they should have given to the All Knowing God, Who is Aware of the Unseen. They saw that the Greek and Roman nations had made the sun their god and had presumed the existence of a son of that god. So, they too felt that this was the highest ranking title for their great ones. They made their own interpretation of the words ab (father) and ibn (son) appearing in their Holy Books and started calling God ‘the father’ and each of their prophets His ‘son,’ though the fact is that God is One and only One; He is incomparable; He alone deserves to be accepted as the Greatest and most worthy of being worshipped.

If faith is active and alive, man attributes every event to God. He is able to understand a thing only when he forms an opinion about it with reference to God. He appreciates and understands the sweet smell of a flower when he finds the fragrance of God in it. He discovers the sum only when he comes to know of its donor. Every greatness seems to him the blessing of God. Every good reminds him of God’s Grace. Contrary to this, if man’s relation with God is reduced to the stage of a feeble belief, then God will become an unknown entity in the sphere of his active consciousness; he will start imagining God on the pattern of the visible things of the world. Those of feeble belief start seeing their Creator in the same way as they see the things of the world known to them. They bring the Creator down to the level of the created ones. This was the condition of the ancient Jews and the Christians during the period of their deviation from the true faith. At that time the concept of God they had was relegated to the position of a flimsy belief. Accordingly they started giving to their great ones and saints the status which they should have given to the All Knowing God, Who is Aware of the Unseen. They saw that the Greek and Roman nations had made the sun their god and had presumed the existence of a son of that god. So, they too felt that this was the highest ranking title for their great ones. They made their own interpretation of the words ab (father) and ibn (son) appearing in their Holy Books and started calling God ‘the father’ and each of their prophets His ‘son,’ though the fact is that God is One and only One; He is incomparable; He alone deserves to be accepted as the Greatest and most worthy of being worshipped.

God has invariably ruled that when a community has had his divine call directly conveyed to it by a prophet, its right to exist is taken away from it if, after all the necessary preaching and argumentation has been done, it persists in its wrongful approach, just as in a state, an individual forfeits his right to live if his being a rebel is established. But as far as other groups are concerned, they are to be dealt with as is deemed proper and in accordance with normal international principles.

In these verses, God has announced His firm resolve to keep His religion completely safe till Doomsday. When Almighty God settled human beings on the earth, He furnished them with His Guide Book. Later, when people fell into the ways of neglect and worldliness, they changed the words of God to suit their desires. For example, presuming their great revered men to be mediators with and recommenders to God, they adopted the belief that whatever they did, their holy men would, on the strength of their recommendation, be their saviours before God. They also believed that heaven or hell existed right there in the present world and that there was nothing beyond this world. Whatever the people themselves wanted, they attributed it to God and wrote it in God’s Book. Thereafter, God sent another prophet who rid the divine religion of all man-made impurities and presented it again in its true form. Subsequent generations made changes in that as well. This happened again and again. Finally, Almighty God decided to send a final Prophet, and through him create such conditions that the religion of God should remain safe in its original form forever. This task—the greatest in the history of prophethood—was achieved through the Prophet Muhammad. At the time when the Prophet Muhammad appeared, many self-made religions had been devised. The polytheists of Arabia had a religion which they called the religion of Moses. The Christians had a religion which they called the religion of Jesus. These were all concocted editions of God’s religion, and had been wrongly claimed to be the religion sent by God. God rejected all these religions and established the religion revealed to Prophet Muhammad as the sole authentic edition of His religion which would remain valid until Doomsday. Today Islam is the only religion in the text of which no changes could be made. Islam is the only religion which is historically authentic. Islam is the only religion whose teachings are found in a living language. The candle lit by God in the shape of Islam has never been dimmed or extinguished. It is there in its entirety before the world, maintaining its ideological superiority over all other religions.

In these verses, God has announced His firm resolve to keep His religion completely safe till Doomsday. When Almighty God settled human beings on the earth, He furnished them with His Guide Book. Later, when people fell into the ways of neglect and worldliness, they changed the words of God to suit their desires. For example, presuming their great revered men to be mediators with and recommenders to God, they adopted the belief that whatever they did, their holy men would, on the strength of their recommendation, be their saviours before God. They also believed that heaven or hell existed right there in the present world and that there was nothing beyond this world. Whatever the people themselves wanted, they attributed it to God and wrote it in God’s Book. Thereafter, God sent another prophet who rid the divine religion of all man-made impurities and presented it again in its true form. Subsequent generations made changes in that as well. This happened again and again. Finally, Almighty God decided to send a final Prophet, and through him create such conditions that the religion of God should remain safe in its original form forever. This task—the greatest in the history of prophethood—was achieved through the Prophet Muhammad. At the time when the Prophet Muhammad appeared, many self-made religions had been devised. The polytheists of Arabia had a religion which they called the religion of Moses. The Christians had a religion which they called the religion of Jesus. These were all concocted editions of God’s religion, and had been wrongly claimed to be the religion sent by God. God rejected all these religions and established the religion revealed to Prophet Muhammad as the sole authentic edition of His religion which would remain valid until Doomsday. Today Islam is the only religion in the text of which no changes could be made. Islam is the only religion which is historically authentic. Islam is the only religion whose teachings are found in a living language. The candle lit by God in the shape of Islam has never been dimmed or extinguished. It is there in its entirety before the world, maintaining its ideological superiority over all other religions.

One way of taking wealth from others is by doing so rightfully, i.e. one may offer real service to another or give him some real benefit and then take money from him in return. This is perfectly legitimate. The wrongful way of taking the wealth of others is to obtain it by deceiving them. This latter way is illegitimate and invites God’s wrath. Taking others’ wealth wrongfully is that action which is known as exploitation in modern times. The ancient religious leaders indulged in the large-scale exploitation of the general public. They spread false stories among the people to ensure that they entertained extraordinary hopes of holy persons and, treating them as holy persons, would seek their blessings, and present them with offerings and gifts. In the name of service to religion they used to extract money from people, though the faith they presented to the people was their own brand of religion and not at all that which was sent down by God. They used to collect huge donations in the name of the revival of the community. Whatever they did on this pretext aroused false hopes, so that they could maintain their leadership. They even used to attribute mysterious qualities to the charms and talismans which they prepared and then sold to the people, though they themselves did not rely on these charms in their own crucial affairs. There are only certain legitimate uses of the wealth received by man—spending on his actual needs and giving away for the cause of God whatever is surplus, i.e. exceeding his actual needs. Any ways of spending other than these two will lead to retributive punishment for man—whether he spends his money lavishly or hoards it. Those who have established their leadership in a group on the basis of a self-made religion and exploit people in the name of God’s religion abhor the call for truth which attempts to revive the true and unadulterated religion of God. Within the framework of such a religion, it seems to them that their religious position would lose credibility. They feel that if this religion prevails among the people, their religious trading might come out into the open and be publicly unmasked. As soon as such a movement is set in motion, they come to know of it and set about opposing it.

One way of taking wealth from others is by doing so rightfully, i.e. one may offer real service to another or give him some real benefit and then take money from him in return. This is perfectly legitimate. The wrongful way of taking the wealth of others is to obtain it by deceiving them. This latter way is illegitimate and invites God’s wrath. Taking others’ wealth wrongfully is that action which is known as exploitation in modern times. The ancient religious leaders indulged in the large-scale exploitation of the general public. They spread false stories among the people to ensure that they entertained extraordinary hopes of holy persons and, treating them as holy persons, would seek their blessings, and present them with offerings and gifts. In the name of service to religion they used to extract money from people, though the faith they presented to the people was their own brand of religion and not at all that which was sent down by God. They used to collect huge donations in the name of the revival of the community. Whatever they did on this pretext aroused false hopes, so that they could maintain their leadership. They even used to attribute mysterious qualities to the charms and talismans which they prepared and then sold to the people, though they themselves did not rely on these charms in their own crucial affairs. There are only certain legitimate uses of the wealth received by man—spending on his actual needs and giving away for the cause of God whatever is surplus, i.e. exceeding his actual needs. Any ways of spending other than these two will lead to retributive punishment for man—whether he spends his money lavishly or hoards it. Those who have established their leadership in a group on the basis of a self-made religion and exploit people in the name of God’s religion abhor the call for truth which attempts to revive the true and unadulterated religion of God. Within the framework of such a religion, it seems to them that their religious position would lose credibility. They feel that if this religion prevails among the people, their religious trading might come out into the open and be publicly unmasked. As soon as such a movement is set in motion, they come to know of it and set about opposing it.

Religious commandments can be carried out by everyone individually. But it is required by Almighty God that all the people of Faith should perform them together, so that a collective spirit is created in them. For the purpose of promoting this collectivism, definite timings and dates have been fixed for the performance of the religious rites of prayers, etc. Had these dates been appointed according to the solar calendar, there could have been uniformity in the time of their occurrence. For example, the days of fasting would always have come in one particular season and likewise Hajj. But, whereas uniformity creates inertia in man, change introduces new inspiration for action. Therefore, the natural lunar calendar has been adopted to provide the basis for the collective pattern of religious matters. On account of this principle, the dates of Hajj (pilgrimage) fall in different seasons —sometimes in summer and sometimes in winter. In ancient times when the congregation for Hajj was most important from the commercial point of view, the occurrence of Hajj in different seasons appeared to be harmful. Worldly considerations appeared to the Arab people more important than religious imperatives. They wanted to adopt a system by which Hajj would fall in one suitable season. At that time they came to know of the adjustments possible in the calculation (kabisa) of the Jews and Christians. They approved of this, as it was exactly according to their wishes, and they therefore adopted it. This meant displacing months and replacing one month by another, for example, replacing the month of Safar by the month of Muharram and vice versa. ‘Fight the polytheists all together, as they fight you all together.’ This means that just as the infidels unite on their refusal to fear God, the Muslims should unite on their fear of God (taqwa): If they join together for negative purposes, the Muslims should join together for positive ends. If they become one for the sake of the world, the Muslims should become one for the sake of the Hereafter.

The Arabs derived two advantages from this method of transposition (nasi’)—one was the diverting of the Hajj season to suit commercial requirements and the other was that if fighting against an enemy had to be started in forbidden months (i.e. Muharram, Rajab, Dhu’l-Qa‘dah and Dhu’l-Hijjah), replacing a haram month by a non-haram month legitimised the opening of hostilities. Abraham’s method had formerly been the backbone of Arab tradition, but since the Arabs’ thinking was dominated by commercial considerations and tribal requirements, the nasi’ method found favour with them and they adopted it in their affairs.

These verses were revealed while the Prophet was at Tabuk (9 Hijra). At this juncture the behaviour displayed by the hypocrites (munafiqun) of Madinah gives us an idea of the role played by people of fickle faith when they join the Islamic society. In reality there are two stages of connection with Islam. In one, all of man’s loyalties become attached to Islam; it becomes a question of life and death for him. In the other, man’s real interests are elsewhere and he only superficially accepts Islam. In the first category are the real believers—the people of faith. In the second are those known, in the terminology of the Shariah, as munafiq (hypocrites). The condition of the believer is that he steadfastly holds to Islam in normal circumstances as well as at times when sacrifice is required. By contrast, the hypocrite seems to be very much to the fore in making a show of his religiousness, when Islam makes no special demands on him, but as soon as he has to fulfil demands of Islam at the level of sacrifice, he backs away.

These verses were revealed while the Prophet was at Tabuk (9 Hijra). At this juncture the behaviour displayed by the hypocrites (munafiqun) of Madinah gives us an idea of the role played by people of fickle faith when they join the Islamic society. In reality there are two stages of connection with Islam. In one, all of man’s loyalties become attached to Islam; it becomes a question of life and death for him. In the other, man’s real interests are elsewhere and he only superficially accepts Islam. In the first category are the real believers—the people of faith. In the second are those known, in the terminology of the Shariah, as munafiq (hypocrites). The condition of the believer is that he steadfastly holds to Islam in normal circumstances as well as at times when sacrifice is required. By contrast, the hypocrite seems to be very much to the fore in making a show of his religiousness, when Islam makes no special demands on him, but as soon as he has to fulfil demands of Islam at the level of sacrifice, he backs away.

The ‘second of two’ is an allusion to the prophet’s immigration, in the company of Abu Bakr, from Makkah to Madinah in the year 622 A.D. The reason for this difference is that the true believer keeps the goal of the Hereafter before him, and does not set a higher value upon the things of this world, than upon the eternal bounties of the Hereafter. So if anything of a worldly nature impedes him, he ignores it and proceeds towards the goals of religion. Unlike him, the hypocrite likes that type of Islam in which, without damaging one’s worldly interests, one gets the credit for Islamism. Therefore, whenever an occasion arises when he has to lose the world for Islam, he tilts towards the world, even if in this process, he loses his grip on the rope of Islam. The struggles between Islam and non-Islam that arise from time to time in the present world are between two groups, but in reality it is an affair of God. On every such occasion, God Himself supports Islam. This is expressed in the shape of a cause-and-effect event, so that the credit of doing service to religion may be given to those people who have completely surrendered themselves to God.

Among the hypocrites of Madinah there was a group who were Muslims of weak belief. Finding Islam to be the truth, they had accepted it. But they used to act only on those teachings of Islam which were not against their worldly interests. When the demands of Islam clashed with their worldly pursuits, they ignored Islamic imperatives and upheld worldly requirements. In Madinan society one who adhered to Islam, even when it meant making sacrifices, was known as a believer, while one who did not want to go to the extent of sacrifice for the sake of Islam was called a hypocrite. The Tabuk affair was a symbolic event which showed who was a believer and who was a hypocrite in the eyes of God. On this occasion it was necessary to set out against a great and organised power, the Romans. The midsummer heat was at its fiercest and the crops were almost ready to be reaped; despite all the unfavourable circumstances, it was necessary to reach the faraway border of Syria. Then, among the Muslims some had property and some were without property; some were free and some were tied down by their domestic circumstances. But the order was that they should at all events set out without making any kind of excuse. The reason for this was that, before God, quantity did not matter; but whatever a man had should be offered. This is, in fact, the cost of paradise, howsoever small or great it may apparently be in the eyes of the people. The particular sign of a hypocrite is that when he sees that after undertaking a journey without hardships he will receive great credit for Islamic service, he will immediately be willing to set forth. However, if the journey is likely to be beset with hardships, and if there is no likelihood of achieving honour or success, even after facing those hardships, he is not inclined to take part in such a religious campaign. If a genuine religious campaign is the option, but an individual, preferring to dissociate himself from it, makes all kinds of excuses, this clearly proves that he has not given top priority in his life to God’s religion. Making excuses in itself implies that there is something which has more importance in the individual’s view than the purpose before him. Obviously, making excuses is going to make a man appear unreliable in the eyes of God, and will take away his opportunity of being on God’s list of most cherished creatures. Hypocrisy is in fact being neglectful of God, while caring more for His subjects. If a man comes to realise the power of God, he will never behave like this.

A hypocrite is one who remains to the fore in the profitable and undemanding aspects of Islam, but who recoils when he feels that his interests are being affected. On such occasions, what such weaklings rely on is excuses. They try to hide their inaction by attractive explanations. In view of collective considerations, if the chief of believers accepts their excuses, they are very happy, thinking that they have successfully hidden their reluctance behind a veil of words. But they forget that their real dealings are not with a human being but with God, and He very well knows the truth about every man. God sometimes reveals the hidden aspects of such persons in this world, but in the Hereafter the truth about everyone is going to be laid bare.

A hypocrite is one who remains to the fore in the profitable and undemanding aspects of Islam, but who recoils when he feels that his interests are being affected. On such occasions, what such weaklings rely on is excuses. They try to hide their inaction by attractive explanations. In view of collective considerations, if the chief of believers accepts their excuses, they are very happy, thinking that they have successfully hidden their reluctance behind a veil of words. But they forget that their real dealings are not with a human being but with God, and He very well knows the truth about every man. God sometimes reveals the hidden aspects of such persons in this world, but in the Hereafter the truth about everyone is going to be laid bare.

If a son is ill or if there is a daughter’s marriage, at such a time nobody spares himself or his money. If such an occasion arises, he will sacrifice his life and his wealth for the sole purpose if being of use to his kinsfolk. This is the time to do one’s utmost rather than sheltering behind excuses. The truly religious individual, however, will never put forward excuses, when some occasion arises which demands sacrifice for religion. The restless emotions of faith in his heart await such a crucial moment when he will have the occasion to sacrifice himself and prove his loyalty before God. Then, such an occasion having arisen, how would such a person try to hide behind an excuse? The benefits of the Hereafter not being present before a human being, he entertains doubts about undertaking any sacrifices for it. But to tear off this veil of doubt is the real test of man in this world.

At a time when a son is ill or there is a daughter’s marriage, nobody spares himself or his money; he will sacrifice his life and his wealth for the sole purpose of being of use to his kinsfolk. This is not the time for sheltering behind excuses. Similarly, the truly religious individual will never put forward excuses, when some occasion arises which demands sacrifice for religion. The restless emotions of faith in his heart await such a crucial moment when he will have the chance to sacrifice himself and prove his loyalty before God. Then, such an occasion having arisen, how would such a person try to hide behind an excuse? The believer is God-fearing in nature, fear being the strongest feeling in man. The feeling of fear overcomes all other feelings. A man becomes extremely realistic and serious about anything to which he relates to. For this reason, one who has become a believer in God at the level of fear wastes no time in understanding what his reaction should be on particular occasions. The benefits of the Hereafter not being present before a human being, he entertains doubts about making any sacrifices for it. But to tear off this veil of doubt is the real test of man in this world.

At a time when a son is ill or there is a daughter’s marriage, nobody spares himself or his money; he will sacrifice his life and his wealth for the sole purpose of being of use to his kinsfolk. This is not the time for sheltering behind excuses. Similarly, the truly religious individual will never put forward excuses, when some occasion arises which demands sacrifice for religion. The restless emotions of faith in his heart await such a crucial moment when he will have the chance to sacrifice himself and prove his loyalty before God. Then, such an occasion having arisen, how would such a person try to hide behind an excuse? The believer is God-fearing in nature, fear being the strongest feeling in man. The feeling of fear overcomes all other feelings. A man becomes extremely realistic and serious about anything to which he relates to. For this reason, one who has become a believer in God at the level of fear wastes no time in understanding what his reaction should be on particular occasions. The benefits of the Hereafter not being present before a human being, he entertains doubts about making any sacrifices for it. But to tear off this veil of doubt is the real test of man in this world.

At a time when a son is ill or there is a daughter’s marriage, nobody spares himself or his money; he will sacrifice his life and his wealth for the sole purpose of being of use to his kinsfolk. This is not the time for sheltering behind excuses. Similarly, the truly religious individual will never put forward excuses, when some occasion arises which demands sacrifice for religion. The restless emotions of faith in his heart await such a crucial moment when he will have the chance to sacrifice himself and prove his loyalty before God. Then, such an occasion having arisen, how would such a person try to hide behind an excuse? The believer is God-fearing in nature, fear being the strongest feeling in man. The feeling of fear overcomes all other feelings. A man becomes extremely realistic and serious about anything to which he relates to. For this reason, one who has become a believer in God at the level of fear wastes no time in understanding what his reaction should be on particular occasions. The benefits of the Hereafter not being present before a human being, he entertains doubts about making any sacrifices for it. But to tear off this veil of doubt is the real test of man in this world.

Adopting a religion may be done either with sincerity or with hypocrisy. Adopting religion sincerely means that a man makes religion the focus of his life, with a prime right over his life and property. Without sincerity, the adherent has a purely formal, external relation with religion, feeling no need to face all kinds of adversity for its sake. Admission of one’s mistakes amounts to acceptance of one’s being inferior to another: to do so is the most difficult thing for a man. That is why man always tries to somehow prove the correctness of his stand. Accordingly, those who accept Islam hypocritically are always in search of an opportunity to taunt sincere believers and to prove themselves as being in the right as compared to them. The hypocrites of Madinah were continuously engaged in such efforts. For example, when the Muslims were defeated in the battle of Uhud, the hypocrites who had remained behind in Madinah started circulating propaganda against the Prophet Muhammad to the effect that he had no experience of warfare or strategic affairs; that, spurred on by his own enthusiasm, he had taken the youngsters of the community to a dangerous place and had senselessly caused them to be killed. Among human beings there are very few people who are capable of deeply analysing problems and realising that the mere fact of a statement being cast in grammatically correct language does not in itself furnish proof of its being meaningfully correct. Many people are simple minded, and if something is presented to them in beautiful words, they are very soon affected by it. It is the presence of the hypocritical type of people in a Muslim group that is the cause of the weakening of that group. In their attempt to prove themselves right, such people frequently distort what they have to say so as give it a colour suited to their purpose. Influenced by such artifice, simple-minded people begin to be beset by doubts and uncertainty. In spite of the hypocrites’ efforts to oppose Islam, when the Muslims were victorious in the battle of Badr, ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy and his companions are reported to have said, ‘This thing has got going now.’ The domination of Islam being obvious, they should have placed credence on the veracity of Islam, but even that fed their jealousy.

When there was a general call to set out for the campaign of Tabuk, one Jud ibn Qais of Madinah came to the Prophet Muhammad and said: ‘Please excuse me from taking part in this campaign. This is a Roman area. There after seeing the Roman women, I will be caught in trying circumstances (fitna).’ But, making excuses on such occasions in itself amounts to being affected in fitna, because in moments of adversity, far from seeking excuses to lag behind, the urge to sacrifice himself for the sake of religion should well up inside a man. To give such an excuse a religious and moral colour is a greater evil, since it amounts to adding fraud to inaction. This type of attitude develops in an individual because he is more attached to his worldly interests than to the Hereafter. In times of danger, such people hold themselves back from treading the path of religion. Then, when the real proponents of Truth suffer any loss due to their uncompromising, principled behaviour, these people are happy, feeling that it is good that they adopted the policy of keeping themselves safe. On the contrary, if it happens that the real supporters of truth face dangers and yet are successful, then they are unhappy, because this occurrence proves that the policy they had adopted was not correct.

When there was a general call to set out for the campaign of Tabuk, one Jud ibn Qais of Madinah came to the Prophet Muhammad and said: ‘Please excuse me from taking part in this campaign. This is a Roman area. There after seeing the Roman women, I will be caught in trying circumstances (fitna).’ But, making excuses on such occasions in itself amounts to being affected in fitna, because in moments of adversity, far from seeking excuses to lag behind, the urge to sacrifice himself for the sake of religion should well up inside a man. To give such an excuse a religious and moral colour is a greater evil, since it amounts to adding fraud to inaction. This type of attitude develops in an individual because he is more attached to his worldly interests than to the Hereafter. In times of danger, such people hold themselves back from treading the path of religion. Then, when the real proponents of Truth suffer any loss due to their uncompromising, principled behaviour, these people are happy, feeling that it is good that they adopted the policy of keeping themselves safe. On the contrary, if it happens that the real supporters of truth face dangers and yet are successful, then they are unhappy, because this occurrence proves that the policy they had adopted was not correct.

For true men of faith, there is no question of failure in this world. Their success lies in God being pleased with them and this is a certainty, in both good times and bad. If any trouble befalls a believer, this increases his inclination towards God. If he receives some benefit, this creates the feeling of obligation and gratitude in him and, by being grateful to God, he becomes entitled to further blessings from Him. ‘So wait, if you will; we too, are waiting with you.’ On the face of it, this is a statement of believers, but in fact these are God’s words addressed to unbelievers. God is telling them in a warning tone that although they have been waiting for the destruction of the believers, the fact is that in God’s scheme they are destined to achieve eternal success, and what is going to happen to them (the opponents) is that after their being given a long rope to fully and finally establish their guilt, they will be consigned to eternal degradation and punishment.

For true men of faith, there is no question of failure in this world. Their success lies in God being pleased with them and this is a certainty, in both good times and bad. If any trouble befalls a believer, this increases his inclination towards God. If he receives some benefit, this creates the feeling of obligation and gratitude in him and, by being grateful to God, he becomes entitled to further blessings from Him. ‘So wait, if you will; we too, are waiting with you.’ On the face of it, this is a statement of believers, but in fact these are God’s words addressed to unbelievers. God is telling them in a warning tone that although they have been waiting for the destruction of the believers, the fact is that in God’s scheme they are destined to achieve eternal success, and what is going to happen to them (the opponents) is that after their being given a long rope to fully and finally establish their guilt, they will be consigned to eternal degradation and punishment.

In Madinah the majority of all the people who had embraced Islam, were sincere believers. However, there were a number of people who had embraced Islam to go with the tide of the times, but who lacked that spirit of surrender which is the characteristic of true faith in and true attachment to God. These are the people who are known as hypocrites. These hypocrites consisted mostly of the wealthy class. It was this wealth which was behind their hypocrisy. Those who do not have anything to lose are ready and willing to accept that Islam in which one has to lose one’s all. But those who have something to lose generally become anxious about their worldly considerations. They somehow carry out those commandments of Islam which do not involve any sacrifice, but they find themselves unable to go ahead and accept any requirements of Islam which might involve loss of life and property, or when the question of becoming a believer at the level of sacrifice arises. But lagging behind in accepting the Islam of sacrifice renders even their prayers and fasting valueless. The rite of prayer (‘ibadah)—the worship performed in mosques—is intimately related with worship outside the mosque. If the individual’s life outside the mosque is devoid of the real spirit of religion, his life inside the mosque will also be empty of the true religious spirit and, obviously, action without such spirit has no value before God. God accepts nothing but righteous action. All else is devoid of merit in His eyes.

In Madinah the majority of all the people who had embraced Islam, were sincere believers. However, there were a number of people who had embraced Islam to go with the tide of the times, but who lacked that spirit of surrender which is the characteristic of true faith in and true attachment to God. These are the people who are known as hypocrites. These hypocrites consisted mostly of the wealthy class. It was this wealth which was behind their hypocrisy. Those who do not have anything to lose are ready and willing to accept that Islam in which one has to lose one’s all. But those who have something to lose generally become anxious about their worldly considerations. They somehow carry out those commandments of Islam which do not involve any sacrifice, but they find themselves unable to go ahead and accept any requirements of Islam which might involve loss of life and property, or when the question of becoming a believer at the level of sacrifice arises. But lagging behind in accepting the Islam of sacrifice renders even their prayers and fasting valueless. The rite of prayer (‘ibadah)—the worship performed in mosques—is intimately related with worship outside the mosque. If the individual’s life outside the mosque is devoid of the real spirit of religion, his life inside the mosque will also be empty of the true religious spirit and, obviously, action without such spirit has no value before God. God accepts nothing but righteous action. All else is devoid of merit in His eyes.

If a man basks in the glories of wealth and has many minions constantly in attendance, the general public will envy him. But the fact is that such people are the most unlucky. Their condition is such that their wealth and status become fetters, rendering them unable to proceed fully towards God’s religion; they forget God and busy themselves with worldly affairs until they meet with death, which mercilessly divests them of their wealth and high position.

If a man basks in the glories of wealth and has many minions constantly in attendance, the general public will envy him. But the fact is that such people are the most unlucky. Their condition is such that their wealth and status become fetters, rendering them unable to proceed fully towards God’s religion; they forget God and busy themselves with worldly affairs until they meet with death, which mercilessly divests them of their wealth and high position.

If a man basks in the glories of wealth and has many minions constantly in attendance, the general public will envy him. But the fact is that such people are the most unlucky. Their condition is such that their wealth and status become fetters, rendering them unable to proceed fully towards God’s religion; they forget God and busy themselves with worldly affairs until they meet with death, which mercilessly divests them of their wealth and high position.

If a man basks in the glories of wealth and has many minions constantly in attendance, the general public will envy him. But the fact is that such people are the most unlucky. Their condition is such that their wealth and status become fetters, rendering them unable to proceed fully towards God’s religion; they forget God and busy themselves with worldly affairs until they meet with death, which mercilessly divests them of their wealth and high position.

If a man basks in the glories of wealth and has many minions constantly in attendance, the general public will envy him. But the fact is that such people are the most unlucky. Their condition is such that their wealth and status become fetters, rendering them unable to proceed fully towards God’s religion; they forget God and busy themselves with worldly affairs until they meet with death, which mercilessly divests them of their wealth and high position.

Here the items of expenditure of prescribed alms or religious charity (zakat) have been enumerated. According to the Quran these are eight in number: 1. Poor (fuqara’): For those who have nothing. 2. Destitute (masakin): For those who have less than their needs. 3. Officials (‘amilun): For those who have been appointed by the Islamic government to collect money given in charity and to maintain its accounts. 4. The winning of hearts (mu’allafati’l qulub): For those who need encouragement to accept Islam or for those who are weak in their faith. 5. Freeing slaves (riqab): For the freeing of slaves or for the release of prisoners or the payment of ransom. 6. For those in debt (gharamin): For those who are in debt or those bearing the burden of surety. 7. Spending for God’s cause (fi sabilil’lah): For missionary work and endeavour for the cause of God. Peaceful dawah work falls into this category. 8. Travellers (ibn as-sabil): For those who become needy during a journey, even though they may be well off when at home. In any collective system, when the funds are distributed in charity, it always happens that certain people have complaints about violation of their rights or unjustified distribution. But such complaints expose the weakness of the complainant himself. Howsoever righteous the person responsible for distribution might be, people who are greedy and narrow in their way of thinking will somehow fabricate false grounds for such complaints. Yet this type of complaint works most of all against the complainant himself. It impedes the process of the arousal of the intellectual potential of the individual. If a man reconciles himself to whatever he possesses and concentrates his thinking on God, then fresh courage will develop in him; positive talents which are latent in him will awaken. He will put the amounts received by him to better use; instead of depending on donations, he will develop self-confidence; he will start seeking out new economic opportunities, relying on God; instead of being bored or dissatisfied with others, he will develop the attitude of making companions of them and will work together with them, etc.

The hypocrites of Madinah used to deride Islamic personalities in private, but when they appeared before Muslims they assured them, on oath, that they were loyal to Islam. The reason for this was that the Muslims were powerful in Madinah. They were in a position to harm the interests of hypocrites. So the hypocrites wanted to give the impression that they were with the Muslims. This reveals the reality of a hypocritical character. The religiosity of a hypocrite derives from the fear of human beings and not from the fear of God. He becomes a man of character and justice where there is pressure from other human beings or there is the fear of a reaction from the public. But where there is no such risk and there is only the fear of God to prevent him from the misuse of his words and deeds, he becomes a completely changed man. He becomes a man who is not interested in being a man of character and does not feel the necessity to adopt the way of justice.

Those who are engrossed in worldly considerations and therefore are not able to support God’s religion—rising above their reservations—are generally people of status in society. In order to keep their position intact, they try to spoil the image of those who have risen in true Islam. They run campaigns of false propaganda against them, devising different ways to distort their image, such as ferreting out various points in their statements which they claim to be objectionable. Such people forget that this is a very serious matter. For their part they are simply opposing the people of Faith, but it amounts to opposing God Himself; it is like setting themselves up as adversaries of God. Had these people admitted their wrongdoing, instead of trying to establish their innocence, and had they been the well-wishers of the believers at least in their hearts, they would perhaps have been treated as pardonable. But having adopted an obstinate and inimical attitude, they have written their names on the list of God’s enemies. Now, for them, there is nothing but dishonour and divine retribution. Fear of God softens a person’s heart. He patiently listens even to people’s baseless utterances—to such an extent that the hypocrites start saying that that person seems to be a simpleton, that he is unable to fully understand the points being made.

Those who are engrossed in worldly considerations and therefore are not able to support God’s religion—rising above their reservations—are generally people of status in society. In order to keep their position intact, they try to spoil the image of those who have risen in true Islam. They run campaigns of false propaganda against them, devising different ways to distort their image, such as ferreting out various points in their statements which they claim to be objectionable. Such people forget that this is a very serious matter. For their part they are simply opposing the people of Faith, but it amounts to opposing God Himself; it is like setting themselves up as adversaries of God. Had these people admitted their wrongdoing, instead of trying to establish their innocence, and had they been the well-wishers of the believers at least in their hearts, they would perhaps have been treated as pardonable. But having adopted an obstinate and inimical attitude, they have written their names on the list of God’s enemies. Now, for them, there is nothing but dishonour and divine retribution. Fear of God softens a person’s heart. He patiently listens even to people’s baseless utterances—to such an extent that the hypocrites start saying that that person seems to be a simpleton, that he is unable to fully understand the points being made.

Those who are engrossed in worldly considerations and therefore are not able to support God’s religion—rising above their reservations—are generally people of status in society. In order to keep their position intact, they try to spoil the image of those who have risen in true Islam. They run campaigns of false propaganda against them, devising different ways to distort their image, such as ferreting out various points in their statements which they claim to be objectionable. Such people forget that this is a very serious matter. For their part they are simply opposing the people of Faith, but it amounts to opposing God Himself; it is like setting themselves up as adversaries of God. Had these people admitted their wrongdoing, instead of trying to establish their innocence, and had they been the well-wishers of the believers at least in their hearts, they would perhaps have been treated as pardonable. But having adopted an obstinate and inimical attitude, they have written their names on the list of God’s enemies. Now, for them, there is nothing but dishonour and divine retribution. Fear of God softens a person’s heart. He patiently listens even to people’s baseless utterances—to such an extent that the hypocrites start saying that that person seems to be a simpleton, that he is unable to fully understand the points being made.

At the time of the battle of Tabuk, those who had set out with the Prophet Muhammad were treated as staunch and courageous people, while those who remained behind at home were considered hypocrites and cowards. The hypocrites who stayed at home started ridiculing the Prophet and his companions in order to belittle the action taken by them. Some said, ‘In these reciters of the Quran, we see nothing except that they are the hungriest among us, the most extreme liars among us and the worst cowards among us.’ Some asked, ‘Do you think that fighting the Romans is like internal fighting among the Arabs? By God! Tomorrow all these people will be seen tied and bound.’ Others said, ‘This gentleman thinks that he will conquer and capture the palaces and castles of Rome. It’s a pity.’ (Tafsir ibn Kathir). When the Prophet Muhammad came to know about this, he called them and asked them about it. They said, ‘We were simply talking jocularly. In reply to this, the Quran has this to say: ‘Would you make a mockery of God and of His Revelations and His Messenger?’ The message of God is always conveyed through some human being. If this man is apparently ordinary in the eyes of the observers, they start to mock him. But this mockery is not against that man; it is against God Himself. Those who do this only prove that they are not serious about God’s religion. Such people are most guilty in the eyes of God. Their false justifications will never be successful in hiding the reality. Hypocrisy and apostasy (irtidad) after accepting Islam are two aspects of the same fact. If a man, after adopting Islam, openly becomes an infidel (disbeliever) then this is irtidad; and if in his mind and heart, he is far away from Islam but before other people shows himself as a Muslim, this is hypocrisy. The fate of such hypocrites before God is the same as of those who have committed irtidad. However, if they sincerely admit their wrongs and reform themselves before death, God may relent towards them.

At the time of the battle of Tabuk, those who had set out with the Prophet Muhammad were treated as staunch and courageous people, while those who remained behind at home were considered hypocrites and cowards. The hypocrites who stayed at home started ridiculing the Prophet and his companions in order to belittle the action taken by them. Some said, ‘In these reciters of the Quran, we see nothing except that they are the hungriest among us, the most extreme liars among us and the worst cowards among us.’ Some asked, ‘Do you think that fighting the Romans is like internal fighting among the Arabs? By God! Tomorrow all these people will be seen tied and bound.’ Others said, ‘This gentleman thinks that he will conquer and capture the palaces and castles of Rome. It’s a pity.’ (Tafsir ibn Kathir). When the Prophet Muhammad came to know about this, he called them and asked them about it. They said, ‘We were simply talking jocularly. In reply to this, the Quran has this to say: ‘Would you make a mockery of God and of His Revelations and His Messenger?’ The message of God is always conveyed through some human being. If this man is apparently ordinary in the eyes of the observers, they start to mock him. But this mockery is not against that man; it is against God Himself. Those who do this only prove that they are not serious about God’s religion. Such people are most guilty in the eyes of God. Their false justifications will never be successful in hiding the reality. Hypocrisy and apostasy (irtidad) after accepting Islam are two aspects of the same fact. If a man, after adopting Islam, openly becomes an infidel (disbeliever) then this is irtidad; and if in his mind and heart, he is far away from Islam but before other people shows himself as a Muslim, this is hypocrisy. The fate of such hypocrites before God is the same as of those who have committed irtidad. However, if they sincerely admit their wrongs and reform themselves before death, God may relent towards them.

God has blessed previous communities with status and wealth. These things nourished their pride, haughtiness and insensitivity. Their successors did not take a lesson from the plight that befell them. They too chose for themselves a share in worldly effects as their predecessors had done before them. This has been the condition of the common man in every period. He does not give importance to the requirements of Truth. The requirements of his children and his property are everything for him. The condition of the hypocrite in point of fact is also the same. Outwardly, he appears to be like the true believers, but the level of his existence is the same as that of an ordinary worldly person. The result is that, leaving aside a certain amount of exhibitionism, in real life he is just like any other average human being. The hypocrite is emotionally more attached to worldly individuals than to religious people. His heart constricts if he has to spend anything for the Hereafter. But he does not hesitate to go ahead and spend on worldly affairs. He does not like the progress of truth, but if it is a question of the progress of untruth, he eagerly tolerates it. In spite of outward religiousness, he is forgetful of God and the Hereafter, as if God and the Hereafter have no value for him. Such people are never safe from God’s wrath simply on the basis of their outward show of Islam. They will be cursed in the world and punished in the Hereafter. They will be deprived of God’s grace in the world as well as in the Hereafter. Complete attachment to God is the only thing which gives value to a man’s deeds. A deed performed without this will be as valueless in the Hereafter as a body without a soul, which in spite of its resemblance to a human body is in reality without meaning.

God has blessed previous communities with status and wealth. These things nourished their pride, haughtiness and insensitivity. Their successors did not take a lesson from the plight that befell them. They too chose for themselves a share in worldly effects as their predecessors had done before them. This has been the condition of the common man in every period. He does not give importance to the requirements of Truth. The requirements of his children and his property are everything for him. The condition of the hypocrite in point of fact is also the same. Outwardly, he appears to be like the true believers, but the level of his existence is the same as that of an ordinary worldly person. The result is that, leaving aside a certain amount of exhibitionism, in real life he is just like any other average human being. The hypocrite is emotionally more attached to worldly individuals than to religious people. His heart constricts if he has to spend anything for the Hereafter. But he does not hesitate to go ahead and spend on worldly affairs. He does not like the progress of truth, but if it is a question of the progress of untruth, he eagerly tolerates it. In spite of outward religiousness, he is forgetful of God and the Hereafter, as if God and the Hereafter have no value for him. Such people are never safe from God’s wrath simply on the basis of their outward show of Islam. They will be cursed in the world and punished in the Hereafter. They will be deprived of God’s grace in the world as well as in the Hereafter. Complete attachment to God is the only thing which gives value to a man’s deeds. A deed performed without this will be as valueless in the Hereafter as a body without a soul, which in spite of its resemblance to a human body is in reality without meaning.

The characteristics of people hypocritically connected with Islam are carelessness about the Hereafter, interest in worldly affairs, avoidance of cooperation with goodness, and an inclination towards exhibitionism. Because of these common characteristics, they remain very well united. These things give them subjects of common interest for discussion, and provide them with a field for mutual cooperation. This becomes a basis for close relations between them. The reverse is true of genuine believers, because the love of God is embedded in their hearts. Their greatest care is for the Hereafter. They have connections with worldly things only to the extent necessary and not as a goal. If any work which is pleasing to God is under way, their hearts are immediately attracted towards it. On the contrary, any work of an evil nature arouses disgust and loathing in them. Their life and their assets are first and foremost for the sake of God and not for themselves. They commemorate God and spend for His cause.

The characteristics of people hypocritically connected with Islam are carelessness about the Hereafter, interest in worldly affairs, avoidance of cooperation with goodness, and an inclination towards exhibitionism. Because of these common characteristics, they remain very well united. These things give them subjects of common interest for discussion, and provide them with a field for mutual cooperation. This becomes a basis for close relations between them. The reverse is true of genuine believers, because the love of God is embedded in their hearts. Their greatest care is for the Hereafter. They have connections with worldly things only to the extent necessary and not as a goal. If any work which is pleasing to God is under way, their hearts are immediately attracted towards it. On the contrary, any work of an evil nature arouses disgust and loathing in them. Their life and their assets are first and foremost for the sake of God and not for themselves. They commemorate God and spend for His cause.

The common qualities of the people of faith as mentioned in the above verse bring them together. They all run towards God. Everyone’s focus of obedience is the Prophet of God. When they meet each other, these are the things of common interest on which they talk; and solely on these bases are their mutual relations built up. These are the things which provide them with the goal towards which they have to strive unitedly; this furnishes them with the target towards which they have to move all together. The life of the people of Faith in this world is symbolic of their life in the Hereafter. In this world, the people of faith live like so many flourishing trees standing in a lush green garden; everyone adds to the beauty of the other. Every believer is the well-wisher and companion of other believers, so much so, that the whole atmosphere becomes that of an abode of peace and tranquillity. This godly life will turn into the heavenly life in the Hereafter. There, the believer will not only reap the harvest sown by him, but will also receive such bounty by the special grace of God as he had never hitherto imagined.

The common qualities of the people of faith as mentioned in the above verse bring them together. They all run towards God. Everyone’s focus of obedience is the Prophet of God. When they meet each other, these are the things of common interest on which they talk; and solely on these bases are their mutual relations built up. These are the things which provide them with the goal towards which they have to strive unitedly; this furnishes them with the target towards which they have to move all together. The life of the people of Faith in this world is symbolic of their life in the Hereafter. In this world, the people of faith live like so many flourishing trees standing in a lush green garden; everyone adds to the beauty of the other. Every believer is the well-wisher and companion of other believers, so much so, that the whole atmosphere becomes that of an abode of peace and tranquillity. This godly life will turn into the heavenly life in the Hereafter. There, the believer will not only reap the harvest sown by him, but will also receive such bounty by the special grace of God as he had never hitherto imagined.

According to a tradition, during the period of the Prophet Muhammad, there were about eighty hypocrites in Madinah. This indicates that the jihad ordered here against hypocrites did not mean waging (qital) war on them. Had it been so, the Prophet would have had them eliminated. According to a hadith narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas, here jihad meant striving by word of mouth. Hence, according to the majority of Muslims, jihad with the sword against hypocrites is not in accordance with the Shariah. Hypocrisy is the adoption of Islam in such a way that it is subservient to personal interests and worldly considerations. When hypocrites see that true believers have adopted Islam in a manner devoid of self-interest and worldly consideration and invite others also to accept the true Islam, they feel that this Islam amounts to degrading their form of Islam. Therefore, they begin to hate such preachers (da‘is). They become the enemies of the inviters to that very Islam in the name of which they have flourishing business. This enmity of hypocrites expresses itself by way of conspiracy and ridicule. If they observe that somebody has ill feelings towards the believers, the hypocrites encourage and incite these feelings with a view to making sure that fighting breaks out against the believers. They make fun of sincere people of faith. They utter words which belittle their sacrifices. They trivialize and distort their doings in order to spoil their image among the people. During the Tabuk journey, it once happened that the Prophet Muhammad’s camel strayed from a camp site and a search was started by some of the Muslims. When the hypocrites came to know of this, they mockingly said, ‘This gentleman tells about happenings in the skies, but he is not aware of the whereabouts of his camel.’ The hypocritical Muslims become the accomplices and instruments of Satan in order to defeat the believers. But, God is ever the supporter of true believers, and He saves them in spite of all the conspiracies of hypocrites. The fate of the hypocrites is that, their transgressions having been established beyond doubt, they become liable for punishment in this world as well as in the Hereafter. a Tha‘laba ibn Hathib Ansari requested the Prophet Muhammad to pray to God to bless him with wealth. The Prophet said that to be grateful to God for less wealth is better than acquiring a lot of wealth and then being unable to be grateful to Him. But Tha‘laba repeated his request several times. So, the Prophet prayed, ‘O God, bless Tha‘laba with wealth.’ Thereafter, Tha‘laba reared a goat. The breed of goats increased to such an extent that the land of Madinah could not provide enough fodder for his goats. Tha‘laba then shifted to a valley outside Madinah. Now Tha‘laba started becoming remiss in his Islamic observances. First of all he missed the congregational prayers. Then he missed the Friday prayers. A stage came when an official on behalf of the Prophet Muhammad approached Tha‘laba to collect alms (zakat) and he refused, saying, ‘This is nothing but a capital tax (jizyah); this is in no way different from the tax levied on those who deny the truth.’

According to a tradition, during the period of the Prophet Muhammad, there were about eighty hypocrites in Madinah. This indicates that the jihad ordered here against hypocrites did not mean waging (qital) war on them. Had it been so, the Prophet would have had them eliminated. According to a hadith narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas, here jihad meant striving by word of mouth. Hence, according to the majority of Muslims, jihad with the sword against hypocrites is not in accordance with the Shariah. Hypocrisy is the adoption of Islam in such a way that it is subservient to personal interests and worldly considerations. When hypocrites see that true believers have adopted Islam in a manner devoid of self-interest and worldly consideration and invite others also to accept the true Islam, they feel that this Islam amounts to degrading their form of Islam. Therefore, they begin to hate such preachers (da‘is). They become the enemies of the inviters to that very Islam in the name of which they have flourishing business. This enmity of hypocrites expresses itself by way of conspiracy and ridicule. If they observe that somebody has ill feelings towards the believers, the hypocrites encourage and incite these feelings with a view to making sure that fighting breaks out against the believers. They make fun of sincere people of faith. They utter words which belittle their sacrifices. They trivialize and distort their doings in order to spoil their image among the people. During the Tabuk journey, it once happened that the Prophet Muhammad’s camel strayed from a camp site and a search was started by some of the Muslims. When the hypocrites came to know of this, they mockingly said, ‘This gentleman tells about happenings in the skies, but he is not aware of the whereabouts of his camel.’ The hypocritical Muslims become the accomplices and instruments of Satan in order to defeat the believers. But, God is ever the supporter of true believers, and He saves them in spite of all the conspiracies of hypocrites. The fate of the hypocrites is that, their transgressions having been established beyond doubt, they become liable for punishment in this world as well as in the Hereafter. a Tha‘laba ibn Hathib Ansari requested the Prophet Muhammad to pray to God to bless him with wealth. The Prophet said that to be grateful to God for less wealth is better than acquiring a lot of wealth and then being unable to be grateful to Him. But Tha‘laba repeated his request several times. So, the Prophet prayed, ‘O God, bless Tha‘laba with wealth.’ Thereafter, Tha‘laba reared a goat. The breed of goats increased to such an extent that the land of Madinah could not provide enough fodder for his goats. Tha‘laba then shifted to a valley outside Madinah. Now Tha‘laba started becoming remiss in his Islamic observances. First of all he missed the congregational prayers. Then he missed the Friday prayers. A stage came when an official on behalf of the Prophet Muhammad approached Tha‘laba to collect alms (zakat) and he refused, saying, ‘This is nothing but a capital tax (jizyah); this is in no way different from the tax levied on those who deny the truth.’

Tha‘laba ibn Hathib Ansari requested the Prophet Muhammad to pray to God to bless him with wealth. The Prophet said that to be grateful to God for less wealth is better than acquiring a lot of wealth and then being unable to be grateful to Him. But Tha‘laba repeated his request several times. So, the Prophet prayed, ‘O God, bless Tha‘laba with wealth.’ Thereafter, Tha‘laba reared a goat. The breed of goats increased to such an extent that the land of Madinah could not provide enough fodder for his goats. Tha‘laba then shifted to a valley outside Madinah. Now Tha‘laba started becoming remiss in his Islamic observances. First of all he missed the congregational prayers. Then he missed the Friday prayers. A stage came when an official on behalf of the Prophet Muhammad approached Tha‘laba to collect alms (zakat) and he refused, saying, ‘This is nothing but a capital tax (jizyah); this is in no way different from the tax levied on those who deny the truth.’

Tha‘laba ibn Hathib Ansari requested the Prophet Muhammad to pray to God to bless him with wealth. The Prophet said that to be grateful to God for less wealth is better than acquiring a lot of wealth and then being unable to be grateful to Him. But Tha‘laba repeated his request several times. So, the Prophet prayed, ‘O God, bless Tha‘laba with wealth.’ Thereafter, Tha‘laba reared a goat. The breed of goats increased to such an extent that the land of Madinah could not provide enough fodder for his goats. Tha‘laba then shifted to a valley outside Madinah. Now Tha‘laba started becoming remiss in his Islamic observances. First of all he missed the congregational prayers. Then he missed the Friday prayers. A stage came when an official on behalf of the Prophet Muhammad approached Tha‘laba to collect alms (zakat) and he refused, saying, ‘This is nothing but a capital tax (jizyah); this is in no way different from the tax levied on those who deny the truth.’

Tha‘laba ibn Hathib Ansari requested the Prophet Muhammad to pray to God to bless him with wealth. The Prophet said that to be grateful to God for less wealth is better than acquiring a lot of wealth and then being unable to be grateful to Him. But Tha‘laba repeated his request several times. So, the Prophet prayed, ‘O God, bless Tha‘laba with wealth.’ Thereafter, Tha‘laba reared a goat. The breed of goats increased to such an extent that the land of Madinah could not provide enough fodder for his goats. Tha‘laba then shifted to a valley outside Madinah. Now Tha‘laba started becoming remiss in his Islamic observances. First of all he missed the congregational prayers. Then he missed the Friday prayers. A stage came when an official on behalf of the Prophet Muhammad approached Tha‘laba to collect alms (zakat) and he refused, saying, ‘This is nothing but a capital tax (jizyah); this is in no way different from the tax levied on those who deny the truth.’

That person is a hypocrite in the eyes of God who prays to God for the blessing of wealth and when God makes him wealthy, forgets to keep aside God’s share. When a man has no wealth, he finds fault with wealthy persons, saying that they are wasting wealth in improper ways; and that if he were to be blessed with wealth by God, he would spend it on good and charitable causes. But when he receives wealth, his mentality changes. He forgets what he had said earlier and what feelings he had expressed. Now, he thinks that his wealth is the result of his own diligence and talents, which gives him the right to sole possession of it. He forgets to set aside God’s share in his wealth. Such people, in order to cover up their weaknesses, indulge in further arrogance by ridiculing those who spend their wealth for the cause of God. If a person spends more, they belittle him by calling him ostentatious, and of one who can spend only a little, in view of his circumstances, they ask derisively whether God was in need of this man’s charity. Those people who are in this way obsessed with their own greatness, are never able to see the higher realities outside themselves.

That person is a hypocrite in the eyes of God who prays to God for the blessing of wealth and when God makes him wealthy, forgets to keep aside God’s share. When a man has no wealth, he finds fault with wealthy persons, saying that they are wasting wealth in improper ways; and that if he were to be blessed with wealth by God, he would spend it on good and charitable causes. But when he receives wealth, his mentality changes. He forgets what he had said earlier and what feelings he had expressed. Now, he thinks that his wealth is the result of his own diligence and talents, which gives him the right to sole possession of it. He forgets to set aside God’s share in his wealth. Such people, in order to cover up their weaknesses, indulge in further arrogance by ridiculing those who spend their wealth for the cause of God. If a person spends more, they belittle him by calling him ostentatious, and of one who can spend only a little, in view of his circumstances, they ask derisively whether God was in need of this man’s charity. Those people who are in this way obsessed with their own greatness, are never able to see the higher realities outside themselves.

That person is a hypocrite in the eyes of God who prays to God for the blessing of wealth and when God makes him wealthy, forgets to keep aside God’s share. When a man has no wealth, he finds fault with wealthy persons, saying that they are wasting wealth in improper ways; and that if he were to be blessed with wealth by God, he would spend it on good and charitable causes. But when he receives wealth, his mentality changes. He forgets what he had said earlier and what feelings he had expressed. Now, he thinks that his wealth is the result of his own diligence and talents, which gives him the right to sole possession of it. He forgets to set aside God’s share in his wealth. Such people, in order to cover up their weaknesses, indulge in further arrogance by ridiculing those who spend their wealth for the cause of God. If a person spends more, they belittle him by calling him ostentatious, and of one who can spend only a little, in view of his circumstances, they ask derisively whether God was in need of this man’s charity. Those people who are in this way obsessed with their own greatness, are never able to see the higher realities outside themselves.

The battle of Tabuk occurred in an extremely hot season. From Madinah to the Syrian border three hundred miles had to be travelled. The hypocritical Muslims asked others not to undertake such a long journey in such extremely hot weather. In saying this they forgot that, after hearing the call of God, refusal to set out for fear of some danger amounted to putting oneself in greater danger. It was like running away from the sun and taking refuge in the flames of a fire. Those who are fonder of themselves and their wealth than God are very pleased with themselves if, by their attractive devices, they manage to remain ‘Muslims’ and at the same time there is no danger to their lives and property. They consider themselves wise and treat those people as foolish who struggle so hard for the cause of God that they have no time for themselves. But this is absolute nonsense. They may laugh now, but they will end up crying, because in the life to come after death, their ‘cleverness’ is going to prove to be the worst type of foolishness. At that time they will feel extremely sorry that, though they wanted paradise, they refused to part with the very asset which whould have gained them entry into it.

The battle of Tabuk occurred in an extremely hot season. From Madinah to the Syrian border three hundred miles had to be travelled. The hypocritical Muslims asked others not to undertake such a long journey in such extremely hot weather. In saying this they forgot that, after hearing the call of God, refusal to set out for fear of some danger amounted to putting oneself in greater danger. It was like running away from the sun and taking refuge in the flames of a fire. Those who are fonder of themselves and their wealth than God are very pleased with themselves if, by their attractive devices, they manage to remain ‘Muslims’ and at the same time there is no danger to their lives and property. They consider themselves wise and treat those people as foolish who struggle so hard for the cause of God that they have no time for themselves. But this is absolute nonsense. They may laugh now, but they will end up crying, because in the life to come after death, their ‘cleverness’ is going to prove to be the worst type of foolishness. At that time they will feel extremely sorry that, though they wanted paradise, they refused to part with the very asset which whould have gained them entry into it.

Hypocrites of this kind are always those who, because of their policy of expediency, gather around themselves the resources of position and wealth. Due to this, the general run of Muslims are impressed by their worldly position. Their glamorous lives and their glib talk make them seem great in the eyes of the common man. This can create moments of grave trial for an Islamic society, because, in a truly Islamic society, such people ought to be ignored rather than being given places of honour. The real Islamic society will not be willing to accord a position of honour to those about whom it is abundantly clear that they are Muslims in name only, being in fact loyal only to their own vested interests and worldly considerations. The fate of such people is that in Islamic functions they find a place only on the back benches; they have no share in the congregational affairs of Muslims, being held unfit to grace religious offices. Any society in which such people have been able to attain a position of honour can never be looked upon with favour by God.

Hypocrites of this kind are always those who, because of their policy of expediency, gather around themselves the resources of position and wealth. Due to this, the general run of Muslims are impressed by their worldly position. Their glamorous lives and their glib talk make them seem great in the eyes of the common man. This can create moments of grave trial for an Islamic society, because, in a truly Islamic society, such people ought to be ignored rather than being given places of honour. The real Islamic society will not be willing to accord a position of honour to those about whom it is abundantly clear that they are Muslims in name only, being in fact loyal only to their own vested interests and worldly considerations. The fate of such people is that in Islamic functions they find a place only on the back benches; they have no share in the congregational affairs of Muslims, being held unfit to grace religious offices. Any society in which such people have been able to attain a position of honour can never be looked upon with favour by God.

Hypocrites of this kind are always those who, because of their policy of expediency, gather around themselves the resources of position and wealth. Due to this, the general run of Muslims are impressed by their worldly position. Their glamorous lives and their glib talk make them seem great in the eyes of the common man. This can create moments of grave trial for an Islamic society, because, in a truly Islamic society, such people ought to be ignored rather than being given places of honour. The real Islamic society will not be willing to accord a position of honour to those about whom it is abundantly clear that they are Muslims in name only, being in fact loyal only to their own vested interests and worldly considerations. The fate of such people is that in Islamic functions they find a place only on the back benches; they have no share in the congregational affairs of Muslims, being held unfit to grace religious offices. Any society in which such people have been able to attain a position of honour can never be looked upon with favour by God.

Hypocrites of this kind are always those who, because of their policy of expediency, gather around themselves the resources of position and wealth. Due to this, the general run of Muslims are impressed by their worldly position. Their glamorous lives and their glib talk make them seem great in the eyes of the common man. This can create moments of grave trial for an Islamic society, because, in a truly Islamic society, such people ought to be ignored rather than being given places of honour. The real Islamic society will not be willing to accord a position of honour to those about whom it is abundantly clear that they are Muslims in name only, being in fact loyal only to their own vested interests and worldly considerations. The fate of such people is that in Islamic functions they find a place only on the back benches; they have no share in the congregational affairs of Muslims, being held unfit to grace religious offices. Any society in which such people have been able to attain a position of honour can never be looked upon with favour by God.

A hypocrite, due to his being materially minded, gathers around him many worldly effects; a crowd of supporters is also seen around him. These things greatly impress the superficial kind of person. But, for those who look into things more deeply, such showy glamour is not enviable but serves rather to teach a lesson. Such an accumulation of goods hinders the hypocrite from coming closer to God. God’s favourite servant is one who proceeds towards Him without any reservation or worldly consideration. But those who are immersed in worldly glories are unable to rise above these things. Whenever they are inclined to proceed towards God, they feel as if that would be at the cost of material gains. Since they cannot muster enough courage to undertake this sacrifice, they cannot be loyal to God. Their worldly benefits are gained at the horrible price of entering the Hereafter deprived of everything. The condition of such people is that when God’s religion asks them to forget themselves and attach themselves to God, they are unable to bury their inflated egos. When God’s religion tells them to tread a path devoid of personal glory, they lag behind, prefering to take care of their fame and popularity. When the struggle for God’s religion demands the sacrifice of life and property, their lives and property appear so valuable to them that they are unable to sacrifice them for any non-worldly goal. This attitude goes on hardening to the point where their hearts lose all sensitivity. Falling victim to insensitivity, they lose the urge which pulls them towards God and which does not allow them to reconcile with anything other than God. In contrast to this, the true believers allot the highest position to God and as such everything other than God appears worthless to them. They are always ready to move ahead towards God by undertaking every kind of sacrifice. These are the people for whom God’s graces and bounties exist. Nothing stands between them and the eternal paradise of God, save death.

A hypocrite, due to his being materially minded, gathers around him many worldly effects; a crowd of supporters is also seen around him. These things greatly impress the superficial kind of person. But, for those who look into things more deeply, such showy glamour is not enviable but serves rather to teach a lesson. Such an accumulation of goods hinders the hypocrite from coming closer to God. God’s favourite servant is one who proceeds towards Him without any reservation or worldly consideration. But those who are immersed in worldly glories are unable to rise above these things. Whenever they are inclined to proceed towards God, they feel as if that would be at the cost of material gains. Since they cannot muster enough courage to undertake this sacrifice, they cannot be loyal to God. Their worldly benefits are gained at the horrible price of entering the Hereafter deprived of everything. The condition of such people is that when God’s religion asks them to forget themselves and attach themselves to God, they are unable to bury their inflated egos. When God’s religion tells them to tread a path devoid of personal glory, they lag behind, prefering to take care of their fame and popularity. When the struggle for God’s religion demands the sacrifice of life and property, their lives and property appear so valuable to them that they are unable to sacrifice them for any non-worldly goal. This attitude goes on hardening to the point where their hearts lose all sensitivity. Falling victim to insensitivity, they lose the urge which pulls them towards God and which does not allow them to reconcile with anything other than God. In contrast to this, the true believers allot the highest position to God and as such everything other than God appears worthless to them. They are always ready to move ahead towards God by undertaking every kind of sacrifice. These are the people for whom God’s graces and bounties exist. Nothing stands between them and the eternal paradise of God, save death.

A hypocrite, due to his being materially minded, gathers around him many worldly effects; a crowd of supporters is also seen around him. These things greatly impress the superficial kind of person. But, for those who look into things more deeply, such showy glamour is not enviable but serves rather to teach a lesson. Such an accumulation of goods hinders the hypocrite from coming closer to God. God’s favourite servant is one who proceeds towards Him without any reservation or worldly consideration. But those who are immersed in worldly glories are unable to rise above these things. Whenever they are inclined to proceed towards God, they feel as if that would be at the cost of material gains. Since they cannot muster enough courage to undertake this sacrifice, they cannot be loyal to God. Their worldly benefits are gained at the horrible price of entering the Hereafter deprived of everything. The condition of such people is that when God’s religion asks them to forget themselves and attach themselves to God, they are unable to bury their inflated egos. When God’s religion tells them to tread a path devoid of personal glory, they lag behind, prefering to take care of their fame and popularity. When the struggle for God’s religion demands the sacrifice of life and property, their lives and property appear so valuable to them that they are unable to sacrifice them for any non-worldly goal. This attitude goes on hardening to the point where their hearts lose all sensitivity. Falling victim to insensitivity, they lose the urge which pulls them towards God and which does not allow them to reconcile with anything other than God. In contrast to this, the true believers allot the highest position to God and as such everything other than God appears worthless to them. They are always ready to move ahead towards God by undertaking every kind of sacrifice. These are the people for whom God’s graces and bounties exist. Nothing stands between them and the eternal paradise of God, save death.

When the struggle to obey the call of religion demands that people forfeit their lives and property, and if at that time they lag behind in spite of having the ability to make such a sacrifice, this is the worst type of crime. This proves people’s insensitivity to the call of religion. Such behaviour on the part of a Muslim amounts to his being a traitor to God and His Prophet. Such people do not deserve any share in God’s graces. If they were unwilling to spare anything from whatever they had for the sake of God, then how do they expect that God will give them whatever He has? Nobody can receive anything unless he or she pays the price for it. However, God forgives handicapped persons and invalids. One who is ill, who has nothing to contribute to the mission or who does not possess the resources required for the journey will be forgiven by God. Moreover, it is quite possible that in spite of not doing anything, they may be given credit for everything, as has been recorded in a tradition (hadith) of the Prophet Muhammad: while returning from the battle of Tabuk, he said to his companions, ‘There are certain people in Madinah, about whom you may say that they have not trodden any path or that they have not traversed any valley but who were nevertheless shoulder to shoulder alongwith you.’

When the struggle to obey the call of religion demands that people forfeit their lives and property, and if at that time they lag behind in spite of having the ability to make such a sacrifice, this is the worst type of crime. This proves people’s insensitivity to the call of religion. Such behaviour on the part of a Muslim amounts to his being a traitor to God and His Prophet. Such people do not deserve any share in God’s graces. If they were unwilling to spare anything from whatever they had for the sake of God, then how do they expect that God will give them whatever He has? Nobody can receive anything unless he or she pays the price for it. However, God forgives handicapped persons and invalids. One who is ill, who has nothing to contribute to the mission or who does not possess the resources required for the journey will be forgiven by God. Moreover, it is quite possible that in spite of not doing anything, they may be given credit for everything, as has been recorded in a tradition (hadith) of the Prophet Muhammad: while returning from the battle of Tabuk, he said to his companions, ‘There are certain people in Madinah, about whom you may say that they have not trodden any path or that they have not traversed any valley but who were nevertheless shoulder to shoulder alongwith you.’

Now, who are those fortunate people whose inaction is regarded as action and who are therefore rewarded for it? They are those who, while not physically participating because of some incapacity, give proof of three things—heartfelt solidarity with the participants (nush); doing at least by word of mouth whatever is possible for them to do (ihsan); and, sorrowfulness about their shortcomings that is so intense that it gushes out in the form of tears (huzn). If an individual relegates something to an unimportant category in his life and does so again and again, it can happen that the very consciousness of its importance vanishes from his heart. The demands of that task keep coming before him, but there being no urge left in his heart to accomplish it, he fails to come to grips with it. This growing insensitivity is termed in the Quran ‘the sealing of hearts’. ‘God has already informed us about you.’ This statement makes it clear that the hypocrites referred to here are those present at the time of revelation of the Quran, that is, the Prophet’s contemporaries. According to Tabaqat ibn Sa‘d, there were eighty individuals about whose hypocritical character God had informed the Prophet through His revelation. However, in spite of this knowledge, the behaviour which the companions of the Prophet were allowed to adopt towards them was to overlook and ignore them. The issue of meting out punishment to them was kept by God in His own Hands. However, the only severity shown to the hypocrites of Madinah was that the excuses they offered were not accepted. So much so that when Tha‘laba ibn Hatib Ansari, a hyprocite, offered zakat, it was not accepted from him. ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy’s son wanted to take drastic action against his father for his hypocritical actions, but the Prophet restrained him, saying, ‘Leave him. By God, as long as he is amongst us, we will treat him properly.’ (Tabaqat ibn Sa‘d).

Now, who are those fortunate people whose inaction is regarded as action and who are therefore rewarded for it? They are those who, while not physically participating because of some incapacity, give proof of three things—heartfelt solidarity with the participants (nush); doing at least by word of mouth whatever is possible for them to do (ihsan); and, sorrowfulness about their shortcomings that is so intense that it gushes out in the form of tears (huzn). If an individual relegates something to an unimportant category in his life and does so again and again, it can happen that the very consciousness of its importance vanishes from his heart. The demands of that task keep coming before him, but there being no urge left in his heart to accomplish it, he fails to come to grips with it. This growing insensitivity is termed in the Quran ‘the sealing of hearts’. ‘God has already informed us about you.’ This statement makes it clear that the hypocrites referred to here are those present at the time of revelation of the Quran, that is, the Prophet’s contemporaries. According to Tabaqat ibn Sa‘d, there were eighty individuals about whose hypocritical character God had informed the Prophet through His revelation. However, in spite of this knowledge, the behaviour which the companions of the Prophet were allowed to adopt towards them was to overlook and ignore them. The issue of meting out punishment to them was kept by God in His own Hands. However, the only severity shown to the hypocrites of Madinah was that the excuses they offered were not accepted. So much so that when Tha‘laba ibn Hatib Ansari, a hyprocite, offered zakat, it was not accepted from him. ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy’s son wanted to take drastic action against his father for his hypocritical actions, but the Prophet restrained him, saying, ‘Leave him. By God, as long as he is amongst us, we will treat him properly.’ (Tabaqat ibn Sa‘d).

Now, who are those fortunate people whose inaction is regarded as action and who are therefore rewarded for it? They are those who, while not physically participating because of some incapacity, give proof of three things—heartfelt solidarity with the participants (nush); doing at least by word of mouth whatever is possible for them to do (ihsan); and, sorrowfulness about their shortcomings that is so intense that it gushes out in the form of tears (huzn). If an individual relegates something to an unimportant category in his life and does so again and again, it can happen that the very consciousness of its importance vanishes from his heart. The demands of that task keep coming before him, but there being no urge left in his heart to accomplish it, he fails to come to grips with it. This growing insensitivity is termed in the Quran ‘the sealing of hearts’. ‘God has already informed us about you.’ This statement makes it clear that the hypocrites referred to here are those present at the time of revelation of the Quran, that is, the Prophet’s contemporaries. According to Tabaqat ibn Sa‘d, there were eighty individuals about whose hypocritical character God had informed the Prophet through His revelation. However, in spite of this knowledge, the behaviour which the companions of the Prophet were allowed to adopt towards them was to overlook and ignore them. The issue of meting out punishment to them was kept by God in His own Hands. However, the only severity shown to the hypocrites of Madinah was that the excuses they offered were not accepted. So much so that when Tha‘laba ibn Hatib Ansari, a hyprocite, offered zakat, it was not accepted from him. ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy’s son wanted to take drastic action against his father for his hypocritical actions, but the Prophet restrained him, saying, ‘Leave him. By God, as long as he is amongst us, we will treat him properly.’ (Tabaqat ibn Sa‘d).

The orders regarding the hypocrites of later periods were the same. However, there was one difference. The treatment given to the hypocrites of the early period was based on the state of their hearts. But the treatment given to the later hypocrites will be based on external proof. The approach of overlooking and ignoring them will be proper only if external proof of their hypocrisy is available. No action will be taken against them on the basis of their intention or the condition of their hearts. If the later hypocrites present any excuses, their excuses and their charities, etc., will also be accepted. Leaving their fate to be decided by God, such action will be taken against them as is warranted in the normal course of law. Paradise is attainable on the basis of personal deeds and not on the basis of having joined any class or group of Muslims. All the hypocrites were a part of the Mulsim ummah; they used to offer prayers and observe the ritual of fasting along with the Muslims, but in spite of that, God decalred them to be bound for Hell.

The orders regarding the hypocrites of later periods were the same. However, there was one difference. The treatment given to the hypocrites of the early period was based on the state of their hearts. But the treatment given to the later hypocrites will be based on external proof. The approach of overlooking and ignoring them will be proper only if external proof of their hypocrisy is available. No action will be taken against them on the basis of their intention or the condition of their hearts. If the later hypocrites present any excuses, their excuses and their charities, etc., will also be accepted. Leaving their fate to be decided by God, such action will be taken against them as is warranted in the normal course of law. Paradise is attainable on the basis of personal deeds and not on the basis of having joined any class or group of Muslims. All the hypocrites were a part of the Mulsim ummah; they used to offer prayers and observe the ritual of fasting along with the Muslims, but in spite of that, God decalred them to be bound for Hell.

A tradition of the Prophet says, ‘One who settles in a village will become hard in nature.’ There is an intellectual atmosphere in a city; educational institutes are established there, discussion of learning and the arts is a regular feature of city life, whereas the people in villages do not have these opportunities for self-improvement. Moreover, their manner of living and the means of their livelihood are also inferiror in comparison. Consequently, a deep and mature consciousness does not develop in these people of the countryside. There is harshness in their temperament and superficiality in their thinking. They find it difficult to understand the dialectics of religion and cannot absorb its truth. God is aware of everything; at the same time He is Wise and Merciful also. He is fully aware of this weakness on the part of country people (villagers), or in other words, the general public, and in His wisdom and Mercy allows them full latitude on this account. Therefore, God does not demand from them deep realisation (ma‘rifah) or a high level of religiosity. If they are well-intentioned, God will accept their simple faith.

A tradition of the Prophet says, ‘One who settles in a village will become hard in nature.’ There is an intellectual atmosphere in a city; educational institutes are established there, discussion of learning and the arts is a regular feature of city life, whereas the people in villages do not have these opportunities for self-improvement. Moreover, their manner of living and the means of their livelihood are also inferiror in comparison. Consequently, a deep and mature consciousness does not develop in these people of the countryside. There is harshness in their temperament and superficiality in their thinking. They find it difficult to understand the dialectics of religion and cannot absorb its truth. God is aware of everything; at the same time He is Wise and Merciful also. He is fully aware of this weakness on the part of country people (villagers), or in other words, the general public, and in His wisdom and Mercy allows them full latitude on this account. Therefore, God does not demand from them deep realisation (ma‘rifah) or a high level of religiosity. If they are well-intentioned, God will accept their simple faith.

Religion for the general public is acceptance of God from the bottom of their hearts; keeping the realisation fresh in their minds that they have to face the Hereafter one day; spending a part of their earnings for the sake of God. They think that in this way they will be able to attain closeness to God and His blessings, and may seek the blessings of the Prophet who is a representative of God. This is the ordinary, superficial level of their religiousness, but if a man’s heart is pure and he is well-intentioned, God will accept this simple kind of devotion from him. But, if the common people, becoming completely neglectful of God and His commands, lose all connection with religion, so much so that spending for the cause of religion appears to them a sort of fine and they are terrified of the progress of Islam, then they are undoubtedly unpardonable. Because of the low level of understanding of the common people, they may be excused if they are not capable of deep and noble religiousness. But if their lack of understanding assumes the shape of arrogance or disloyalty towards Islam, then under no circumstances, can they be pardoned.

Religion for the general public is acceptance of God from the bottom of their hearts; keeping the realisation fresh in their minds that they have to face the Hereafter one day; spending a part of their earnings for the sake of God. They think that in this way they will be able to attain closeness to God and His blessings, and may seek the blessings of the Prophet who is a representative of God. This is the ordinary, superficial level of their religiousness, but if a man’s heart is pure and he is well-intentioned, God will accept this simple kind of devotion from him. But, if the common people, becoming completely neglectful of God and His commands, lose all connection with religion, so much so that spending for the cause of religion appears to them a sort of fine and they are terrified of the progress of Islam, then they are undoubtedly unpardonable. Because of the low level of understanding of the common people, they may be excused if they are not capable of deep and noble religiousness. But if their lack of understanding assumes the shape of arrogance or disloyalty towards Islam, then under no circumstances, can they be pardoned.

When the call goes out for God’s religion, the atmosphere can be either inimical or propitious. If inimical, those who issue the call become aliens, or muhajirs, in their own hometown; if propitious, they risk neither life nor property and can lend their support to the muhajirs. These helpers are called ansar. The conditions in the early period at Makkah were such that those of the townspeople who were Muslims were forced into the position of muhajirs while the conditions in Madinah were such that those of the townspeople who were Muslims were able to become ansars. God’s approval is attainable by anyone willing to pay the price of being a muhajir or an ansar; either he should concentrate so much on treading God’s path that he loses hold of all worldly strings; or if he is a person of some means, he should utilize his wealth to alleviate the deprivation of the first category of people. The Muslims of Makkah (companions of the Prophet) were the perfect examples of individuals willing to suffer this deprivation, going to the extent of emigration, while the Muslims of Madinah were the perfect examples of extending full support to the deprived people for the sake of receiving God’s blessings. Those among the later Muslims who follow their predecessors in this matter will join this divine group. God causes some people to be deprived in order to see that they turn to Him. Similarly, God saves others from deprivation in order that they may help the deprived ones and thus join those who spend for the sake of God. This is the plan of God. Those who do not come up to this standard are, in actual fact, not ‘pleased’ with God’s plan. So God will not be ‘pleased’ with them in the Hereafter. ‘They are well pleased with Him.’ That is, it was by God’s will that they were placed in such circumstances that they had to adopt religion at the cost of sacrificing everything they had. And still they remained steadfastly on the path of religion. Similarly, others were placed in circumstances which required them to share their belongings with their brothers in religion—with whom they had only the relationship of a common cause and not of blood-relationship—and still they willingly did this. Such are those who attain the pleasure of God and it is they who will be settled in the eternal gardens of paradise. A hypocrite is one who claims to be a Muslim, but when the question arises of paying the price of hijrah (supporting the callers to the faith) for the sake of religion, he does not find it in his heart to do so.

The proof of sincere repentance is a greater urge to serve the cause of religion. To absolve themselves of sin, they offered a part of their cherished property for the cause of God. On seeing such a positive response from them, the Prophet was asked not to reproach them but rather to give them psychological support, pray for them so that the burden (of guilt) in their hearts was lightened and their confidence in their faith restored. Doing wrong is not the real evil in the eyes of God; persistence in that wrong is the real evil. One who begins to justify his wrongs ruins himself, while one who admits his mistakes and tries his best to atone for them with good deeds is worthy of being pardoned by God.

The proof of sincere repentance is a greater urge to serve the cause of religion. To absolve themselves of sin, they offered a part of their cherished property for the cause of God. On seeing such a positive response from them, the Prophet was asked not to reproach them but rather to give them psychological support, pray for them so that the burden (of guilt) in their hearts was lightened and their confidence in their faith restored. Doing wrong is not the real evil in the eyes of God; persistence in that wrong is the real evil. One who begins to justify his wrongs ruins himself, while one who admits his mistakes and tries his best to atone for them with good deeds is worthy of being pardoned by God.

After committing a wrong, the individual has two options: either to admit his mistake or shamelessly persist. One who admits his mistakes becomes increasingly modest and once again he becomes entitled to God’s grace and blessings. On the contrary, one who is emboldened by his persistence in his sinful ways invites the wrath of God. In order to prove that the path he has opted for is the right path, he invents false arguments in self-defence. In this way his attempt to falsely justify one mistake will lead him on to making more and more mistakes. This is why God’s grace awaits the former type of individual, while His wrath awaits the latter.

After committing a wrong, the individual has two options: either to admit his mistake or shamelessly persist. One who admits his mistakes becomes increasingly modest and once again he becomes entitled to God’s grace and blessings. On the contrary, one who is emboldened by his persistence in his sinful ways invites the wrath of God. In order to prove that the path he has opted for is the right path, he invents false arguments in self-defence. In this way his attempt to falsely justify one mistake will lead him on to making more and more mistakes. This is why God’s grace awaits the former type of individual, while His wrath awaits the latter.

After committing a wrong, the individual has two options: either to admit his mistake or shamelessly persist. One who admits his mistakes becomes increasingly modest and once again he becomes entitled to God’s grace and blessings. On the contrary, one who is emboldened by his persistence in his sinful ways invites the wrath of God. In order to prove that the path he has opted for is the right path, he invents false arguments in self-defence. In this way his attempt to falsely justify one mistake will lead him on to making more and more mistakes. This is why God’s grace awaits the former type of individual, while His wrath awaits the latter.

There are two foundations for the building of life. One is piety (taqwa) and the other is self-centredness. In the first case the whole structure of life is built on a firm foundation of being God-fearing. In this case all the activities of the individual are influenced by one central thought. That is, he has to be accountable for all his words and deeds to a Being Who is aware of all things, whether open or hidden, and Who is to award punishments or rewards accordingly. One who considers himself accountable to God has erected his building on a solid foundation that will never be shaken. In contrast to him is the man who builds on the crumbling edge of an abyss. Free from all fears and apprehensions, he leads a self-oriented life in the world. He does not accept any restrictions, and speaks and acts at will. The example of the life of such a person can be compared to a building which has been constructed on the brink of a gorge which is about to cave in; all of a sudden it will collapse, carrying all the building’s residents down into its depths.

There are two foundations for the building of life. One is piety (taqwa) and the other is self-centredness. In the first case the whole structure of life is built on a firm foundation of being God-fearing. In this case all the activities of the individual are influenced by one central thought. That is, he has to be accountable for all his words and deeds to a Being Who is aware of all things, whether open or hidden, and Who is to award punishments or rewards accordingly. One who considers himself accountable to God has erected his building on a solid foundation that will never be shaken. In contrast to him is the man who builds on the crumbling edge of an abyss. Free from all fears and apprehensions, he leads a self-oriented life in the world. He does not accept any restrictions, and speaks and acts at will. The example of the life of such a person can be compared to a building which has been constructed on the brink of a gorge which is about to cave in; all of a sudden it will collapse, carrying all the building’s residents down into its depths.

The most heinous crime of the people who build their lives on the basis of self-oriented behaviour came to light in the form of the Dhirar Mosque in Madinah. At that time there were already two mosques in Madinah, the Mosque of the Prophet or al-Masjid an-Nabawi, which was inside the town, and the Quba’ Mosque, which was in the suburbs. The hypocrites constructed a third mosque to divert people’s attention. Although acts of this kind are apparently performed in the name of religion, in reality, their aim is to maintain the hypocrites’ leadership by supporting their opposition to the call of Truth. Those who are unable to accede to the call of truth on account of their self-centredness, try to create a front against it, so that they may indulge in destructive activities. This divides Muslims in two groups. These negative acts, carried out in the name of religion, go to the extent of bringing recognized personalities on to their stage in order to gain credibility among the people. In their blind enmity, these people forget that opposition to the Truth amounts, in fact, to opposition to God. This can never succeed in God’s world. The only fate ordained for them is their meeting with death in despair and frustration and being deprived of God’s Grace forever. Becoming a true believer in God entails the ‘selling’ of oneself to God. One gives one’s life and property to God so that He may grant one eternal paradise in return. This is what is meant by surrendering oneself totally to God. A real attachment to anything is always at the level of complete surrender. It is this degree of commitment that is required with regard to God. None can receive the eternal bounties of paradise without complete surrender. When an individual adopts God’s religion in this spirit, it does not remain separate from his life. Rather it becomes a matter of his personal concern. It forms the centre of his interests, concern and apprehensions. If the cause of religion demands his property, he is willing to offer it. If he is required to devote his time and his talents to it, he is willing to do so.

The most heinous crime of the people who build their lives on the basis of self-oriented behaviour came to light in the form of the Dhirar Mosque in Madinah. At that time there were already two mosques in Madinah, the Mosque of the Prophet or al-Masjid an-Nabawi, which was inside the town, and the Quba’ Mosque, which was in the suburbs. The hypocrites constructed a third mosque to divert people’s attention. Although acts of this kind are apparently performed in the name of religion, in reality, their aim is to maintain the hypocrites’ leadership by supporting their opposition to the call of Truth. Those who are unable to accede to the call of truth on account of their self-centredness, try to create a front against it, so that they may indulge in destructive activities. This divides Muslims in two groups. These negative acts, carried out in the name of religion, go to the extent of bringing recognized personalities on to their stage in order to gain credibility among the people. In their blind enmity, these people forget that opposition to the Truth amounts, in fact, to opposition to God. This can never succeed in God’s world. The only fate ordained for them is their meeting with death in despair and frustration and being deprived of God’s Grace forever. Becoming a true believer in God entails the ‘selling’ of oneself to God. One gives one’s life and property to God so that He may grant one eternal paradise in return. This is what is meant by surrendering oneself totally to God. A real attachment to anything is always at the level of complete surrender. It is this degree of commitment that is required with regard to God. None can receive the eternal bounties of paradise without complete surrender. When an individual adopts God’s religion in this spirit, it does not remain separate from his life. Rather it becomes a matter of his personal concern. It forms the centre of his interests, concern and apprehensions. If the cause of religion demands his property, he is willing to offer it. If he is required to devote his time and his talents to it, he is willing to do so.

The most heinous crime of the people who build their lives on the basis of self-oriented behaviour came to light in the form of the Dhirar Mosque in Madinah. At that time there were already two mosques in Madinah, the Mosque of the Prophet or al-Masjid an-Nabawi, which was inside the town, and the Quba’ Mosque, which was in the suburbs. The hypocrites constructed a third mosque to divert people’s attention. Although acts of this kind are apparently performed in the name of religion, in reality, their aim is to maintain the hypocrites’ leadership by supporting their opposition to the call of Truth. Those who are unable to accede to the call of truth on account of their self-centredness, try to create a front against it, so that they may indulge in destructive activities. This divides Muslims in two groups. These negative acts, carried out in the name of religion, go to the extent of bringing recognized personalities on to their stage in order to gain credibility among the people. In their blind enmity, these people forget that opposition to the Truth amounts, in fact, to opposition to God. This can never succeed in God’s world. The only fate ordained for them is their meeting with death in despair and frustration and being deprived of God’s Grace forever. Becoming a true believer in God entails the ‘selling’ of oneself to God. One gives one’s life and property to God so that He may grant one eternal paradise in return. This is what is meant by surrendering oneself totally to God. A real attachment to anything is always at the level of complete surrender. It is this degree of commitment that is required with regard to God. None can receive the eternal bounties of paradise without complete surrender. When an individual adopts God’s religion in this spirit, it does not remain separate from his life. Rather it becomes a matter of his personal concern. It forms the centre of his interests, concern and apprehensions. If the cause of religion demands his property, he is willing to offer it. If he is required to devote his time and his talents to it, he is willing to do so.

Those who unconditionally surrender to God develop the qualities mentioned in the above verse. Their sensitivity is awakened to such an extent that they are able to pinpoint their mistakes in no time and admit them immediately. They are obeisance personified in the eyes of God. They are so engrossed in thoughts of God’s Majesty that this begins to find expression spontaneously, springing from the innermost recesses of their hearts. They become spiritual travellers, that is, they go from the human world to the divine world of nature which is a source of peace and tranquillity. What true believers love most is bowing down to God. They try to lead anyone they come in contact with towards the path of righteousness. When they find anyone taking to evil ways, they do their utmost to stop him from doing so. They become extremely vigilant in observing the limits set by God. They are like the gardener who is extra careful about his garden or his orchard. These are the people to whom God sends His glad tidings of eternal divine reward in the form of paradise. God’s paradise is far more precious than any other precious thing. But God’s paradise is like a pledge: it is not like an immediate cash reward. It is due to the delayed fulfillment of this pledge, (that is, it comes after death and not in this world) that people set paradise aside and rush towards petty, ephemeral benefits.

Abraham, being a very compassionate person, was greatly concerned about the salvation of humanity. Swayed by these sentiments, he had made a pledge to pray to God for his pagan father. But, when he was made aware of God’s will, he desisted. God has instilled in every human being a natural instinct for discerning evil. When an individual receives a message which is intended to stop him from committing an evil deed, his whole inner being testifies to its truth. A silent check is produced in his heart. For ‘God would never lead a people astray after He has guided them.’ But if the man ignores this impulse arising from within, and does not save himself, in spite of the hint given him by nature, his natural sensitivity gradually goes on weakening, till a time comes when it dies altogether. This danger threatens Muslims as well as non-Muslims.

Abraham, being a very compassionate person, was greatly concerned about the salvation of humanity. Swayed by these sentiments, he had made a pledge to pray to God for his pagan father. But, when he was made aware of God’s will, he desisted. God has instilled in every human being a natural instinct for discerning evil. When an individual receives a message which is intended to stop him from committing an evil deed, his whole inner being testifies to its truth. A silent check is produced in his heart. For ‘God would never lead a people astray after He has guided them.’ But if the man ignores this impulse arising from within, and does not save himself, in spite of the hint given him by nature, his natural sensitivity gradually goes on weakening, till a time comes when it dies altogether. This danger threatens Muslims as well as non-Muslims.

Abraham, being a very compassionate person, was greatly concerned about the salvation of humanity. Swayed by these sentiments, he had made a pledge to pray to God for his pagan father. But, when he was made aware of God’s will, he desisted. God has instilled in every human being a natural instinct for discerning evil. When an individual receives a message which is intended to stop him from committing an evil deed, his whole inner being testifies to its truth. A silent check is produced in his heart. For ‘God would never lead a people astray after He has guided them.’ But if the man ignores this impulse arising from within, and does not save himself, in spite of the hint given him by nature, his natural sensitivity gradually goes on weakening, till a time comes when it dies altogether. This danger threatens Muslims as well as non-Muslims.

Abraham, being a very compassionate person, was greatly concerned about the salvation of humanity. Swayed by these sentiments, he had made a pledge to pray to God for his pagan father. But, when he was made aware of God’s will, he desisted. God has instilled in every human being a natural instinct for discerning evil. When an individual receives a message which is intended to stop him from committing an evil deed, his whole inner being testifies to its truth. A silent check is produced in his heart. For ‘God would never lead a people astray after He has guided them.’ But if the man ignores this impulse arising from within, and does not save himself, in spite of the hint given him by nature, his natural sensitivity gradually goes on weakening, till a time comes when it dies altogether. This danger threatens Muslims as well as non-Muslims.

On the occasion of the battle of Tabuk, there was a group which surrendered its best asset to Islam: their crops. It was harvest time, but they left everything behind and set out on a journey which involved a march of three hundred miles in intense heat in order to face the most powerful empire of the time. The shortage of mounts, equipment and goods was so acute that several men had to take turns on each camel, and for food they had often to rest content with one date per person. However, they were only being tested for their resolve and dedication to the cause of God. After God had seen their mettle, He caused the enemy to fall a prey to terror. They retreated from the battlefield without any confrontation and the Muslims returned victorious without having shed any blood. There was another group which consisted of the confessors ( 9:102 ). These people could not set out on this journey due to their engagement in worldly activities. However, they very soon realised that they had made a serious mistake, to which they unreservedly confessed. They were truly ashamed of their misdeed and sincerely repented of it. The flood of tears flowing from their eyes compensated for their shortcomings. God enveloped them in His mercy, because they had admitted their mistake in all sincerity.

A third group consisted of those who were left behind. These were three youths, Ka‘b ibn Malik, Mararah ibn Rubay and Hilal ibn Umayyah. Though they regarded their inability to proceed on this journey as a shortcoming, their feelings of repentance and turning towards God had not been as intense as was required in this first stage. That is why they were punished by a social boycott. Now even with this boycott these three had a number of options. They could have remained happy and contented; they could have remained engrossed in their homes and gardens; they could have become rebellious; they could have formed their own separate group in collaboration with disgruntled elements, thus forming an island, a happy world cut off from the general body of Muslims. But they refrained from doing so. The thought of having earned the displeasure of God and His Prophet disturbed their minds so greatly that they failed to find a moment’s peace. For them this was an option, not a compulsion. For they could have escaped by rebelling against this boycott and joining any other group. But their response being positive, they naturally turned to God for forgiveness. They repented and prayed to God. Their hearts were truly softened. After a period of 50 days of prayer God showed them His mercy and they were pardoned.

Our life is social in nature. That is why everyone, according to his tastes and aptitudes, forms a circle of his own in which to spend his days and nights. It is necessary for those who fear God and want to tread the path of faith to befriend those who are sincere, truthful, and God-fearing, and who are consistent in their words and deeds. By keeping company with such people, one is transformed into a truthful person too. On the contrary, if one seeks the company of insincere, hypocritical persons, one will necessarily come under their influence. There are times when Islam has to be served by risking one’s life; there are times when Islam has to be served at the cost of suffering the pangs of hunger and thirst; there are times when one is exhausted struggling for the cause of God; there are times when one has to serve God and His prophet by sacrificing one’s peace of mind. On such occasions one feels like opting for the safer course and hesitates to go ahead and answer the call of one’s faith. One is oblivious of the fact that those were the very opportunities to give practical proof of one’s attachment to God, when by doing so, one could have expected to be found worthy of paradise.

Our life is social in nature. That is why everyone, according to his tastes and aptitudes, forms a circle of his own in which to spend his days and nights. It is necessary for those who fear God and want to tread the path of faith to befriend those who are sincere, truthful, and God-fearing, and who are consistent in their words and deeds. By keeping company with such people, one is transformed into a truthful person too. On the contrary, if one seeks the company of insincere, hypocritical persons, one will necessarily come under their influence. There are times when Islam has to be served by risking one’s life; there are times when Islam has to be served at the cost of suffering the pangs of hunger and thirst; there are times when one is exhausted struggling for the cause of God; there are times when one has to serve God and His prophet by sacrificing one’s peace of mind. On such occasions one feels like opting for the safer course and hesitates to go ahead and answer the call of one’s faith. One is oblivious of the fact that those were the very opportunities to give practical proof of one’s attachment to God, when by doing so, one could have expected to be found worthy of paradise.

Our life is social in nature. That is why everyone, according to his tastes and aptitudes, forms a circle of his own in which to spend his days and nights. It is necessary for those who fear God and want to tread the path of faith to befriend those who are sincere, truthful, and God-fearing, and who are consistent in their words and deeds. By keeping company with such people, one is transformed into a truthful person too. On the contrary, if one seeks the company of insincere, hypocritical persons, one will necessarily come under their influence. There are times when Islam has to be served by risking one’s life; there are times when Islam has to be served at the cost of suffering the pangs of hunger and thirst; there are times when one is exhausted struggling for the cause of God; there are times when one has to serve God and His prophet by sacrificing one’s peace of mind. On such occasions one feels like opting for the safer course and hesitates to go ahead and answer the call of one’s faith. One is oblivious of the fact that those were the very opportunities to give practical proof of one’s attachment to God, when by doing so, one could have expected to be found worthy of paradise.

In this verse, a deeper knowledge of Islam (li yatafaqqahu fi’ddin), does imply education in the traditional sense, which would mean acquiring a detailed knowledge of the form of religion, that is the ritual part, because then the study of religion becomes synonymous with the study of problems relating to the formal aspects of religion. Understanding (tafaqquh) in religion implies deep knowledge of the fundamentals of religion, a knowledge which makes one enlightened, which makes one fully aware of the eternal teachings of religion and helps one to build one’s life on the concept of the Hereafter. This verse tells us that the aim of developing an understanding in religion is to acquire the ability to deliver the divine message to the people. The word ‘warn’ (inzar) used here means to make people aware of the consequences in the Hereafter of their actions. This shows that Islamic education should prepare individuals for the role of preachers (da‘is), so that their addressees may fear God and make Him their sole concern in their present lives. Islamic learning is basically to prepare messengers to convey the word of God to others and is not merely the study of the problems of jurisprudence or of Islamic laws as is commonly understood. From this point of view, Islamic education should come under two headings: 1. The Quran and the traditions of the Prophet. 2. Such studies as are necessary from the point of view of the addressee—who is the target of the Divine Call, for instance, the language of the addressee, and his mindset.

See note to 2:191.

‘Fight against those deniers of the truth who are near you.’ These words indicate that the Islamic struggle is not an unplanned effort, but that order has to be kept in view in it. First, efforts would be made to overcome nearby obstacles and thereafter distant impediments would be tackled. From this, it is deduced that the very first struggle should be undertaken with a man’s own ‘self’, because the thing nearest to a man is his ‘self’; anything outside this focus would come later. Then, again, the foremost thing required in relation to the aggressors is firmness of a kind to instill a deterrent fear in the them: ‘If this happens it will create fear in their hearts.’ (Tafsir Jassas). Moreover, it is necessary that all action against aggressors should be carried out in fear of God (taqwa). It is only such action which guarantees God’s help to believers. The moment they lose their fear of God, they will be deprived of God’s help; they will be far away from God and God will be far away from them. Fear of God is a meeting point between God and His subject. When a man fears God, he brings himself to the point where God wants to see him; to which God had called him. Under these circumstances, it is only such fear which can take a man closer to God.

‘Fight against those deniers of the truth who are near you.’ These words indicate that the Islamic struggle is not an unplanned effort, but that order has to be kept in view in it. First, efforts would be made to overcome nearby obstacles and thereafter distant impediments would be tackled. From this, it is deduced that the very first struggle should be undertaken with a man’s own ‘self’, because the thing nearest to a man is his ‘self’; anything outside this focus would come later. Then, again, the foremost thing required in relation to the aggressors is firmness of a kind to instill a deterrent fear in the them: ‘If this happens it will create fear in their hearts.’ (Tafsir Jassas). Moreover, it is necessary that all action against aggressors should be carried out in fear of God (taqwa). It is only such action which guarantees God’s help to believers. The moment they lose their fear of God, they will be deprived of God’s help; they will be far away from God and God will be far away from them. Fear of God is a meeting point between God and His subject. When a man fears God, he brings himself to the point where God wants to see him; to which God had called him. Under these circumstances, it is only such fear which can take a man closer to God.

‘Fight against those deniers of the truth who are near you.’ These words indicate that the Islamic struggle is not an unplanned effort, but that order has to be kept in view in it. First, efforts would be made to overcome nearby obstacles and thereafter distant impediments would be tackled. From this, it is deduced that the very first struggle should be undertaken with a man’s own ‘self’, because the thing nearest to a man is his ‘self’; anything outside this focus would come later. Then, again, the foremost thing required in relation to the aggressors is firmness of a kind to instill a deterrent fear in the them: ‘If this happens it will create fear in their hearts.’ (Tafsir Jassas). Moreover, it is necessary that all action against aggressors should be carried out in fear of God (taqwa). It is only such action which guarantees God’s help to believers. The moment they lose their fear of God, they will be deprived of God’s help; they will be far away from God and God will be far away from them. Fear of God is a meeting point between God and His subject. When a man fears God, he brings himself to the point where God wants to see him; to which God had called him. Under these circumstances, it is only such fear which can take a man closer to God.

‘Fight against those deniers of the truth who are near you.’ These words indicate that the Islamic struggle is not an unplanned effort, but that order has to be kept in view in it. First, efforts would be made to overcome nearby obstacles and thereafter distant impediments would be tackled. From this, it is deduced that the very first struggle should be undertaken with a man’s own ‘self’, because the thing nearest to a man is his ‘self’; anything outside this focus would come later. Then, again, the foremost thing required in relation to the aggressors is firmness of a kind to instill a deterrent fear in the them: ‘If this happens it will create fear in their hearts.’ (Tafsir Jassas). Moreover, it is necessary that all action against aggressors should be carried out in fear of God (taqwa). It is only such action which guarantees God’s help to believers. The moment they lose their fear of God, they will be deprived of God’s help; they will be far away from God and God will be far away from them. Fear of God is a meeting point between God and His subject. When a man fears God, he brings himself to the point where God wants to see him; to which God had called him. Under these circumstances, it is only such fear which can take a man closer to God.

The Quran tells us that God’s messenger is extremely kind and affectionate towards people. He is so perturbed by others’ suffering that it is as if he himself were affected by it. He is extremely anxious to give guidance to others. What moves him to convey the message of truth to the people is nothing but his great desire for their welfare—far from his having any personal ambition or there being any national problem. According to a tradition narrated by ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, the Prophet Muhammad said, ‘People are falling into the fire like flies and I am trying to keep them away from it by holding on to their waists.’ (Musnad Ahmad). In this depiction of the Prophet, we can see the mental and moral makeup of the eternal preacher of truth. He should have two prominent features. Firstly, his reliance should be solely on the one and only God. Secondly, he should have in his heart feelings only of love and well-wishing for the addressee. There might be many grievances against the addressee, there might be national or communal or material quarrels between the preacher (da‘i) and the addressee (mad‘u), yet, in spite of this, the preacher must ignore all points of conflict and must not allow any feelings to be aroused in him other than those of affection and kindness. The preacher should rise above the psychology of reaction. He should unilaterally become the well-wisher of his congregation, regardless of any objectionable behaviour on their part and call them to the Truth.

The Quran tells us that God’s messenger is extremely kind and affectionate towards people. He is so perturbed by others’ suffering that it is as if he himself were affected by it. He is extremely anxious to give guidance to others. What moves him to convey the message of truth to the people is nothing but his great desire for their welfare—far from his having any personal ambition or there being any national problem. According to a tradition narrated by ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, the Prophet Muhammad said, ‘People are falling into the fire like flies and I am trying to keep them away from it by holding on to their waists.’ (Musnad Ahmad). In this depiction of the Prophet, we can see the mental and moral makeup of the eternal preacher of truth. He should have two prominent features. Firstly, his reliance should be solely on the one and only God. Secondly, he should have in his heart feelings only of love and well-wishing for the addressee. There might be many grievances against the addressee, there might be national or communal or material quarrels between the preacher (da‘i) and the addressee (mad‘u), yet, in spite of this, the preacher must ignore all points of conflict and must not allow any feelings to be aroused in him other than those of affection and kindness. The preacher should rise above the psychology of reaction. He should unilaterally become the well-wisher of his congregation, regardless of any objectionable behaviour on their part and call them to the Truth.

A prophet’s call is always based on sound and strong reasoning. Thanks to his extraordinary manner of expression, he is himself proof of his speaking on behalf of God. In spite of this, people of every period have rejected the prophets. The reason for this is man’s passion for external appearances. In the eyes of his contemporaries, a prophet is an ordinary man like other ordinary men. The glories of history, which later on become attached to his name, have not yet gathered around him. So, his contemporaries overlook him, considering him to be an ordinary man. They are unable either to look at the prophet as one deputed by God or to appreciate him in view of the history that is going to take shape in future. Yet the fact remains that everyone will be compelled to realise his prophetic greatness in due course. A prophet’s call is entirely miraculous and leaves its hearers bereft of any argument. It is quite spell-binding. Finding themselves helpless in the field of arguments, the prophet’s hearers start maligning his message. In this way they cast doubts upon the veracity of his words. Thinking like simpletons, they scorn the call as nothing but makebelieve. They call it verbal witchcraft and as such of no consequence. The real mission of a prophet is warning others (inzar) and giving good news (tabshir). That is, warning people of God’s retribution and giving good news of Paradise to those who are ready to live in the world in fear of God. The prophet appears in the world in order to make people aware of the fact that man is not free and all-powerful in this world and that the story of his life is not going to end with his death. Indeed, there is eternal life after death and man should take the utmost care to prepare for this. One who is unmindful of this or adopts an attitude of insolence, will reach the world after death in such a condition that nothing will await him there except agony and misery. One for whom outward appearance is all-important thinks that honour and glory attach to those who are in possession of worldly power, who are the possessors of worldly wealth. The Prophet says that this is deceptive; that such honour and glory exist only amongst fellow-human beings in this ephemeral worldly life. Real honour and glory are to be achieved in the eternal life in the presence of God; only such honour and glory are both real and eternal.

A prophet’s call is always based on sound and strong reasoning. Thanks to his extraordinary manner of expression, he is himself proof of his speaking on behalf of God. In spite of this, people of every period have rejected the prophets. The reason for this is man’s passion for external appearances. In the eyes of his contemporaries, a prophet is an ordinary man like other ordinary men. The glories of history, which later on become attached to his name, have not yet gathered around him. So, his contemporaries overlook him, considering him to be an ordinary man. They are unable either to look at the prophet as one deputed by God or to appreciate him in view of the history that is going to take shape in future. Yet the fact remains that everyone will be compelled to realise his prophetic greatness in due course. A prophet’s call is entirely miraculous and leaves its hearers bereft of any argument. It is quite spell-binding. Finding themselves helpless in the field of arguments, the prophet’s hearers start maligning his message. In this way they cast doubts upon the veracity of his words. Thinking like simpletons, they scorn the call as nothing but makebelieve. They call it verbal witchcraft and as such of no consequence. The real mission of a prophet is warning others (inzar) and giving good news (tabshir). That is, warning people of God’s retribution and giving good news of Paradise to those who are ready to live in the world in fear of God. The prophet appears in the world in order to make people aware of the fact that man is not free and all-powerful in this world and that the story of his life is not going to end with his death. Indeed, there is eternal life after death and man should take the utmost care to prepare for this. One who is unmindful of this or adopts an attitude of insolence, will reach the world after death in such a condition that nothing will await him there except agony and misery. One for whom outward appearance is all-important thinks that honour and glory attach to those who are in possession of worldly power, who are the possessors of worldly wealth. The Prophet says that this is deceptive; that such honour and glory exist only amongst fellow-human beings in this ephemeral worldly life. Real honour and glory are to be achieved in the eternal life in the presence of God; only such honour and glory are both real and eternal.

Studies indicate that the appearance of the many different kinds of natural phenomena in the universe did not occur at one time, but gradually over a period. The Quran divides this phase—the divine creation into six periods. This proves that the creation of the universe was done according to a conscious plan. Then, the study of the universe shows that it is running according to hard and fast laws. Everything behaves in exactly the manner in which it is required to behave, in consideration of overall requirements. This is clear proof of the fact that this universe is made to function by an Active and Alive Planner who directly controls it at all times. This wonderfully regulated system of the universe itself makes the powerful statement that its Lord is so Perfect and so Great that there is no question of any recommendation being useful to Him. The universe reflects the image of its Creator in the mirror of its amazing characteristics. The system of justice (qist) prevails throughout the universe. Here, whatever one does, one is confronted with commensurate results; everyone is rewarded according to whatever he has done. This is true of material results; but in the matter of moral outcome, the picture of the world seems to be entirely different. A man performs righteous deeds, but he does not receive the fruits of his righteousness. A man indulges in arrogance, and his arrogance goes on unpunished. Why is it that God’s will, which is operative in the case of His other creatures, does not seem to be operative in the case of human beings? The reason for this is that the manifestation of godly justice in the life of human beings has been deferred by God till the life Hereafter. The first life has been given to man for the performance of deeds. The second life will be given to him so that he may be requited for his deeds; and the possibility of the occurrence of the second life (the life of the hereafter) is as certain as that of the first life.

Studies indicate that the appearance of the many different kinds of natural phenomena in the universe did not occur at one time, but gradually over a period. The Quran divides this phase—the divine creation into six periods. This proves that the creation of the universe was done according to a conscious plan. Then, the study of the universe shows that it is running according to hard and fast laws. Everything behaves in exactly the manner in which it is required to behave, in consideration of overall requirements. This is clear proof of the fact that this universe is made to function by an Active and Alive Planner who directly controls it at all times. This wonderfully regulated system of the universe itself makes the powerful statement that its Lord is so Perfect and so Great that there is no question of any recommendation being useful to Him. The universe reflects the image of its Creator in the mirror of its amazing characteristics. The system of justice (qist) prevails throughout the universe. Here, whatever one does, one is confronted with commensurate results; everyone is rewarded according to whatever he has done. This is true of material results; but in the matter of moral outcome, the picture of the world seems to be entirely different. A man performs righteous deeds, but he does not receive the fruits of his righteousness. A man indulges in arrogance, and his arrogance goes on unpunished. Why is it that God’s will, which is operative in the case of His other creatures, does not seem to be operative in the case of human beings? The reason for this is that the manifestation of godly justice in the life of human beings has been deferred by God till the life Hereafter. The first life has been given to man for the performance of deeds. The second life will be given to him so that he may be requited for his deeds; and the possibility of the occurrence of the second life (the life of the hereafter) is as certain as that of the first life.

The sun is at the most appropriate distance from our earth. That is why it has been a treasure-like source of light and heat for us. If a difference were to occur in this alignment, the sun would not be the sun for us: it would become the fire of hell. Instead of being the messenger of life, it would be the messenger of death. The moon rotates in its orbit in a precise, mathematical way. In spite of its being devoid of its own light, it not only gives us cool light, reflected from the sun, but also provides us with a natural calender of months and days. These astronomical signs prove that there is strong purposefulness in the universe, and the fate of the purposeful universe cannot be purposeless. Then, the appearance of day after night indicates, in the language of symbolism, the moral fact that, according to the law prevailing in this world of ours, light should prevail after the reign of darkness; the brightness of light should follow upon darkness. Where, before, human rights had been trampled upon, there will now ensue a sytem whereby rights will be honoured. Divine justice will dominate in place of human arrogance. Such a time is destined to come, when the prevalence of evil will come to an end and the recognition of truth will prevail everywhere.

God has revealed the realities of the Hereafter by means of symbols. Similarly, in the present world, God reveals Himself in the form of arguments, and not as a tangible manifestation. So, we can find God only in the manner and shape in which He reveals Himself and not in any other form. In this world, God has offered mankind His guidance. But only those who are ready to follow it according to the godly plan, are destined to receive this guidance. Only those who are ready to understand the truth presented in the language of reason and accept it will be inspired to tread the right path. Those who do not bow down before true argument fail to bow down, as it were, before God; it is like not accepting God. Such people may expect nothing but Hell as their reward. In the heavens and on the earth, there are countless signs which become the elements of a lesson for those who are God-fearing. Fear, or apprehension, is a thing which makes a man serious. Unless a man is serious, he will not pay full attention to matters of importance and will not understand their various aspects. The whole universe is held together in a creative balance. This is a clear indication of the fact that the Lord of the universe is One who has absolute power over man. Similarly, the initial life which we are now experiencing provides clear proof of the fact that a second life is also possible. The appearance of material results in the present world and the non-appearance of moral results warrants the taking shape of another world where the moral results will be clearly in evidence. This is an unassailable truth, but this can be grasped only by one who looks at life in fear and apprehension.

For whom is hell meant? It is for those who have forgotten that they will have to face God; those who have contented themselves with the temporary amenities of this world as opposed to the eternal bounties of the Hereafter; those who are satisfied with the things that purely as a matter of trial they have received in this world; those who attach themselves to ungodly things to such an extent that they become completely unmindful of the realities revealed by God. All this amounts to treading the path of hell in the eyes of God, and those who adopt the way of hell will not arrive anywhere except in hell.

For whom is hell meant? It is for those who have forgotten that they will have to face God; those who have contented themselves with the temporary amenities of this world as opposed to the eternal bounties of the Hereafter; those who are satisfied with the things that purely as a matter of trial they have received in this world; those who attach themselves to ungodly things to such an extent that they become completely unmindful of the realities revealed by God. All this amounts to treading the path of hell in the eyes of God, and those who adopt the way of hell will not arrive anywhere except in hell.

Literally, ‘On account of their faith, God will lead them towards the goal of Paradise.’ This shows that Faith is guidance for man; it prevents him from taking wrong paths and makes him tread the right way until it leads him to the real goal. Faith is discovery of God. The thread of knowledge comes within the grasp of one who is blessed with faith. He becomes capable of starting his thinking from the right place on all matters. Never allowing his thoughts to err, he attains correctness in his thinking. Furthermore, belief in God is not simply acceptance of a bookish philosophy; it is belief in God Who is alive and Who is going to finally assemble all human beings before Him to take a final reckoning. In this way, Faith inculcates in man a sense of anxiety or apprehension about his future fate and this makes him extremely serious. He is forced to look at all his actions in the light of their being right or wrong, so that he may adopt only the right direction. In this way, Faith provides man with the right way of thinking as well as the power to distinguish between right and wrong, which acts as his permanent practical guide. The Paradise of the Hereafter is for those who have, in this world, proved themselves to be deserving of it. The Hereafter is a place where one will directly experience and become directly immersed in the glories of God. So, the opportunity to live in Paradise will be given only to those who, in this world, had immersed themselves in the indirect manifestations of the glories of God. In the Hereafter, human hearts will be full of well-wishing and peace-desiring for each other. So, only those who, in this world had proved that in their hearts they had only such feelings for others, will find their abode in Paradise.

Literally, ‘On account of their faith, God will lead them towards the goal of Paradise.’ This shows that Faith is guidance for man; it prevents him from taking wrong paths and makes him tread the right way until it leads him to the real goal. Faith is discovery of God. The thread of knowledge comes within the grasp of one who is blessed with faith. He becomes capable of starting his thinking from the right place on all matters. Never allowing his thoughts to err, he attains correctness in his thinking. Furthermore, belief in God is not simply acceptance of a bookish philosophy; it is belief in God Who is alive and Who is going to finally assemble all human beings before Him to take a final reckoning. In this way, Faith inculcates in man a sense of anxiety or apprehension about his future fate and this makes him extremely serious. He is forced to look at all his actions in the light of their being right or wrong, so that he may adopt only the right direction. In this way, Faith provides man with the right way of thinking as well as the power to distinguish between right and wrong, which acts as his permanent practical guide. The Paradise of the Hereafter is for those who have, in this world, proved themselves to be deserving of it. The Hereafter is a place where one will directly experience and become directly immersed in the glories of God. So, the opportunity to live in Paradise will be given only to those who, in this world, had immersed themselves in the indirect manifestations of the glories of God. In the Hereafter, human hearts will be full of well-wishing and peace-desiring for each other. So, only those who, in this world had proved that in their hearts they had only such feelings for others, will find their abode in Paradise.

It is the law of God that when an individual performs a praiseworthy deed, it is immediately included in the record of his deeds. But if he commits an act which warrants punishment, God gives him respite so that better counsel should prevail, and he may at some point reform himself. This law of God is a great mercy to human beings; otherwise man is a great transgressor and is always ready to perform evil deeds, and if people were immediately seized upon for their evil deeds, their lives would very soon come to an end and the face of the earth would become devoid of human existence. Those who lead their lives as if they are not required to face God after death, live with arrogance in this world. They are those who lead their lives free of the fear of God’s scourge, thinking that they are at liberty to practice as much deceit and spread as much chaos as they like. The fact is that man should realise that there is one Power over and above all powerful ones—every man is helpless before Him— He will one day seize upon all human beings and everybody will be compelled to accept His verdict.

The system of this world is so designed that from time to time man is hit by some calamity or accident. He begins to realise that he is absolutely helpless against external forces. At that time he spontaneously starts calling upon God; he admits his humbleness compared to God’s Power. But, he is humble only so long as he is in trouble. The moment he gets relief from trouble, he becomes as negligent and arrogant as he was earlier. God does not accept the obeisance of such people, because only that obeisance is acceptable which is offered in a free atmosphere. Obeisance offered under the pressure of compelling circumstances has no value in the eyes of God. Man is a creature who likes justification. He seeks justification for every action of his. If a man chooses to be arrogant, his mentality will be inclined towards that. He will, in practice indulge in arrogance, and his mind will provide him with beautiful words in order to prove his arrogance justified. This is known as taz’in. Man expresses his misdeeds in beautiful words and is satisfied that he is in the right. But, this is like a man holding a burning lump of coal in his hand and thinking that it will not burn him simply because he calls it a red flower.

The prophets addressed their communities with clear arguments, (baiyinat), but they did not accept them. This shows that the missionary call—given on behalf of God—rests on the basis of reasoning. People have to recognize the prophet at the level of arguments and reasoning. Those who want to find him basking in outward glories surrounded with huge numbers of supporters will never be able to find him, because he will not be there at all. The prophet does not perform miracles, but engages rather in the process of argument. At the stage of the missionary call, all work is done on this basis. Individuals and groups transgress in not recognizing the Divine call appearing in the form of arguments or reasoning. They reject it, not having found it in accordance with their self-devised standards. Due to this behaviour, such people are punished by the law of God. The communities of the past which had incurred God’s retribution for their rejection of the prophets, were not actually total rejectors of prophethood. All these communities had accepted some prophet or the other of earlier periods, but they rejected the prophet of their own times. In the case of the earlier prophets, the corroborative historical facts had accumulated to back them. They had become objects of national prestige, and public predilections favoured them, while the contemporary prophet was as yet devoid of all such additional attributes. They recognised that past prophet who had as a result of tradition over the generations, become their national prophet, and connecting with him was synonymous with linking themselves with a tower of greatness. They recognised their national prophet as such, and rejected that prophet who could be recognised only through his reasoning and arguments. In the eyes of God, this was such a serious crime that those who were declared to be rejecters of the prophet were destroyed.

‘Then We made you their successors (khala’if, sing. khalifah) in the land.’ The real meaning of khalifah is ‘one who comes afterwards’. This word ‘successor’ is specially used for coming into power after another. This succession is in relation to human beings and not in relation to God. In the Quran, wherever the word khilafah has been used, it is in connection with succession to some creature and not in connection with succession to God. Making somebody a successor is solely for the purpose of putting him to the test and is not meant to confer any honour. Making somebody a successor means giving one an opportunity to work after another; it is placing one community in the arena of testing in place of another community. For example, in India, the native Rajas were replaced by Mughals. Then they were removed and the Britishers were made their successors. Later, they (the British) were made to leave the country, making way for the majority community. In all these cases, the ‘one coming afterwards’ was the successor (khalifah) of the earlier one.

‘Then We made you their successors (khala’if, sing. khalifah) in the land.’ The real meaning of khalifah is ‘one who comes afterwards’. This word ‘successor’ is specially used for coming into power after another. This succession is in relation to human beings and not in relation to God. In the Quran, wherever the word khilafah has been used, it is in connection with succession to some creature and not in connection with succession to God. Making somebody a successor is solely for the purpose of putting him to the test and is not meant to confer any honour. Making somebody a successor means giving one an opportunity to work after another; it is placing one community in the arena of testing in place of another community. For example, in India, the native Rajas were replaced by Mughals. Then they were removed and the Britishers were made their successors. Later, they (the British) were made to leave the country, making way for the majority community. In all these cases, the ‘one coming afterwards’ was the successor (khalifah) of the earlier one.

The Quraysh of Makkah believed in God and the Prophet. They claimed to be the followers of the cult of Abraham (Ibrahim). So much so that many of the religious terms of Islam, for example, salat (prayers), sawm (fasting), zakat (alms-giving), hajj (pilgrimage), etc. are the same as had already been prevalent among them. In spite of this, why did they insist that they would accept the Quran only if it were replaced or amended? The reason for this was that the Quran enshrined God’s pure religion, while the Quraysh had adopted an adulterated variant of it in the name of God’s religion. A blow was dealt to their polytheistic concept of God by the Quranic principle of the oneness of God. In the light of the Quranic concept of prayer and obeisance to God, their prayer appeared to be simply child’s play. They had made the prophet the sign of national prestige, while the Quran wanted them to accept and follow a prophet who had to be given the status of a guide in all practical matters. They had taken it for granted that their service to the Ka‘bah was the greatest proof of their righteousness, whereas the Quran said that righteousness prevails when a man has the fear of God in his heart and, keeping the Hereafter in view, acts accordingly. A man mouths pious sounding words but ignores the Truth. The reason for this is that, at heart, he has no scruples. If a man is scrupulous enough to realise that he is answerable to God for all his utterances and deeds, he will immediately become serious, and a person who is serious will look at matters realistically. He cannot ignore moral questions or look at them in a superficial manner.

The Quraysh of Makkah believed in God and the Prophet. They claimed to be the followers of the cult of Abraham (Ibrahim). So much so that many of the religious terms of Islam, for example, salat (prayers), sawm (fasting), zakat (alms-giving), hajj (pilgrimage), etc. are the same as had already been prevalent among them. In spite of this, why did they insist that they would accept the Quran only if it were replaced or amended? The reason for this was that the Quran enshrined God’s pure religion, while the Quraysh had adopted an adulterated variant of it in the name of God’s religion. A blow was dealt to their polytheistic concept of God by the Quranic principle of the oneness of God. In the light of the Quranic concept of prayer and obeisance to God, their prayer appeared to be simply child’s play. They had made the prophet the sign of national prestige, while the Quran wanted them to accept and follow a prophet who had to be given the status of a guide in all practical matters. They had taken it for granted that their service to the Ka‘bah was the greatest proof of their righteousness, whereas the Quran said that righteousness prevails when a man has the fear of God in his heart and, keeping the Hereafter in view, acts accordingly. A man mouths pious sounding words but ignores the Truth. The reason for this is that, at heart, he has no scruples. If a man is scrupulous enough to realise that he is answerable to God for all his utterances and deeds, he will immediately become serious, and a person who is serious will look at matters realistically. He cannot ignore moral questions or look at them in a superficial manner.

The events that occur in this world of ours seem, outwardly, to be the result of certain material causes, but the reality is that God’s control and management have been the underlying factors in all these events. In this world nobody has any personal or intrinsic power at all. A man is a monotheist (believing in the oneness of God) if he goes beyond the outwardly apparent phenomena and reaches the invisible God through them. As opposed to this, he is a polytheist (believing in partners to God) if he can go no further than outwardly apparent phenomena and if he confers on created things the status of their Creator. In this world nobody except God has the power to grant benefits or to inflict harm. A person who realises this truth devotes all his attention to God. He worships only God; he fears only Him and reposes his hopes in Him alone; he makes the one and only God his all. Unlike him, those who are preoccupied by mere things, make somebody other than God their God, according to their inclinations, and attach to these false gods such hopes and fears as should have been directed towards the one and only God. One form of these wrongful ideas is the belief in ‘recommendation.’ People suppose that there are some superior beings among human beings and among creatures other than human beings, who are holy in the eyes of God; God hears their recommendation and on the basis of this, He takes a decision about granting worldly provision and salvation in the after-life. But this kind of belief is false; it amounts to an underestimation of God’s godliness. God is free of every kind of shirk (imputing partners to God). No such belief befits the image of the qualities of God as is introduced and projected by the immense universe created by Him. Any such belief would mean that God is not what He seems to be in the mirror of His creative attributes, or that there is a contradiction in His attributes. Obviously, neither of these alternatives is possible.

God initially grounded human existence in the religion of nature. At that time, the religion of all humanity was one and the same. But, people had their differences and devised different forms of religions. The reason for this is the misuse of the freedom given to the people for the purpose of testing them. If God were to reveal Himself, human arrogance would come to an end on observing His powers, and suddenly unity would replace differences, because extremity of fear demolishes a multiplicity of opinions. But God will not intervene in this state of affairs before Judgement Day. God had created the present world for the sake of putting human beings to the test, and to maintain the atmosphere of testing, it is necessary to keep the reality concealed, so that people should have the opportunity to use their wisdom in both right and wrong directions.

When the people of Makkah persisted in their rejections of the Truth, God caused them to be plagued by a famine which went on for seven years. At last it ended, but only after the the Prophet Muhammad had prayed for this. This was a sign from God from which they should have learned the lesson that on rejecting the Prophet, they would come within the ambit of God’s scourge. But their mindset was such that, as long as the famine continued, they kept lamenting and beseeching, but when the famine ended, they started saying, ‘These are the vagaries of the times which occur now and then to everybody. This has nothing to do with the acceptance or rejection of the Prophet.’ People make demands for signs or miracles from the Prophet. But the real question is not that of the occurrence of miracles, but that of learning the lesson that a sign is there for observation and not for compulsion. Even after the appearance of a sign, a man has the option of either accepting it or rejecting it. However, when God’s last sign appears, man will have no power against it. This last sign will appear as God’s retribution after the conclusive phase of the process of dawah and it will appear in different forms for different prophets. In the case of the last of the prophets, the Prophet Muhammad, on the basis of various considerations, this sign took the form of those who deny the truth being overcome and the believers being made to dominate them. When a man indulges in arrogance and this does not seem to cause any harm to him, he becomes more insolent. He thinks that he is beyond God’s grasp, though this is in accordance with God’s plan. God gives an arrogant man a long rope so that he may indulge in extremes of arrogance without any fear; and during this period, God’s agents, in concealment and silence, go on recording his utterances and deeds, until his time is up and the angel of death suddenly appears and catches hold of him in order to present him before God to be judged by Him.

When the people of Makkah persisted in their rejections of the Truth, God caused them to be plagued by a famine which went on for seven years. At last it ended, but only after the the Prophet Muhammad had prayed for this. This was a sign from God from which they should have learned the lesson that on rejecting the Prophet, they would come within the ambit of God’s scourge. But their mindset was such that, as long as the famine continued, they kept lamenting and beseeching, but when the famine ended, they started saying, ‘These are the vagaries of the times which occur now and then to everybody. This has nothing to do with the acceptance or rejection of the Prophet.’ People make demands for signs or miracles from the Prophet. But the real question is not that of the occurrence of miracles, but that of learning the lesson that a sign is there for observation and not for compulsion. Even after the appearance of a sign, a man has the option of either accepting it or rejecting it. However, when God’s last sign appears, man will have no power against it. This last sign will appear as God’s retribution after the conclusive phase of the process of dawah and it will appear in different forms for different prophets. In the case of the last of the prophets, the Prophet Muhammad, on the basis of various considerations, this sign took the form of those who deny the truth being overcome and the believers being made to dominate them. When a man indulges in arrogance and this does not seem to cause any harm to him, he becomes more insolent. He thinks that he is beyond God’s grasp, though this is in accordance with God’s plan. God gives an arrogant man a long rope so that he may indulge in extremes of arrogance without any fear; and during this period, God’s agents, in concealment and silence, go on recording his utterances and deeds, until his time is up and the angel of death suddenly appears and catches hold of him in order to present him before God to be judged by Him.

Man is an extremely sensitive being. He cannot bear trouble. This is why he immediately becomes serious as soon as he faces a moment of difficulty. At that time, all artificial veils are removed from his mind. In times of adversity a man readily admits truths which he was reluctant to admit at a time when he had no worries. An example of this is a voyage by sea. When the sea is calm and the boat is sailing towards its destination, it is most pleasant at that moment for its passengers. This develops a false confidence in them. They think that everything is all right and nobody can cause any disturbance. Thereafter, strong sea-winds arise. High, mountain-like waves surround the boat from every side. In such conditions, even the biggest ship is tossed about like an ordinary plank of wood. To all appearances it seems that there is no alternative but destruction. At this point, those who deny the truth in God admit His existence, worshippers of false gods start calling on the one and only God, while those who rely on their own strength and devices leave aside everything else and also start remembering the one and only God. This is empirical proof based on experience that belief in the unity of God is the only natural belief. This experience shows that whatever philosophy a man might present for not accepting God, it is simply theorising born of a carefree atmosphere. If a man realises that opportunities have been given to him in the world only for the time being for the purpose of testing him, he will immediately become serious; all the artificial walls erected in his mind will fall down; and he will have no option left but to accept the one and only God. That time is fast approaching when man will start trembling on witnessing the majesty of God, and he will be compelled to admit the veracity of all godly matters. But, the wise man is one who is able to see in the experiences of his present life the realities of the coming life, and who will, of his own free will, accept today what he will be forced to accept tomorrow: accepting tomorrow under compulsion will be of no avail to him.

The life of this world is for the purpose of putting man to the test. Therefore, here man has been given complete freedom and all sorts of opportunities. Apparently, a man is free to do whatever he likes and to shape his own future in whatever way he likes. But in the midst of these preoccupations, certain events unfold which teach lessons to thoughtful persons and which indicate the fact that all this is temporary and will very soon be taken away from them. One such example is that of green vegetation on the earth. When there is rain, the earth becomes lush green with different kinds of vegetation. Man is pleased with this; he starts thinking that things are completely under his control and very soon he will be the owner of a rich crop. Exactly at the same time, some calamity suddenly befalls him, for example, a tornado strikes, there is snowfall or there is a plague of locusts and in this way the whole crop is destroyed in a moment. The same is true of man’s life. Man is born with a fine body. The worldly factors are in his favour and he shapes for himself a very successful and glorious life. Now he develops confidence in himself; he thinks that his affairs are under his control. But one day, or one night, he suddenly meets with death. A person who considers himself powerful, suddenly finds himself in a condition of total helplessness and powerlessness. If man keeps this reality in view, he will never be arrogant in this world; he will never be guilty of oppression or injustice.

The life of this world is for the purpose of putting man to the test. Therefore, here man has been given complete freedom and all sorts of opportunities. Apparently, a man is free to do whatever he likes and to shape his own future in whatever way he likes. But in the midst of these preoccupations, certain events unfold which teach lessons to thoughtful persons and which indicate the fact that all this is temporary and will very soon be taken away from them. One such example is that of green vegetation on the earth. When there is rain, the earth becomes lush green with different kinds of vegetation. Man is pleased with this; he starts thinking that things are completely under his control and very soon he will be the owner of a rich crop. Exactly at the same time, some calamity suddenly befalls him, for example, a tornado strikes, there is snowfall or there is a plague of locusts and in this way the whole crop is destroyed in a moment. The same is true of man’s life. Man is born with a fine body. The worldly factors are in his favour and he shapes for himself a very successful and glorious life. Now he develops confidence in himself; he thinks that his affairs are under his control. But one day, or one night, he suddenly meets with death. A person who considers himself powerful, suddenly finds himself in a condition of total helplessness and powerlessness. If man keeps this reality in view, he will never be arrogant in this world; he will never be guilty of oppression or injustice.

Man is deceived by the apparent conditions of the world. He considers a transient thing as a permanent one. He begins to think that a life of happiness and the comforts which he likes to have are within his reach in this present world itself. In reality, the world of human wishes is going to take shape in the Hereafter, but it will be available only to those who try to attain it in accordance with the method shown by God. Even supposing that a man manages to obtain everything he wants in the world, he still has no power to keep his life free of trouble and sorrow. Here some fear is attached to every happiness: every success here soon falls prey to some trouble; a life free of trouble and sorrow is that unique life which would be available to man only in the atmosphere of Paradise. Those who are able to discover this secret will be the ones who will follow the path to Paradise and ultimately reach the eternal heaven of God.

Man is deceived by the apparent conditions of the world. He considers a transient thing as a permanent one. He begins to think that a life of happiness and the comforts which he likes to have are within his reach in this present world itself. In reality, the world of human wishes is going to take shape in the Hereafter, but it will be available only to those who try to attain it in accordance with the method shown by God. Even supposing that a man manages to obtain everything he wants in the world, he still has no power to keep his life free of trouble and sorrow. Here some fear is attached to every happiness: every success here soon falls prey to some trouble; a life free of trouble and sorrow is that unique life which would be available to man only in the atmosphere of Paradise. Those who are able to discover this secret will be the ones who will follow the path to Paradise and ultimately reach the eternal heaven of God.

The life of comfort and happiness which is so favoured by man will be available to God’s loyal subjects in a perfect form in Paradise. But there is a still higher grade of comfort and happiness which is much higher than that commonly acknowledged; and that is the glimpse of the Lord of the Universe which will specially be available to the people of Paradise. God, Who is the Creator of comforts and pleasure is certainly the greatest treasure of all comforts and pleasure. It has been handed down in a hadith that when the people of Paradise have entered Paradise and when the people of Hell have entered Hell, a call-giver will give the call: ‘O, people of Paradise! There is one promise of God which remains to be fulfilled, and He wants to fulfil it now.’ On hearing this, the people of Paradise will say, ‘What is it? Haven’t our scales of virtue been made heavier? Haven’t our faces been brightened? Has not God admitted us to Paradise and saved us from the fire?’ Thereafter, the veil will be lifted away from them, and they will be able to see their Lord. So, by God! No bounty that had been granted them will be more pleasant or more favourable to them than the sight of God, and nothing else will cool their eyes more than this. (Tafsir ibn Kathir). There is no worse position that man can find himself in than being in a state of helplessness which is destined to be eternal; it is the equivalent of being plunged into a failure so absolute that it can never be turned back into success. Those who are condemned to be the inhabitants of hell in the Hereafter, shall have to face this condition. Man will be given punishment commensurate with his evil deeds, and his desperation at his eternal deprivation will be so severe that even his face will be blackened on account of it, as if immersed in layers of darkness.

All of the observances of shirk (attributing partners to God) are based on false hopes. Events which occur by God’s will are attributed by man to false gods, which in his self-delusion he makes the centre of his obeisance and worship. He depends so much on these false gods of his that he thinks that even in the Hereafter they will come to his help against God and save him from God’s scourge. These are but false hopes, but in the world their falsehood does not become clear, because due to the conditions of man’s trial here, a veil of secrecy covers every reality. Here man has the opportunity to attribute the various events to his imaginary gods and thus be satisfied with their ‘godliness.’ But in the Hereafter all realities will be laid bare. There, it will become clear that in this universe nobody has power except the one and only God. In the present world, man is living under the misunderstanding that, with the help of his leaders and false gods, he will be successful in the stages of the Hereafter, but in the Hereafter it will suddenly be clear to him that this confidence of his was absolutely false. Here, everybody will be requited according to what he himself has done and all imaginary supports will disappear as if they had never existed.

All of the observances of shirk (attributing partners to God) are based on false hopes. Events which occur by God’s will are attributed by man to false gods, which in his self-delusion he makes the centre of his obeisance and worship. He depends so much on these false gods of his that he thinks that even in the Hereafter they will come to his help against God and save him from God’s scourge. These are but false hopes, but in the world their falsehood does not become clear, because due to the conditions of man’s trial here, a veil of secrecy covers every reality. Here man has the opportunity to attribute the various events to his imaginary gods and thus be satisfied with their ‘godliness.’ But in the Hereafter all realities will be laid bare. There, it will become clear that in this universe nobody has power except the one and only God. In the present world, man is living under the misunderstanding that, with the help of his leaders and false gods, he will be successful in the stages of the Hereafter, but in the Hereafter it will suddenly be clear to him that this confidence of his was absolutely false. Here, everybody will be requited according to what he himself has done and all imaginary supports will disappear as if they had never existed.

All of the observances of shirk (attributing partners to God) are based on false hopes. Events which occur by God’s will are attributed by man to false gods, which in his self-delusion he makes the centre of his obeisance and worship. He depends so much on these false gods of his that he thinks that even in the Hereafter they will come to his help against God and save him from God’s scourge. These are but false hopes, but in the world their falsehood does not become clear, because due to the conditions of man’s trial here, a veil of secrecy covers every reality. Here man has the opportunity to attribute the various events to his imaginary gods and thus be satisfied with their ‘godliness.’ But in the Hereafter all realities will be laid bare. There, it will become clear that in this universe nobody has power except the one and only God. In the present world, man is living under the misunderstanding that, with the help of his leaders and false gods, he will be successful in the stages of the Hereafter, but in the Hereafter it will suddenly be clear to him that this confidence of his was absolutely false. Here, everybody will be requited according to what he himself has done and all imaginary supports will disappear as if they had never existed.

Man needs sustenance. How does he receive it? It is through the coordinated action of the universe. The whole universe, with the utmost harmony, acts in a particular direction. Then only is it possible to make available to man that provision without which it would not be possible for him to survive on this earth. Studies show that every phenomenon in the universe is a product of a great and harmonious coordination among numerous elements of different and opposite nature. According to the polytheists’ stand, this universal coordination of such a high degree becomes unexplainable. For these supposed partners in ‘godhead’ are responsible for only one part of the functioning of the universe. And a ‘god’ of one part can never cause an event which comes into existence through harmonious coordination of all parts. Moreover, there is the example of the wonderful capabilities bestowed upon man that are represented by his ears and eyes. These could not be treated as the endowment of any false god. The false gods and goddesses themselves are either devoid of these capabilities, or even if these are found in any supposed god, he is not their creator. Even these can be taken away as they are taken away from ordinary human beings. Similarly, it is not possible for these false gods to give life to lifeless things or to make living things lifeless. There is no proof of this and no worshippers of theirs hold this belief about them. Then how will it be possible for man to get such things from them? How strange it is that man believes in a great God but, in spite of that, he attributes such things to God as nullify His superior qualities. The reason for this is that he has no fear of God. As a result of his false ideas, he has consoled himself that God is not going to make him give an account of himself, and if the stage of reckoning comes, there are such beings who, in his support, will recommend him to God and save him. Fear makes a man serious; if a man’s heart is devoid of fear, nothing can stop him from adopting the way of injustice. Such a man becomes arrogant and an arrogant man never admits the Truth.

Man needs sustenance. How does he receive it? It is through the coordinated action of the universe. The whole universe, with the utmost harmony, acts in a particular direction. Then only is it possible to make available to man that provision without which it would not be possible for him to survive on this earth. Studies show that every phenomenon in the universe is a product of a great and harmonious coordination among numerous elements of different and opposite nature. According to the polytheists’ stand, this universal coordination of such a high degree becomes unexplainable. For these supposed partners in ‘godhead’ are responsible for only one part of the functioning of the universe. And a ‘god’ of one part can never cause an event which comes into existence through harmonious coordination of all parts. Moreover, there is the example of the wonderful capabilities bestowed upon man that are represented by his ears and eyes. These could not be treated as the endowment of any false god. The false gods and goddesses themselves are either devoid of these capabilities, or even if these are found in any supposed god, he is not their creator. Even these can be taken away as they are taken away from ordinary human beings. Similarly, it is not possible for these false gods to give life to lifeless things or to make living things lifeless. There is no proof of this and no worshippers of theirs hold this belief about them. Then how will it be possible for man to get such things from them? How strange it is that man believes in a great God but, in spite of that, he attributes such things to God as nullify His superior qualities. The reason for this is that he has no fear of God. As a result of his false ideas, he has consoled himself that God is not going to make him give an account of himself, and if the stage of reckoning comes, there are such beings who, in his support, will recommend him to God and save him. Fear makes a man serious; if a man’s heart is devoid of fear, nothing can stop him from adopting the way of injustice. Such a man becomes arrogant and an arrogant man never admits the Truth.

Man needs sustenance. How does he receive it? It is through the coordinated action of the universe. The whole universe, with the utmost harmony, acts in a particular direction. Then only is it possible to make available to man that provision without which it would not be possible for him to survive on this earth. Studies show that every phenomenon in the universe is a product of a great and harmonious coordination among numerous elements of different and opposite nature. According to the polytheists’ stand, this universal coordination of such a high degree becomes unexplainable. For these supposed partners in ‘godhead’ are responsible for only one part of the functioning of the universe. And a ‘god’ of one part can never cause an event which comes into existence through harmonious coordination of all parts. Moreover, there is the example of the wonderful capabilities bestowed upon man that are represented by his ears and eyes. These could not be treated as the endowment of any false god. The false gods and goddesses themselves are either devoid of these capabilities, or even if these are found in any supposed god, he is not their creator. Even these can be taken away as they are taken away from ordinary human beings. Similarly, it is not possible for these false gods to give life to lifeless things or to make living things lifeless. There is no proof of this and no worshippers of theirs hold this belief about them. Then how will it be possible for man to get such things from them? How strange it is that man believes in a great God but, in spite of that, he attributes such things to God as nullify His superior qualities. The reason for this is that he has no fear of God. As a result of his false ideas, he has consoled himself that God is not going to make him give an account of himself, and if the stage of reckoning comes, there are such beings who, in his support, will recommend him to God and save him. Fear makes a man serious; if a man’s heart is devoid of fear, nothing can stop him from adopting the way of injustice. Such a man becomes arrogant and an arrogant man never admits the Truth.

Except for God, no being who has been given the status of godhead, either from among human beings or non-human beings, has the power to bring anything into existence. It is only God whose creative power stands proved; and when God’s creativity has once been proved, it also stands to reason that He can and will repeat His acts of creation in the Hereafter. Then it is futile to pay attention to the so-called other partners. From them, man cannot obtain anything either in his first life or in his second. This is also the case with guidance. It is only God who sends guidance. The utterances of the prophets, presented by them as God’s guidance, were definitely such. As opposed to this, the condition of partners is that either they are entirely incapable of giving knowledge about right or wrong to human beings, or due to their own shortcomings and limitations, they are themselves in need of guidance, leave alone giving guidance to others. Given this state of affairs, man should revert to the one and only God and dismiss from his mind any imaginary partners. The tenets of polytheism are based not on any real knowledge but on suppositions or imagination. Without any basis, people have been wrongly persuaded that certain beings possess godly qualities, though such an important assessment of such beings can be formed only on the basis of real knowledge and not simply on conjecture or guesswork.

Except for God, no being who has been given the status of godhead, either from among human beings or non-human beings, has the power to bring anything into existence. It is only God whose creative power stands proved; and when God’s creativity has once been proved, it also stands to reason that He can and will repeat His acts of creation in the Hereafter. Then it is futile to pay attention to the so-called other partners. From them, man cannot obtain anything either in his first life or in his second. This is also the case with guidance. It is only God who sends guidance. The utterances of the prophets, presented by them as God’s guidance, were definitely such. As opposed to this, the condition of partners is that either they are entirely incapable of giving knowledge about right or wrong to human beings, or due to their own shortcomings and limitations, they are themselves in need of guidance, leave alone giving guidance to others. Given this state of affairs, man should revert to the one and only God and dismiss from his mind any imaginary partners. The tenets of polytheism are based not on any real knowledge but on suppositions or imagination. Without any basis, people have been wrongly persuaded that certain beings possess godly qualities, though such an important assessment of such beings can be formed only on the basis of real knowledge and not simply on conjecture or guesswork.

Except for God, no being who has been given the status of godhead, either from among human beings or non-human beings, has the power to bring anything into existence. It is only God whose creative power stands proved; and when God’s creativity has once been proved, it also stands to reason that He can and will repeat His acts of creation in the Hereafter. Then it is futile to pay attention to the so-called other partners. From them, man cannot obtain anything either in his first life or in his second. This is also the case with guidance. It is only God who sends guidance. The utterances of the prophets, presented by them as God’s guidance, were definitely such. As opposed to this, the condition of partners is that either they are entirely incapable of giving knowledge about right or wrong to human beings, or due to their own shortcomings and limitations, they are themselves in need of guidance, leave alone giving guidance to others. Given this state of affairs, man should revert to the one and only God and dismiss from his mind any imaginary partners. The tenets of polytheism are based not on any real knowledge but on suppositions or imagination. Without any basis, people have been wrongly persuaded that certain beings possess godly qualities, though such an important assessment of such beings can be formed only on the basis of real knowledge and not simply on conjecture or guesswork.

The Quran is its own proof. With its superior literary style, it is quite inimitable; and this in itself is enough to prove that it presents superhuman discourse. Had it been the work of a human being, it would certainly have been possible for other human beings also to create a similar discourse by their own efforts. The second proof of the Quran being a divine discourse is that it fulfills the prophesies made about it while waiting for a final book of guidance. The Quran has appeared in answer to this expectation. Then why should anyone have any doubt about it? Moreover, it is the details of the ‘Book’ which elucidate and present in correct and unadulterated form the divine teachings which are the essence of all divine scriptures. This is a clear indication which shows that the Quran has come from God, on whose behalf the previous divine scriptures had come. Claims that the Quran is not the product of divine wisdom, its having been authored by a human being, can be instantly dismissed by asking the claimants to produce a book the equal of the Quran or even a chapter as excellent as those of the Quran. Neither they nor anyone else will be able to do so. Despite their claims having been proved incorrect, they still challenge the Quran. And if they do so, it is because they are devoid of any fear of the consequences of rejecting the Quran. They are not afraid that, by rejecting the Quran, they will have to suffer severe retribution. Their antagonistic behaviour is caused by the flippant attitude developed in them due to their fearlessness and not because of any kind of rational or cogent line of reasoning.

The Quran is its own proof. With its superior literary style, it is quite inimitable; and this in itself is enough to prove that it presents superhuman discourse. Had it been the work of a human being, it would certainly have been possible for other human beings also to create a similar discourse by their own efforts. The second proof of the Quran being a divine discourse is that it fulfills the prophesies made about it while waiting for a final book of guidance. The Quran has appeared in answer to this expectation. Then why should anyone have any doubt about it? Moreover, it is the details of the ‘Book’ which elucidate and present in correct and unadulterated form the divine teachings which are the essence of all divine scriptures. This is a clear indication which shows that the Quran has come from God, on whose behalf the previous divine scriptures had come. Claims that the Quran is not the product of divine wisdom, its having been authored by a human being, can be instantly dismissed by asking the claimants to produce a book the equal of the Quran or even a chapter as excellent as those of the Quran. Neither they nor anyone else will be able to do so. Despite their claims having been proved incorrect, they still challenge the Quran. And if they do so, it is because they are devoid of any fear of the consequences of rejecting the Quran. They are not afraid that, by rejecting the Quran, they will have to suffer severe retribution. Their antagonistic behaviour is caused by the flippant attitude developed in them due to their fearlessness and not because of any kind of rational or cogent line of reasoning.

The Quran is its own proof. With its superior literary style, it is quite inimitable; and this in itself is enough to prove that it presents superhuman discourse. Had it been the work of a human being, it would certainly have been possible for other human beings also to create a similar discourse by their own efforts. The second proof of the Quran being a divine discourse is that it fulfills the prophesies made about it while waiting for a final book of guidance. The Quran has appeared in answer to this expectation. Then why should anyone have any doubt about it? Moreover, it is the details of the ‘Book’ which elucidate and present in correct and unadulterated form the divine teachings which are the essence of all divine scriptures. This is a clear indication which shows that the Quran has come from God, on whose behalf the previous divine scriptures had come. Claims that the Quran is not the product of divine wisdom, its having been authored by a human being, can be instantly dismissed by asking the claimants to produce a book the equal of the Quran or even a chapter as excellent as those of the Quran. Neither they nor anyone else will be able to do so. Despite their claims having been proved incorrect, they still challenge the Quran. And if they do so, it is because they are devoid of any fear of the consequences of rejecting the Quran. They are not afraid that, by rejecting the Quran, they will have to suffer severe retribution. Their antagonistic behaviour is caused by the flippant attitude developed in them due to their fearlessness and not because of any kind of rational or cogent line of reasoning.

One who does not embrace the Faith is, in the eyes of God, mufsid (a disturber of the peace) because it is only by disturbing his nature that it is possible for anyone to prevent himself from accepting the truth. Such a man curbs the voice of his conscience; he does not put to use his thinking capacity; he ignores clear reasoning by uttering false words; he is not receptive even after listening and does not try to understand even after having had everything explained to him. He gives preference to his prejudices, and his self-interests overwhelm the truth. Those who argue falsely, and at length, go on arguing till the last, saying: ‘You mind your own business and I’ll mind mine.’ To make such a statement seems to them like a way of avoiding defeat. But a missionary performs his work, rising above the psychology of victory or defeat. So, when he observes that the opponent has stooped to adopt an adamant and stubborn attitude and finds that there is no use in arguing further, he disassociates himself by saying that real decision is with God; and that his opponent’s final fate will be in accordance with his position in God’s assessment.

One who does not embrace the Faith is, in the eyes of God, mufsid (a disturber of the peace) because it is only by disturbing his nature that it is possible for anyone to prevent himself from accepting the truth. Such a man curbs the voice of his conscience; he does not put to use his thinking capacity; he ignores clear reasoning by uttering false words; he is not receptive even after listening and does not try to understand even after having had everything explained to him. He gives preference to his prejudices, and his self-interests overwhelm the truth. Those who argue falsely, and at length, go on arguing till the last, saying: ‘You mind your own business and I’ll mind mine.’ To make such a statement seems to them like a way of avoiding defeat. But a missionary performs his work, rising above the psychology of victory or defeat. So, when he observes that the opponent has stooped to adopt an adamant and stubborn attitude and finds that there is no use in arguing further, he disassociates himself by saying that real decision is with God; and that his opponent’s final fate will be in accordance with his position in God’s assessment.

Certain rejectors of Truth are clearly such right from the beginning. But the clever ones among them make a show of attentively listening, as if they really want to understand things, though in their hearts they maintain that they do not have to understand. They look at the signs of the veracity of the Prophet as if they want to observe them with an open heart, though they are already determined not to observe and not to accept. The preacher is thus misled into thinking that they are about to accept the Truth. But, in the eyes of God, they are people who are deaf in spite of having ears and blind in spite of having eyes. Such people do not receive inspiration from God to accept the Truth. God has blessed man with superior capacities. If he utilises these capacities, he will never go astray. But man, finding himself free, misunderstands things. He falls to indulging in utter arrogance. This happens because he fails to understand God’s plan. The things given to him purely for the purpose of putting him to the test are taken by him to be rightfully his.

Certain rejectors of Truth are clearly such right from the beginning. But the clever ones among them make a show of attentively listening, as if they really want to understand things, though in their hearts they maintain that they do not have to understand. They look at the signs of the veracity of the Prophet as if they want to observe them with an open heart, though they are already determined not to observe and not to accept. The preacher is thus misled into thinking that they are about to accept the Truth. But, in the eyes of God, they are people who are deaf in spite of having ears and blind in spite of having eyes. Such people do not receive inspiration from God to accept the Truth. God has blessed man with superior capacities. If he utilises these capacities, he will never go astray. But man, finding himself free, misunderstands things. He falls to indulging in utter arrogance. This happens because he fails to understand God’s plan. The things given to him purely for the purpose of putting him to the test are taken by him to be rightfully his.

Certain rejectors of Truth are clearly such right from the beginning. But the clever ones among them make a show of attentively listening, as if they really want to understand things, though in their hearts they maintain that they do not have to understand. They look at the signs of the veracity of the Prophet as if they want to observe them with an open heart, though they are already determined not to observe and not to accept. The preacher is thus misled into thinking that they are about to accept the Truth. But, in the eyes of God, they are people who are deaf in spite of having ears and blind in spite of having eyes. Such people do not receive inspiration from God to accept the Truth. God has blessed man with superior capacities. If he utilises these capacities, he will never go astray. But man, finding himself free, misunderstands things. He falls to indulging in utter arrogance. This happens because he fails to understand God’s plan. The things given to him purely for the purpose of putting him to the test are taken by him to be rightfully his.

Certain rejectors of Truth are clearly such right from the beginning. But the clever ones among them make a show of attentively listening, as if they really want to understand things, though in their hearts they maintain that they do not have to understand. They look at the signs of the veracity of the Prophet as if they want to observe them with an open heart, though they are already determined not to observe and not to accept. The preacher is thus misled into thinking that they are about to accept the Truth. But, in the eyes of God, they are people who are deaf in spite of having ears and blind in spite of having eyes. Such people do not receive inspiration from God to accept the Truth. God has blessed man with superior capacities. If he utilises these capacities, he will never go astray. But man, finding himself free, misunderstands things. He falls to indulging in utter arrogance. This happens because he fails to understand God’s plan. The things given to him purely for the purpose of putting him to the test are taken by him to be rightfully his.

Today, the Hereafter is not before man; today, a man desirous of seeing it has to see it with the eye of his imagination. Therefore, to a man who is not serious about the Hereafter, it will appear to be a far-away thing. But when the Hereafter sweeps over him as the greatest reality, and when he starts seeing it in all its rigour with his own eyes, he will forget his arrogance. At that time, all those worldly matters which had made him neglectful and careless about the Hereafter, will appear to him lowly, frivolous and contemptible. The Hereafter will not occur in any strange world, but in this thoroughly-familiar world of ours. Then, man will find himself in the same atmosphere in which he had earlier rejected the Truth; he will find himself among the same persons on the strength of whose support he indulged in arrogance. But, at that time, none of them will be of any avail. Everything will be fresh in his mind, as if no time had elapsed at all. The relation between a preacher and his hearers is the most delicate of all affairs. If the preacher has come forward in actuality to bring the Truth, he is God’s representative in this world. Accepting him is like accepting God and rejecting him amounts to rejection of God. Such events cannot be without consequences. After the appearance of the preacher of Truth, it necessarily follows that the divine discourse which falls from his lips, will leave his hearers speechless. This is the first victory of Truth over falsehood. The second victory will take place in the Hereafter when his opponents, by God’s grace, will be powerless before Him. The first event necessarily occurs right here in this world. The second event also occurs to a certain extent in this world, if God wishes to reveal it in the present world. This sort of happening is bound to take place with every group when, prior to its being directly presented before God, it is indirectly presented before God’s representative in this world. In this way, God sees who surrenders himself to Him.

Today, the Hereafter is not before man; today, a man desirous of seeing it has to see it with the eye of his imagination. Therefore, to a man who is not serious about the Hereafter, it will appear to be a far-away thing. But when the Hereafter sweeps over him as the greatest reality, and when he starts seeing it in all its rigour with his own eyes, he will forget his arrogance. At that time, all those worldly matters which had made him neglectful and careless about the Hereafter, will appear to him lowly, frivolous and contemptible. The Hereafter will not occur in any strange world, but in this thoroughly-familiar world of ours. Then, man will find himself in the same atmosphere in which he had earlier rejected the Truth; he will find himself among the same persons on the strength of whose support he indulged in arrogance. But, at that time, none of them will be of any avail. Everything will be fresh in his mind, as if no time had elapsed at all. The relation between a preacher and his hearers is the most delicate of all affairs. If the preacher has come forward in actuality to bring the Truth, he is God’s representative in this world. Accepting him is like accepting God and rejecting him amounts to rejection of God. Such events cannot be without consequences. After the appearance of the preacher of Truth, it necessarily follows that the divine discourse which falls from his lips, will leave his hearers speechless. This is the first victory of Truth over falsehood. The second victory will take place in the Hereafter when his opponents, by God’s grace, will be powerless before Him. The first event necessarily occurs right here in this world. The second event also occurs to a certain extent in this world, if God wishes to reveal it in the present world. This sort of happening is bound to take place with every group when, prior to its being directly presented before God, it is indirectly presented before God’s representative in this world. In this way, God sees who surrenders himself to Him.

Man finds himself free in this world. It seems to him that whatever he may do, there is nobody to catch hold of him and nobody to punish him. This state of affairs makes him unheeding, so much so that when the preacher warns him on behalf of God about the outcome of his deeds, he ridicules the missionary and asks, ‘When will the warning of retribution for my arrogance which you have been giving me materialise?’ The reason behind all such talk is nothing but foolishness; because this punishment is executed not on behalf of the preacher but on behalf of God; and at all times God is revealing in this world of His that His way is not that of inordinate haste. If a boat has a hole in it and if a sailor heedlessly sets sail in it, then in accordance with the law of God, it will sink. But such a boat does not sink immediately. It does so only at its appointed time and according to God’s law. Such instances abound in the world and they acquaint man with the methods of God. But, in spite of observing all this, man says, ‘If all such deeds entail God’s punishment, why does not this punishment come soon?’ The reason for asking such pointless questions is that man is not serious about God’s scourge.

Man finds himself free in this world. It seems to him that whatever he may do, there is nobody to catch hold of him and nobody to punish him. This state of affairs makes him unheeding, so much so that when the preacher warns him on behalf of God about the outcome of his deeds, he ridicules the missionary and asks, ‘When will the warning of retribution for my arrogance which you have been giving me materialise?’ The reason behind all such talk is nothing but foolishness; because this punishment is executed not on behalf of the preacher but on behalf of God; and at all times God is revealing in this world of His that His way is not that of inordinate haste. If a boat has a hole in it and if a sailor heedlessly sets sail in it, then in accordance with the law of God, it will sink. But such a boat does not sink immediately. It does so only at its appointed time and according to God’s law. Such instances abound in the world and they acquaint man with the methods of God. But, in spite of observing all this, man says, ‘If all such deeds entail God’s punishment, why does not this punishment come soon?’ The reason for asking such pointless questions is that man is not serious about God’s scourge.

Earthquakes and storms are God-managed events. These events show that whenever an issue arises between God and man, the power of deciding rests entirely with the former. But man does not take this factor into consideration. He sees only that the Law of God is not immediately coming into effect; and this being so, he remains neglectful. But when God’s decision comes into force, man will find himself ready to accept everything, though accepting at that time will be of no avail, because that will be the time when one is faced with the consequences of deeds already performed, with no account taken of the performance of fresh deeds.

Earthquakes and storms are God-managed events. These events show that whenever an issue arises between God and man, the power of deciding rests entirely with the former. But man does not take this factor into consideration. He sees only that the Law of God is not immediately coming into effect; and this being so, he remains neglectful. But when God’s decision comes into force, man will find himself ready to accept everything, though accepting at that time will be of no avail, because that will be the time when one is faced with the consequences of deeds already performed, with no account taken of the performance of fresh deeds.

Earthquakes and storms are God-managed events. These events show that whenever an issue arises between God and man, the power of deciding rests entirely with the former. But man does not take this factor into consideration. He sees only that the Law of God is not immediately coming into effect; and this being so, he remains neglectful. But when God’s decision comes into force, man will find himself ready to accept everything, though accepting at that time will be of no avail, because that will be the time when one is faced with the consequences of deeds already performed, with no account taken of the performance of fresh deeds.

The Prophet Muhammad told the Arab people that if they did not reform themselves, they would be set upon by the punishment of the Hereafter. In answer to that they started ridiculing his warning. This does not mean that they were not believers in the Hereafter. In fact, they were not disregarding the fact of the Hereafter itself, but rather dismissing the Prophet Muhammad’s warning as valueless. At that time the greatness of the Prophet Muhammad had not yet come to be recognised. In the eyes of his addressees, he appeared to be in the shape of an ‘ordinary’ human being. They failed to understand how they would be liable for God’s punishment on rejecting this ‘ordinary’ man’s words. They were doubtful of his being the representative of God and the Hereafter. This comparison was not between acceptance of the Hereafter and denial of the Hereafter but between the religion of a celebrated personality and the religion of an insignificant personality. They allied themselves with the established great ones of the past. They considered themselves to be following the religion of the recognised personalities. As against the recognised personalities of the past, when they saw their contemporary Prophet, he appeared to be an ordinary human being. They were not able to understand that their association with those great personalities would not be sufficient for their salvation and that it would be necessary for them to associate themselves with that person who was not apparently vested with greatness. This was the psychology which emboldened them to ridicule the Prophet Muhammad.

Man is a sensitive being. He cannot bear trouble. As long as he is not confronted with retribution, he ridicules the Truth; he spurns it with unconcern. But when the retribution of the Hereafter is before him, he will be stricken with such terror that everything will appear insignificant to him. Even if he possessed the wealth of the entire world and all the bounties of the world, all that will appear so valueless to him seeing the punishment before him that he will fervently desire that he should be relieved of that chastisement in exchange for all the bounties. But the issue in the Hereafter is not that of bargaining. It is the question of facing the consequences for the deeds performed. It is an essential part of God’s plan regarding life and death. It is the demand of Divine Justice that it should happen; and God’s omnipotence is the sure guarantee that it will take place. The seeming delay in the occurrence of this is only due to having to await that appointed hour, when the period of the present test will be over, and all human beings will be presented before God to face their final fate.

Man is a sensitive being. He cannot bear trouble. As long as he is not confronted with retribution, he ridicules the Truth; he spurns it with unconcern. But when the retribution of the Hereafter is before him, he will be stricken with such terror that everything will appear insignificant to him. Even if he possessed the wealth of the entire world and all the bounties of the world, all that will appear so valueless to him seeing the punishment before him that he will fervently desire that he should be relieved of that chastisement in exchange for all the bounties. But the issue in the Hereafter is not that of bargaining. It is the question of facing the consequences for the deeds performed. It is an essential part of God’s plan regarding life and death. It is the demand of Divine Justice that it should happen; and God’s omnipotence is the sure guarantee that it will take place. The seeming delay in the occurrence of this is only due to having to await that appointed hour, when the period of the present test will be over, and all human beings will be presented before God to face their final fate.

Man is a sensitive being. He cannot bear trouble. As long as he is not confronted with retribution, he ridicules the Truth; he spurns it with unconcern. But when the retribution of the Hereafter is before him, he will be stricken with such terror that everything will appear insignificant to him. Even if he possessed the wealth of the entire world and all the bounties of the world, all that will appear so valueless to him seeing the punishment before him that he will fervently desire that he should be relieved of that chastisement in exchange for all the bounties. But the issue in the Hereafter is not that of bargaining. It is the question of facing the consequences for the deeds performed. It is an essential part of God’s plan regarding life and death. It is the demand of Divine Justice that it should happen; and God’s omnipotence is the sure guarantee that it will take place. The seeming delay in the occurrence of this is only due to having to await that appointed hour, when the period of the present test will be over, and all human beings will be presented before God to face their final fate.

Man is a psychological being. If psychologically he is vitiated, his whole life is affected. The guidance revealed by God in the form of the divine Book is an absolute mercy to all humanity. It consists of the best advice and guidance, but it is necessary for a man to be its recipient that he should not have lost his power of right thinking. As for one who has perverted his faculty of right thinking, the principles enshrined in the divine Book will fail to guide him. The things of the present world and its glories and grandeur are ‘cash’ benefits in the eyes of man. Man relishes their taste and savours them at every moment. In comparison to this, the bounties of the Hereafter count as mere ‘promises’. Man only hears about them; he does not experience them. For this reason, many people rush towards and fall all-out on the ‘ready’ benefits of world. But those who think deeply will be happy with the thought that God, by revealing His guidance, has opened for them the doors to attaining eternal bounties.

Man is a psychological being. If psychologically he is vitiated, his whole life is affected. The guidance revealed by God in the form of the divine Book is an absolute mercy to all humanity. It consists of the best advice and guidance, but it is necessary for a man to be its recipient that he should not have lost his power of right thinking. As for one who has perverted his faculty of right thinking, the principles enshrined in the divine Book will fail to guide him. The things of the present world and its glories and grandeur are ‘cash’ benefits in the eyes of man. Man relishes their taste and savours them at every moment. In comparison to this, the bounties of the Hereafter count as mere ‘promises’. Man only hears about them; he does not experience them. For this reason, many people rush towards and fall all-out on the ‘ready’ benefits of world. But those who think deeply will be happy with the thought that God, by revealing His guidance, has opened for them the doors to attaining eternal bounties.

Whatever God has given to man—whether in the form of agricultural produce or in some other form—everything is divine provision (rizq). If a man treats them as gifts of God and utilizes them in the way shown by God, then a feeling of gratitude to God will develop in him. But Satan wants man to fail to remember God while making use of divine provisions. In ancient times Satan fixed the rites of certain imaginary false gods and goddesses in the produce so that man should not remember God but those false gods and goddesses while availing of the produce. In the present age Satan is achieving this purpose by advancing material explanations for things. God-gifted things are being shown to people as resulting from certain material factors, so that when they receive these things, they will not treat these bounties as the provision (rizq) of God but as the outcome of worldly events.

Whatever God has given to man—whether in the form of agricultural produce or in some other form—everything is divine provision (rizq). If a man treats them as gifts of God and utilizes them in the way shown by God, then a feeling of gratitude to God will develop in him. But Satan wants man to fail to remember God while making use of divine provisions. In ancient times Satan fixed the rites of certain imaginary false gods and goddesses in the produce so that man should not remember God but those false gods and goddesses while availing of the produce. In the present age Satan is achieving this purpose by advancing material explanations for things. God-gifted things are being shown to people as resulting from certain material factors, so that when they receive these things, they will not treat these bounties as the provision (rizq) of God but as the outcome of worldly events.

All of God’s gifts to man—whether agricultural produce or other things which are useful to man—are divine provision (rizq). As man utilizes them in the way shown by God, he developes a feeling of gratitude towards his Maker. But Satan wants man to fail to remember God while making use of divine provisions. In ancient times Satan induced people to associate with these provisions the rites due to false gods and goddesses so that in availing of them, they would forget the remembrance of their true Lord. In the present age Satan is achieving this purpose by advancing material explanations for things. God-gifted things are being shown to people as resulting from certain material factors, so that when they receive these things, they will not treat these bounties as the provision (rizq) of God but as the outcome of worldly toils.

Giving the call for Truth is a very difficult task. The preacher has to totally devote himself to Truth alone, and only then can he become a preacher (da‘i), in the true sense. When the preacher presents God’s religion in its original form and makes it very clear with the help of sound reasoning, then all those who follow their self-made religion become perturbed and infuriated. Showing themselves to be pious established leaders, they try to degrade the preacher. They treat everything, such as baseless propaganda, conspiracies, even violent actions as all being permissible in opposing him. The freedom granted to them in the present world gives them the opportunity to go on doing whatever they want to do against the preacher. A stage comes when all the power of materialism is ranged against the preacher’s arguments. And because the preacher’s opponents are vested with so much worldly power, they feel they can suppress his voice. This state of affairs is undoubtedly very trying. For it happens that, on the one hand, the opponents of Truth appear to be successful and thus become emboldened. On the other hand an errant thought crosses the mind of the preacher: ‘Is God neutral on this issue? Has He disassociated Himself after drawing me into this battle between truth and falsehood?’ But this is not so. It is not possible that God would cease to support the truth. The opponent’s becoming bereft of sound reasoning and all the strength of reasoning being totally on the side of the preacher are sure proofs that God is with the preacher of Truth. It is so, because reason is God’s representative in the present world. If anyone has the power of reasoning, then it is as if God is with him. The opponents have the opportunity of committing aggression and violence, simply due to the freedom given to them for the sake of testing them. As soon as the world of trial comes to an end, this position will change. At that time superiority and respect will be accorded to those who took a stand on the basis of reasoning, while others who failed to do so will be dishonoured. The group of true preachers of God are the friends of God. God gives them good news of a sublime life in the Hereafter in which they neither suffer any regrets about their past life nor have any fears about their future life.

Giving the call for Truth is a very difficult task. The preacher has to totally devote himself to Truth alone, and only then can he become a preacher (da‘i), in the true sense. When the preacher presents God’s religion in its original form and makes it very clear with the help of sound reasoning, then all those who follow their self-made religion become perturbed and infuriated. Showing themselves to be pious established leaders, they try to degrade the preacher. They treat everything, such as baseless propaganda, conspiracies, even violent actions as all being permissible in opposing him. The freedom granted to them in the present world gives them the opportunity to go on doing whatever they want to do against the preacher. A stage comes when all the power of materialism is ranged against the preacher’s arguments. And because the preacher’s opponents are vested with so much worldly power, they feel they can suppress his voice. This state of affairs is undoubtedly very trying. For it happens that, on the one hand, the opponents of Truth appear to be successful and thus become emboldened. On the other hand an errant thought crosses the mind of the preacher: ‘Is God neutral on this issue? Has He disassociated Himself after drawing me into this battle between truth and falsehood?’ But this is not so. It is not possible that God would cease to support the truth. The opponent’s becoming bereft of sound reasoning and all the strength of reasoning being totally on the side of the preacher are sure proofs that God is with the preacher of Truth. It is so, because reason is God’s representative in the present world. If anyone has the power of reasoning, then it is as if God is with him. The opponents have the opportunity of committing aggression and violence, simply due to the freedom given to them for the sake of testing them. As soon as the world of trial comes to an end, this position will change. At that time superiority and respect will be accorded to those who took a stand on the basis of reasoning, while others who failed to do so will be dishonoured. The group of true preachers of God are the friends of God. God gives them good news of a sublime life in the Hereafter in which they neither suffer any regrets about their past life nor have any fears about their future life.

Giving the call for Truth is a very difficult task. The preacher has to totally devote himself to Truth alone, and only then can he become a preacher (da‘i), in the true sense. When the preacher presents God’s religion in its original form and makes it very clear with the help of sound reasoning, then all those who follow their self-made religion become perturbed and infuriated. Showing themselves to be pious established leaders, they try to degrade the preacher. They treat everything, such as baseless propaganda, conspiracies, even violent actions as all being permissible in opposing him. The freedom granted to them in the present world gives them the opportunity to go on doing whatever they want to do against the preacher. A stage comes when all the power of materialism is ranged against the preacher’s arguments. And because the preacher’s opponents are vested with so much worldly power, they feel they can suppress his voice. This state of affairs is undoubtedly very trying. For it happens that, on the one hand, the opponents of Truth appear to be successful and thus become emboldened. On the other hand an errant thought crosses the mind of the preacher: ‘Is God neutral on this issue? Has He disassociated Himself after drawing me into this battle between truth and falsehood?’ But this is not so. It is not possible that God would cease to support the truth. The opponent’s becoming bereft of sound reasoning and all the strength of reasoning being totally on the side of the preacher are sure proofs that God is with the preacher of Truth. It is so, because reason is God’s representative in the present world. If anyone has the power of reasoning, then it is as if God is with him. The opponents have the opportunity of committing aggression and violence, simply due to the freedom given to them for the sake of testing them. As soon as the world of trial comes to an end, this position will change. At that time superiority and respect will be accorded to those who took a stand on the basis of reasoning, while others who failed to do so will be dishonoured. The group of true preachers of God are the friends of God. God gives them good news of a sublime life in the Hereafter in which they neither suffer any regrets about their past life nor have any fears about their future life.

Giving the call for Truth is a very difficult task. The preacher has to totally devote himself to Truth alone, and only then can he become a preacher (da‘i), in the true sense. When the preacher presents God’s religion in its original form and makes it very clear with the help of sound reasoning, then all those who follow their self-made religion become perturbed and infuriated. Showing themselves to be pious established leaders, they try to degrade the preacher. They treat everything, such as baseless propaganda, conspiracies, even violent actions as all being permissible in opposing him. The freedom granted to them in the present world gives them the opportunity to go on doing whatever they want to do against the preacher. A stage comes when all the power of materialism is ranged against the preacher’s arguments. And because the preacher’s opponents are vested with so much worldly power, they feel they can suppress his voice. This state of affairs is undoubtedly very trying. For it happens that, on the one hand, the opponents of Truth appear to be successful and thus become emboldened. On the other hand an errant thought crosses the mind of the preacher: ‘Is God neutral on this issue? Has He disassociated Himself after drawing me into this battle between truth and falsehood?’ But this is not so. It is not possible that God would cease to support the truth. The opponent’s becoming bereft of sound reasoning and all the strength of reasoning being totally on the side of the preacher are sure proofs that God is with the preacher of Truth. It is so, because reason is God’s representative in the present world. If anyone has the power of reasoning, then it is as if God is with him. The opponents have the opportunity of committing aggression and violence, simply due to the freedom given to them for the sake of testing them. As soon as the world of trial comes to an end, this position will change. At that time superiority and respect will be accorded to those who took a stand on the basis of reasoning, while others who failed to do so will be dishonoured. The group of true preachers of God are the friends of God. God gives them good news of a sublime life in the Hereafter in which they neither suffer any regrets about their past life nor have any fears about their future life.

Who has created heaven and earth; and who is sustaining them?—These questions have been the central point of the human quest in every age. But finding the correct answers to these questions will be possible only when a man is able to see beyond the physical world, and nobody possesses eyes which can see beyond the physical world. This is why every answer which man himself devises is based on mere guesswork and conjecture and not on any knowledge based on facts. In this world, those who speak on the basis of real knowledge are known as prophets. These are the particular people who have direct contact with the world above. God Himself, on His own, informs them of the reality of things. Therefore, prophets’ knowledge is the only knowledge on which one can rely with certainty. We have no direct means of testing the veracity of the Prophet’s claims. However, there certainly exists an indirect means; and that is the signs (ayat) of the universe. These signs, in effect, corroborate the inner realities explained by the Prophet. For instance, we see that on earth, day follows night and night follows day. This phenomenon of rotation has come into existence due to an extremely stable system which is regulated with mathematical precision. Moreover, this phenomenon is wonderfully favourable to our life. There appears to be a clearly purposeful plan at work behind it. This state of affairs is definitely a proof of the existence of a Being who is vested with Absolute power, who is Benevolent and Merciful, and about whom the prophets have been giving us information throughout the ages. Those who, according to their own ideas, follow ‘partners’ are not following any factual reality, but only their own conjecture and imagination. The reality revealed through the prophets is corroborated by the entire universe, but there is nobody here to corroborate or uphold the claim of the polytheists, or those who attribute partners to God (mushriks).

Who has created heaven and earth; and who is sustaining them?—These questions have been the central point of the human quest in every age. But finding the correct answers to these questions will be possible only when a man is able to see beyond the physical world, and nobody possesses eyes which can see beyond the physical world. This is why every answer which man himself devises is based on mere guesswork and conjecture and not on any knowledge based on facts. In this world, those who speak on the basis of real knowledge are known as prophets. These are the particular people who have direct contact with the world above. God Himself, on His own, informs them of the reality of things. Therefore, prophets’ knowledge is the only knowledge on which one can rely with certainty. We have no direct means of testing the veracity of the Prophet’s claims. However, there certainly exists an indirect means; and that is the signs (ayat) of the universe. These signs, in effect, corroborate the inner realities explained by the Prophet. For instance, we see that on earth, day follows night and night follows day. This phenomenon of rotation has come into existence due to an extremely stable system which is regulated with mathematical precision. Moreover, this phenomenon is wonderfully favourable to our life. There appears to be a clearly purposeful plan at work behind it. This state of affairs is definitely a proof of the existence of a Being who is vested with Absolute power, who is Benevolent and Merciful, and about whom the prophets have been giving us information throughout the ages. Those who, according to their own ideas, follow ‘partners’ are not following any factual reality, but only their own conjecture and imagination. The reality revealed through the prophets is corroborated by the entire universe, but there is nobody here to corroborate or uphold the claim of the polytheists, or those who attribute partners to God (mushriks).

Imagining the sons and daughters of God is like imagining God on the lines of a human being. Man is the victim of shortcomings and limitations; he therefore needs children so that, through them he can compensate for these shortcomings and limitations. But imagining such a position in respect of God is absolutely baseless. The pattern of God’s creations itself confirms the existence of a Creator. The image of God which should be projected is that of one who is perfect to the final degree; one who is free of all kinds of flaws and deficiencies. Had God not been a perfect being, had He been full of shortcomings and defects, He would not have been able to create a universe like the present one and would not have been able to control it in the present, precisely regulated manner. This means that all the signs of heaven and the earth establish the existence of the one God, the concept of which has been presented by the prophets. But the concept of God devised for themselves by the polytheists has absolutely no proof in the present universe. Now, obviously, the polytheists’ acceptance of an unproved god shows that such people can never be successful, because how can a god who is actually non-existent come to help anybody or fulfil anybody’s wishes? God, who is really in existence, is not accepted by the polytheists and the god they accept does not exist anywhere. Under these circumstances, how can the polytheists be successful in the present universe? Their only possible fate will be to finally become helpless and without support and forever suffer disgrace and disappointment.

In the present world nobody loses anything by rejection of the Truth or shirk (assigning partners to God). This leads to great misunderstanding. But, this state of affairs comes about simply because of the respite given to man during his period of trial. In the present world man has been given freedom of action, so that he may be put to the test. The moment the period of testing is over, the present condition will also come to an end. At that time man will see that he has been left with none of those things of which he considered himself the owner, and on account of which he had become arrogant. It has been recorded in a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad that God apostrophied wisdom, saying, ‘O, wisdom! In this universe I have not created anything superior to you, anything more beautiful or any creature better than you.’ The necessary consequence of the grant of such a great boon to a human being is that his responsibility should also be great. That is why rejection of truth is the greatest crime before God. When Truth is proved by reasoning, it becomes necessary for man to accept it. If, even after the truth has been proved by arguments, a man rejects it, then he is committing an unpardonable crime. When God has given to man the wisdom by which he may recognise the Truth as Truth and falsehood as falsehood, in such a situation there can be no excuse for his wrongdoing before God.

In the present world nobody loses anything by rejection of the Truth or shirk (assigning partners to God). This leads to great misunderstanding. But, this state of affairs comes about simply because of the respite given to man during his period of trial. In the present world man has been given freedom of action, so that he may be put to the test. The moment the period of testing is over, the present condition will also come to an end. At that time man will see that he has been left with none of those things of which he considered himself the owner, and on account of which he had become arrogant. It has been recorded in a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad that God apostrophied wisdom, saying, ‘O, wisdom! In this universe I have not created anything superior to you, anything more beautiful or any creature better than you.’ The necessary consequence of the grant of such a great boon to a human being is that his responsibility should also be great. That is why rejection of truth is the greatest crime before God. When Truth is proved by reasoning, it becomes necessary for man to accept it. If, even after the truth has been proved by arguments, a man rejects it, then he is committing an unpardonable crime. When God has given to man the wisdom by which he may recognise the Truth as Truth and falsehood as falsehood, in such a situation there can be no excuse for his wrongdoing before God.

Noah (Nuh) was a Prophet of the most ancient period. As long as he was silent, his community respected him, but when he came forward as a call-giver of the Truth and started telling the people what to do and what not to do, he became persona non grata in the eyes of his community, so much so that they gave him the ultimatum: ‘Either you give up this call-giving and tendering of advice or else we will not allow you to stay in this land of ours.’ Noah said that they were saying all this because they were treating his message as the affair of a human being, while this was actually God’s own concern. He said that, in order to fight with him, they would have to fight God. He further said, ‘If you don’t believe it, then what you can do is gather your companions and partners and formulate any unanimous plan against me, and then carry it out with all your might. Then you will see that your every plan against me is a failure.’ In the present world, the standard confirming the veracity of a caller for truth is that he fulfills his mission at all costs and nobody succeeds in thwarting him.

Noah (Nuh) was a Prophet of the most ancient period. As long as he was silent, his community respected him, but when he came forward as a call-giver of the Truth and started telling the people what to do and what not to do, he became persona non grata in the eyes of his community, so much so that they gave him the ultimatum: ‘Either you give up this call-giving and tendering of advice or else we will not allow you to stay in this land of ours.’ Noah said that they were saying all this because they were treating his message as the affair of a human being, while this was actually God’s own concern. He said that, in order to fight with him, they would have to fight God. He further said, ‘If you don’t believe it, then what you can do is gather your companions and partners and formulate any unanimous plan against me, and then carry it out with all your might. Then you will see that your every plan against me is a failure.’ In the present world, the standard confirming the veracity of a caller for truth is that he fulfills his mission at all costs and nobody succeeds in thwarting him.

One who comes forward on behalf of God with the call for the Truth, does so always on the strength of argument. Although reasoning (argument) pertains to the intellect, man fails to realise its greatness. In spite of having no answer to it, he refuses to bow down before it. One of the considerations of the task which a messenger of Truth has to carry out is that he should not make any economic or material demands upon the community he addresses, even if this means great sacrifice on his part. This is so that the relation between them may remain that of the missionary and his addressee. It should not turn into group or material rivalry. When Noah had finally delivered his message in its entirety to his community, and still his community was adamant and arrogant, they were drowned in turbulent flood waters so that the earth was rid of them, while the Faithful (adherents of Noah) were given the opportunity to live in the world as inheritors of the earth. This, in Quranic terminology, is described as ‘khalifah.’ Before the flood, the community of Noah was the khalifah of the earth; after the flood those faithful to Noah were made the successors of the earth.

In this verse ‘transgressors’ refers to those who, once having rejected the Truth, stick to that position, make it a prestige issue and then go on continuously ignoring the Truth so that their religious knowledge and their being on the right path do not become doubtful in others’ eyes. Those who display this sort of behaviour are punished in this world by having their hearts sealed, that is, under the law of God, their psychology becomes gradually affected and finally they lose their sensitivity to the matter of Truth. The little sensitivity which they had earlier is ultimately benumbed. They do not remain capable of being anxious about Truth and untruth, or accepting the Truth rather than untruth. The history of Noah and the succeeding prophets bears testimony to this. The condition of any preacher of Truth who comes forward on behalf of God is such that he is not surrounded by outward worldly glories. The only strength he possesses is the power of reasoning. Those who are capable of recognising Truth in the language of reason are the only ones who acknowledge the preacher of Truth. Those whom the language of argument cannot influence are incapable of accepting or supporting the preacher of Truth.

Because of their arrogance, Pharaoh and the chiefs of his people did not accept the word of Moses and Aaron. They judged all matters by the standard of power and glory instead of seeing them in the light of reason. Due to this self-established standard, they considered themselves of a high status and Moses and Aaron of a lower status. This mentality prevented them from accepting the Truth as presented to them by Moses and Aaron whom they regarded as inferior persons.

Because of their arrogance, Pharaoh and the chiefs of his people did not accept the word of Moses and Aaron. They judged all matters by the standard of power and glory instead of seeing them in the light of reason. Due to this self-established standard, they considered themselves of a high status and Moses and Aaron of a lower status. This mentality prevented them from accepting the Truth as presented to them by Moses and Aaron whom they regarded as inferior persons.

When the language of reasoning was not understood by Pharaoh, he (Moses) drew his hand out of his armpit and it shone brightly. Pharaoh had no answer for this. So, he tried to hide his defeat at the hands of Moses by giving the false impression that what Moses said and did was not the Truth but a form of magic. It is true that there is some outward similarity between magic and miracles. But very soon it becomes clear that magic is simply a feat, a trick. On the contrary, a miracle is real. Magic finally proves to be magic and a miracle finally establishes itself as a miracle. On this occasion Pharaoh made two more statements calculated to divert his people from the call of Moses—one being that Moses wanted them to turn away from the religion of their ancestors. Pharaoh should have tried to understand the Message of Moses in terms of Truth and untruth. But he tested it by the ancestral and non-ancestral standard, so that he should not have to admit his wrong approach. By keeping to ancestral and non-ancestral matters, he had some justification for continuing to act as he did. The second point that Pharaoh made was that Moses and Aaron wanted to establish their supremacy in their country. This was only a political stunt to deceive the public, because in the very first instance Moses had made it clear to Pharaoh that his sole purpose was to deliver the message of God to him and thereafter to leave Egypt for the Sinai desert along with the Israelites. This being so, the allegation that Moses was planning to usurp the rule of Egypt was obviously untrue.

When the language of reasoning was not understood by Pharaoh, he (Moses) drew his hand out of his armpit and it shone brightly. Pharaoh had no answer for this. So, he tried to hide his defeat at the hands of Moses by giving the false impression that what Moses said and did was not the Truth but a form of magic. It is true that there is some outward similarity between magic and miracles. But very soon it becomes clear that magic is simply a feat, a trick. On the contrary, a miracle is real. Magic finally proves to be magic and a miracle finally establishes itself as a miracle. On this occasion Pharaoh made two more statements calculated to divert his people from the call of Moses—one being that Moses wanted them to turn away from the religion of their ancestors. Pharaoh should have tried to understand the Message of Moses in terms of Truth and untruth. But he tested it by the ancestral and non-ancestral standard, so that he should not have to admit his wrong approach. By keeping to ancestral and non-ancestral matters, he had some justification for continuing to act as he did. The second point that Pharaoh made was that Moses and Aaron wanted to establish their supremacy in their country. This was only a political stunt to deceive the public, because in the very first instance Moses had made it clear to Pharaoh that his sole purpose was to deliver the message of God to him and thereafter to leave Egypt for the Sinai desert along with the Israelites. This being so, the allegation that Moses was planning to usurp the rule of Egypt was obviously untrue.

When Pharaoh called upon expert magicians to perform, it was not because he thought that he would actually subdue Moses with their help. His action, rather than being a rational course to follow, was more the result of his over-anxiety to reject Moses. The plan to prove God’s Prophet wrong with the help of magicians was one whose failure could be foreseen. But when a man does not want to accept the truth and is bent upon rejecting it, this desire takes him to such extremes that he takes ill-advised steps to do so: he constructs a dam of tiny splinters to hold back a rising flood, though he knows full well that tiny splinters will be absolutely useless in this instance. So things happened as they were bound to happen. The magicians threw down on the ground ropes and sticks, which crept towards the people like snakes. Then Moses threw down his stick. This turned into a huge snake which started running along the ground. This ‘snake’ was not merely a snake; it was, in fact, a force of God which had appeared to establish truth as Truth and falsehood as falsehood. So, as soon as it appeared, the magicians’ ropes reverted to their original form. Thus Pharaoh was defeated in an arena he himself had chosen. But even then, Pharaoh did not accept defeat. He found words to contradict Moses as he had earlier done.

When Pharaoh called upon expert magicians to perform, it was not because he thought that he would actually subdue Moses with their help. His action, rather than being a rational course to follow, was more the result of his over-anxiety to reject Moses. The plan to prove God’s Prophet wrong with the help of magicians was one whose failure could be foreseen. But when a man does not want to accept the truth and is bent upon rejecting it, this desire takes him to such extremes that he takes ill-advised steps to do so: he constructs a dam of tiny splinters to hold back a rising flood, though he knows full well that tiny splinters will be absolutely useless in this instance. So things happened as they were bound to happen. The magicians threw down on the ground ropes and sticks, which crept towards the people like snakes. Then Moses threw down his stick. This turned into a huge snake which started running along the ground. This ‘snake’ was not merely a snake; it was, in fact, a force of God which had appeared to establish truth as Truth and falsehood as falsehood. So, as soon as it appeared, the magicians’ ropes reverted to their original form. Thus Pharaoh was defeated in an arena he himself had chosen. But even then, Pharaoh did not accept defeat. He found words to contradict Moses as he had earlier done.

When Pharaoh called upon expert magicians to perform, it was not because he thought that he would actually subdue Moses with their help. His action, rather than being a rational course to follow, was more the result of his over-anxiety to reject Moses. The plan to prove God’s Prophet wrong with the help of magicians was one whose failure could be foreseen. But when a man does not want to accept the truth and is bent upon rejecting it, this desire takes him to such extremes that he takes ill-advised steps to do so: he constructs a dam of tiny splinters to hold back a rising flood, though he knows full well that tiny splinters will be absolutely useless in this instance. So things happened as they were bound to happen. The magicians threw down on the ground ropes and sticks, which crept towards the people like snakes. Then Moses threw down his stick. This turned into a huge snake which started running along the ground. This ‘snake’ was not merely a snake; it was, in fact, a force of God which had appeared to establish truth as Truth and falsehood as falsehood. So, as soon as it appeared, the magicians’ ropes reverted to their original form. Thus Pharaoh was defeated in an arena he himself had chosen. But even then, Pharaoh did not accept defeat. He found words to contradict Moses as he had earlier done.

When Pharaoh called upon expert magicians to perform, it was not because he thought that he would actually subdue Moses with their help. His action, rather than being a rational course to follow, was more the result of his over-anxiety to reject Moses. The plan to prove God’s Prophet wrong with the help of magicians was one whose failure could be foreseen. But when a man does not want to accept the truth and is bent upon rejecting it, this desire takes him to such extremes that he takes ill-advised steps to do so: he constructs a dam of tiny splinters to hold back a rising flood, though he knows full well that tiny splinters will be absolutely useless in this instance. So things happened as they were bound to happen. The magicians threw down on the ground ropes and sticks, which crept towards the people like snakes. Then Moses threw down his stick. This turned into a huge snake which started running along the ground. This ‘snake’ was not merely a snake; it was, in fact, a force of God which had appeared to establish truth as Truth and falsehood as falsehood. So, as soon as it appeared, the magicians’ ropes reverted to their original form. Thus Pharaoh was defeated in an arena he himself had chosen. But even then, Pharaoh did not accept defeat. He found words to contradict Moses as he had earlier done.

Acceptance of thinking which breaks fresh ground is always at the cost of the individual having to face numerous unforeseen problems in his society. That is why elderly people exercise caution in accepting any new idea. For a number of reasons elderly people are overwhelmed by a variety of considerations. In spite of admitting the correctness of a new idea, they are unable to proceed further and support it. But the younger generation are generally free from such considerations. So it has always happened throughout history that only those who have not yet attained old age have gone ahead and accepted a new and revolutionary call. This happened likewise in the case of Moses. The youth supporting Moses, on the one hand, risked the retribution of Pharaoh. On the other, they received no encouragement from the elders of their own community. Though these elders accepted the prophethood of Moses, they looked to their own interests, and did not want their sons and daughters to give enthusiastic support to Moses and thus incur the wrath of Pharaoh as a result. However, the existence of such a state of affairs does not call for people to sit quietly, without taking any counter measures. They should keep in view God’s support and favour, rather than human opposition. Relying on God, they should rise in defence of that Truth which they personally found impossible to support.

Acceptance of thinking which breaks fresh ground is always at the cost of the individual having to face numerous unforeseen problems in his society. That is why elderly people exercise caution in accepting any new idea. For a number of reasons elderly people are overwhelmed by a variety of considerations. In spite of admitting the correctness of a new idea, they are unable to proceed further and support it. But the younger generation are generally free from such considerations. So it has always happened throughout history that only those who have not yet attained old age have gone ahead and accepted a new and revolutionary call. This happened likewise in the case of Moses. The youth supporting Moses, on the one hand, risked the retribution of Pharaoh. On the other, they received no encouragement from the elders of their own community. Though these elders accepted the prophethood of Moses, they looked to their own interests, and did not want their sons and daughters to give enthusiastic support to Moses and thus incur the wrath of Pharaoh as a result. However, the existence of such a state of affairs does not call for people to sit quietly, without taking any counter measures. They should keep in view God’s support and favour, rather than human opposition. Relying on God, they should rise in defence of that Truth which they personally found impossible to support.

Acceptance of thinking which breaks fresh ground is always at the cost of the individual having to face numerous unforeseen problems in his society. That is why elderly people exercise caution in accepting any new idea. For a number of reasons elderly people are overwhelmed by a variety of considerations. In spite of admitting the correctness of a new idea, they are unable to proceed further and support it. But the younger generation are generally free from such considerations. So it has always happened throughout history that only those who have not yet attained old age have gone ahead and accepted a new and revolutionary call. This happened likewise in the case of Moses. The youth supporting Moses, on the one hand, risked the retribution of Pharaoh. On the other, they received no encouragement from the elders of their own community. Though these elders accepted the prophethood of Moses, they looked to their own interests, and did not want their sons and daughters to give enthusiastic support to Moses and thus incur the wrath of Pharaoh as a result. However, the existence of such a state of affairs does not call for people to sit quietly, without taking any counter measures. They should keep in view God’s support and favour, rather than human opposition. Relying on God, they should rise in defence of that Truth which they personally found impossible to support.

Acceptance of thinking which breaks fresh ground is always at the cost of the individual having to face numerous unforeseen problems in his society. That is why elderly people exercise caution in accepting any new idea. For a number of reasons elderly people are overwhelmed by a variety of considerations. In spite of admitting the correctness of a new idea, they are unable to proceed further and support it. But the younger generation are generally free from such considerations. So it has always happened throughout history that only those who have not yet attained old age have gone ahead and accepted a new and revolutionary call. This happened likewise in the case of Moses. The youth supporting Moses, on the one hand, risked the retribution of Pharaoh. On the other, they received no encouragement from the elders of their own community. Though these elders accepted the prophethood of Moses, they looked to their own interests, and did not want their sons and daughters to give enthusiastic support to Moses and thus incur the wrath of Pharaoh as a result. However, the existence of such a state of affairs does not call for people to sit quietly, without taking any counter measures. They should keep in view God’s support and favour, rather than human opposition. Relying on God, they should rise in defence of that Truth which they personally found impossible to support.

The word ‘qiblah’ in Arabic means a place to be turned towards or a centre of attention. Here, the statement ‘build houses in the city’ means that some houses or suitable portions of these houses in the settlements of Israelites should be set apart for use as centres for the missionary efforts of Moses; religious gatherings could be held there for consultation, and planning could be done there for God’s word to be spread peacefully. Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, was very displeased by Moses’ sermons about the unity of God and the Hereafter. He imposed the most severe restrictions on him (Moses), so much so that it became very difficult for Moses to continue his dawah activities openly. At that time it was commanded that, instead of clashing with Pharaoh, the Israelites should continue their activities within a close circle; they should form small missionary and organisational centres in their settlements; and continue their work in a limited sphere without creating any disturbance. The second command which was given to them under these circumstances was to say their prayers regularly, in order to develop a bond with God and to seek His help. They were to arrange to pray, both individually as well as collectively. Prayer is in fact a method of seeking the help of God by getting close to Him. By becoming engrossed in prayer, a servant of God brings himself to the position of humility and modesty, and it is in this position that he meets God; there is no other point from which he can meet God. The secret of the welfare and salvation of the Israelites was hidden in this plan which was shown to them. This command was, in a way, a piece of good news for them, indicating that God was going to bring them out of the prevailing conditions into which their enemies had thrust them.

Those who are anxious about the Hereafter are generally slow to accumulate worldly things as compared to those who, completely neglecting the Hereafter, rush towards worldly benefits. A lessening of worldly prosperity is the cost of being mindful of the Hereafter and material prosperity is attained at the cost of being neglectful of the Hereafter. Moreover, one who has worldly glory and worldly things in abundance, develops a superiority complex. The result is that such people lose the innate capacity to recognise and appreciate the Truth when expounded by another and to bow down before it. Had they considered as a gift from God the resources they possessed, they would have spent them in supporting the cause of Truth. But, they consider these gifts of God stemming from their own talents. So, they utilise them to suppress the Truth and in this way maintain their supremacy. ‘Whereby they lead people astray from Your path.’ means that they used the wealth and resources granted by God solely for the purpose of alienating God’s subjects from Him: instead of devoting them to the service of Truth, they utilized them in the service of falsehood. Here, for the sake of making statements more forcefully, the style of discourse has changed. Moses called upon Pharaoh and his entourage to accept the true religion, and with the help of his great talents and God’s asssistance, he made his message clear down to the last detail. In spite of this, Pharaoh and his nobles did not accept the message of Moses. At that time Moses prayed: ‘O, God, give Pharaoh and others such punishment as arrogant people are destined to receive in accordance with Your law.’ The curse of a prophet, although issuing from the mouth of God’s representative, is actually a declaration made by God Himself.

The aforesaid prayer of Moses was accepted. However, as recorded in some traditions, there was a span of forty years between the prayer of Moses and the destruction of Pharaoh. (at-Tafsir an-Nasafi). This means that, even after that, for a long time the same conditions, in which Moses and his companions found themselves helpless, continued to prevail, while Pharaoh and his court continued as ever to enjoy a position of pomp and glory. Under these circumstances, if a man is unaware of God’s way of allowing some respite to arrogant people, he will, in haste, give up his main task and fall a victim to disappointment and frustration.

The mission of Moses in Egypt was two-sided—firstly to call upon Pharaoh and his people to accept the oneness of God and the Hereafter and, secondly, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt into the open atmosphere of the desert and to train them there. When the call for the Truth, meant for Pharaoh, had been fully accomplished in accordance with God’s command, Moses was commanded to set out from Egypt along with the Israelites. In order to reach the Sinai desert, they found it necessary to cross the Red Sea. When the Children of Israel reached the bank of the sea under the leadership of Moses, of God’s command Moses struck the water with his staff. The waters parted and rose up to the right and left. They stayed like that and in between a dry path appeared. Moses and the Children of Israel easily crossed over by means of this path. While in pursuit of the Children of Israel, Pharaoh forged ahead with his army. When he reached the bank of the sea, he saw that Moses and the Children of Israel were passing along a dry path. The wide stretch of the sea had been torn asunder and had given way to Moses and his companions. This event was, in fact, a sign from God. Pharaoh should have learned the lesson from this that Moses stood for the Truth and that God was with him. But he treated the separating of the waters as an ordinary mundane event instead of treating it as a Godly miracle. He saw only the sea between himself and Moses, though in fact God Himself was standing there. Thus an event in which there was a message of obedience (to God) and inclination (towards Him) for Pharaoh, merely caused an increase in his arrogance. He saw the ‘sea’ but did not see ‘God.’ He thought that he too could cross the sea as Moses and his companions had done.

With this thought, Pharaoh and his army entered the sea. The water of the sea had split in two only for the sake of Moses and his companions and not for Pharaoh and his followers. So, when Pharaoh and his army reached the middle of the sea, both sides of the water joined, in compliance with God’s command, and Pharaoh along with his army was drowned. While drowning, he declared his acceptance of faith, but it was useless, because in the eyes of Almighty God, only a voluntary embracing of the Faith is reliable and acceptable and not a compulsory profession of Faith. The result of disobedience to God arising from arrogance is destruction. Examples of such incidents used to occur from time to time during the period of the Prophet. However, some examples of this type have been given historical shape by God, so that they might continue to give lessons to man in later ages after the time of the prophets had ended. One of these historical examples from the period of Moses is that of Pharaoh (Rameses II) whose mummified body was found by archaeologists in the ancient Egyptian town of Thebes. It is now kept on display in the museum at Cairo.

With this thought, Pharaoh and his army entered the sea. The water of the sea had split in two only for the sake of Moses and his companions and not for Pharaoh and his followers. So, when Pharaoh and his army reached the middle of the sea, both sides of the water joined, in compliance with God’s command, and Pharaoh along with his army was drowned. While drowning, he declared his acceptance of faith, but it was useless, because in the eyes of Almighty God, only a voluntary embracing of the Faith is reliable and acceptable and not a compulsory profession of Faith. The result of disobedience to God arising from arrogance is destruction. Examples of such incidents used to occur from time to time during the period of the Prophet. However, some examples of this type have been given historical shape by God, so that they might continue to give lessons to man in later ages after the time of the prophets had ended. One of these historical examples from the period of Moses is that of Pharaoh (Rameses II) whose mummified body was found by archaeologists in the ancient Egyptian town of Thebes. It is now kept on display in the museum at Cairo.

The Israelites were the bearers of God’s religion in ancient times. God granted them the favour of saving them from their enemy, Pharaoh. Then He caused them to be led to the open atmosphere of Sinai. There, by His instrumentality, water and provisions were made available to them. Through this training in the desert, a new powerful generation came into being. This generation, after Moses, constituted a great nation, and in the fertile areas of Syria, Jordan and Palestine, established the Israelite empire, which remained in existence for several centuries. The result of this favour should have been that the Children of Israel should have remained obedient to God and grateful to Him and should have made the service of religion the purpose of their lives. But in spite of clear guidance, they had gone astray. What was it that is called here ‘going astray’? It was having differences among themselves. They possessed the knowledge revealed by God which was the only Truth. But they had differences in the correct construction to be put on this knowledge and became divided (at-Tafsir an-Nasafi). As long as a community is one, religion remains united. But, later on, differences develop among them in the explanation of the knowledge of God’s revelation (al-‘ilm). Some insist on one opinion and others on another. In order to establish the truth of its way of thinking, every faction resorts to unnecessary discussions, speeches and public debates, so much so that a stage is reached when the real knowledge of God’s revelation (al-‘ilm) remains bound in books and all its strength becomes dissipated in interpretations and explanations. In this way, in spite of being from the same mould, people become divisively opinionated by becoming involved in the subsidiary aspects of religious teachings. ‘Your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection’ is apparently in the transitive form, but actually it is in the intransitive form. The idea is that on Judgement Day, when God makes His appearance, all men and women will forget their differences and accept the one and only Truth. Had they been God-fearing, they would have converged on one opinion. Fearlessness leads to a multiplicity of opinions, while fear results in a convergence of opinion.

Prophets have always come to the world with the divine Truth without any kind of human addition, but obedience to such a call has always been the most difficult task for man. Bowing to the call for pure Truth has to be at the cost of negating one’s own self; in order to accept the Truth, one has to lower one’s own status in comparison with that of the preacher, and doing so is undoubtedly a most difficult proposition. That is why it never happens that as soon as the call to accept the Truth is issued, people start flocking towards it. Truth in this world has always been received with opposition and distaste. Considering this disrespect for Truth, the preacher of Truth sometimes entertains doubts about whether he himself has erred in some way. In this verse, the preacher has been instructed to guard himself against such thinking. A very clear proof of these doubts being unfounded is that previous prophets and dayees also had to face very similar situations in the past. Those who are aware of their history know full well that, in this world, it has never happened that when a prophet comes forward, he immediately gains public popularity. Then, if similar situations arise in the case of dayees of later ages, why should that cause anxiety or worry? If a man’s mind testifies to the truth of something, and if even then he gives it up, simply because of the opposition of others, then this amounts to a refusal to accept the signs of God. God appears before man through His signs, so that the acceptance of whatever is established by means of reasoning, is God’s right over man. So, what will be the fate of one who denies God’s right—if not loss and destruction?

Prophets have always come to the world with the divine Truth without any kind of human addition, but obedience to such a call has always been the most difficult task for man. Bowing to the call for pure Truth has to be at the cost of negating one’s own self; in order to accept the Truth, one has to lower one’s own status in comparison with that of the preacher, and doing so is undoubtedly a most difficult proposition. That is why it never happens that as soon as the call to accept the Truth is issued, people start flocking towards it. Truth in this world has always been received with opposition and distaste. Considering this disrespect for Truth, the preacher of Truth sometimes entertains doubts about whether he himself has erred in some way. In this verse, the preacher has been instructed to guard himself against such thinking. A very clear proof of these doubts being unfounded is that previous prophets and dayees also had to face very similar situations in the past. Those who are aware of their history know full well that, in this world, it has never happened that when a prophet comes forward, he immediately gains public popularity. Then, if similar situations arise in the case of dayees of later ages, why should that cause anxiety or worry? If a man’s mind testifies to the truth of something, and if even then he gives it up, simply because of the opposition of others, then this amounts to a refusal to accept the signs of God. God appears before man through His signs, so that the acceptance of whatever is established by means of reasoning, is God’s right over man. So, what will be the fate of one who denies God’s right—if not loss and destruction?

When the Truth appears before a man, his mind testifies to its correctness. But, in order to achieve what is right, man has to give something, and on this score man is not ready to give. In order to do so, man has to belittle himself in comparison with the other person; he has to acknowledge the other’s interests; he has to sacrifice his own prestige to be able to accept the Truth. Whatever proposition should have been readily accepted by him is the very thing which he denies and rejects. Man’s psychology is so formed that once he takes a direction, his whole mind takes the same direction. That is why, after a man’s deviation from the Truth, every passing day, he becomes more and more conditioned in his way of thinking, so much so that he does not remain capable of turning towards the Truth. Such people, with a view to justifying their stand, make efforts to give the impression that theirs is the correct way of thinking but, in fact, it is the result of obstinacy and prejudice, arising from worldly considerations. However, at the moment of God’s retribution, this bubble will burst. The intensity of fear man feels will force him to bow down before that very thing which previously he had not been ready to accept so long as he felt fearless. In past ages, the prophets had been faced the same situation, i.e. their addressee communities did not embrace the Faith till the last moment. However, the moment they were seized by God’s retribution, they cried out that they were embracing the Faith. As long as God was calling to them in the language of reasoning, they did not accept, but when God caused them to be struck down by His powers, they declared their acceptance there and then. But such acceptance is not effective in the eyes of God. God requires acceptance when a man bows down on the strength of reasoning and not when he feels coerced. Jonah (Yunus) was sent to Nineveh, an old city in Iraq. He started preaching there, but its denizens did not embrace the Faith. Finally, according to the tradition of the prophets, he migrated. While leaving Nineveh, he told people that they would face God’s retribution. After the departure of Jonah, the preliminary signs of retribution appeared. At that time they did not behave as the community of Hud had done. On seeing the clouds of retribution gather, the latter had said, ‘This cloud is coming to bring rain for us.’ Unlike this, the community of Jonah immediately experienced an awakening. All its members, along with their cattle, women and children, assembled on a stretch of open ground and started praying to God in all humility. Thereafter the punishment was averted. The acceptance of Faith just prior to the meting out of punishment is also acceptable provided it is as perfect as that of the community of Jonah.

When the Truth appears before a man, his mind testifies to its correctness. But, in order to achieve what is right, man has to give something, and on this score man is not ready to give. In order to do so, man has to belittle himself in comparison with the other person; he has to acknowledge the other’s interests; he has to sacrifice his own prestige to be able to accept the Truth. Whatever proposition should have been readily accepted by him is the very thing which he denies and rejects. Man’s psychology is so formed that once he takes a direction, his whole mind takes the same direction. That is why, after a man’s deviation from the Truth, every passing day, he becomes more and more conditioned in his way of thinking, so much so that he does not remain capable of turning towards the Truth. Such people, with a view to justifying their stand, make efforts to give the impression that theirs is the correct way of thinking but, in fact, it is the result of obstinacy and prejudice, arising from worldly considerations. However, at the moment of God’s retribution, this bubble will burst. The intensity of fear man feels will force him to bow down before that very thing which previously he had not been ready to accept so long as he felt fearless. In past ages, the prophets had been faced the same situation, i.e. their addressee communities did not embrace the Faith till the last moment. However, the moment they were seized by God’s retribution, they cried out that they were embracing the Faith. As long as God was calling to them in the language of reasoning, they did not accept, but when God caused them to be struck down by His powers, they declared their acceptance there and then. But such acceptance is not effective in the eyes of God. God requires acceptance when a man bows down on the strength of reasoning and not when he feels coerced. Jonah (Yunus) was sent to Nineveh, an old city in Iraq. He started preaching there, but its denizens did not embrace the Faith. Finally, according to the tradition of the prophets, he migrated. While leaving Nineveh, he told people that they would face God’s retribution. After the departure of Jonah, the preliminary signs of retribution appeared. At that time they did not behave as the community of Hud had done. On seeing the clouds of retribution gather, the latter had said, ‘This cloud is coming to bring rain for us.’ Unlike this, the community of Jonah immediately experienced an awakening. All its members, along with their cattle, women and children, assembled on a stretch of open ground and started praying to God in all humility. Thereafter the punishment was averted. The acceptance of Faith just prior to the meting out of punishment is also acceptable provided it is as perfect as that of the community of Jonah.

When the Truth appears before a man, his mind testifies to its correctness. But, in order to achieve what is right, man has to give something, and on this score man is not ready to give. In order to do so, man has to belittle himself in comparison with the other person; he has to acknowledge the other’s interests; he has to sacrifice his own prestige to be able to accept the Truth. Whatever proposition should have been readily accepted by him is the very thing which he denies and rejects. Man’s psychology is so formed that once he takes a direction, his whole mind takes the same direction. That is why, after a man’s deviation from the Truth, every passing day, he becomes more and more conditioned in his way of thinking, so much so that he does not remain capable of turning towards the Truth. Such people, with a view to justifying their stand, make efforts to give the impression that theirs is the correct way of thinking but, in fact, it is the result of obstinacy and prejudice, arising from worldly considerations. However, at the moment of God’s retribution, this bubble will burst. The intensity of fear man feels will force him to bow down before that very thing which previously he had not been ready to accept so long as he felt fearless. In past ages, the prophets had been faced the same situation, i.e. their addressee communities did not embrace the Faith till the last moment. However, the moment they were seized by God’s retribution, they cried out that they were embracing the Faith. As long as God was calling to them in the language of reasoning, they did not accept, but when God caused them to be struck down by His powers, they declared their acceptance there and then. But such acceptance is not effective in the eyes of God. God requires acceptance when a man bows down on the strength of reasoning and not when he feels coerced. Jonah (Yunus) was sent to Nineveh, an old city in Iraq. He started preaching there, but its denizens did not embrace the Faith. Finally, according to the tradition of the prophets, he migrated. While leaving Nineveh, he told people that they would face God’s retribution. After the departure of Jonah, the preliminary signs of retribution appeared. At that time they did not behave as the community of Hud had done. On seeing the clouds of retribution gather, the latter had said, ‘This cloud is coming to bring rain for us.’ Unlike this, the community of Jonah immediately experienced an awakening. All its members, along with their cattle, women and children, assembled on a stretch of open ground and started praying to God in all humility. Thereafter the punishment was averted. The acceptance of Faith just prior to the meting out of punishment is also acceptable provided it is as perfect as that of the community of Jonah.

‘Had your Lord pleased, all the people on earth would have believed in Him,’ means that it was possible for God to have made the system of the world of human beings one in which everything is completely regulated by the commands of God. But, with regard to human beings this is not at all the scheme of God, which is to keep man in a free atmosphere, give him the opportunity to obey God of his own free will and voluntarily perform the tasks which the rest of the world does under compulsion. The eternal bounties of Paradise are to be obtained at the cost of this voluntary obedience. ‘No soul can believe except by the will of God,’ means that, in the present world, man will be granted the blessing of Faith only on his adopting the method laid down by God for this purpose. In the present world, the way for man to be blessed with Faith is by his using his mind to understand the call to the Faith. The mind of an individual which is swamped by worldly considerations is as if immersed in mud. There is no question of such a person being blessed with the bounty of Faith.

‘Had your Lord pleased, all the people on earth would have believed in Him,’ means that it was possible for God to have made the system of the world of human beings one in which everything is completely regulated by the commands of God. But, with regard to human beings this is not at all the scheme of God, which is to keep man in a free atmosphere, give him the opportunity to obey God of his own free will and voluntarily perform the tasks which the rest of the world does under compulsion. The eternal bounties of Paradise are to be obtained at the cost of this voluntary obedience. ‘No soul can believe except by the will of God,’ means that, in the present world, man will be granted the blessing of Faith only on his adopting the method laid down by God for this purpose. In the present world, the way for man to be blessed with Faith is by his using his mind to understand the call to the Faith. The mind of an individual which is swamped by worldly considerations is as if immersed in mud. There is no question of such a person being blessed with the bounty of Faith.

In the universe surrounding us, there are innumerable signs which prove God’s existence. Moreover, in the world, events (such as cyclones and tornadoes) occur as warnings and this should make a man serious in his state of trial, that is, in a world where man has the discretion to accept or disown the Truth. So, what man does is this: he concocts some explanations of his own for these events so as to divert attention from their true significance and thus remains deprived of guidance. When man does not understand the language of reasoning, it is as if he is waiting for the veil of testing to be removed and for God to appear to give His final verdict. But when that day comes, it will be entirely different from the present day. Today, those who accept and those who reject are apparently in the same condition. But when the Day of Judgement arrives, only those who had proved themselves to be Truth-worshippers will be at peace, while all of the others will be overwhelmed by their punishment and they will find no escape route which could give them some respite.

In the universe surrounding us, there are innumerable signs which prove God’s existence. Moreover, in the world, events (such as cyclones and tornadoes) occur as warnings and this should make a man serious in his state of trial, that is, in a world where man has the discretion to accept or disown the Truth. So, what man does is this: he concocts some explanations of his own for these events so as to divert attention from their true significance and thus remains deprived of guidance. When man does not understand the language of reasoning, it is as if he is waiting for the veil of testing to be removed and for God to appear to give His final verdict. But when that day comes, it will be entirely different from the present day. Today, those who accept and those who reject are apparently in the same condition. But when the Day of Judgement arrives, only those who had proved themselves to be Truth-worshippers will be at peace, while all of the others will be overwhelmed by their punishment and they will find no escape route which could give them some respite.

In the universe surrounding us, there are innumerable signs which prove God’s existence. Moreover, in the world, events (such as cyclones and tornadoes) occur as warnings and this should make a man serious in his state of trial, that is, in a world where man has the discretion to accept or disown the Truth. So, what man does is this: he concocts some explanations of his own for these events so as to divert attention from their true significance and thus remains deprived of guidance. When man does not understand the language of reasoning, it is as if he is waiting for the veil of testing to be removed and for God to appear to give His final verdict. But when that day comes, it will be entirely different from the present day. Today, those who accept and those who reject are apparently in the same condition. But when the Day of Judgement arrives, only those who had proved themselves to be Truth-worshippers will be at peace, while all of the others will be overwhelmed by their punishment and they will find no escape route which could give them some respite.

The preacher first of all gives his sermon in the language of reason. But if his hearers, even after hearing his arguments remain in doubt, what he must do finally is to express the veracity of his message in sterner language. When a preacher of the Oneness of God tells the polytheists (those who ascribe partners to God): ‘I do not worship that which you worship’ this is not simply a declaration, but an argument in itself. It means: ‘I am also a man like you. I have a mind as you have. Then, why is it that the veracity of something which is understandable to me is not understandable to you?’ If Truth is understandable at the level of one man, it proves that it should be understandable to others also. In spite of this, if others reject it, then it must surely be due to some shortcoming on their part and not to any deficiency in the call to the Truth. If a thing seen by one who has eyes, is not seen by another who likewise has eyes, it simply proves that the latter is not the true possessor of eyes, because it is not possible in this world that a thing which is seen by one person having eyes cannot be seen by another person in spite of his also having eyes.

The preacher first of all gives his sermon in the language of reason. But if his hearers, even after hearing his arguments remain in doubt, what he must do finally is to express the veracity of his message in sterner language. When a preacher of the Oneness of God tells the polytheists (those who ascribe partners to God): ‘I do not worship that which you worship’ this is not simply a declaration, but an argument in itself. It means: ‘I am also a man like you. I have a mind as you have. Then, why is it that the veracity of something which is understandable to me is not understandable to you?’ If Truth is understandable at the level of one man, it proves that it should be understandable to others also. In spite of this, if others reject it, then it must surely be due to some shortcoming on their part and not to any deficiency in the call to the Truth. If a thing seen by one who has eyes, is not seen by another who likewise has eyes, it simply proves that the latter is not the true possessor of eyes, because it is not possible in this world that a thing which is seen by one person having eyes cannot be seen by another person in spite of his also having eyes.

Death testifies to the fact that man is completely powerless in this world. Death proves all those things false, on the strength of which man opts for the way of arrogance and denial of God. Death introduces man, on the one hand, to his helplessness and on the other to God’s majestic power. It shows that in this world there is nobody who has the power to grant benefits or inflict harm. If a man has a mind capable of learning lessons from events, then the event of death is enough to reform him. It makes a man a perfect worshipper of God. A time comes for every man when, helpless, he surrenders himself to death. Similarly, it is not within the power of any man, whether it concerns benefit or harm, to cause things to happen as he wants. He receives the desired benefit in any case; and remains safe from undesirable harm in any case. This state of affair shows that man is a powerless creature: he lives in a world where there is some Being who rules over him.

Death testifies to the fact that man is completely powerless in this world. Death proves all those things false, on the strength of which man opts for the way of arrogance and denial of God. Death introduces man, on the one hand, to his helplessness and on the other to God’s majestic power. It shows that in this world there is nobody who has the power to grant benefits or inflict harm. If a man has a mind capable of learning lessons from events, then the event of death is enough to reform him. It makes a man a perfect worshipper of God. A time comes for every man when, helpless, he surrenders himself to death. Similarly, it is not within the power of any man, whether it concerns benefit or harm, to cause things to happen as he wants. He receives the desired benefit in any case; and remains safe from undesirable harm in any case. This state of affair shows that man is a powerless creature: he lives in a world where there is some Being who rules over him.

The real task of the call of Truth—conveying the message of God to a specific group—is fulfilled when the preacher proves that he is quite serious about his goals and finally makes the Truth known, with the help of sound reasoning. If the preacher rationalises the question of Truth according to the standard of the time, he bears full testimony to the Truth, and unmindful of gain or loss, he continues his preaching, tolerating all kinds of trouble and unpleasantness. Thereafter, the process of conclusive argument in relation to the addressee- community is completed; after which nobody will have the excuse of ignorance before God. The real work of a preacher lies in his adherence to divine revelations, that is, in conducting himself personally at the behest of our Lord and also repeatedly calling upon others to strive to bow to the will of the Lord in order to earn His pleasure. The preacher must keep this up continuously with patience, wisdom and well-wishing. After this, all the stages that remain are directly under the purview of God. Any further step on the part of the preachers will be proper only when God Himself has taken some decision upon it and has made His will quite clear. God’s decision always appears in the shape of circumstances. When, according to God’s assessment, a preacher’s missionary work has reached the required stage, God causes such changes in the situation as enable the preacher to enter the next phase of his preaching.

The real task of the call of Truth—conveying the message of God to a specific group—is fulfilled when the preacher proves that he is quite serious about his goals and finally makes the Truth known, with the help of sound reasoning. If the preacher rationalises the question of Truth according to the standard of the time, he bears full testimony to the Truth, and unmindful of gain or loss, he continues his preaching, tolerating all kinds of trouble and unpleasantness. Thereafter, the process of conclusive argument in relation to the addressee- community is completed; after which nobody will have the excuse of ignorance before God. The real work of a preacher lies in his adherence to divine revelations, that is, in conducting himself personally at the behest of our Lord and also repeatedly calling upon others to strive to bow to the will of the Lord in order to earn His pleasure. The preacher must keep this up continuously with patience, wisdom and well-wishing. After this, all the stages that remain are directly under the purview of God. Any further step on the part of the preachers will be proper only when God Himself has taken some decision upon it and has made His will quite clear. God’s decision always appears in the shape of circumstances. When, according to God’s assessment, a preacher’s missionary work has reached the required stage, God causes such changes in the situation as enable the preacher to enter the next phase of his preaching.

The message of the Quran is that man should not worship anyone except the one and only God. He should make the one and only God his everything; he should fear Him alone and repose his hopes in Him alone; his mind and heart should obey Him alone. In the affairs of his life, he should give prior consideration to His will and pleasure. He should be willing to place himself in the position of a worshipper and give God the status of the worshipped one. The task of the prophet is, in fact, that of making man aware of this position. This has been powerfully and lucidly described in the Quran. Now, what is expected of man is that he should give the correct response to the divine message. He should not ignore it under the influence of such feelings as jealousy, hauteur, vested interest or self-centredness, but duly accept it and turn towards God. He should seek God’s pardon for his past sins and, for the future, he should solicit God’s help. If food is presented to a man and he accepts it, it means that he intends to stimulate his physical growth. On the contrary, if he does not accept the food, it is as if he means to stunt his physical growth. The same holds for the call to the Truth. When a man accepts the Truth, in reality he accepts that Divine provision which enters into him and causes the righteous growth of his soul and his body, and finally takes him to that stage of his spiritual progress which entitles him to enter the Gardens of Paradise. One who does not accept the call to the Truth has, in effect, deprived his soul of the opportunities afforded by Divine uplift. While the acceptor of Truth lives in modesty, the rejecter of Truth will be flawed by hauteur. While the acceptor of Truth will spend each moment of his life in the remembrance of God, the denier of God will spend his time in the remembrance of beings other than God. While the acceptor of Truth adopts the way of obedience to God on all occasions in his life, the denier will instead adopt the way of arrogance. The result of this will be that the former will leave this world with a healthy and developed soul and will be treated as deserving of being settled in the rarefied atmosphere of Paradise. The soul of the latter will be unhealthy and under-developed and will deserve only to be thrown on to the garbage dump of hell.

The message of the Quran is that man should not worship anyone except the one and only God. He should make the one and only God his everything; he should fear Him alone and repose his hopes in Him alone; his mind and heart should obey Him alone. In the affairs of his life, he should give prior consideration to His will and pleasure. He should be willing to place himself in the position of a worshipper and give God the status of the worshipped one. The task of the prophet is, in fact, that of making man aware of this position. This has been powerfully and lucidly described in the Quran. Now, what is expected of man is that he should give the correct response to the divine message. He should not ignore it under the influence of such feelings as jealousy, hauteur, vested interest or self-centredness, but duly accept it and turn towards God. He should seek God’s pardon for his past sins and, for the future, he should solicit God’s help. If food is presented to a man and he accepts it, it means that he intends to stimulate his physical growth. On the contrary, if he does not accept the food, it is as if he means to stunt his physical growth. The same holds for the call to the Truth. When a man accepts the Truth, in reality he accepts that Divine provision which enters into him and causes the righteous growth of his soul and his body, and finally takes him to that stage of his spiritual progress which entitles him to enter the Gardens of Paradise. One who does not accept the call to the Truth has, in effect, deprived his soul of the opportunities afforded by Divine uplift. While the acceptor of Truth lives in modesty, the rejecter of Truth will be flawed by hauteur. While the acceptor of Truth will spend each moment of his life in the remembrance of God, the denier of God will spend his time in the remembrance of beings other than God. While the acceptor of Truth adopts the way of obedience to God on all occasions in his life, the denier will instead adopt the way of arrogance. The result of this will be that the former will leave this world with a healthy and developed soul and will be treated as deserving of being settled in the rarefied atmosphere of Paradise. The soul of the latter will be unhealthy and under-developed and will deserve only to be thrown on to the garbage dump of hell.

The message of the Quran is that man should not worship anyone except the one and only God. He should make the one and only God his everything; he should fear Him alone and repose his hopes in Him alone; his mind and heart should obey Him alone. In the affairs of his life, he should give prior consideration to His will and pleasure. He should be willing to place himself in the position of a worshipper and give God the status of the worshipped one. The task of the prophet is, in fact, that of making man aware of this position. This has been powerfully and lucidly described in the Quran. Now, what is expected of man is that he should give the correct response to the divine message. He should not ignore it under the influence of such feelings as jealousy, hauteur, vested interest or self-centredness, but duly accept it and turn towards God. He should seek God’s pardon for his past sins and, for the future, he should solicit God’s help. If food is presented to a man and he accepts it, it means that he intends to stimulate his physical growth. On the contrary, if he does not accept the food, it is as if he means to stunt his physical growth. The same holds for the call to the Truth. When a man accepts the Truth, in reality he accepts that Divine provision which enters into him and causes the righteous growth of his soul and his body, and finally takes him to that stage of his spiritual progress which entitles him to enter the Gardens of Paradise. One who does not accept the call to the Truth has, in effect, deprived his soul of the opportunities afforded by Divine uplift. While the acceptor of Truth lives in modesty, the rejecter of Truth will be flawed by hauteur. While the acceptor of Truth will spend each moment of his life in the remembrance of God, the denier of God will spend his time in the remembrance of beings other than God. While the acceptor of Truth adopts the way of obedience to God on all occasions in his life, the denier will instead adopt the way of arrogance. The result of this will be that the former will leave this world with a healthy and developed soul and will be treated as deserving of being settled in the rarefied atmosphere of Paradise. The soul of the latter will be unhealthy and under-developed and will deserve only to be thrown on to the garbage dump of hell.

The message of the Quran is that man should not worship anyone except the one and only God. He should make the one and only God his everything; he should fear Him alone and repose his hopes in Him alone; his mind and heart should obey Him alone. In the affairs of his life, he should give prior consideration to His will and pleasure. He should be willing to place himself in the position of a worshipper and give God the status of the worshipped one. The task of the prophet is, in fact, that of making man aware of this position. This has been powerfully and lucidly described in the Quran. Now, what is expected of man is that he should give the correct response to the divine message. He should not ignore it under the influence of such feelings as jealousy, hauteur, vested interest or self-centredness, but duly accept it and turn towards God. He should seek God’s pardon for his past sins and, for the future, he should solicit God’s help. If food is presented to a man and he accepts it, it means that he intends to stimulate his physical growth. On the contrary, if he does not accept the food, it is as if he means to stunt his physical growth. The same holds for the call to the Truth. When a man accepts the Truth, in reality he accepts that Divine provision which enters into him and causes the righteous growth of his soul and his body, and finally takes him to that stage of his spiritual progress which entitles him to enter the Gardens of Paradise. One who does not accept the call to the Truth has, in effect, deprived his soul of the opportunities afforded by Divine uplift. While the acceptor of Truth lives in modesty, the rejecter of Truth will be flawed by hauteur. While the acceptor of Truth will spend each moment of his life in the remembrance of God, the denier of God will spend his time in the remembrance of beings other than God. While the acceptor of Truth adopts the way of obedience to God on all occasions in his life, the denier will instead adopt the way of arrogance. The result of this will be that the former will leave this world with a healthy and developed soul and will be treated as deserving of being settled in the rarefied atmosphere of Paradise. The soul of the latter will be unhealthy and under-developed and will deserve only to be thrown on to the garbage dump of hell.

When the call to the unity of God (tawhid) was made to certain chiefs of the Quraysh, they rose and, nonchalantly donning their mantles, they left. This is, in fact, a way of ignoring something. When a man considers a preacher lowly in comparison to himself, he behaves in this way. But he forgets that Almighty God knows very well the psychology of his doing so. This is not only ignoring a man (the preacher) but amounts also to ignoring God Himself, Who knows all open and hidden matters. And then, what will be man’s condition when he faces God? He will see that God, whom he had ignored, was the Being who gave him all that he possessed—even those things on the strength of which he had ignored the word of God. Man is living in God’s world and ultimately he has to return to his Maker. But he lives as if he has no connection with God today and will have nothing to do with Him in future.

When the call to the unity of God (tawhid) was made to certain chiefs of the Quraysh, they rose and, nonchalantly donning their mantles, they left. This is, in fact, a way of ignoring something. When a man considers a preacher lowly in comparison to himself, he behaves in this way. But he forgets that Almighty God knows very well the psychology of his doing so. This is not only ignoring a man (the preacher) but amounts also to ignoring God Himself, Who knows all open and hidden matters. And then, what will be man’s condition when he faces God? He will see that God, whom he had ignored, was the Being who gave him all that he possessed—even those things on the strength of which he had ignored the word of God. Man is living in God’s world and ultimately he has to return to his Maker. But he lives as if he has no connection with God today and will have nothing to do with Him in future.

The present world was created by God in six days, that is, in six stages or six periods. There was a period when its surface was covered with water. In this part of God’s domain, only water was seen everywhere at that time. Then, at God’s behest, patches of land emerged and water filled the great hollows which became the seas and the oceans. In this way it was possible for various species of life to come into existence on the earth. God has the power to give an ideal shape to things and events, but He has chosen to fashion this world in a less than ideal way, so that it may serve as a testing ground for man. Indeed, God’s purpose in creating the world and settling human beings upon it was to single out the doers of good deeds. ‘Good deed’ is actually another name for a realistic deed, i.e. one which a man is required to perform in accordance with reality, without there being any pressure upon him to do. The realistic person is one who appreciates the hidden hand of God by peering through the cause-and-effect veil which, by design, He has drawn over His creations; he is one who, in spite of apparently having power, renders himself powerless; one who, in spite of having the option of leading an arrogant life, becomes obedient to God. In the present world, the selection of such realistic persons continues unremittingly. When the period of this selection is over, the present system will be replaced by another standard system in which all good things will be allotted only to those who perform good deeds, leaving all bad things for the wrongdoers. Almighty God does not immediately catch hold of those who deny the truth and the arrogant in view of His rule of giving respite; i.e. He gives them respite to the fullest possible extent, so that they may be warned and reform themselves, or finally prove themselves guilty. This rule of respite becomes a cause of misunderstanding to certain arrogant people. They forget their real position of powerlessness and start indulging in tall talk. But, when they are smitten by God’s scourge, they will there and then come to know how helpless they are in comparison to God.

The present world was created by God in six days, that is, in six stages or six periods. There was a period when its surface was covered with water. In this part of God’s domain, only water was seen everywhere at that time. Then, at God’s behest, patches of land emerged and water filled the great hollows which became the seas and the oceans. In this way it was possible for various species of life to come into existence on the earth. God has the power to give an ideal shape to things and events, but He has chosen to fashion this world in a less than ideal way, so that it may serve as a testing ground for man. Indeed, God’s purpose in creating the world and settling human beings upon it was to single out the doers of good deeds. ‘Good deed’ is actually another name for a realistic deed, i.e. one which a man is required to perform in accordance with reality, without there being any pressure upon him to do. The realistic person is one who appreciates the hidden hand of God by peering through the cause-and-effect veil which, by design, He has drawn over His creations; he is one who, in spite of apparently having power, renders himself powerless; one who, in spite of having the option of leading an arrogant life, becomes obedient to God. In the present world, the selection of such realistic persons continues unremittingly. When the period of this selection is over, the present system will be replaced by another standard system in which all good things will be allotted only to those who perform good deeds, leaving all bad things for the wrongdoers. Almighty God does not immediately catch hold of those who deny the truth and the arrogant in view of His rule of giving respite; i.e. He gives them respite to the fullest possible extent, so that they may be warned and reform themselves, or finally prove themselves guilty. This rule of respite becomes a cause of misunderstanding to certain arrogant people. They forget their real position of powerlessness and start indulging in tall talk. But, when they are smitten by God’s scourge, they will there and then come to know how helpless they are in comparison to God.

In the present world, man is given ease and hardship by turns. But here, neither is comfort given as a reward nor is hardship imposed as a punishment. The purpose of both is to put human beings to the test. This world is a great examination hall. The purpose of whatever happens to man here is to see what sort of responses he offers to different testing conditions. That man is a failure whose behaviour is such that when he receives some worldly bounties from God, he becomes proud; he behaves with haughtiness towards those who appear to him of a lower status than himself. Similarly, that person is also a failure who displays ingratitude when some bounty is taken away from him or he becomes the victim of some affliction. Even after being deprived of something, a man still possesses many things granted to him by God. But man forgets them and becomes so desperate over that one loss, it is as if he had been robbed of everything. On the contrary, those who fully measure up to the standards of Faith are individuals who are patient and righteous in their deeds. That is, in spite of every setback, they keep their emotional balance and continue to exercise moderation; they continue to do whatever they are required to do as subjects of God. What is patience? It is a man’s conduct being shaped by principles and not by the conditions and situations in which he finds himself. Whatever may be the condition, he should rise above them and formulate his views purely in the light of Truth. He should have the courage to live on the level of his Faith and moral awareness, unaffected by the prevailing conditions. This sort of life is one of piety. Those who establish their piety in this way will be the ones who will share God’s bounties in the future life and have a place in God’s eternal Gardens.

In the present world, man is given ease and hardship by turns. But here, neither is comfort given as a reward nor is hardship imposed as a punishment. The purpose of both is to put human beings to the test. This world is a great examination hall. The purpose of whatever happens to man here is to see what sort of responses he offers to different testing conditions. That man is a failure whose behaviour is such that when he receives some worldly bounties from God, he becomes proud; he behaves with haughtiness towards those who appear to him of a lower status than himself. Similarly, that person is also a failure who displays ingratitude when some bounty is taken away from him or he becomes the victim of some affliction. Even after being deprived of something, a man still possesses many things granted to him by God. But man forgets them and becomes so desperate over that one loss, it is as if he had been robbed of everything. On the contrary, those who fully measure up to the standards of Faith are individuals who are patient and righteous in their deeds. That is, in spite of every setback, they keep their emotional balance and continue to exercise moderation; they continue to do whatever they are required to do as subjects of God. What is patience? It is a man’s conduct being shaped by principles and not by the conditions and situations in which he finds himself. Whatever may be the condition, he should rise above them and formulate his views purely in the light of Truth. He should have the courage to live on the level of his Faith and moral awareness, unaffected by the prevailing conditions. This sort of life is one of piety. Those who establish their piety in this way will be the ones who will share God’s bounties in the future life and have a place in God’s eternal Gardens.

In the present world, man is given ease and hardship by turns. But here, neither is comfort given as a reward nor is hardship imposed as a punishment. The purpose of both is to put human beings to the test. This world is a great examination hall. The purpose of whatever happens to man here is to see what sort of responses he offers to different testing conditions. That man is a failure whose behaviour is such that when he receives some worldly bounties from God, he becomes proud; he behaves with haughtiness towards those who appear to him of a lower status than himself. Similarly, that person is also a failure who displays ingratitude when some bounty is taken away from him or he becomes the victim of some affliction. Even after being deprived of something, a man still possesses many things granted to him by God. But man forgets them and becomes so desperate over that one loss, it is as if he had been robbed of everything. On the contrary, those who fully measure up to the standards of Faith are individuals who are patient and righteous in their deeds. That is, in spite of every setback, they keep their emotional balance and continue to exercise moderation; they continue to do whatever they are required to do as subjects of God. What is patience? It is a man’s conduct being shaped by principles and not by the conditions and situations in which he finds himself. Whatever may be the condition, he should rise above them and formulate his views purely in the light of Truth. He should have the courage to live on the level of his Faith and moral awareness, unaffected by the prevailing conditions. This sort of life is one of piety. Those who establish their piety in this way will be the ones who will share God’s bounties in the future life and have a place in God’s eternal Gardens.

When the Prophet Muhammad started opposing the ascribing of partners to God (shirk) and called upon the people to accept the oneness of God (tawhid), his addressees became perturbed. This was because the people most adversely affected by his statements were their great ones—the great ones whose religion they had adopted and were proud to venerate. The position was that these leading lights of ancient Arabia had attained pre-eminence in their eyes through a historical process, while as yet no historical greatness was attached to the Prophet Muhammad. He appeared to them at that time as a man of no consequence. So, the people of Arabia were greatly upset that an ordinary man was making statements which made their leaders lose in credibility. Under these circumstances the thought crosses the preacher’s mind that he should at least temporarily give up being critical in his approach and present his message in a more palatable way. ‘You may (feel the inclination) to leave aside a part of what is revealed to you’ means this very portion of the revelations, which contained criticism of polytheistic beliefs. But, Almighty God wants to clarify everything. And if, as a result of fully clarifying the Truth, the preacher is made the butt of ridicule and opposed, this inimical reaction on the part of the addressees is the cost a man has to pay in this world for becoming the preacher of unadulterated Truth. The most certain proof of the veracity of God’s messenger is his inimitable discourse. Those who scorned the Prophet and who rejected the idea that this apparently ordinary man possessed that Truth, which even their great ones did not have, were told that they should not test the Prophet’s veracity on the basis of his material condition, but should appreciate that his missionary discourse was so great that neither they nor their leaders could produce the like of it. This inimitable distinction is a definite proof of the fact that the Prophet was speaking for and on behalf of God. In spite of this clear sign of the Prophet’s veracity, why are people still hesitating to become the obedient servants of God?

When the Prophet Muhammad started opposing the ascribing of partners to God (shirk) and called upon the people to accept the oneness of God (tawhid), his addressees became perturbed. This was because the people most adversely affected by his statements were their great ones—the great ones whose religion they had adopted and were proud to venerate. The position was that these leading lights of ancient Arabia had attained pre-eminence in their eyes through a historical process, while as yet no historical greatness was attached to the Prophet Muhammad. He appeared to them at that time as a man of no consequence. So, the people of Arabia were greatly upset that an ordinary man was making statements which made their leaders lose in credibility. Under these circumstances the thought crosses the preacher’s mind that he should at least temporarily give up being critical in his approach and present his message in a more palatable way. ‘You may (feel the inclination) to leave aside a part of what is revealed to you’ means this very portion of the revelations, which contained criticism of polytheistic beliefs. But, Almighty God wants to clarify everything. And if, as a result of fully clarifying the Truth, the preacher is made the butt of ridicule and opposed, this inimical reaction on the part of the addressees is the cost a man has to pay in this world for becoming the preacher of unadulterated Truth. The most certain proof of the veracity of God’s messenger is his inimitable discourse. Those who scorned the Prophet and who rejected the idea that this apparently ordinary man possessed that Truth, which even their great ones did not have, were told that they should not test the Prophet’s veracity on the basis of his material condition, but should appreciate that his missionary discourse was so great that neither they nor their leaders could produce the like of it. This inimitable distinction is a definite proof of the fact that the Prophet was speaking for and on behalf of God. In spite of this clear sign of the Prophet’s veracity, why are people still hesitating to become the obedient servants of God?

When the Prophet Muhammad started opposing the ascribing of partners to God (shirk) and called upon the people to accept the oneness of God (tawhid), his addressees became perturbed. This was because the people most adversely affected by his statements were their great ones—the great ones whose religion they had adopted and were proud to venerate. The position was that these leading lights of ancient Arabia had attained pre-eminence in their eyes through a historical process, while as yet no historical greatness was attached to the Prophet Muhammad. He appeared to them at that time as a man of no consequence. So, the people of Arabia were greatly upset that an ordinary man was making statements which made their leaders lose in credibility. Under these circumstances the thought crosses the preacher’s mind that he should at least temporarily give up being critical in his approach and present his message in a more palatable way. ‘You may (feel the inclination) to leave aside a part of what is revealed to you’ means this very portion of the revelations, which contained criticism of polytheistic beliefs. But, Almighty God wants to clarify everything. And if, as a result of fully clarifying the Truth, the preacher is made the butt of ridicule and opposed, this inimical reaction on the part of the addressees is the cost a man has to pay in this world for becoming the preacher of unadulterated Truth. The most certain proof of the veracity of God’s messenger is his inimitable discourse. Those who scorned the Prophet and who rejected the idea that this apparently ordinary man possessed that Truth, which even their great ones did not have, were told that they should not test the Prophet’s veracity on the basis of his material condition, but should appreciate that his missionary discourse was so great that neither they nor their leaders could produce the like of it. This inimitable distinction is a definite proof of the fact that the Prophet was speaking for and on behalf of God. In spite of this clear sign of the Prophet’s veracity, why are people still hesitating to become the obedient servants of God?

There are two kinds of religion—one adulterated and the other unadulterated. The former, although a compromise between religion and worldliness, displays the label of religion. This is why in every period big institutions come into existence on its basis and through them, people with vested interests receive worldly benefits in the name of ‘religion’. The case of unadulterated religion is just the opposite. When its call goes out, it is to project a purely theoretical Truth; it is not surrounded by economic interests and leadership considerations. This being so, when the call of unadulterated religion reaches those who have attained a high status and great respect in the name of adulterated religion, they are horrified, because they feel that, on adopting it, they will lose all their worldly benefits. People often engage themselves in worldly activities in the name of religion. The call of pure religion among such people amounts to exposing them for what they really are. The call of truth is, in fact, a subtle test paper for its addressees. Now the very people who were engaged in activities in the name of religion resist the call of truth. Their resistance to the divine message shows that their ‘religious’ observances were, in fact, interest-oriented worldly activities. Had they been sincere in their service to religion, they would have lost no time in recognizing the Truth in its unadulterated form. The call of Truth thus serves as a discriminator between sincere and insincere people. The sincere are ready to make any sacrifice for the true cause of religion. But the insincere favour only that religion which ensures the safety of their worldly gains. They cannot even contemplate losing their material assets. They want to spend their time and energy only on those religious activities which bring them fame, honour and all other worldly benefits. Obviously such efforts cannot bear fruit in the Hereafter.

There are two kinds of religion—one adulterated and the other unadulterated. The former, although a compromise between religion and worldliness, displays the label of religion. This is why in every period big institutions come into existence on its basis and through them, people with vested interests receive worldly benefits in the name of ‘religion’. The case of unadulterated religion is just the opposite. When its call goes out, it is to project a purely theoretical Truth; it is not surrounded by economic interests and leadership considerations. This being so, when the call of unadulterated religion reaches those who have attained a high status and great respect in the name of adulterated religion, they are horrified, because they feel that, on adopting it, they will lose all their worldly benefits. People often engage themselves in worldly activities in the name of religion. The call of pure religion among such people amounts to exposing them for what they really are. The call of truth is, in fact, a subtle test paper for its addressees. Now the very people who were engaged in activities in the name of religion resist the call of truth. Their resistance to the divine message shows that their ‘religious’ observances were, in fact, interest-oriented worldly activities. Had they been sincere in their service to religion, they would have lost no time in recognizing the Truth in its unadulterated form. The call of Truth thus serves as a discriminator between sincere and insincere people. The sincere are ready to make any sacrifice for the true cause of religion. But the insincere favour only that religion which ensures the safety of their worldly gains. They cannot even contemplate losing their material assets. They want to spend their time and energy only on those religious activities which bring them fame, honour and all other worldly benefits. Obviously such efforts cannot bear fruit in the Hereafter.

When the Prophet Muhammad called upon the people of Arabia to accept the oneness of God, only a few individuals accepted it, while many rejected it. This is what happens in every period with the call to the Truth. God created every man with an upright nature as befits his human status. In every corner of the world, there are signs which proclaim the existence of his Creator and give indications of His creation scheme. Moreover, a long line of God’s prophets, one of whom was Moses, have been coming into the world, right from the beginning of the human era, to convey the divine message to man. The scripture brought by Moses is still extant in some form or the other. Now, one who is serious and sincere will have the ability to learn lessons from things, and will be so familiar with the Truth that, whenever a preacher presents the Truth to him, he will immediately recognise it. His heart and mind will bear testimony to that call of Truth; he will go ahead and readily adopt it, as if it were the very voice of his heart. But the condition of most people is that they do not look upon things with any great seriousness. They mar their lives by indulging in superficial show and ephemeral interests. Their being busy in unnecessary engagements never gives them the chance to pause and give thought to the missionary and his message. So when they are called to the Truth, they are unable to recognise it. Due to their perverted, spoiled temperament, they reject or even oppose it. Such are those who have failed to appreciate God and God’s scheme of creation. In the Hereafter, they shall have nothing but the Fire of Hell in store for them. Human nature, the events occurring on earth or in the skies, as well as previous scriptures, all bear testimony to the Quran’s veracity. In spite of this, if the majority of people reject it, then the reason for this shall have to be sought in those who reject it, rather than in the pages of the Quran.

Here the invention of a falsehood does not refer to the Being of God, but to His word. God did not appear before us Himself, in order to give His message, but had it announced through the mouth of a human being. This human being at that time happened apparently to be an ordinary man, but there were clearly godly glimpses in his discourse. If, in their judgement of him, people had taken into account his discourse, they would have found God in its greatness. But thanks to people’s superficiality and appearance-loving nature, their view was contorted by the ordinary position of the preacher. The prophet’s being ‘ordinary’ (in terms of worldly glory) was visible to them, but they were unable to see the extraordinary nature of the message given by him. They considered it as emanating from an ‘ordinary’ man and heaped scorn upon it; they raised false objections to what he had to say and then ignored it as if it were of no importance whatsoever.

The real reasons for people’s sinful behaviour and their failure to treat the divine message with due respect were their lack of any firm belief in the Hereafter and their having no fear in their hearts for Almighty God. It was this fearlessness which caused them to treat the divine message without the seriousness it deserved. And anything about which an individual is not serious will fail to elicit the correct response from him. But such insincerity and lack of seriousness will vanish when people stand before the Lord of the Universe on the Day of Judgement. At that time they will have lost their present freedom. The worldly goods and resources on the strength of which they had become arrogant, will turn into God’s tape-recorders, which will start giving evidence against them. At that time it will be abundantly clear that the reason for their rejection of God’s preacher was not that they were unable to understand him, but rather that they were not serious about him. The horror of Doomsday will suddenly make them serious. At that time, in the face of their own helplessness, they will understand all that they had been unable to understand while living in the world in an atmosphere of freedom. God has blessed man with fine capabilities and talents. If he utilises them, he can understand any subject in depth. In his worldly matters, he actually utilises these talents, but when it comes to the Hereafter, he becomes deaf, in spite of having ears. He becomes blind, in spite of having eyes. Man’s success depends entirely upon his sincerity. Those who are sincere in worldly matters are successful in them. Similarly, those who are sincere in matters of the Hereafter will be successful in the Hereafter.

The real reasons for people’s sinful behaviour and their failure to treat the divine message with due respect were their lack of any firm belief in the Hereafter and their having no fear in their hearts for Almighty God. It was this fearlessness which caused them to treat the divine message without the seriousness it deserved. And anything about which an individual is not serious will fail to elicit the correct response from him. But such insincerity and lack of seriousness will vanish when people stand before the Lord of the Universe on the Day of Judgement. At that time they will have lost their present freedom. The worldly goods and resources on the strength of which they had become arrogant, will turn into God’s tape-recorders, which will start giving evidence against them. At that time it will be abundantly clear that the reason for their rejection of God’s preacher was not that they were unable to understand him, but rather that they were not serious about him. The horror of Doomsday will suddenly make them serious. At that time, in the face of their own helplessness, they will understand all that they had been unable to understand while living in the world in an atmosphere of freedom. God has blessed man with fine capabilities and talents. If he utilises them, he can understand any subject in depth. In his worldly matters, he actually utilises these talents, but when it comes to the Hereafter, he becomes deaf, in spite of having ears. He becomes blind, in spite of having eyes. Man’s success depends entirely upon his sincerity. Those who are sincere in worldly matters are successful in them. Similarly, those who are sincere in matters of the Hereafter will be successful in the Hereafter.

The real reasons for people’s sinful behaviour and their failure to treat the divine message with due respect were their lack of any firm belief in the Hereafter and their having no fear in their hearts for Almighty God. It was this fearlessness which caused them to treat the divine message without the seriousness it deserved. And anything about which an individual is not serious will fail to elicit the correct response from him. But such insincerity and lack of seriousness will vanish when people stand before the Lord of the Universe on the Day of Judgement. At that time they will have lost their present freedom. The worldly goods and resources on the strength of which they had become arrogant, will turn into God’s tape-recorders, which will start giving evidence against them. At that time it will be abundantly clear that the reason for their rejection of God’s preacher was not that they were unable to understand him, but rather that they were not serious about him. The horror of Doomsday will suddenly make them serious. At that time, in the face of their own helplessness, they will understand all that they had been unable to understand while living in the world in an atmosphere of freedom. God has blessed man with fine capabilities and talents. If he utilises them, he can understand any subject in depth. In his worldly matters, he actually utilises these talents, but when it comes to the Hereafter, he becomes deaf, in spite of having ears. He becomes blind, in spite of having eyes. Man’s success depends entirely upon his sincerity. Those who are sincere in worldly matters are successful in them. Similarly, those who are sincere in matters of the Hereafter will be successful in the Hereafter.

The real reasons for people’s sinful behaviour and their failure to treat the divine message with due respect were their lack of any firm belief in the Hereafter and their having no fear in their hearts for Almighty God. It was this fearlessness which caused them to treat the divine message without the seriousness it deserved. And anything about which an individual is not serious will fail to elicit the correct response from him. But such insincerity and lack of seriousness will vanish when people stand before the Lord of the Universe on the Day of Judgement. At that time they will have lost their present freedom. The worldly goods and resources on the strength of which they had become arrogant, will turn into God’s tape-recorders, which will start giving evidence against them. At that time it will be abundantly clear that the reason for their rejection of God’s preacher was not that they were unable to understand him, but rather that they were not serious about him. The horror of Doomsday will suddenly make them serious. At that time, in the face of their own helplessness, they will understand all that they had been unable to understand while living in the world in an atmosphere of freedom. God has blessed man with fine capabilities and talents. If he utilises them, he can understand any subject in depth. In his worldly matters, he actually utilises these talents, but when it comes to the Hereafter, he becomes deaf, in spite of having ears. He becomes blind, in spite of having eyes. Man’s success depends entirely upon his sincerity. Those who are sincere in worldly matters are successful in them. Similarly, those who are sincere in matters of the Hereafter will be successful in the Hereafter.

Being humble is the essence of Faith. Faith is neither something hereditary nor does it consist of the mere recitation of certain phrases. Faith is a discovery. When a man finds God by living in a state of keen awareness and in comparison realizes his position of helplessness, the feeling which takes possession of him at that time is known as humility (ikhbat). Humility is the necessary result of one’s realisation and recognition of one’s own position of powerlessness in comparison with God. Faith, humility and righteous deeds—all three are different aspects of the same reality. Faith is the conscious discovery of God and His perfect attributes. Humility is the state of the heart which necessarily develops in man as a result of the discovery of God. When man thinks in godly terms, when his heart is full of godly feelings, the natural result is that the external aspect of his life becomes moulded in the shape of godly, or righteous deeds. One who is the embodiment of Faith, humility and righteous deeds is the very person desired by God and as such will find his abode in the eternal gardens of paradise. Testing conditions of the highest order have been created in this world in order to find out which group used their senses of hearing and observation to discover the truth and moulded themselves accordingly. These are the sincere people of this world: they applied their reason and found the truth. The others did not properly use their senses of hearing and observation, so that naturally they did not acquire any knowledge of the truth and, that being so, did not mould themselves according to it. They are the blind and the deaf. Obviously, these are two different types of people and their ultimate fate cannot be the same.

Being humble is the essence of Faith. Faith is neither something hereditary nor does it consist of the mere recitation of certain phrases. Faith is a discovery. When a man finds God by living in a state of keen awareness and in comparison realizes his position of helplessness, the feeling which takes possession of him at that time is known as humility (ikhbat). Humility is the necessary result of one’s realisation and recognition of one’s own position of powerlessness in comparison with God. Faith, humility and righteous deeds—all three are different aspects of the same reality. Faith is the conscious discovery of God and His perfect attributes. Humility is the state of the heart which necessarily develops in man as a result of the discovery of God. When man thinks in godly terms, when his heart is full of godly feelings, the natural result is that the external aspect of his life becomes moulded in the shape of godly, or righteous deeds. One who is the embodiment of Faith, humility and righteous deeds is the very person desired by God and as such will find his abode in the eternal gardens of paradise. Testing conditions of the highest order have been created in this world in order to find out which group used their senses of hearing and observation to discover the truth and moulded themselves accordingly. These are the sincere people of this world: they applied their reason and found the truth. The others did not properly use their senses of hearing and observation, so that naturally they did not acquire any knowledge of the truth and, that being so, did not mould themselves according to it. They are the blind and the deaf. Obviously, these are two different types of people and their ultimate fate cannot be the same.

Numerous prophets of God have appeared in this world and it has been their mission to acquaint man with God’s scheme of creation—the scheme by which man has been kept in the present world for the purpose of putting him to the test. Here, one has the opportunity to worship different things, but what is desired from man is that he should become the worshipper of God. Those who do not become God’s worshippers have failed in the test and shall have to face severe punishment in the life after death. This is precisely what Noah told the people of his community. So, he became the ‘clear warner’ for them, but his community did not accept what he had to say. The reason for this was the propensity of the people to be taken in by appearances. In theory, man is a prey to many kinds of misguidance. But, in fact, there has been only one way of human beings going astray throughout the ages and that is their clinging to appearances coupled with their worldly approach to all matters. World-oriented people, in accordance with their temperament, assume worldly things to be the standard by which to determine Truth and untruth. Either consciously or unconsciously, they presume that the possessor of worldly outward glories is in possession of the Truth and one who is deprived of worldly glories is also deprived of the Truth. When God’s missionary makes his appearance, he seems to his contemporaries to be only a human being among other human beings. From the worldly point of view he has no special signs of greatness around him. And since, till then, no material benefits had become attached to the religion he presents to people, it is mostly destitute people who have nothing to lose by adopting the ‘new religion,’ who enter the fold of that religion. This state of affairs becomes a trial for the great ones of the time. They presume that since the adherents of the new religion have no worldly glory, neither can they be in possession of the Truth, so much so that there are certain people in the community who do not hesitate to call them impostors and liars.

Numerous prophets of God have appeared in this world and it has been their mission to acquaint man with God’s scheme of creation—the scheme by which man has been kept in the present world for the purpose of putting him to the test. Here, one has the opportunity to worship different things, but what is desired from man is that he should become the worshipper of God. Those who do not become God’s worshippers have failed in the test and shall have to face severe punishment in the life after death. This is precisely what Noah told the people of his community. So, he became the ‘clear warner’ for them, but his community did not accept what he had to say. The reason for this was the propensity of the people to be taken in by appearances. In theory, man is a prey to many kinds of misguidance. But, in fact, there has been only one way of human beings going astray throughout the ages and that is their clinging to appearances coupled with their worldly approach to all matters. World-oriented people, in accordance with their temperament, assume worldly things to be the standard by which to determine Truth and untruth. Either consciously or unconsciously, they presume that the possessor of worldly outward glories is in possession of the Truth and one who is deprived of worldly glories is also deprived of the Truth. When God’s missionary makes his appearance, he seems to his contemporaries to be only a human being among other human beings. From the worldly point of view he has no special signs of greatness around him. And since, till then, no material benefits had become attached to the religion he presents to people, it is mostly destitute people who have nothing to lose by adopting the ‘new religion,’ who enter the fold of that religion. This state of affairs becomes a trial for the great ones of the time. They presume that since the adherents of the new religion have no worldly glory, neither can they be in possession of the Truth, so much so that there are certain people in the community who do not hesitate to call them impostors and liars.

Numerous prophets of God have appeared in this world and it has been their mission to acquaint man with God’s scheme of creation—the scheme by which man has been kept in the present world for the purpose of putting him to the test. Here, one has the opportunity to worship different things, but what is desired from man is that he should become the worshipper of God. Those who do not become God’s worshippers have failed in the test and shall have to face severe punishment in the life after death. This is precisely what Noah told the people of his community. So, he became the ‘clear warner’ for them, but his community did not accept what he had to say. The reason for this was the propensity of the people to be taken in by appearances. In theory, man is a prey to many kinds of misguidance. But, in fact, there has been only one way of human beings going astray throughout the ages and that is their clinging to appearances coupled with their worldly approach to all matters. World-oriented people, in accordance with their temperament, assume worldly things to be the standard by which to determine Truth and untruth. Either consciously or unconsciously, they presume that the possessor of worldly outward glories is in possession of the Truth and one who is deprived of worldly glories is also deprived of the Truth. When God’s missionary makes his appearance, he seems to his contemporaries to be only a human being among other human beings. From the worldly point of view he has no special signs of greatness around him. And since, till then, no material benefits had become attached to the religion he presents to people, it is mostly destitute people who have nothing to lose by adopting the ‘new religion,’ who enter the fold of that religion. This state of affairs becomes a trial for the great ones of the time. They presume that since the adherents of the new religion have no worldly glory, neither can they be in possession of the Truth, so much so that there are certain people in the community who do not hesitate to call them impostors and liars.

Here ‘baiyyinah’ means argument, while ‘rahmah’ means prophethood. (Tafsir an-Nafasi). When a prophet preaches to a community, he takes a stand on these two things. After the Prophet, a preacher will be a true preacher only when he takes a stand on precisely these two things, with the difference that whatever inspiration he has will be what he indirectly received from the Prophet, while the Prophet received it directly from God. When a community ignores the messenger of God, thinking that from the worldly point of view he has nothing of value for them, at that very time he is in a position to give them very great and valuable things, i.e. argument and guidance. The greatness of reasoning and guidance is totally at the command of the messenger. This is an important part of his inner and intangible greatness, but how can those whose eyes are fixed on outward glamour appreciate it?

Here ‘baiyyinah’ means argument, while ‘rahmah’ means prophethood. (Tafsir an-Nafasi). When a prophet preaches to a community, he takes a stand on these two things. After the Prophet, a preacher will be a true preacher only when he takes a stand on precisely these two things, with the difference that whatever inspiration he has will be what he indirectly received from the Prophet, while the Prophet received it directly from God. When a community ignores the messenger of God, thinking that from the worldly point of view he has nothing of value for them, at that very time he is in a position to give them very great and valuable things, i.e. argument and guidance. The greatness of reasoning and guidance is totally at the command of the messenger. This is an important part of his inner and intangible greatness, but how can those whose eyes are fixed on outward glamour appreciate it?

The task of calling upon people to bow to God relates purely to the Hereafter. In order to ensure its success, it is absolutely necessary that there should be no disputes relating to money, land or property between the call-giver and his addressees. The call-giver himself has to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining a normal atmosphere between himself and his addressees, and for that purpose, he should unilaterally put an end to all types of material and economic disputes. That preacher who, on the one hand, makes a plea for the acceptance of Truth and, on the other, agitates and makes demands about worldly things is not a preacher in the real sense but a charlatan. He can have no value in the eyes either of his addressees or of God. The test of the addressee is that he should be able to see the greatness of Truth in an ordinary man. Conversely, the preacher should not welcome an irreligious person simply because he possesses property and status, nor should he disregard a religious person simply because he does not possess the trappings of worldly pomp and glory. If a preacher does so, it means that by word of mouth he delivers sermons about the importance of the Hereafter, while in practice he proves himself to be one who attaches greater importance to the world. Obviously, this amounts to contradicting oneself, and the word of such a person has no value in the eyes of others.

The task of calling upon people to bow to God relates purely to the Hereafter. In order to ensure its success, it is absolutely necessary that there should be no disputes relating to money, land or property between the call-giver and his addressees. The call-giver himself has to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining a normal atmosphere between himself and his addressees, and for that purpose, he should unilaterally put an end to all types of material and economic disputes. That preacher who, on the one hand, makes a plea for the acceptance of Truth and, on the other, agitates and makes demands about worldly things is not a preacher in the real sense but a charlatan. He can have no value in the eyes either of his addressees or of God. The test of the addressee is that he should be able to see the greatness of Truth in an ordinary man. Conversely, the preacher should not welcome an irreligious person simply because he possesses property and status, nor should he disregard a religious person simply because he does not possess the trappings of worldly pomp and glory. If a preacher does so, it means that by word of mouth he delivers sermons about the importance of the Hereafter, while in practice he proves himself to be one who attaches greater importance to the world. Obviously, this amounts to contradicting oneself, and the word of such a person has no value in the eyes of others.

Noah did not indulge in disputes or debating sessions ( jidal) with his community. He used simply to present his righteous message to them in a serious manner. But his serious call appeared to his community to be quite the opposite. The reason for this is man’s weakness: when he himself is affected, he loses all seriousness. He does not see things in the light of reason or proof. He straightaway rejects the Truth without giving it serious consideration. Even the solid reasoning of the preacher appears to him to be meaningless discussion and jidal. The statement, ‘Noah, you have argued with us, and argued to excess’ is not intended to indicate what Noah said, but rather shows how little importance was attached to his word by his hearers. Similarly, the demand for their own punishment made by Noah’s opponents was not really seriously meant, but was intended rather to ridicule Noah. What is really meant was, ‘See, this person is talking of something which is never going to happen.’ They thought that their position was so strong that there was no scope for any punishment to be meted out to them. Adopting this attitude, they said, ‘Bring on us that punishment of which you have been warning us, as a result of our rejection.’ And since, according to them, such punishment was never going to occur, their statement implied: ‘We are based on Truth and you on untruth.’ Noah replied that they were looking at the matter in the context of his personality and it was because he was a weak person, that they were unable to understand how any punishment could ever come upon them. He added that had they looked at the matter in relation to God, they would not have taken this stand, because then they would have realised that God’s retribution against the transgressor in this world was as certain as the rising of the sun and as terrible as the eruption of an earthquake. Acceptance of the message of the missionary of Truth mostly depends on the hearer not looking at it in the context of the messenger’s personality, but rather valuing it on the basis of its content. Since Noah’s community took his word as that of an ordinary man, he said that with that mentality they would never be able to discover the real value of what he had to say. Therefore, the only option now left to them was to wait for the Day when God would appear right in front of them.

Noah did not indulge in disputes or debating sessions ( jidal) with his community. He used simply to present his righteous message to them in a serious manner. But his serious call appeared to his community to be quite the opposite. The reason for this is man’s weakness: when he himself is affected, he loses all seriousness. He does not see things in the light of reason or proof. He straightaway rejects the Truth without giving it serious consideration. Even the solid reasoning of the preacher appears to him to be meaningless discussion and jidal. The statement, ‘Noah, you have argued with us, and argued to excess’ is not intended to indicate what Noah said, but rather shows how little importance was attached to his word by his hearers. Similarly, the demand for their own punishment made by Noah’s opponents was not really seriously meant, but was intended rather to ridicule Noah. What is really meant was, ‘See, this person is talking of something which is never going to happen.’ They thought that their position was so strong that there was no scope for any punishment to be meted out to them. Adopting this attitude, they said, ‘Bring on us that punishment of which you have been warning us, as a result of our rejection.’ And since, according to them, such punishment was never going to occur, their statement implied: ‘We are based on Truth and you on untruth.’ Noah replied that they were looking at the matter in the context of his personality and it was because he was a weak person, that they were unable to understand how any punishment could ever come upon them. He added that had they looked at the matter in relation to God, they would not have taken this stand, because then they would have realised that God’s retribution against the transgressor in this world was as certain as the rising of the sun and as terrible as the eruption of an earthquake. Acceptance of the message of the missionary of Truth mostly depends on the hearer not looking at it in the context of the messenger’s personality, but rather valuing it on the basis of its content. Since Noah’s community took his word as that of an ordinary man, he said that with that mentality they would never be able to discover the real value of what he had to say. Therefore, the only option now left to them was to wait for the Day when God would appear right in front of them.

Noah did not indulge in disputes or debating sessions ( jidal) with his community. He used simply to present his righteous message to them in a serious manner. But his serious call appeared to his community to be quite the opposite. The reason for this is man’s weakness: when he himself is affected, he loses all seriousness. He does not see things in the light of reason or proof. He straightaway rejects the Truth without giving it serious consideration. Even the solid reasoning of the preacher appears to him to be meaningless discussion and jidal. The statement, ‘Noah, you have argued with us, and argued to excess’ is not intended to indicate what Noah said, but rather shows how little importance was attached to his word by his hearers. Similarly, the demand for their own punishment made by Noah’s opponents was not really seriously meant, but was intended rather to ridicule Noah. What is really meant was, ‘See, this person is talking of something which is never going to happen.’ They thought that their position was so strong that there was no scope for any punishment to be meted out to them. Adopting this attitude, they said, ‘Bring on us that punishment of which you have been warning us, as a result of our rejection.’ And since, according to them, such punishment was never going to occur, their statement implied: ‘We are based on Truth and you on untruth.’ Noah replied that they were looking at the matter in the context of his personality and it was because he was a weak person, that they were unable to understand how any punishment could ever come upon them. He added that had they looked at the matter in relation to God, they would not have taken this stand, because then they would have realised that God’s retribution against the transgressor in this world was as certain as the rising of the sun and as terrible as the eruption of an earthquake. Acceptance of the message of the missionary of Truth mostly depends on the hearer not looking at it in the context of the messenger’s personality, but rather valuing it on the basis of its content. Since Noah’s community took his word as that of an ordinary man, he said that with that mentality they would never be able to discover the real value of what he had to say. Therefore, the only option now left to them was to wait for the Day when God would appear right in front of them.

Those who said that the Prophet was himself guilty of invention, and that his message had not been sent by God, did not actually disbelieve in revelation or inspiration; they even accepted the previous prophets. Then why did they speak in this way? This was, in fact, not a rejection of Revelation but a rejection of the receiver of Revelation. The individual who spoke on behalf of God appeared to them to be an ordinary man. With their tendency to worship appearances, they were unable to understand how such an ordinary man could be the person whom God had chosen as His messenger. The Prophet Noah said, ‘If I have invented this myself, then may I be punished for my sin! I am innocent of the crimes that you commit.’ These are, in fact, the words of parting, when the addressee does not accept the preacher’s word through argument. If, in spite of clear explanation, the addressee is bent upon rejecting the word of the preacher, then the preacher feels that the final option should be to keep quiet, after stating that both preacher and addressee are bound to be presented before their real Lord and that everybody will be exposed for what he is and everybody will be treated according to what he deserves. When reasoning has run its full course, the preacher is left with no option but to speak in terms of firm faith and keep himself aloof.

Those who said that the Prophet was himself guilty of invention, and that his message had not been sent by God, did not actually disbelieve in revelation or inspiration; they even accepted the previous prophets. Then why did they speak in this way? This was, in fact, not a rejection of Revelation but a rejection of the receiver of Revelation. The individual who spoke on behalf of God appeared to them to be an ordinary man. With their tendency to worship appearances, they were unable to understand how such an ordinary man could be the person whom God had chosen as His messenger. The Prophet Noah said, ‘If I have invented this myself, then may I be punished for my sin! I am innocent of the crimes that you commit.’ These are, in fact, the words of parting, when the addressee does not accept the preacher’s word through argument. If, in spite of clear explanation, the addressee is bent upon rejecting the word of the preacher, then the preacher feels that the final option should be to keep quiet, after stating that both preacher and addressee are bound to be presented before their real Lord and that everybody will be exposed for what he is and everybody will be treated according to what he deserves. When reasoning has run its full course, the preacher is left with no option but to speak in terms of firm faith and keep himself aloof.

Those who said that the Prophet was himself guilty of invention, and that his message had not been sent by God, did not actually disbelieve in revelation or inspiration; they even accepted the previous prophets. Then why did they speak in this way? This was, in fact, not a rejection of Revelation but a rejection of the receiver of Revelation. The individual who spoke on behalf of God appeared to them to be an ordinary man. With their tendency to worship appearances, they were unable to understand how such an ordinary man could be the person whom God had chosen as His messenger. The Prophet Noah said, ‘If I have invented this myself, then may I be punished for my sin! I am innocent of the crimes that you commit.’ These are, in fact, the words of parting, when the addressee does not accept the preacher’s word through argument. If, in spite of clear explanation, the addressee is bent upon rejecting the word of the preacher, then the preacher feels that the final option should be to keep quiet, after stating that both preacher and addressee are bound to be presented before their real Lord and that everybody will be exposed for what he is and everybody will be treated according to what he deserves. When reasoning has run its full course, the preacher is left with no option but to speak in terms of firm faith and keep himself aloof.

The faith required of man is one at which he has arrived as a conscious and voluntary decision. Those who do not accept the Faith, in spite of the Prophet’s best missionary efforts, prove that they are not yet ready to become the Faithful of God of their own free will. The second stage for such people is having their freedom taken away and then being directly presented before God in all His Majesty, so that what they had not accepted as believers they should have to accept as criminals and be made to face the punishment befitting their arrogance. After hundreds of years of Noah’s missionary efforts, this stage had come for his community. Thereafter, Noah was told that, after having fully discharged the responsibility of preaching God’s word he should build an Ark, so that when the flood sent by God came to drown the arrogant people, he and his companions in Faith could take refuge in it. Noah then built a large boat with three decks. This took several years. While Noah was working on the boat along with his companions, the arrogant people of the community used to see it as they came and went. They thought that all talk of punishment was simply imaginary, and when they saw that a boat was even being built for protection from that imaginary punishment, they started ridiculing Noah much more. When a man amasses wealth by means of arrogance and injustice, one who is enamoured of appearances will take him to be successful, judging by his worldly assets. But one who knows that the world is subject to moral laws, will see in the aforesaid person’s temporary success a glimpse of his total destruction in the Hereafter. Such superficial people of Noah’s community made fun of him but, in reality, they were themselves about to become the subject of ridicule.

The faith required of man is one at which he has arrived as a conscious and voluntary decision. Those who do not accept the Faith, in spite of the Prophet’s best missionary efforts, prove that they are not yet ready to become the Faithful of God of their own free will. The second stage for such people is having their freedom taken away and then being directly presented before God in all His Majesty, so that what they had not accepted as believers they should have to accept as criminals and be made to face the punishment befitting their arrogance. After hundreds of years of Noah’s missionary efforts, this stage had come for his community. Thereafter, Noah was told that, after having fully discharged the responsibility of preaching God’s word he should build an Ark, so that when the flood sent by God came to drown the arrogant people, he and his companions in Faith could take refuge in it. Noah then built a large boat with three decks. This took several years. While Noah was working on the boat along with his companions, the arrogant people of the community used to see it as they came and went. They thought that all talk of punishment was simply imaginary, and when they saw that a boat was even being built for protection from that imaginary punishment, they started ridiculing Noah much more. When a man amasses wealth by means of arrogance and injustice, one who is enamoured of appearances will take him to be successful, judging by his worldly assets. But one who knows that the world is subject to moral laws, will see in the aforesaid person’s temporary success a glimpse of his total destruction in the Hereafter. Such superficial people of Noah’s community made fun of him but, in reality, they were themselves about to become the subject of ridicule.

When the Ark was ready, stormy winds started blowing at God’s behest. Torrents of water started gushing out of the ground and there was continuous rainfall. So much so that there was water everywhere and all the people were drowned. The only survivors were a few human beings and some animals who had boarded Noah’s Ark. Even Noah’s son was drowned. In the eyes of God a man’s worth is judged according to his deeds and not according to relationship, even if the relationship is with a prophet. When all those destined to perish had drowned, God commanded the storm to stop and it stopped; the water drained into seas and rivers and the earth again became habitable.

When the Ark was ready, stormy winds started blowing at God’s behest. Torrents of water started gushing out of the ground and there was continuous rainfall. So much so that there was water everywhere and all the people were drowned. The only survivors were a few human beings and some animals who had boarded Noah’s Ark. Even Noah’s son was drowned. In the eyes of God a man’s worth is judged according to his deeds and not according to relationship, even if the relationship is with a prophet. When all those destined to perish had drowned, God commanded the storm to stop and it stopped; the water drained into seas and rivers and the earth again became habitable.

On the occasion of Noah’s flood, a strange happening was to be seen: those who had taken refuge by climbing tall peaks were drowned, while those who boarded the Ark were safe, in spite of the fact that the boat had been tossed about on a terrible stormy sea. The reason for this was neither in the peaks themselves nor in the Ark itself. The reason was that this was a matter of God’s will. Had God’s command focussed on the peaks, they would have saved those who had taken refuge on them, while those who had boarded the Ark would have lost their lives. But on this occasion, God’s command focussed on the Ark. So, those who were on it were safe and those who sought refuge in other things were drowned. The system of ‘cause and effect’ in this world is only a veil; otherwise, whatever is happening happens by the direct orders of God. It is the test of a human being that he should be able to tear asunder the outward veil and see the reality; he should discover the divine powers working behind the screen of cause and effect.

On the occasion of Noah’s flood, a strange happening was to be seen: those who had taken refuge by climbing tall peaks were drowned, while those who boarded the Ark were safe, in spite of the fact that the boat had been tossed about on a terrible stormy sea. The reason for this was neither in the peaks themselves nor in the Ark itself. The reason was that this was a matter of God’s will. Had God’s command focussed on the peaks, they would have saved those who had taken refuge on them, while those who had boarded the Ark would have lost their lives. But on this occasion, God’s command focussed on the Ark. So, those who were on it were safe and those who sought refuge in other things were drowned. The system of ‘cause and effect’ in this world is only a veil; otherwise, whatever is happening happens by the direct orders of God. It is the test of a human being that he should be able to tear asunder the outward veil and see the reality; he should discover the divine powers working behind the screen of cause and effect.

On the occasion of Noah’s flood, a strange happening was to be seen: those who had taken refuge by climbing tall peaks were drowned, while those who boarded the Ark were safe, in spite of the fact that the boat had been tossed about on a terrible stormy sea. The reason for this was neither in the peaks themselves nor in the Ark itself. The reason was that this was a matter of God’s will. Had God’s command focussed on the peaks, they would have saved those who had taken refuge on them, while those who had boarded the Ark would have lost their lives. But on this occasion, God’s command focussed on the Ark. So, those who were on it were safe and those who sought refuge in other things were drowned. The system of ‘cause and effect’ in this world is only a veil; otherwise, whatever is happening happens by the direct orders of God. It is the test of a human being that he should be able to tear asunder the outward veil and see the reality; he should discover the divine powers working behind the screen of cause and effect.

Among those who were drowned in the great flood of Noah, was Kan‘an, Noah’s son. Noah wanted him to board his Ark, but he refused to do so out of sheer stubbornness. Then Noah prayed to God for his protection and the answer was that such questions should be avoided as showing a lack of understanding, on the part of Noah, of God’s plan. The fact is that God does not treat as redeemed the children of holy men or those who attach themselves to certain ‘holy men’, nor does He settle them in the Gardens of Paradise. God’s decisions regarding redemption are based purely on deeds and not on relationships, descent or group attachments. In this world, family relationships are of great importance. This will not be so in the Hereafter, there moral relationships outweigh all else. Noah’s flood had occurred in order that all divisions of human beings other than moral ones be abolished, and all doers of righteous deeds be saved by accommodating them in the Divine Ark, while the unrighteous were consigned to the merciless waves. There will be a repetition of such an event on Doomsday, only on a larger scale and to the uttermost degree.

Among those who were drowned in the great flood of Noah, was Kan‘an, Noah’s son. Noah wanted him to board his Ark, but he refused to do so out of sheer stubbornness. Then Noah prayed to God for his protection and the answer was that such questions should be avoided as showing a lack of understanding, on the part of Noah, of God’s plan. The fact is that God does not treat as redeemed the children of holy men or those who attach themselves to certain ‘holy men’, nor does He settle them in the Gardens of Paradise. God’s decisions regarding redemption are based purely on deeds and not on relationships, descent or group attachments. In this world, family relationships are of great importance. This will not be so in the Hereafter, there moral relationships outweigh all else. Noah’s flood had occurred in order that all divisions of human beings other than moral ones be abolished, and all doers of righteous deeds be saved by accommodating them in the Divine Ark, while the unrighteous were consigned to the merciless waves. There will be a repetition of such an event on Doomsday, only on a larger scale and to the uttermost degree.

Among those who were drowned in the great flood of Noah, was Kan‘an, Noah’s son. Noah wanted him to board his Ark, but he refused to do so out of sheer stubbornness. Then Noah prayed to God for his protection and the answer was that such questions should be avoided as showing a lack of understanding, on the part of Noah, of God’s plan. The fact is that God does not treat as redeemed the children of holy men or those who attach themselves to certain ‘holy men’, nor does He settle them in the Gardens of Paradise. God’s decisions regarding redemption are based purely on deeds and not on relationships, descent or group attachments. In this world, family relationships are of great importance. This will not be so in the Hereafter, there moral relationships outweigh all else. Noah’s flood had occurred in order that all divisions of human beings other than moral ones be abolished, and all doers of righteous deeds be saved by accommodating them in the Divine Ark, while the unrighteous were consigned to the merciless waves. There will be a repetition of such an event on Doomsday, only on a larger scale and to the uttermost degree.

When all the evil people were drowned, the flood abated. The water was gradually absorbed in the ground or drained away into the seas. Noah’s Ark ran aground on Mount Judi. Noah and his companions then disembarked. At God’s command the earth again became lush green and well-populated. The people among whom Noah appeared were those who believed in Adam’s prophethood. After Noah his people stayed on the right path, but only in the beginning. When later generations began to stray, prophets were again sent to them. These later prophets appeared in the communities who had accepted the prophethood of Noah. In spite of this, since they did not accept any prophet of their own times, and did not reform themselves, they were destroyed. This means that for the purpose of salvation, it is not enough to accept a prophet or to associate oneself with a prophet. Rather such Faith is required as is an active and live Faith, and has the power to turn a man’s life into one of righteous action. The history of Noah teaches the lesson that lovers of falsehood may appear to be all-powerful and they may be very long-lived, but they are nevertheless destined to face destruction. On the contrary, men of Faith may be very few in number and may appear to be quite powerless, but by God’s will, these are the very people who will ultimately share His graces in the present world, in the beginning and, finally, in the Hereafter.

When all the evil people were drowned, the flood abated. The water was gradually absorbed in the ground or drained away into the seas. Noah’s Ark ran aground on Mount Judi. Noah and his companions then disembarked. At God’s command the earth again became lush green and well-populated. The people among whom Noah appeared were those who believed in Adam’s prophethood. After Noah his people stayed on the right path, but only in the beginning. When later generations began to stray, prophets were again sent to them. These later prophets appeared in the communities who had accepted the prophethood of Noah. In spite of this, since they did not accept any prophet of their own times, and did not reform themselves, they were destroyed. This means that for the purpose of salvation, it is not enough to accept a prophet or to associate oneself with a prophet. Rather such Faith is required as is an active and live Faith, and has the power to turn a man’s life into one of righteous action. The history of Noah teaches the lesson that lovers of falsehood may appear to be all-powerful and they may be very long-lived, but they are nevertheless destined to face destruction. On the contrary, men of Faith may be very few in number and may appear to be quite powerless, but by God’s will, these are the very people who will ultimately share His graces in the present world, in the beginning and, finally, in the Hereafter.

The Prophet Hud, successor of Noah, was chosen to guide the ‘Ad community, of which he himself was a member. This has always been God’s way in the matter of prophets. The wisdom of this is that, being of their own brethen, these prophets are thoroughly conversant with the psychology, conditions and language of the community, and can, therefore, very effectively discharge their function as missionaries of Truth. Hud gave to his community the message that they should worship the one and only God. Furthermore, he pointed out that their ‘religion’ was simply a lie of their own fabrication. This shows that a prophet’s way of preaching was not simply to present his message in a ‘positive manner,’ but also at the same time to resort to open criticism because, unless untruth is exposed as such by means of criticism and analysis, the Truth being Truth cannot be properly understood. In the case of the prophets in all ages, if they were to be accepted by their opponents, it was necessary for them to be highly placed officials with great wealth at their disposal and for them to reside in dwellings of great grandeur. But this standard of judging a preacher of Truth is not correct. The right standard by which to test the veracity of the preacher is to see whether he is serious and sincere in his mission; whether his message is rational in every detail; whether he is above every worldly interest; whether whatever he says is fully based on reality; and whether his message is perfectly consistent with the universal system; so that accepting it amounts to stepping on to the highway to success. ‘He will add strength to your strength.’ This statement does not mean an increase in material power, because in those days the ‘Ad community was already very powerful. The Quran states that when the Prophet warned them about God’s punishment, they said, ‘Who is stronger than us?’ ( 41:15 ). So, from the point of view of the call to truth, the promise of an increase in material power could not have been very attractive to them. In this verse, an increase in power means the addition of the power of Faith to material power. The Prophet meant to say that if they adopted the life of Faith, they would attain moral and spiritual power; with their present material strength, if they attained moral and spiritual power, their total power would not decrease but rather increase many times over.

The Prophet Hud, successor of Noah, was chosen to guide the ‘Ad community, of which he himself was a member. This has always been God’s way in the matter of prophets. The wisdom of this is that, being of their own brethen, these prophets are thoroughly conversant with the psychology, conditions and language of the community, and can, therefore, very effectively discharge their function as missionaries of Truth. Hud gave to his community the message that they should worship the one and only God. Furthermore, he pointed out that their ‘religion’ was simply a lie of their own fabrication. This shows that a prophet’s way of preaching was not simply to present his message in a ‘positive manner,’ but also at the same time to resort to open criticism because, unless untruth is exposed as such by means of criticism and analysis, the Truth being Truth cannot be properly understood. In the case of the prophets in all ages, if they were to be accepted by their opponents, it was necessary for them to be highly placed officials with great wealth at their disposal and for them to reside in dwellings of great grandeur. But this standard of judging a preacher of Truth is not correct. The right standard by which to test the veracity of the preacher is to see whether he is serious and sincere in his mission; whether his message is rational in every detail; whether he is above every worldly interest; whether whatever he says is fully based on reality; and whether his message is perfectly consistent with the universal system; so that accepting it amounts to stepping on to the highway to success. ‘He will add strength to your strength.’ This statement does not mean an increase in material power, because in those days the ‘Ad community was already very powerful. The Quran states that when the Prophet warned them about God’s punishment, they said, ‘Who is stronger than us?’ ( 41:15 ). So, from the point of view of the call to truth, the promise of an increase in material power could not have been very attractive to them. In this verse, an increase in power means the addition of the power of Faith to material power. The Prophet meant to say that if they adopted the life of Faith, they would attain moral and spiritual power; with their present material strength, if they attained moral and spiritual power, their total power would not decrease but rather increase many times over.

The Prophet Hud, successor of Noah, was chosen to guide the ‘Ad community, of which he himself was a member. This has always been God’s way in the matter of prophets. The wisdom of this is that, being of their own brethen, these prophets are thoroughly conversant with the psychology, conditions and language of the community, and can, therefore, very effectively discharge their function as missionaries of Truth. Hud gave to his community the message that they should worship the one and only God. Furthermore, he pointed out that their ‘religion’ was simply a lie of their own fabrication. This shows that a prophet’s way of preaching was not simply to present his message in a ‘positive manner,’ but also at the same time to resort to open criticism because, unless untruth is exposed as such by means of criticism and analysis, the Truth being Truth cannot be properly understood. In the case of the prophets in all ages, if they were to be accepted by their opponents, it was necessary for them to be highly placed officials with great wealth at their disposal and for them to reside in dwellings of great grandeur. But this standard of judging a preacher of Truth is not correct. The right standard by which to test the veracity of the preacher is to see whether he is serious and sincere in his mission; whether his message is rational in every detail; whether he is above every worldly interest; whether whatever he says is fully based on reality; and whether his message is perfectly consistent with the universal system; so that accepting it amounts to stepping on to the highway to success. ‘He will add strength to your strength.’ This statement does not mean an increase in material power, because in those days the ‘Ad community was already very powerful. The Quran states that when the Prophet warned them about God’s punishment, they said, ‘Who is stronger than us?’ ( 41:15 ). So, from the point of view of the call to truth, the promise of an increase in material power could not have been very attractive to them. In this verse, an increase in power means the addition of the power of Faith to material power. The Prophet meant to say that if they adopted the life of Faith, they would attain moral and spiritual power; with their present material strength, if they attained moral and spiritual power, their total power would not decrease but rather increase many times over.

The Prophet Hud’s community raised the point that he had no proof or argument in favour of his being right. This does not really mean that Hud had no argument to prove the truth of his message. He certainly had such arguments, but it did not appear to be so to his opponents. The reason for this was that man is generally unable to test statements purely on the basis of reason or rationality, but sees them from a point of view opposite to that of the presenter of the statements. Since the presenter at that time did not appear to the people to be a man of considerable status, his word did not carry any weight with them. When anyone sets out to invite others to pure unadulterated religion, leaving aside the well-established religion of the day, it invariably happens that in the prevailing atmosphere he becomes a stranger and is reduced to insignificance. People even look upon him as if he were suffering from some mental illness. This was what happened in the case of the Prophet Hud. That is why his people were emboldened to say, ‘We think that some curse has been cast on you by our holy men.’ But after the completion of theoretical arguments, the proof of the veracity of the preacher of Truth is always such that his opponents are unable to subdue him, in spite of every effort.

The Prophet Hud’s community raised the point that he had no proof or argument in favour of his being right. This does not really mean that Hud had no argument to prove the truth of his message. He certainly had such arguments, but it did not appear to be so to his opponents. The reason for this was that man is generally unable to test statements purely on the basis of reason or rationality, but sees them from a point of view opposite to that of the presenter of the statements. Since the presenter at that time did not appear to the people to be a man of considerable status, his word did not carry any weight with them. When anyone sets out to invite others to pure unadulterated religion, leaving aside the well-established religion of the day, it invariably happens that in the prevailing atmosphere he becomes a stranger and is reduced to insignificance. People even look upon him as if he were suffering from some mental illness. This was what happened in the case of the Prophet Hud. That is why his people were emboldened to say, ‘We think that some curse has been cast on you by our holy men.’ But after the completion of theoretical arguments, the proof of the veracity of the preacher of Truth is always such that his opponents are unable to subdue him, in spite of every effort.

The communities into which God’s prophets had come were all believers in God. In other words, the missionary projected himself as a God-worshipper, while his addressees also made the same claim. So the question arises: in which group is God present? The simple answer to this question is that God is on a straight highway (as-sirat al-mustaqim). So, the religion which is going on the straight path will directly reach God and that which is going on crooked paths will be diverted on to by-paths and can never be successful in reaching God. When Hud said, ‘My Lord is on the straight path,’ he was saying in other words that the path towards which he was calling them was ‘the highway of religion.’ But his people, in the name of religion, had adopted by-ways around the highway of religion and were running headlong along them. Such a headlong course does not take a man towards God; it takes him here and there and leaves him astray. In the light of these verses, the straight path shown by Hud comprises the following: belief in the unity of God, worship of God, seeking God’s pardon, repentance, turning towards God (tawbah), gratitude for God’s grace, placing trust in God, treating God as our Sustainer, treating God as the only possessor of all power, accepting God’s watchfulness over oneself, and remaining humble. All these are the basic teachings of religion. Following these teachings and making them the centre of one’s attention amounts to treading the highway of religion. One who treads this path straightaway reaches God. On the contrary, if a man gives importance to other things, it is as if he is taking the side paths to the right or the left of the highway and hastening along them. Such a course takes a man away from God, not closer to God.

The communities into which God’s prophets had come were all believers in God. In other words, the missionary projected himself as a God-worshipper, while his addressees also made the same claim. So the question arises: in which group is God present? The simple answer to this question is that God is on a straight highway (as-sirat al-mustaqim). So, the religion which is going on the straight path will directly reach God and that which is going on crooked paths will be diverted on to by-paths and can never be successful in reaching God. When Hud said, ‘My Lord is on the straight path,’ he was saying in other words that the path towards which he was calling them was ‘the highway of religion.’ But his people, in the name of religion, had adopted by-ways around the highway of religion and were running headlong along them. Such a headlong course does not take a man towards God; it takes him here and there and leaves him astray. In the light of these verses, the straight path shown by Hud comprises the following: belief in the unity of God, worship of God, seeking God’s pardon, repentance, turning towards God (tawbah), gratitude for God’s grace, placing trust in God, treating God as our Sustainer, treating God as the only possessor of all power, accepting God’s watchfulness over oneself, and remaining humble. All these are the basic teachings of religion. Following these teachings and making them the centre of one’s attention amounts to treading the highway of religion. One who treads this path straightaway reaches God. On the contrary, if a man gives importance to other things, it is as if he is taking the side paths to the right or the left of the highway and hastening along them. Such a course takes a man away from God, not closer to God.

Those who ignore God’s word, are ignored by God. This happens to a lesser degree in the present world but, on Doomsday, this will be a total reality. At that time all the arrogant and insolent people will be denied God’s grace; the grace of God will be shared only by those who lived in the world as His loyal and obedient subjects. God has introduced the principle of succession (istikhlaf) in this world, that is, the removal of a community from its position of prominence and the installing of another community in its place. This temporary prominence in the world is for the purpose of putting people to the test. In the Hereafter, in the perfect world of God, such prominence will be granted only to people of true Faith as an everlasting reward. The system of this world of trial has been formulated in such a way that, here, a man is always placed between good and bad. He has the option to follow either of these two ways. Furthermore, evil is largely dominant in this world. Only the strength of theoretical arguments is on the side of goodness. On the contrary, material power weighs in on the side of evil, and that too in such great measure that its flag-bearers develop attitudes of arrogance and hauteur and create such an atmosphere of pressure in the environment that the common man loses the courage to proceed towards the Truth.

Those who ignore God’s word, are ignored by God. This happens to a lesser degree in the present world but, on Doomsday, this will be a total reality. At that time all the arrogant and insolent people will be denied God’s grace; the grace of God will be shared only by those who lived in the world as His loyal and obedient subjects. God has introduced the principle of succession (istikhlaf) in this world, that is, the removal of a community from its position of prominence and the installing of another community in its place. This temporary prominence in the world is for the purpose of putting people to the test. In the Hereafter, in the perfect world of God, such prominence will be granted only to people of true Faith as an everlasting reward. The system of this world of trial has been formulated in such a way that, here, a man is always placed between good and bad. He has the option to follow either of these two ways. Furthermore, evil is largely dominant in this world. Only the strength of theoretical arguments is on the side of goodness. On the contrary, material power weighs in on the side of evil, and that too in such great measure that its flag-bearers develop attitudes of arrogance and hauteur and create such an atmosphere of pressure in the environment that the common man loses the courage to proceed towards the Truth.

Those who ignore God’s word, are ignored by God. This happens to a lesser degree in the present world but, on Doomsday, this will be a total reality. At that time all the arrogant and insolent people will be denied God’s grace; the grace of God will be shared only by those who lived in the world as His loyal and obedient subjects. God has introduced the principle of succession (istikhlaf) in this world, that is, the removal of a community from its position of prominence and the installing of another community in its place. This temporary prominence in the world is for the purpose of putting people to the test. In the Hereafter, in the perfect world of God, such prominence will be granted only to people of true Faith as an everlasting reward. The system of this world of trial has been formulated in such a way that, here, a man is always placed between good and bad. He has the option to follow either of these two ways. Furthermore, evil is largely dominant in this world. Only the strength of theoretical arguments is on the side of goodness. On the contrary, material power weighs in on the side of evil, and that too in such great measure that its flag-bearers develop attitudes of arrogance and hauteur and create such an atmosphere of pressure in the environment that the common man loses the courage to proceed towards the Truth.

Those who ignore God’s word, are ignored by God. This happens to a lesser degree in the present world but, on Doomsday, this will be a total reality. At that time all the arrogant and insolent people will be denied God’s grace; the grace of God will be shared only by those who lived in the world as His loyal and obedient subjects. God has introduced the principle of succession (istikhlaf) in this world, that is, the removal of a community from its position of prominence and the installing of another community in its place. This temporary prominence in the world is for the purpose of putting people to the test. In the Hereafter, in the perfect world of God, such prominence will be granted only to people of true Faith as an everlasting reward. The system of this world of trial has been formulated in such a way that, here, a man is always placed between good and bad. He has the option to follow either of these two ways. Furthermore, evil is largely dominant in this world. Only the strength of theoretical arguments is on the side of goodness. On the contrary, material power weighs in on the side of evil, and that too in such great measure that its flag-bearers develop attitudes of arrogance and hauteur and create such an atmosphere of pressure in the environment that the common man loses the courage to proceed towards the Truth.

The Prophet Salih the successor of Ad called upon his community to worship the one and only God. Indeed, this had been the aim of all the prophets in every age. But, Salih’s community did not accept his message. The reason for this was that he was talking of linking them directly to God, while they held that they were linked to their great and holy men in the name of God. Now, since Salih’s sole strength was the power of reasoning, his community was not impressed by the significance of what he had to say. The importance of the religion which Salih was urging them towards would have been clear if they had given due consideration to God’s revelation and signs. But the members of his community were willing to give due recognition only to that religion which had come down to them through the records and traditions of the leading lights of their community. The result was that the community, in spite of being overwhelmed by his arguments, were in a dilemma of doubt. Like all other prophets, as Salih grew up in his community he was recognised as one who was distinctive in personality and intelligence. It was hoped that, on growing up, he would prove to be a useful member of society. But, things took a different turn and he started criticising the religion prevalent at that time. Seeing this, his people were greatly disappointed in him. They said, ‘We were under the impression that you would be a pillar of our established religious system. On the contrary, we see that you are bent upon proving our religious system baseless.’ In every period God’s true missionaries had to face this sort of reaction on the part of their communities.

The Prophet Salih the successor of Ad called upon his community to worship the one and only God. Indeed, this had been the aim of all the prophets in every age. But, Salih’s community did not accept his message. The reason for this was that he was talking of linking them directly to God, while they held that they were linked to their great and holy men in the name of God. Now, since Salih’s sole strength was the power of reasoning, his community was not impressed by the significance of what he had to say. The importance of the religion which Salih was urging them towards would have been clear if they had given due consideration to God’s revelation and signs. But the members of his community were willing to give due recognition only to that religion which had come down to them through the records and traditions of the leading lights of their community. The result was that the community, in spite of being overwhelmed by his arguments, were in a dilemma of doubt. Like all other prophets, as Salih grew up in his community he was recognised as one who was distinctive in personality and intelligence. It was hoped that, on growing up, he would prove to be a useful member of society. But, things took a different turn and he started criticising the religion prevalent at that time. Seeing this, his people were greatly disappointed in him. They said, ‘We were under the impression that you would be a pillar of our established religious system. On the contrary, we see that you are bent upon proving our religious system baseless.’ In every period God’s true missionaries had to face this sort of reaction on the part of their communities.

The Prophet Salih the successor of Ad called upon his community to worship the one and only God. Indeed, this had been the aim of all the prophets in every age. But, Salih’s community did not accept his message. The reason for this was that he was talking of linking them directly to God, while they held that they were linked to their great and holy men in the name of God. Now, since Salih’s sole strength was the power of reasoning, his community was not impressed by the significance of what he had to say. The importance of the religion which Salih was urging them towards would have been clear if they had given due consideration to God’s revelation and signs. But the members of his community were willing to give due recognition only to that religion which had come down to them through the records and traditions of the leading lights of their community. The result was that the community, in spite of being overwhelmed by his arguments, were in a dilemma of doubt. Like all other prophets, as Salih grew up in his community he was recognised as one who was distinctive in personality and intelligence. It was hoped that, on growing up, he would prove to be a useful member of society. But, things took a different turn and he started criticising the religion prevalent at that time. Seeing this, his people were greatly disappointed in him. They said, ‘We were under the impression that you would be a pillar of our established religious system. On the contrary, we see that you are bent upon proving our religious system baseless.’ In every period God’s true missionaries had to face this sort of reaction on the part of their communities.

Salih repeatedly told his community that he was the Lord’s messenger and that if they did not accept what he had to say, they would be seized upon by God. However, his community did not take his words seriously, even although they did not disbelieve in God and prophethood. The reason was that Salih had only theoretical reasoning to prove his prophethood, and it is a weakness of human beings that they are hardly ready to give up a familiar thing in favour of an unfamiliar thing merely on the basis of theoretical argument. When Salih’s community were not ready to bow to his word, at their demand a tangible miracle was performed as a final sign. This was a she-camel which came out of a solid rock before their very eyes. It is the law of God that the appearance of such a sign indicates that the period of testing is coming to an end. Salih thereupon, announced that they should repent and accept his word: otherwise all of them would be destroyed. But those who are not impressed by theoretical arguments, fail to learn a lesson even from tangible signs. So, even then, Salih’s community did not refrain from arrogance and they even went to the extent of slaying the she-camel. Thereafter, there being no question of any further respite for them, Salih was commanded to leave his community which, at that time, was settled in Western Arabia. Accompanied by his sincere companions, he therefore left for Syria. Subsequently, a horrible earthquake swallowed up the entire community, killing everyone.

Salih repeatedly told his community that he was the Lord’s messenger and that if they did not accept what he had to say, they would be seized upon by God. However, his community did not take his words seriously, even although they did not disbelieve in God and prophethood. The reason was that Salih had only theoretical reasoning to prove his prophethood, and it is a weakness of human beings that they are hardly ready to give up a familiar thing in favour of an unfamiliar thing merely on the basis of theoretical argument. When Salih’s community were not ready to bow to his word, at their demand a tangible miracle was performed as a final sign. This was a she-camel which came out of a solid rock before their very eyes. It is the law of God that the appearance of such a sign indicates that the period of testing is coming to an end. Salih thereupon, announced that they should repent and accept his word: otherwise all of them would be destroyed. But those who are not impressed by theoretical arguments, fail to learn a lesson even from tangible signs. So, even then, Salih’s community did not refrain from arrogance and they even went to the extent of slaying the she-camel. Thereafter, there being no question of any further respite for them, Salih was commanded to leave his community which, at that time, was settled in Western Arabia. Accompanied by his sincere companions, he therefore left for Syria. Subsequently, a horrible earthquake swallowed up the entire community, killing everyone.

Salih repeatedly told his community that he was the Lord’s messenger and that if they did not accept what he had to say, they would be seized upon by God. However, his community did not take his words seriously, even although they did not disbelieve in God and prophethood. The reason was that Salih had only theoretical reasoning to prove his prophethood, and it is a weakness of human beings that they are hardly ready to give up a familiar thing in favour of an unfamiliar thing merely on the basis of theoretical argument. When Salih’s community were not ready to bow to his word, at their demand a tangible miracle was performed as a final sign. This was a she-camel which came out of a solid rock before their very eyes. It is the law of God that the appearance of such a sign indicates that the period of testing is coming to an end. Salih thereupon, announced that they should repent and accept his word: otherwise all of them would be destroyed. But those who are not impressed by theoretical arguments, fail to learn a lesson even from tangible signs. So, even then, Salih’s community did not refrain from arrogance and they even went to the extent of slaying the she-camel. Thereafter, there being no question of any further respite for them, Salih was commanded to leave his community which, at that time, was settled in Western Arabia. Accompanied by his sincere companions, he therefore left for Syria. Subsequently, a horrible earthquake swallowed up the entire community, killing everyone.

Salih repeatedly told his community that he was the Lord’s messenger and that if they did not accept what he had to say, they would be seized upon by God. However, his community did not take his words seriously, even although they did not disbelieve in God and prophethood. The reason was that Salih had only theoretical reasoning to prove his prophethood, and it is a weakness of human beings that they are hardly ready to give up a familiar thing in favour of an unfamiliar thing merely on the basis of theoretical argument. When Salih’s community were not ready to bow to his word, at their demand a tangible miracle was performed as a final sign. This was a she-camel which came out of a solid rock before their very eyes. It is the law of God that the appearance of such a sign indicates that the period of testing is coming to an end. Salih thereupon, announced that they should repent and accept his word: otherwise all of them would be destroyed. But those who are not impressed by theoretical arguments, fail to learn a lesson even from tangible signs. So, even then, Salih’s community did not refrain from arrogance and they even went to the extent of slaying the she-camel. Thereafter, there being no question of any further respite for them, Salih was commanded to leave his community which, at that time, was settled in Western Arabia. Accompanied by his sincere companions, he therefore left for Syria. Subsequently, a horrible earthquake swallowed up the entire community, killing everyone.

Salih repeatedly told his community that he was the Lord’s messenger and that if they did not accept what he had to say, they would be seized upon by God. However, his community did not take his words seriously, even although they did not disbelieve in God and prophethood. The reason was that Salih had only theoretical reasoning to prove his prophethood, and it is a weakness of human beings that they are hardly ready to give up a familiar thing in favour of an unfamiliar thing merely on the basis of theoretical argument. When Salih’s community were not ready to bow to his word, at their demand a tangible miracle was performed as a final sign. This was a she-camel which came out of a solid rock before their very eyes. It is the law of God that the appearance of such a sign indicates that the period of testing is coming to an end. Salih thereupon, announced that they should repent and accept his word: otherwise all of them would be destroyed. But those who are not impressed by theoretical arguments, fail to learn a lesson even from tangible signs. So, even then, Salih’s community did not refrain from arrogance and they even went to the extent of slaying the she-camel. Thereafter, there being no question of any further respite for them, Salih was commanded to leave his community which, at that time, was settled in Western Arabia. Accompanied by his sincere companions, he therefore left for Syria. Subsequently, a horrible earthquake swallowed up the entire community, killing everyone.

Literally ‘their hands did not reach towards the meal’.

Literally ‘their hands did not reach towards the meal’.

Once when Abraham was about a hundred years old, several very handsome young men entered his house. Considering them as guests, he immediately arranged for their food. They were not human beings, but angels of God. They had come with the dual purpose of giving the good news of children to Abraham, and destroying Lot’s community, who had gone to the furthest extremes in their arrogance and rejection of the Truth. Conveying to Abraham and his wife the good news of Isaac (Ishaq), a son, and Jacob (Ya‘qub), a grandson, did not simply mean giving the good news of children in the usual sense. No, indeed, this amounted to the bringing into existence of a line of righteous and mission-oriented human beings. It is a matter of historical record that generally it is a ‘family’ that rises in the service of religion. The history of the prophets and the events in the lives of the true followers who came after them demonstrate this fact. This is because one to whom Truth is revealed is an ordinary person in the eyes of his contemporaries, and this makes it difficult for the common people to recognise his status and support him. But from within his own family, personal relationships become an additional force. What outsiders are unable to see—due to their love of externals—the family members clearly appreciate, thanks to the element of attachment. Not finding it difficult to understand his real position, they become supporters of his mission.

Once when Abraham was about a hundred years old, several very handsome young men entered his house. Considering them as guests, he immediately arranged for their food. They were not human beings, but angels of God. They had come with the dual purpose of giving the good news of children to Abraham, and destroying Lot’s community, who had gone to the furthest extremes in their arrogance and rejection of the Truth. Conveying to Abraham and his wife the good news of Isaac (Ishaq), a son, and Jacob (Ya‘qub), a grandson, did not simply mean giving the good news of children in the usual sense. No, indeed, this amounted to the bringing into existence of a line of righteous and mission-oriented human beings. It is a matter of historical record that generally it is a ‘family’ that rises in the service of religion. The history of the prophets and the events in the lives of the true followers who came after them demonstrate this fact. This is because one to whom Truth is revealed is an ordinary person in the eyes of his contemporaries, and this makes it difficult for the common people to recognise his status and support him. But from within his own family, personal relationships become an additional force. What outsiders are unable to see—due to their love of externals—the family members clearly appreciate, thanks to the element of attachment. Not finding it difficult to understand his real position, they become supporters of his mission.

Once when Abraham was about a hundred years old, several very handsome young men entered his house. Considering them as guests, he immediately arranged for their food. They were not human beings, but angels of God. They had come with the dual purpose of giving the good news of children to Abraham, and destroying Lot’s community, who had gone to the furthest extremes in their arrogance and rejection of the Truth. Conveying to Abraham and his wife the good news of Isaac (Ishaq), a son, and Jacob (Ya‘qub), a grandson, did not simply mean giving the good news of children in the usual sense. No, indeed, this amounted to the bringing into existence of a line of righteous and mission-oriented human beings. It is a matter of historical record that generally it is a ‘family’ that rises in the service of religion. The history of the prophets and the events in the lives of the true followers who came after them demonstrate this fact. This is because one to whom Truth is revealed is an ordinary person in the eyes of his contemporaries, and this makes it difficult for the common people to recognise his status and support him. But from within his own family, personal relationships become an additional force. What outsiders are unable to see—due to their love of externals—the family members clearly appreciate, thanks to the element of attachment. Not finding it difficult to understand his real position, they become supporters of his mission.

Abraham’s conversation took place with those angels who had come to destroy Lot’s community. These angels had come to carry out God’s orders, and God made it clear that they came at His behest. A part of this conversation between the Prophet Abraham and the angels is given in chapter 29 (verse 32) and a detailed account of this also appears in the Bible (Genesis, chapter 18). Abraham’s prayer in favour of Lot’s community being spared was not accepted. Similarly, Noah’s earlier prayer that his son be spared had not been accepted. Prayer amounts to presenting oneself before God. If Noah’s son or Lot’s community had had the urge to pray, and had they prayed to God to be given respite, then God would certainly have pardoned them and would have sent them His blessing. Revoking of punishment is possible, as we find from the example of the community of Jonah (Yunus). But if the punisment is revoked, it will be done on the strength of the prayers of the persons who have to suffer punishment, and not in answer to the prayer of any other person, even if that other person be a prophet. The reason for this is that a prayer for pardon is not a recommendation, in the usual sense, which one person makes in favour of another person and which, due to the holiness of the former, is accepted in favour of the latter. One person should certainly pray for another; in every period, prophets and righteous people have prayed for others. But this is, in fact, an expression of the forbearance, kind-heartedness and the inclination towards God of the person who prays. A servant of God has fear of God at heart, starts trembling when he sees God’s punishment, and starts praying for himself and for others. However, prayer by others will be effective only when the affected person himself fears God and invokes His grace.

Abraham’s conversation took place with those angels who had come to destroy Lot’s community. These angels had come to carry out God’s orders, and God made it clear that they came at His behest. A part of this conversation between the Prophet Abraham and the angels is given in chapter 29 (verse 32) and a detailed account of this also appears in the Bible (Genesis, chapter 18). Abraham’s prayer in favour of Lot’s community being spared was not accepted. Similarly, Noah’s earlier prayer that his son be spared had not been accepted. Prayer amounts to presenting oneself before God. If Noah’s son or Lot’s community had had the urge to pray, and had they prayed to God to be given respite, then God would certainly have pardoned them and would have sent them His blessing. Revoking of punishment is possible, as we find from the example of the community of Jonah (Yunus). But if the punisment is revoked, it will be done on the strength of the prayers of the persons who have to suffer punishment, and not in answer to the prayer of any other person, even if that other person be a prophet. The reason for this is that a prayer for pardon is not a recommendation, in the usual sense, which one person makes in favour of another person and which, due to the holiness of the former, is accepted in favour of the latter. One person should certainly pray for another; in every period, prophets and righteous people have prayed for others. But this is, in fact, an expression of the forbearance, kind-heartedness and the inclination towards God of the person who prays. A servant of God has fear of God at heart, starts trembling when he sees God’s punishment, and starts praying for himself and for others. However, prayer by others will be effective only when the affected person himself fears God and invokes His grace.

Abraham’s conversation took place with those angels who had come to destroy Lot’s community. These angels had come to carry out God’s orders, and God made it clear that they came at His behest. A part of this conversation between the Prophet Abraham and the angels is given in chapter 29 (verse 32) and a detailed account of this also appears in the Bible (Genesis, chapter 18). Abraham’s prayer in favour of Lot’s community being spared was not accepted. Similarly, Noah’s earlier prayer that his son be spared had not been accepted. Prayer amounts to presenting oneself before God. If Noah’s son or Lot’s community had had the urge to pray, and had they prayed to God to be given respite, then God would certainly have pardoned them and would have sent them His blessing. Revoking of punishment is possible, as we find from the example of the community of Jonah (Yunus). But if the punisment is revoked, it will be done on the strength of the prayers of the persons who have to suffer punishment, and not in answer to the prayer of any other person, even if that other person be a prophet. The reason for this is that a prayer for pardon is not a recommendation, in the usual sense, which one person makes in favour of another person and which, due to the holiness of the former, is accepted in favour of the latter. One person should certainly pray for another; in every period, prophets and righteous people have prayed for others. But this is, in fact, an expression of the forbearance, kind-heartedness and the inclination towards God of the person who prays. A servant of God has fear of God at heart, starts trembling when he sees God’s punishment, and starts praying for himself and for others. However, prayer by others will be effective only when the affected person himself fears God and invokes His grace.

The angels who had come to Lot were the angels of retribution. But they entered the town in the shape of very handsome youths. This was intended to establish the guilt of Lot’s community quite finally. When a man continuously indulges in an evil, he becomes completely insensitive about it. This was the case with Lot’s community. They were now openly indulging in evil deeds. So, when they saw that handsome young men had come to Lot’s house, they rushed to his house full of lustful, lewd feelings. With utter shamelessness, they started demanding that the young men be handed over to them. When Lot saw the miscreants coming in this manner, he was extremely ashamed. He said, ‘Here are the daughters of the community. You may marry any of them you like and satisfy your natural instincts.’ The elderly persons of a community speak of the daughters of the community as if they were their own offspring. In this sense, Lot referred to the daughters of the community as his own daughters. But they rejected Lot’s legitimate offer, and continued to press for what was illegitimate. This finally established that these were evil, guilty people and certainly deserved to be destroyed. So, thereafter, all of them were annihilated. ‘Is there not a single right-minded man among you?’ This is generally the last utterance of a servant of God who has no material power to restrain miscreants, when all rational persuasion has failed to hold them back. At that time, by uttering such words, he invokes the prestige of the community and awakens its conscience. In spite of this, if his hearers remain insensitive, it means that there is not an iota of humanity or honour left in them.

The angels who had come to Lot were the angels of retribution. But they entered the town in the shape of very handsome youths. This was intended to establish the guilt of Lot’s community quite finally. When a man continuously indulges in an evil, he becomes completely insensitive about it. This was the case with Lot’s community. They were now openly indulging in evil deeds. So, when they saw that handsome young men had come to Lot’s house, they rushed to his house full of lustful, lewd feelings. With utter shamelessness, they started demanding that the young men be handed over to them. When Lot saw the miscreants coming in this manner, he was extremely ashamed. He said, ‘Here are the daughters of the community. You may marry any of them you like and satisfy your natural instincts.’ The elderly persons of a community speak of the daughters of the community as if they were their own offspring. In this sense, Lot referred to the daughters of the community as his own daughters. But they rejected Lot’s legitimate offer, and continued to press for what was illegitimate. This finally established that these were evil, guilty people and certainly deserved to be destroyed. So, thereafter, all of them were annihilated. ‘Is there not a single right-minded man among you?’ This is generally the last utterance of a servant of God who has no material power to restrain miscreants, when all rational persuasion has failed to hold them back. At that time, by uttering such words, he invokes the prestige of the community and awakens its conscience. In spite of this, if his hearers remain insensitive, it means that there is not an iota of humanity or honour left in them.

The angels who had come to Lot were the angels of retribution. But they entered the town in the shape of very handsome youths. This was intended to establish the guilt of Lot’s community quite finally. When a man continuously indulges in an evil, he becomes completely insensitive about it. This was the case with Lot’s community. They were now openly indulging in evil deeds. So, when they saw that handsome young men had come to Lot’s house, they rushed to his house full of lustful, lewd feelings. With utter shamelessness, they started demanding that the young men be handed over to them. When Lot saw the miscreants coming in this manner, he was extremely ashamed. He said, ‘Here are the daughters of the community. You may marry any of them you like and satisfy your natural instincts.’ The elderly persons of a community speak of the daughters of the community as if they were their own offspring. In this sense, Lot referred to the daughters of the community as his own daughters. But they rejected Lot’s legitimate offer, and continued to press for what was illegitimate. This finally established that these were evil, guilty people and certainly deserved to be destroyed. So, thereafter, all of them were annihilated. ‘Is there not a single right-minded man among you?’ This is generally the last utterance of a servant of God who has no material power to restrain miscreants, when all rational persuasion has failed to hold them back. At that time, by uttering such words, he invokes the prestige of the community and awakens its conscience. In spite of this, if his hearers remain insensitive, it means that there is not an iota of humanity or honour left in them.

At first, Lot considered the young men who came to him as human beings. When he became anxious, thinking he was in danger, one of them clarified that they were angels and had been sent by God. In other words, this was not an affair of human beings but a divine matter. As the angels put it, ‘These people will not be able to harm you or us.’ When the townspeople persisted in advancing, one of the angels moved his arm, whereupon all of them became blind and turned back saying, ‘Run away! Lot’s guests appear to be great magicians.’ When God decides to destroy a community because of their arrogance, His will prevails throughout the entire area where they live. On such an occasion, all the living things settled there are affected by God’s retribution. However, by God’s special grace, those who had uttered the truth to these arrogant people, are saved. Conveying the message of God to man provides the best guarantee of avoiding being seized upon by God in this world as well as in the Hereafter. It is recorded in a tradition that, at heart, Lot’s wife was not on his side. But at the last moment, when Lot was leaving the town, saying that by morning God’s punishment would be meted out there, she joined Lot’s caravan. However, while Lot’s people were still on the way, the terrible noise of an earthquake and a storm could be heard from behind. Lot and his trustworthy companions did not pay any attention to what was happening in the rear. But Lot’s wife turned to look behind her. When she saw a dust-storm and heard the noise, she uttered the words, ‘Alas! my community!’ At that moment a stone hit her as a punishment and she dropped dead there and then. This incident has a lesson in it. One who is not really loyal to God and His Prophet will not be safeguarded by joining the caravan of righteous people under the influence of some factor other than the fear of God. His weakness will come to light somewhere or the other and he will be doomed.

At first, Lot considered the young men who came to him as human beings. When he became anxious, thinking he was in danger, one of them clarified that they were angels and had been sent by God. In other words, this was not an affair of human beings but a divine matter. As the angels put it, ‘These people will not be able to harm you or us.’ When the townspeople persisted in advancing, one of the angels moved his arm, whereupon all of them became blind and turned back saying, ‘Run away! Lot’s guests appear to be great magicians.’ When God decides to destroy a community because of their arrogance, His will prevails throughout the entire area where they live. On such an occasion, all the living things settled there are affected by God’s retribution. However, by God’s special grace, those who had uttered the truth to these arrogant people, are saved. Conveying the message of God to man provides the best guarantee of avoiding being seized upon by God in this world as well as in the Hereafter. It is recorded in a tradition that, at heart, Lot’s wife was not on his side. But at the last moment, when Lot was leaving the town, saying that by morning God’s punishment would be meted out there, she joined Lot’s caravan. However, while Lot’s people were still on the way, the terrible noise of an earthquake and a storm could be heard from behind. Lot and his trustworthy companions did not pay any attention to what was happening in the rear. But Lot’s wife turned to look behind her. When she saw a dust-storm and heard the noise, she uttered the words, ‘Alas! my community!’ At that moment a stone hit her as a punishment and she dropped dead there and then. This incident has a lesson in it. One who is not really loyal to God and His Prophet will not be safeguarded by joining the caravan of righteous people under the influence of some factor other than the fear of God. His weakness will come to light somewhere or the other and he will be doomed.

At first, Lot considered the young men who came to him as human beings. When he became anxious, thinking he was in danger, one of them clarified that they were angels and had been sent by God. In other words, this was not an affair of human beings but a divine matter. As the angels put it, ‘These people will not be able to harm you or us.’ When the townspeople persisted in advancing, one of the angels moved his arm, whereupon all of them became blind and turned back saying, ‘Run away! Lot’s guests appear to be great magicians.’ When God decides to destroy a community because of their arrogance, His will prevails throughout the entire area where they live. On such an occasion, all the living things settled there are affected by God’s retribution. However, by God’s special grace, those who had uttered the truth to these arrogant people, are saved. Conveying the message of God to man provides the best guarantee of avoiding being seized upon by God in this world as well as in the Hereafter. It is recorded in a tradition that, at heart, Lot’s wife was not on his side. But at the last moment, when Lot was leaving the town, saying that by morning God’s punishment would be meted out there, she joined Lot’s caravan. However, while Lot’s people were still on the way, the terrible noise of an earthquake and a storm could be heard from behind. Lot and his trustworthy companions did not pay any attention to what was happening in the rear. But Lot’s wife turned to look behind her. When she saw a dust-storm and heard the noise, she uttered the words, ‘Alas! my community!’ At that moment a stone hit her as a punishment and she dropped dead there and then. This incident has a lesson in it. One who is not really loyal to God and His Prophet will not be safeguarded by joining the caravan of righteous people under the influence of some factor other than the fear of God. His weakness will come to light somewhere or the other and he will be doomed.

At first, Lot considered the young men who came to him as human beings. When he became anxious, thinking he was in danger, one of them clarified that they were angels and had been sent by God. In other words, this was not an affair of human beings but a divine matter. As the angels put it, ‘These people will not be able to harm you or us.’ When the townspeople persisted in advancing, one of the angels moved his arm, whereupon all of them became blind and turned back saying, ‘Run away! Lot’s guests appear to be great magicians.’ When God decides to destroy a community because of their arrogance, His will prevails throughout the entire area where they live. On such an occasion, all the living things settled there are affected by God’s retribution. However, by God’s special grace, those who had uttered the truth to these arrogant people, are saved. Conveying the message of God to man provides the best guarantee of avoiding being seized upon by God in this world as well as in the Hereafter. It is recorded in a tradition that, at heart, Lot’s wife was not on his side. But at the last moment, when Lot was leaving the town, saying that by morning God’s punishment would be meted out there, she joined Lot’s caravan. However, while Lot’s people were still on the way, the terrible noise of an earthquake and a storm could be heard from behind. Lot and his trustworthy companions did not pay any attention to what was happening in the rear. But Lot’s wife turned to look behind her. When she saw a dust-storm and heard the noise, she uttered the words, ‘Alas! my community!’ At that moment a stone hit her as a punishment and she dropped dead there and then. This incident has a lesson in it. One who is not really loyal to God and His Prophet will not be safeguarded by joining the caravan of righteous people under the influence of some factor other than the fear of God. His weakness will come to light somewhere or the other and he will be doomed.

The Midian (Madyan) region, to which the Prophet Shu‘ayb was sent, lay between Hijaz and Syria. His addressing his community as ‘people of faith’ shows that they claimed to be believers. In other words, it was a Muslim community of that time; they were the ummah of the prophet who preceded Shu‘ayb; but now after a long passage of time, in their later generations there had been a decline in their piety. Shu‘ayb told them that, if they were to be taken as people of the Faith, their claim would be acceptable before God only if they fulfilled the requirements of their claim, failing which, their claim had no value. He said that their faith demanded that they worship the one and only God, adhere to justice and fair play in their transactions and choose for others what they desired for themselves. Every one of them had to discharge his obligations fully to others and there should be no shortcoming in this. They should live on the earth as God wanted His subjects to live, remaining contented with their legitimately gained earnings and not try to gain more through disobedience. If they did all this, they would be treated as believers in the eyes of God. Otherwise, there was the likelihood of their being smitten by God’s punishment. Shu‘ayb also advised them not to give short measure, or engage in any other kind of fraudulent practices. His reference to their prosperity shows that in his community, some were poor and some were rich; there were some who received more, while others received less. Had all his addressees received less, then who would have been the prosperous ones? This shows that the addressees mentioned here were people of status with influence. Prophets come for the guidance of everyone, but their words are especially directed towards the upper echelons of the community, as defined by their wealth and intellect, because the general public goes along with them. Mostly they follow in the footsteps of their ‘great ones,’ so that, the conveying of the divine message to the elite amounts to reaching the general public also.

The Midian (Madyan) region, to which the Prophet Shu‘ayb was sent, lay between Hijaz and Syria. His addressing his community as ‘people of faith’ shows that they claimed to be believers. In other words, it was a Muslim community of that time; they were the ummah of the prophet who preceded Shu‘ayb; but now after a long passage of time, in their later generations there had been a decline in their piety. Shu‘ayb told them that, if they were to be taken as people of the Faith, their claim would be acceptable before God only if they fulfilled the requirements of their claim, failing which, their claim had no value. He said that their faith demanded that they worship the one and only God, adhere to justice and fair play in their transactions and choose for others what they desired for themselves. Every one of them had to discharge his obligations fully to others and there should be no shortcoming in this. They should live on the earth as God wanted His subjects to live, remaining contented with their legitimately gained earnings and not try to gain more through disobedience. If they did all this, they would be treated as believers in the eyes of God. Otherwise, there was the likelihood of their being smitten by God’s punishment. Shu‘ayb also advised them not to give short measure, or engage in any other kind of fraudulent practices. His reference to their prosperity shows that in his community, some were poor and some were rich; there were some who received more, while others received less. Had all his addressees received less, then who would have been the prosperous ones? This shows that the addressees mentioned here were people of status with influence. Prophets come for the guidance of everyone, but their words are especially directed towards the upper echelons of the community, as defined by their wealth and intellect, because the general public goes along with them. Mostly they follow in the footsteps of their ‘great ones,’ so that, the conveying of the divine message to the elite amounts to reaching the general public also.

The Midian (Madyan) region, to which the Prophet Shu‘ayb was sent, lay between Hijaz and Syria. His addressing his community as ‘people of faith’ shows that they claimed to be believers. In other words, it was a Muslim community of that time; they were the ummah of the prophet who preceded Shu‘ayb; but now after a long passage of time, in their later generations there had been a decline in their piety. Shu‘ayb told them that, if they were to be taken as people of the Faith, their claim would be acceptable before God only if they fulfilled the requirements of their claim, failing which, their claim had no value. He said that their faith demanded that they worship the one and only God, adhere to justice and fair play in their transactions and choose for others what they desired for themselves. Every one of them had to discharge his obligations fully to others and there should be no shortcoming in this. They should live on the earth as God wanted His subjects to live, remaining contented with their legitimately gained earnings and not try to gain more through disobedience. If they did all this, they would be treated as believers in the eyes of God. Otherwise, there was the likelihood of their being smitten by God’s punishment. Shu‘ayb also advised them not to give short measure, or engage in any other kind of fraudulent practices. His reference to their prosperity shows that in his community, some were poor and some were rich; there were some who received more, while others received less. Had all his addressees received less, then who would have been the prosperous ones? This shows that the addressees mentioned here were people of status with influence. Prophets come for the guidance of everyone, but their words are especially directed towards the upper echelons of the community, as defined by their wealth and intellect, because the general public goes along with them. Mostly they follow in the footsteps of their ‘great ones,’ so that, the conveying of the divine message to the elite amounts to reaching the general public also.

Sometimes it happens that people use the word ‘salat’ (prayer) when they actually mean ‘religion.’ Here they had used the word salat because salat is the most prominent and clear sign of religion. (Safwat at-Tafasir). Shu‘ayb’s community claimed to be religious. They used to say their prayers also. But they had associated shirk (ascribing partners to God) with their religion and prayers, and in its name had allowed foul play in their transactions. Shu‘ayb urged them to be true worshippers of God and to adhere to fair play in their dealings and said that if there is polytheism along with religion and there is foul play in transactions along with prayers, then such religion and such prayer have no value in the eyes of God. Such talk was likely to expose the false pretensions of the community about their piety. Their stand—that they were religious in spite of their wrongdoing—was adversely affected by this. Being already acclaimed as ‘worshippers’, they became irritated and said, ‘Are you the only worshipper of God? Were the holy great ones whose ways we have adopted ignorant? Doesn’t anybody else except you know what prayer is and what its requirements are? Perhaps you think that you are the only wise and righteous person in the whole world!’ In the eyes of Shu‘ayb’s community, only those who had become great by virtue of long-standing tradition, or who occupied seats of high status appeared to be truly great. That is why they had the courage to taunt Shu‘ayb in this manner.

There are two types of acceptance of a precept—one is routine or unconscious acceptance by imitation and the other is acceptance after finding it to be right. In the first case, man accepts something because others accept it. In the second case man accepts it because, on the basis of reasoning, he found that it was right. While the former is only a formal acceptance, the latter is conscious discovery. Discovery of Truth at the level of reason is the real asset of a believer. This leads to that live, active belief which prompts him and enables him to stand in the midst of people and start representing the Truth to them, unmindful of everything else. Conscious discovery of truth is a substitute for everything else. One who receives this bounty is never in need of anything else. An unbeliever is satisfied with material achievement. But the believer is satisfied only when his reason is addressed. On receiving sustenance of this kind (conscious discovery), it becomes impossible for anyone to take a stand against it. Contradiction between talk and action is the result of formal faith, while consistency in talk and action is the result of conscious faith. In his interpretation of the word ‘shiqaq,’ meaning ‘opposition,’ Hasan al-Basri, the famous Sufi, says, ‘Should your enmity against me make you leave the path of Faith, you will be liable to receive the punishment meted out to the unbelievers.’ (Al-Qurtubi). Since the missionary appears as an ordinary man to the people, his critical approach is extremely disturbing to those who have attained a high status in society. That an ordinary man should venture to criticise them and their great ones seems unconscionable to them. That is why they develop a hatred for the preacher and become obdurate towards him. The development of such a mentality in a man amounts to his being put to a severe test, because he considers even a godly message insignificant if it is brought by an ‘ordinary’ preacher. In the process of ignoring a human being, he ignores God Himself.

There are two types of acceptance of a precept—one is routine or unconscious acceptance by imitation and the other is acceptance after finding it to be right. In the first case, man accepts something because others accept it. In the second case man accepts it because, on the basis of reasoning, he found that it was right. While the former is only a formal acceptance, the latter is conscious discovery. Discovery of Truth at the level of reason is the real asset of a believer. This leads to that live, active belief which prompts him and enables him to stand in the midst of people and start representing the Truth to them, unmindful of everything else. Conscious discovery of truth is a substitute for everything else. One who receives this bounty is never in need of anything else. An unbeliever is satisfied with material achievement. But the believer is satisfied only when his reason is addressed. On receiving sustenance of this kind (conscious discovery), it becomes impossible for anyone to take a stand against it. Contradiction between talk and action is the result of formal faith, while consistency in talk and action is the result of conscious faith. In his interpretation of the word ‘shiqaq,’ meaning ‘opposition,’ Hasan al-Basri, the famous Sufi, says, ‘Should your enmity against me make you leave the path of Faith, you will be liable to receive the punishment meted out to the unbelievers.’ (Al-Qurtubi). Since the missionary appears as an ordinary man to the people, his critical approach is extremely disturbing to those who have attained a high status in society. That an ordinary man should venture to criticise them and their great ones seems unconscionable to them. That is why they develop a hatred for the preacher and become obdurate towards him. The development of such a mentality in a man amounts to his being put to a severe test, because he considers even a godly message insignificant if it is brought by an ‘ordinary’ preacher. In the process of ignoring a human being, he ignores God Himself.

There are two types of acceptance of a precept—one is routine or unconscious acceptance by imitation and the other is acceptance after finding it to be right. In the first case, man accepts something because others accept it. In the second case man accepts it because, on the basis of reasoning, he found that it was right. While the former is only a formal acceptance, the latter is conscious discovery. Discovery of Truth at the level of reason is the real asset of a believer. This leads to that live, active belief which prompts him and enables him to stand in the midst of people and start representing the Truth to them, unmindful of everything else. Conscious discovery of truth is a substitute for everything else. One who receives this bounty is never in need of anything else. An unbeliever is satisfied with material achievement. But the believer is satisfied only when his reason is addressed. On receiving sustenance of this kind (conscious discovery), it becomes impossible for anyone to take a stand against it. Contradiction between talk and action is the result of formal faith, while consistency in talk and action is the result of conscious faith. In his interpretation of the word ‘shiqaq,’ meaning ‘opposition,’ Hasan al-Basri, the famous Sufi, says, ‘Should your enmity against me make you leave the path of Faith, you will be liable to receive the punishment meted out to the unbelievers.’ (Al-Qurtubi). Since the missionary appears as an ordinary man to the people, his critical approach is extremely disturbing to those who have attained a high status in society. That an ordinary man should venture to criticise them and their great ones seems unconscionable to them. That is why they develop a hatred for the preacher and become obdurate towards him. The development of such a mentality in a man amounts to his being put to a severe test, because he considers even a godly message insignificant if it is brought by an ‘ordinary’ preacher. In the process of ignoring a human being, he ignores God Himself.

In a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, Shu‘ayb has been called the orator among the prophets (khatib al-ambiya’). He used to explain facts to the people of his community in their own understandable language in the most effective manner. Then, why did they not understand what he said? The reason for this was that the mindset of the community had been so vitiated that their way of thinking was quite different from that of Shu‘ayb. Therefore, what he had to say seemed incomprehensible. The community was engrossed in obeisance to human beings whereas Shu‘ayb called upon them to do obeisance to the one and only God. They were under the impression that belief in saints or great ones was enough for their salvation. But Shu‘ayb’s dictum was that salvation can be attained only through the belief in the one God and the performance of good deeds. The community members thought that since they considered themselves believers, they really were believers. Shu‘ayb said however, that a believer was one who was so by God’s assessment. In the eyes of the community salat (prayer) was merely a sort of ineffective formal supplement. Shu‘ayb declared, on the contrary, that salat was a reckoner of man’s life, his income and expenditure. The community thought that Faith was merely a spiritless acceptance, whereas he said that faith was that which was acquired by a live consciousness. In this way, a barrier had developed between Shu‘ayb and the community when it came to understanding his true and straightforward words. ‘Were it not for your clan, we would have stoned you.’ This statement reveals the great extent to which Shu‘ayb’s community had grown insensitive and become immersed in the love of outward, showy con-cerns. The truth of the matter was that when Shu‘ayb exposed the religious pretensions of the communi-ty, its members became his enemies. At that time he had no crowds surrounding him to deter them from attacking him. He did not possess wealth and status with which to impress his listeners. He had at his command only the strength of Truth and reasonableness, but with such people Truth and reasonableness did not carry any weight. In these circumstances, they would have certainly made a fatal attack on him, had it not been for the fear of tribal revenge. In the tribal era, the killing of a member of a tribe meant that, according to tribal custom, the entire tribe would rise to avenge that killing. This fear restrained Shu‘ayb’s community from taking any extreme step, just as in the present age people remain safe from the mischief of miscreants, because the latter fear that if they commit a crime, they will have to face the police force and the courts.

The people of Shu‘ayb’s community considered themselves Lords of Midian, taking things which had been given to them for the purpose of putting them to the test as their inalienable right. With all this in mind, they planned aggressive measures against Shu‘ayb. They even threatened to banish him and his companions from their land ( 7:88 ). But in the land which they considered their very own and of which they had become landlords, a terrible earthquake with horrifying tremors erupted at God’s behest; as a result of which, the whole region was destroyed. They were annihilated in their own domain, as if they had never existed. However, those members of the community who had accepted Shu‘ayb’s word, and had become his companions, were saved by special divine intervention.

The people of Shu‘ayb’s community considered themselves Lords of Midian, taking things which had been given to them for the purpose of putting them to the test as their inalienable right. With all this in mind, they planned aggressive measures against Shu‘ayb. They even threatened to banish him and his companions from their land ( 7:88 ). But in the land which they considered their very own and of which they had become landlords, a terrible earthquake with horrifying tremors erupted at God’s behest; as a result of which, the whole region was destroyed. They were annihilated in their own domain, as if they had never existed. However, those members of the community who had accepted Shu‘ayb’s word, and had become his companions, were saved by special divine intervention.

The people of Shu‘ayb’s community considered themselves Lords of Midian, taking things which had been given to them for the purpose of putting them to the test as their inalienable right. With all this in mind, they planned aggressive measures against Shu‘ayb. They even threatened to banish him and his companions from their land ( 7:88 ). But in the land which they considered their very own and of which they had become landlords, a terrible earthquake with horrifying tremors erupted at God’s behest; as a result of which, the whole region was destroyed. They were annihilated in their own domain, as if they had never existed. However, those members of the community who had accepted Shu‘ayb’s word, and had become his companions, were saved by special divine intervention.

The people of Shu‘ayb’s community considered themselves Lords of Midian, taking things which had been given to them for the purpose of putting them to the test as their inalienable right. With all this in mind, they planned aggressive measures against Shu‘ayb. They even threatened to banish him and his companions from their land ( 7:88 ). But in the land which they considered their very own and of which they had become landlords, a terrible earthquake with horrifying tremors erupted at God’s behest; as a result of which, the whole region was destroyed. They were annihilated in their own domain, as if they had never existed. However, those members of the community who had accepted Shu‘ayb’s word, and had become his companions, were saved by special divine intervention.

Moses presented his call to the Truth in the best possible manner and to the greatest possible extent. He not only struck Pharaoh and his companions dumb, but also showed them a clear outward proof of his veracity in the shape of the miracle of the staff. Even so, the community of Pharaoh still sided with him and were not ready to support Moses. The reason for this was that, in their eyes, power and worldly goods were all-important; and they did not find Moses in possession of any of these things. They were no doubt amazed at what he had to say but, when they compared Moses with Pharaoh, they found in the former a lack of resources and material belongings, while in the latter they saw pomp and glory. This comparison became decisive for them; and in spite of Moses’ arguments and miracles, they were not ready to leave Pharaoh and go along with Moses. Those who, in this world preferred to be with one who possessed things of material greatness, will be placed alongside that individual, even in the Hereafter, but unlike the position in this world, this will be bad company, because in the Hereafter he will have been shorn of all his assets. Now his existence will be a symbol of dishonour and destruction. He will take his adherents to the same fire to which he was destined by God as result of his leading others astray.

Moses presented his call to the Truth in the best possible manner and to the greatest possible extent. He not only struck Pharaoh and his companions dumb, but also showed them a clear outward proof of his veracity in the shape of the miracle of the staff. Even so, the community of Pharaoh still sided with him and were not ready to support Moses. The reason for this was that, in their eyes, power and worldly goods were all-important; and they did not find Moses in possession of any of these things. They were no doubt amazed at what he had to say but, when they compared Moses with Pharaoh, they found in the former a lack of resources and material belongings, while in the latter they saw pomp and glory. This comparison became decisive for them; and in spite of Moses’ arguments and miracles, they were not ready to leave Pharaoh and go along with Moses. Those who, in this world preferred to be with one who possessed things of material greatness, will be placed alongside that individual, even in the Hereafter, but unlike the position in this world, this will be bad company, because in the Hereafter he will have been shorn of all his assets. Now his existence will be a symbol of dishonour and destruction. He will take his adherents to the same fire to which he was destined by God as result of his leading others astray.

Moses presented his call to the Truth in the best possible manner and to the greatest possible extent. He not only struck Pharaoh and his companions dumb, but also showed them a clear outward proof of his veracity in the shape of the miracle of the staff. Even so, the community of Pharaoh still sided with him and were not ready to support Moses. The reason for this was that, in their eyes, power and worldly goods were all-important; and they did not find Moses in possession of any of these things. They were no doubt amazed at what he had to say but, when they compared Moses with Pharaoh, they found in the former a lack of resources and material belongings, while in the latter they saw pomp and glory. This comparison became decisive for them; and in spite of Moses’ arguments and miracles, they were not ready to leave Pharaoh and go along with Moses. Those who, in this world preferred to be with one who possessed things of material greatness, will be placed alongside that individual, even in the Hereafter, but unlike the position in this world, this will be bad company, because in the Hereafter he will have been shorn of all his assets. Now his existence will be a symbol of dishonour and destruction. He will take his adherents to the same fire to which he was destined by God as result of his leading others astray.

Moses presented his call to the Truth in the best possible manner and to the greatest possible extent. He not only struck Pharaoh and his companions dumb, but also showed them a clear outward proof of his veracity in the shape of the miracle of the staff. Even so, the community of Pharaoh still sided with him and were not ready to support Moses. The reason for this was that, in their eyes, power and worldly goods were all-important; and they did not find Moses in possession of any of these things. They were no doubt amazed at what he had to say but, when they compared Moses with Pharaoh, they found in the former a lack of resources and material belongings, while in the latter they saw pomp and glory. This comparison became decisive for them; and in spite of Moses’ arguments and miracles, they were not ready to leave Pharaoh and go along with Moses. Those who, in this world preferred to be with one who possessed things of material greatness, will be placed alongside that individual, even in the Hereafter, but unlike the position in this world, this will be bad company, because in the Hereafter he will have been shorn of all his assets. Now his existence will be a symbol of dishonour and destruction. He will take his adherents to the same fire to which he was destined by God as result of his leading others astray.

In ancient chronicles events relating to Kings and military generals have been mentioned but events relating to prophets and their communities find no place therein. History as written by man has omitted those very things which, in the eyes of the Creator, were most worthy of mention. However, the Quran describes at great length the dawah work performed by the prophets and the reactions of their addressees to the call. Other matters have been ignored by the Quran as being of no importance. Of the areas destroyed during the age of prophethood, some are still in existence, for example, Egypt, which was the domain of Pharaoh. However, there were communities like that of Hud and Lot whose settlements along with their inhabitants were completely obliterated. Only a few signs of these are still extant in the shape of ruins or artefacts uncovered by excavations. The destruction of these settlements seems to be an act of tyranny. But viewed in the context of the reason for its happening, it will appear to be consistent with reality: it was the outcome of their evil deeds—the punishment meted out to them after their having sinned. Whenever a man indulges in arrogance and transgression, he does so on the strength of some notion. He considers some things or beings as supports and thinks that they will continue to be so in difficult times. But these supports will be such for only so long as God gives them leave. When, according to the law of God, the period of respite ends and God announces His final verdict, then man will come to know that the assumptions which, in his foolishness, he had made about his ‘supports’ were all false.

In ancient chronicles events relating to Kings and military generals have been mentioned but events relating to prophets and their communities find no place therein. History as written by man has omitted those very things which, in the eyes of the Creator, were most worthy of mention. However, the Quran describes at great length the dawah work performed by the prophets and the reactions of their addressees to the call. Other matters have been ignored by the Quran as being of no importance. Of the areas destroyed during the age of prophethood, some are still in existence, for example, Egypt, which was the domain of Pharaoh. However, there were communities like that of Hud and Lot whose settlements along with their inhabitants were completely obliterated. Only a few signs of these are still extant in the shape of ruins or artefacts uncovered by excavations. The destruction of these settlements seems to be an act of tyranny. But viewed in the context of the reason for its happening, it will appear to be consistent with reality: it was the outcome of their evil deeds—the punishment meted out to them after their having sinned. Whenever a man indulges in arrogance and transgression, he does so on the strength of some notion. He considers some things or beings as supports and thinks that they will continue to be so in difficult times. But these supports will be such for only so long as God gives them leave. When, according to the law of God, the period of respite ends and God announces His final verdict, then man will come to know that the assumptions which, in his foolishness, he had made about his ‘supports’ were all false.

In the present world, the opportunity to live and to settle is available to man for the sole reason that he has to be put to the test. Those who continue to deny the truth even after the conclusion of the preaching process by the prophets, lose their right to remain on God’s earth any further. That is why God destroyed the rejecters of the Prophet ( 29:40 ). Mostly this destruction took place in the form of the severest natural calamities. For example, cyclones, floods or earthquakes which, under normal conditions, remain within a limit, were made to wreak havoc to an unlimited extent. Such destruction of communities as took place in the past were called ‘climatic pulsation’ by the scholars of geographic history, as if whatever happened was the result of a geographical upheaval. However, they are unable to explain why such ‘climatic pulsations’ (changes) occurred only in the past and why these do not occur now, after the end of the period of prophethood. The fact is that these events were not merely geographical events in the simple sense. They were manifestations of God’s will. This proves that the system of the present world is based on justice. Here, according to the law of nature itself, a transgressor will perforce receive punishment for his transgression, while the righteous one will receive a reward for his just behaviour. To call these events ‘climatic pulsation’ amounts to consigning them to the geographical realm. On the contrary, if these are treated as forms of divine retribution, they can teach great lessons about the fear of God and create anxiety about the Hereafter. The events that occurred during the age of the prophets, were, so to say, small signs prior to the advent of the great Doomsday. In these cases it so happened that those who denied the truth were given respite for some period. Thereafter, God’s verdict was made manifest and all were destroyed. Only those were saved who, being the supporters of the truth, were treated as favoured in the eyes of God. Others who were, in the assessment of God, arrogant and, therefore, disfavoured, were directly afflicted by God’s retribution; so much so that the recommendations of the prophets could not save them, as proved by the examples of Noah and Abraham.

In the present world, the opportunity to live and to settle is available to man for the sole reason that he has to be put to the test. Those who continue to deny the truth even after the conclusion of the preaching process by the prophets, lose their right to remain on God’s earth any further. That is why God destroyed the rejecters of the Prophet ( 29:40 ). Mostly this destruction took place in the form of the severest natural calamities. For example, cyclones, floods or earthquakes which, under normal conditions, remain within a limit, were made to wreak havoc to an unlimited extent. Such destruction of communities as took place in the past were called ‘climatic pulsation’ by the scholars of geographic history, as if whatever happened was the result of a geographical upheaval. However, they are unable to explain why such ‘climatic pulsations’ (changes) occurred only in the past and why these do not occur now, after the end of the period of prophethood. The fact is that these events were not merely geographical events in the simple sense. They were manifestations of God’s will. This proves that the system of the present world is based on justice. Here, according to the law of nature itself, a transgressor will perforce receive punishment for his transgression, while the righteous one will receive a reward for his just behaviour. To call these events ‘climatic pulsation’ amounts to consigning them to the geographical realm. On the contrary, if these are treated as forms of divine retribution, they can teach great lessons about the fear of God and create anxiety about the Hereafter. The events that occurred during the age of the prophets, were, so to say, small signs prior to the advent of the great Doomsday. In these cases it so happened that those who denied the truth were given respite for some period. Thereafter, God’s verdict was made manifest and all were destroyed. Only those were saved who, being the supporters of the truth, were treated as favoured in the eyes of God. Others who were, in the assessment of God, arrogant and, therefore, disfavoured, were directly afflicted by God’s retribution; so much so that the recommendations of the prophets could not save them, as proved by the examples of Noah and Abraham.

In the present world, the opportunity to live and to settle is available to man for the sole reason that he has to be put to the test. Those who continue to deny the truth even after the conclusion of the preaching process by the prophets, lose their right to remain on God’s earth any further. That is why God destroyed the rejecters of the Prophet ( 29:40 ). Mostly this destruction took place in the form of the severest natural calamities. For example, cyclones, floods or earthquakes which, under normal conditions, remain within a limit, were made to wreak havoc to an unlimited extent. Such destruction of communities as took place in the past were called ‘climatic pulsation’ by the scholars of geographic history, as if whatever happened was the result of a geographical upheaval. However, they are unable to explain why such ‘climatic pulsations’ (changes) occurred only in the past and why these do not occur now, after the end of the period of prophethood. The fact is that these events were not merely geographical events in the simple sense. They were manifestations of God’s will. This proves that the system of the present world is based on justice. Here, according to the law of nature itself, a transgressor will perforce receive punishment for his transgression, while the righteous one will receive a reward for his just behaviour. To call these events ‘climatic pulsation’ amounts to consigning them to the geographical realm. On the contrary, if these are treated as forms of divine retribution, they can teach great lessons about the fear of God and create anxiety about the Hereafter. The events that occurred during the age of the prophets, were, so to say, small signs prior to the advent of the great Doomsday. In these cases it so happened that those who denied the truth were given respite for some period. Thereafter, God’s verdict was made manifest and all were destroyed. Only those were saved who, being the supporters of the truth, were treated as favoured in the eyes of God. Others who were, in the assessment of God, arrogant and, therefore, disfavoured, were directly afflicted by God’s retribution; so much so that the recommendations of the prophets could not save them, as proved by the examples of Noah and Abraham.

In the present world, the opportunity to live and to settle is available to man for the sole reason that he has to be put to the test. Those who continue to deny the truth even after the conclusion of the preaching process by the prophets, lose their right to remain on God’s earth any further. That is why God destroyed the rejecters of the Prophet ( 29:40 ). Mostly this destruction took place in the form of the severest natural calamities. For example, cyclones, floods or earthquakes which, under normal conditions, remain within a limit, were made to wreak havoc to an unlimited extent. Such destruction of communities as took place in the past were called ‘climatic pulsation’ by the scholars of geographic history, as if whatever happened was the result of a geographical upheaval. However, they are unable to explain why such ‘climatic pulsations’ (changes) occurred only in the past and why these do not occur now, after the end of the period of prophethood. The fact is that these events were not merely geographical events in the simple sense. They were manifestations of God’s will. This proves that the system of the present world is based on justice. Here, according to the law of nature itself, a transgressor will perforce receive punishment for his transgression, while the righteous one will receive a reward for his just behaviour. To call these events ‘climatic pulsation’ amounts to consigning them to the geographical realm. On the contrary, if these are treated as forms of divine retribution, they can teach great lessons about the fear of God and create anxiety about the Hereafter. The events that occurred during the age of the prophets, were, so to say, small signs prior to the advent of the great Doomsday. In these cases it so happened that those who denied the truth were given respite for some period. Thereafter, God’s verdict was made manifest and all were destroyed. Only those were saved who, being the supporters of the truth, were treated as favoured in the eyes of God. Others who were, in the assessment of God, arrogant and, therefore, disfavoured, were directly afflicted by God’s retribution; so much so that the recommendations of the prophets could not save them, as proved by the examples of Noah and Abraham.

What has been mentioned in the Quran as being of the utmost importance, and has been the most often repeated, is that human beings will not be spared the final reckoning, but after death will be presented in God’s court. There everybody will be consigned either to Paradise or to Hell, according to his performance in this world. The reason for giving this point so much importance and repeating it so often is the ‘doubts’ which people have. People see that there are countless individuals on the earth who do not carry out God’s instructions; there are countless individuals who act independently of God’s instructions; many persons live self-centred lives instead of God-oriented lives, without any loss to themselves; all of them are still successful. Here, apparently, it is nowhere to be seen that those loyal to God receive special rewards and those disobedient to God have to face punishment. For this reason, people start entertaining doubts. They are unable to believe that people are destined to meet any fate other than what they have gone on witnessing with their own eyes. Here the Quran states that people’s upholding of untruth is not because they had studied the problem from every aspect and had found untruth reasonable. It was rather because of their adherence to customs and tradition instead of being open to arguments and reasonableness. If, in spite of this, they are not faced with the result of their actions, it is because of the respite they are given for being tested; for the life on earth before death is a life of trial. So, to make the test valid, the opportunity is given to man here till the time of his death to say whatever he likes and to do whatever he likes. Death marks the end of this period. Death means that man is transported from the place of testing to the place of judgement. There everyone will receive whatever he actually deserves and everyone will lose whatever he had assembled around himself without deserving it.

What has been mentioned in the Quran as being of the utmost importance, and has been the most often repeated, is that human beings will not be spared the final reckoning, but after death will be presented in God’s court. There everybody will be consigned either to Paradise or to Hell, according to his performance in this world. The reason for giving this point so much importance and repeating it so often is the ‘doubts’ which people have. People see that there are countless individuals on the earth who do not carry out God’s instructions; there are countless individuals who act independently of God’s instructions; many persons live self-centred lives instead of God-oriented lives, without any loss to themselves; all of them are still successful. Here, apparently, it is nowhere to be seen that those loyal to God receive special rewards and those disobedient to God have to face punishment. For this reason, people start entertaining doubts. They are unable to believe that people are destined to meet any fate other than what they have gone on witnessing with their own eyes. Here the Quran states that people’s upholding of untruth is not because they had studied the problem from every aspect and had found untruth reasonable. It was rather because of their adherence to customs and tradition instead of being open to arguments and reasonableness. If, in spite of this, they are not faced with the result of their actions, it is because of the respite they are given for being tested; for the life on earth before death is a life of trial. So, to make the test valid, the opportunity is given to man here till the time of his death to say whatever he likes and to do whatever he likes. Death marks the end of this period. Death means that man is transported from the place of testing to the place of judgement. There everyone will receive whatever he actually deserves and everyone will lose whatever he had assembled around himself without deserving it.

What has been mentioned in the Quran as being of the utmost importance, and has been the most often repeated, is that human beings will not be spared the final reckoning, but after death will be presented in God’s court. There everybody will be consigned either to Paradise or to Hell, according to his performance in this world. The reason for giving this point so much importance and repeating it so often is the ‘doubts’ which people have. People see that there are countless individuals on the earth who do not carry out God’s instructions; there are countless individuals who act independently of God’s instructions; many persons live self-centred lives instead of God-oriented lives, without any loss to themselves; all of them are still successful. Here, apparently, it is nowhere to be seen that those loyal to God receive special rewards and those disobedient to God have to face punishment. For this reason, people start entertaining doubts. They are unable to believe that people are destined to meet any fate other than what they have gone on witnessing with their own eyes. Here the Quran states that people’s upholding of untruth is not because they had studied the problem from every aspect and had found untruth reasonable. It was rather because of their adherence to customs and tradition instead of being open to arguments and reasonableness. If, in spite of this, they are not faced with the result of their actions, it is because of the respite they are given for being tested; for the life on earth before death is a life of trial. So, to make the test valid, the opportunity is given to man here till the time of his death to say whatever he likes and to do whatever he likes. Death marks the end of this period. Death means that man is transported from the place of testing to the place of judgement. There everyone will receive whatever he actually deserves and everyone will lose whatever he had assembled around himself without deserving it.

What has been mentioned in the Quran as being of the utmost importance, and has been the most often repeated, is that human beings will not be spared the final reckoning, but after death will be presented in God’s court. There everybody will be consigned either to Paradise or to Hell, according to his performance in this world. The reason for giving this point so much importance and repeating it so often is the ‘doubts’ which people have. People see that there are countless individuals on the earth who do not carry out God’s instructions; there are countless individuals who act independently of God’s instructions; many persons live self-centred lives instead of God-oriented lives, without any loss to themselves; all of them are still successful. Here, apparently, it is nowhere to be seen that those loyal to God receive special rewards and those disobedient to God have to face punishment. For this reason, people start entertaining doubts. They are unable to believe that people are destined to meet any fate other than what they have gone on witnessing with their own eyes. Here the Quran states that people’s upholding of untruth is not because they had studied the problem from every aspect and had found untruth reasonable. It was rather because of their adherence to customs and tradition instead of being open to arguments and reasonableness. If, in spite of this, they are not faced with the result of their actions, it is because of the respite they are given for being tested; for the life on earth before death is a life of trial. So, to make the test valid, the opportunity is given to man here till the time of his death to say whatever he likes and to do whatever he likes. Death marks the end of this period. Death means that man is transported from the place of testing to the place of judgement. There everyone will receive whatever he actually deserves and everyone will lose whatever he had assembled around himself without deserving it.

This means that the addressees of the Book given by God to Moses had diverse opinions about its statements. Some of them rejected them and some of them accepted them. (at-Tabari). Whenever a statement is made, a man has two alternatives—one is to make the correct interpretation of it and the other is to make the wrong interpretation of it. If the hearers are really serious, they will inevitably arrive at the one correct interpretation. Their seriousness will guarantee their unity of opinion. On the contrary, if they are not serious, they will not give the statement any importance and will interpret it differently according to their own individual thinking. One will say this and the other will say that. In this way their levity will lead them to differences of opinion. This happened in the case of all the prophets. God has nevertheless tolerated this, because He has created the present world as a place for the performance of deeds and the coming world as a place for reward or retribution. That is the way of God. That is why people are given full respite here. The present state of affairs is entirely due to this respite being given so that human beings may be tested and not due to God being under any compulsion.

The initial response to a call for the Truth is that it is ignored. Thereafter opposition starts and then it soon goes beyond all limits. This is a very critical situation for the call-givers. At that time the believers begin to consider different ways of thinking. One way is to become irritated and to imagine that, with the help of force, they should clash with those on whom theoretical reasoning had proved ineffective. The other way is to amend their message suitably in order to make it acceptable to the addressees, by omitting those portions which displease them. The first way amounts to going to extremes, while the second means compromising with falsehood, and both of these are equally wrong in the eyes of God; especially the second approach (i.e. amendment of the message in order to make it acceptable) which amounts to a sin, because that which is most desired by Almighty God is the unequivocal declaration of Truth, and in the case of compromises, there cannot be any such declaration. Whenever obstacles arise in the path of giving the call to the Truth, the call-giver should turn towards God as much as possible, because He, being Omnipotent, is the sole and certain means of solving all problems.

The initial response to a call for the Truth is that it is ignored. Thereafter opposition starts and then it soon goes beyond all limits. This is a very critical situation for the call-givers. At that time the believers begin to consider different ways of thinking. One way is to become irritated and to imagine that, with the help of force, they should clash with those on whom theoretical reasoning had proved ineffective. The other way is to amend their message suitably in order to make it acceptable to the addressees, by omitting those portions which displease them. The first way amounts to going to extremes, while the second means compromising with falsehood, and both of these are equally wrong in the eyes of God; especially the second approach (i.e. amendment of the message in order to make it acceptable) which amounts to a sin, because that which is most desired by Almighty God is the unequivocal declaration of Truth, and in the case of compromises, there cannot be any such declaration. Whenever obstacles arise in the path of giving the call to the Truth, the call-giver should turn towards God as much as possible, because He, being Omnipotent, is the sole and certain means of solving all problems.

The initial response to a call for the Truth is that it is ignored. Thereafter opposition starts and then it soon goes beyond all limits. This is a very critical situation for the call-givers. At that time the believers begin to consider different ways of thinking. One way is to become irritated and to imagine that, with the help of force, they should clash with those on whom theoretical reasoning had proved ineffective. The other way is to amend their message suitably in order to make it acceptable to the addressees, by omitting those portions which displease them. The first way amounts to going to extremes, while the second means compromising with falsehood, and both of these are equally wrong in the eyes of God; especially the second approach (i.e. amendment of the message in order to make it acceptable) which amounts to a sin, because that which is most desired by Almighty God is the unequivocal declaration of Truth, and in the case of compromises, there cannot be any such declaration. Whenever obstacles arise in the path of giving the call to the Truth, the call-giver should turn towards God as much as possible, because He, being Omnipotent, is the sole and certain means of solving all problems.

The initial response to a call for the Truth is that it is ignored. Thereafter opposition starts and then it soon goes beyond all limits. This is a very critical situation for the call-givers. At that time the believers begin to consider different ways of thinking. One way is to become irritated and to imagine that, with the help of force, they should clash with those on whom theoretical reasoning had proved ineffective. The other way is to amend their message suitably in order to make it acceptable to the addressees, by omitting those portions which displease them. The first way amounts to going to extremes, while the second means compromising with falsehood, and both of these are equally wrong in the eyes of God; especially the second approach (i.e. amendment of the message in order to make it acceptable) which amounts to a sin, because that which is most desired by Almighty God is the unequivocal declaration of Truth, and in the case of compromises, there cannot be any such declaration. Whenever obstacles arise in the path of giving the call to the Truth, the call-giver should turn towards God as much as possible, because He, being Omnipotent, is the sole and certain means of solving all problems.

The initial response to a call for the Truth is that it is ignored. Thereafter opposition starts and then it soon goes beyond all limits. This is a very critical situation for the call-givers. At that time the believers begin to consider different ways of thinking. One way is to become irritated and to imagine that, with the help of force, they should clash with those on whom theoretical reasoning had proved ineffective. The other way is to amend their message suitably in order to make it acceptable to the addressees, by omitting those portions which displease them. The first way amounts to going to extremes, while the second means compromising with falsehood, and both of these are equally wrong in the eyes of God; especially the second approach (i.e. amendment of the message in order to make it acceptable) which amounts to a sin, because that which is most desired by Almighty God is the unequivocal declaration of Truth, and in the case of compromises, there cannot be any such declaration. Whenever obstacles arise in the path of giving the call to the Truth, the call-giver should turn towards God as much as possible, because He, being Omnipotent, is the sole and certain means of solving all problems.

Here ‘generation before you’ means previous People of the Book, i.e. believing communities. A community faces ruination when the worldly good things given by God to its people with the purpose of developing feelings of gratitude in them, become instead a source of lust and create the urge to seek after material things. Under these circumstances, the tasks which need to be carried out for the reformation of the Muslim community are known in the terminology of the Islamic law as al-Amr bi’l-Ma‘ruf wa’n-Nahy ‘an al-Munkar, that is, exhorting righteousness and preventing individuals from indulging in sinful acts. This admonition specifies the responsibility placed on a Muslim with regard to his immediate neighbours. This means that in a Muslim society, there should always be some individuals who should remind Muslims of God and the Hereafter, who should keep a watch on people’s morals and who should try to keep them on the right path in all their dealings. The non-existence of such righteous individuals in a community is generally for one of two reasons—either the whole community has morally deteriorated and there is not a single righteous person left in it. Or else, there may still be certain righteous people, but due to the all-pervasive evil, they may not be able to find the courage to open their mouths. They may be afraid that if they spoke the Truth, they would lose the respect of their community. In both the above-mentioned cases, the community loses God’s esteem and becomes liable to be afflicted by God’s retribution in one form or the other.

Here ‘generation before you’ means previous People of the Book, i.e. believing communities. A community faces ruination when the worldly good things given by God to its people with the purpose of developing feelings of gratitude in them, become instead a source of lust and create the urge to seek after material things. Under these circumstances, the tasks which need to be carried out for the reformation of the Muslim community are known in the terminology of the Islamic law as al-Amr bi’l-Ma‘ruf wa’n-Nahy ‘an al-Munkar, that is, exhorting righteousness and preventing individuals from indulging in sinful acts. This admonition specifies the responsibility placed on a Muslim with regard to his immediate neighbours. This means that in a Muslim society, there should always be some individuals who should remind Muslims of God and the Hereafter, who should keep a watch on people’s morals and who should try to keep them on the right path in all their dealings. The non-existence of such righteous individuals in a community is generally for one of two reasons—either the whole community has morally deteriorated and there is not a single righteous person left in it. Or else, there may still be certain righteous people, but due to the all-pervasive evil, they may not be able to find the courage to open their mouths. They may be afraid that if they spoke the Truth, they would lose the respect of their community. In both the above-mentioned cases, the community loses God’s esteem and becomes liable to be afflicted by God’s retribution in one form or the other.

In our world, there are innumerable creatures besides human beings. All these creatures follow the one fixed path of nature at all times. Similarly, God could have created human beings as compulsory followers of the straight path too. But this is in no way God’s scheme with regard to human beings. God’s plan was that they would be so created that they should, of their own accord, be able independently to make correct moral choices. The difference in the world of human beings (i.e. some of them adopting one way and others adopting an other way) is, in fact, due to this special plan of God. This plan was certainly a risky one, because it meant that many people had the opportunity to misuse their freedom and thus make themselves liable to be cast into hell. But, with the help of this very plan, such noble souls could be chosen as could be treated as deserving the special grace of God. God has blessed the entire universe with His bounties. Now, God devised this plan so that He might give His creatures the benefit of His grace, saying, ‘You are entitled to this.’ God’s grace will be granted to that person whose consciousness is so alert that he recognizes in the power given to him by way of testing him his real powerlessness. Such a person will be able to see through the veil of human power and have a glimpse of God’s power behind it. Such perceptiveness takes away the capacity for arrogance in a man. So much so that, when God grants him His Grace saying, ‘This is your entitlement,’ in his awareness of reality he cries out, ‘O God! This is also a manifestation of Your grace, otherwise my deeds have no value.’

In our world, there are innumerable creatures besides human beings. All these creatures follow the one fixed path of nature at all times. Similarly, God could have created human beings as compulsory followers of the straight path too. But this is in no way God’s scheme with regard to human beings. God’s plan was that they would be so created that they should, of their own accord, be able independently to make correct moral choices. The difference in the world of human beings (i.e. some of them adopting one way and others adopting an other way) is, in fact, due to this special plan of God. This plan was certainly a risky one, because it meant that many people had the opportunity to misuse their freedom and thus make themselves liable to be cast into hell. But, with the help of this very plan, such noble souls could be chosen as could be treated as deserving the special grace of God. God has blessed the entire universe with His bounties. Now, God devised this plan so that He might give His creatures the benefit of His grace, saying, ‘You are entitled to this.’ God’s grace will be granted to that person whose consciousness is so alert that he recognizes in the power given to him by way of testing him his real powerlessness. Such a person will be able to see through the veil of human power and have a glimpse of God’s power behind it. Such perceptiveness takes away the capacity for arrogance in a man. So much so that, when God grants him His Grace saying, ‘This is your entitlement,’ in his awareness of reality he cries out, ‘O God! This is also a manifestation of Your grace, otherwise my deeds have no value.’

The events in the lives of the prophets have been narrated in the Quran, so that the later dayees should learn a lesson from them. In these events the preacher sees that their addressee-communities quarrelled with them, abused them by giving a twist to their straightforward discourses, subjected them to all sorts of hardship and rejected them as if they had no value at all. But, finally God helped them and their word carried the day. All the attacks of their opponents failed. The different fates of the believers and unbelievers became manifest in their initial form in this world itself, and will appear in their most perfect form in the Hereafter. With the help of these examples, the call-giver acquires the confidence, based on history, that there is no question of his being disappointed by or being terrified of the difficulties faced by him while calling for the Truth. Such difficulties always arise in dawah work, but he knows that he too will finally be successful, just as success was achieved by all the previous prophets.

The events in the lives of the prophets have been narrated in the Quran, so that the later dayees should learn a lesson from them. In these events the preacher sees that their addressee-communities quarrelled with them, abused them by giving a twist to their straightforward discourses, subjected them to all sorts of hardship and rejected them as if they had no value at all. But, finally God helped them and their word carried the day. All the attacks of their opponents failed. The different fates of the believers and unbelievers became manifest in their initial form in this world itself, and will appear in their most perfect form in the Hereafter. With the help of these examples, the call-giver acquires the confidence, based on history, that there is no question of his being disappointed by or being terrified of the difficulties faced by him while calling for the Truth. Such difficulties always arise in dawah work, but he knows that he too will finally be successful, just as success was achieved by all the previous prophets.

The events in the lives of the prophets have been narrated in the Quran, so that the later dayees should learn a lesson from them. In these events the preacher sees that their addressee-communities quarrelled with them, abused them by giving a twist to their straightforward discourses, subjected them to all sorts of hardship and rejected them as if they had no value at all. But, finally God helped them and their word carried the day. All the attacks of their opponents failed. The different fates of the believers and unbelievers became manifest in their initial form in this world itself, and will appear in their most perfect form in the Hereafter. With the help of these examples, the call-giver acquires the confidence, based on history, that there is no question of his being disappointed by or being terrified of the difficulties faced by him while calling for the Truth. Such difficulties always arise in dawah work, but he knows that he too will finally be successful, just as success was achieved by all the previous prophets.

The events in the lives of the prophets have been narrated in the Quran, so that the later dayees should learn a lesson from them. In these events the preacher sees that their addressee-communities quarrelled with them, abused them by giving a twist to their straightforward discourses, subjected them to all sorts of hardship and rejected them as if they had no value at all. But, finally God helped them and their word carried the day. All the attacks of their opponents failed. The different fates of the believers and unbelievers became manifest in their initial form in this world itself, and will appear in their most perfect form in the Hereafter. With the help of these examples, the call-giver acquires the confidence, based on history, that there is no question of his being disappointed by or being terrified of the difficulties faced by him while calling for the Truth. Such difficulties always arise in dawah work, but he knows that he too will finally be successful, just as success was achieved by all the previous prophets.