THE WORD OF GOD
Translated from Arabic and commentary
by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
My servants who believe, My earth is vast, so worship Me alone. Every soul shall taste death and then to Us you shall return. We shall lodge forever those who believe and do good works in the mansions of Paradise beside which rivers flow. How excellent is the reward of those who labour, and who are steadfast and put their trust in their Lord. 29: 56-59
How many creatures cannot fend for themselves! God provides for them and for you. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. 29: 60
Sometimes a change is necessary in the mode of performing a task. This may require a change in the sphere of influence, in the way that the Hudaybiyah Pact shifted the scene of action from the battlefield to the field of missionary work. But more often it requires a major step, like migration; for example, the migration of the Prophet from Makkah to Medina.
In these verses the faithful living in Makkah were told that if the people of Makkah were harassing them, they should leave Makkah, migrate to some other place, and carry on God’s worship there. This shows that the exercise of patience and trust means being steadfast in prayer and not persisting in clashing with enemies. Had it been God’s will that they should engage in hostilities under any circumstances, then the instructions would have been to continue fighting with their opponents and not, in any event, to move away.
If you ask them who it is that has created the heavens and the earth and subjugated the sun and the moon, they will say, ‘God.’ How then are they turned away? God gives abundantly to whom He will and sparingly to whom He pleases. God has full knowledge of all things. 29: 61-62
Creating the earth and the sky was such a major event that only Almighty God could perform it. The movement of the sun and moon, the falling of rain and the sprouting of greenery from the soil of the earth are phenomena too great to have been brought into existence by anybody other than God.
Those who indulge in polytheism do not themselves believe that they have brought these great wonders into existence. In spite of this, many people worship beings others than God in the hope that they will increase their worldly blessings. However, when all powers are vested in God, who else but He can exert influence on the distribution of the daily sustenance?
The life of this world is nothing but sport and a diversion. It is the life of the Hereafter which is the only true life, if they but knew it. 29: 64
When they board a vessel, they call on God, sincere in their faith for Him alone; but when He brings them safe to land, they begin to ascribe partners to Him. And thus they may show utter ingratitude for Our favours; let them enjoy themselves for a time. But they will soon come to know. 29: 65-66
The real reason for a man going astray is that he is so completely engrossed in the glamour and problems of the world that he cannot rise above them and think independently.
In order to arrive at the Truth, one has to raise oneself above external and superficial appearances. Most people cannot do so, and that is why they do not find the Truth.
In the world, time and again, man has experiences which remind him of his helplessness. At that time all his conditioning falls away from him, and the real and natural man in him is awakened. But as soon as conditions return again to normal, he becomes as neglectful and arrogant as before. Among these crucial experiences is that of a voyage, which is mentioned in the verse.
Man should know that the chance to exercise freedom is given to him during this life for only a few days. After death, he will have to face a completely new world with a completely different set of problems.
Have they not seen how We have granted them a safe sanctuary, though all around them people are snatched away? Would they still believe in falsehood, and deny the favour of God? Who does greater wrong than he who invents a lie about God or rejects the truth when it comes to him? Is Hell not the home for those who deny the truth? We will surely guide in Our ways those who strive hard for Our cause, God is surely with the righteous. 29: 67-69
The Sacred House of Makkah, i.e. the Kabah, is a wonderful gift of Almighty God. God fills the hearts of people with awe whenever they see it, so that even the overbearing and arrogant drop their evil ways on reaching there. This sanctity of the Kabah was one of the signs of God’s power. It called for people to open their hearts to God. But what the worshippers of falsehood did was to ascribe God’s attributes to entities other than God and wrongly divert people’s instinct of devotion towards them. But even worse, when the Prophet Muhammad advised them to renounce the imaginary gods and bow down before the one real God, they became hostile to him.
In such an atmosphere the loss suffered by the believers in the world is more than made up for by the rewards bestowed on them by God. Distancing themselves from material comforts, they come closer to the state of spiritual experience. The outward glitter of things is no longer in view, but the inner realities of things are laid bare to them.
It is possible for man to contact God at any moment.
This concept gives one unshakable confidence
and a source of help in every situation.