THE WORD OF GOD
THE Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety
since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between 610 and 632.
It is a book that brings glad tidings to mankind, along with divine
admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the
Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level.
Translated from Arabic and commentary
by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Your God is one God. There is no deity save Him. He is the Compassionate, the Merciful. 2: 163
Mankind has only one God: He is the only worthy focus of man’s attention. Our very existence on earth, and all the benefits we derive from the world around us, are manifestations of His unbounded grace and mercy. In return, we should become God’s devoted servants, living for Him, dying for Him, and setting all our hopes on winning His eternal favour. Man owes everything to his Creator. If he becomes conscious of this, his Lord will mean everything to him, as a mother means everything to her infant.
In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of night and day; in the ships that sail the ocean bearing cargoes beneficial to man; in the water which God sends down from the sky and with which He revives the earth after its death; scattering over it all kinds of animals; in the courses of the winds, and in the clouds pressed into service between earth and sky, there are indeed signs for people who use their reason. 2: 164
The vast universe spread out before us serves as a magnificent introduction to God. The existence of a limitless world in the form of the Earth and the heavens is a proof that there must be a Creator behind it. Despite apparently different and contrasting elements, all things work together in absolute harmony, showing that their Creator and Sustainer is the one and only God. Then the fact that every single thing benefits the rest of the Universe, in some manner or the other, shows that all things have been designed according to a definite and absolutely conscious plan. Apparently lifeless objects are invested with life through a natural process: this shows that death is only a temporary phase in this universe.
Here death is always followed by new life. Every variety of animate creature flourishes in this world in huge numbers. All are being sustained by varied forms of the same food and drink, indicating the unfathomable power of God. The atmosphere totally encompassing the earth shows that man’s life is entirely in his Creator’s hands. Everything in this universe has been tamed to cater to man’s needs. This is indicative of the fact that man’s Creator is a highly compassionate being. Even before an individual has been born into the world, all his requirements have already been taken care of.
The presence of all these signs in the universe are reflections of the Creator in His creation. The universe displays God’s very existence and His oneness on a vast scale; it is an amalgam of every aspect of perfection, so that no one with any vision or even a grain of intelligence can fail to discover Him in it. But these signs, spread all over the universe, serve as proofs of God’s existence and His role as Sustainer of the entire universe, only to one who sincerely reflects on these signs. For, to be able to arrive at the truth, one has to be sincere in one’s search for it, and one has to rise above worldly considerations before drawing one’s conclusions. This can be achieved only by total absorption, not in externals, but in the search for the inner reality that lies beneath the outward surface of things.
Yet there are some who set up equals with God and adore them with the adoration due to God, but those who believe love God most. If only the wrongdoers could see — as they will see when they face the punishment — that all power belongs to God, and that God is severe in punishment. 2: 165
By their nature and circumstances, human beings always look for an external support—a being, who may compensate for their feelings of helplessness, and may serve as a source of confidence and conviction. To make someone a part of one’s life in this capacity is akin to accepting that being as a deity. When a being (or an object) is taken as a deity, it is assumed to be someone or something worthy of being worshipped.
It necessarily entails that all one’s feelings of love and devotion become exclusively reserved for that being or object. Their own nature compels human beings to have some focus for all their feelings of love, devotion and reverence. And whatever becomes the focus of these emotions is held to be God. (That is, that object has been accorded the status of divinity).
Since God remains invisible in this present world, one who judges things by appearances tends to accord some visible being the status due only to the Almighty. Such beings are generally leaders who, because of certain marks of distinction, become the centre of public attention. This vacuum in human nature was in actual fact to be filled by God Almighty, but many people chose something or someone other than God for this purpose.
This happens when ordinary human beings, seeing someone surrounded by visible pomp and splendour, are impressed by certain special talents or qualities; when they find certain individuals occupying ‘seats’ sanctified by centuries-old traditions; when at times they are impressed by the large following which certain people enjoy and when they see public figures surrounded with the halo of mysterious legends. Being ordinary mortals themselves, they come thus to regard certain persons as possessing extraordinary power and therefore superior to the common man.
But the truth is that in this universe of God, no one save God possesses any power or greatness. Man may continue to receive the status of divinity only for so long as God remains invisible. But when God appears on Doomsday, the state of affairs will change so drastically that people will flee from one another. Today people take great pride in their association with and devotion to great men. They think that they are clinging to a firm rock which will surely help them in the Hereafter. Such association will prove meaningless on Doomsday—as if they had never existed at all. Man will look at his past life in despair, but he will be utterly helpless to rectify the situation. He will be able to do nothing but regret his past deeds.
Say, ‘He is God, the One,
God, the Self-sufficient One.
He does not give birth, nor was He born.
And there is nothing like Him.
THE QURAN, 112: 1-4