THE WORD OF GOD
From The Scriptures
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 A.D. 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
We made a covenant with Adam before you, but he forgot, and We found him lacking in constancy. When We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam,’ they all prostrated themselves, except for Satan, who refused, We said, ‘Adam, [Satan] is an enemy to you and to your wife. Let him not turn you both out of Paradise and thus make you come to grief. (20: 115-117)
To adhere steadfastly to God’s commandments, unwavering determination is essential. If a man is influenced by irrelevant factors, he will undoubtedly deviate from the path of God. In order to remain steadfastly on the path of God, it is not enough to know what His commandment is; it is also absolutely necessary to have the will to resist all that goes against His commandment, and not to let himself be influenced by it.
When God ordered that all should kneel down before Adam, the angels immediately dropped to their knees. But Satan did not do so. The reason for this difference in behaviour was that the angels treated this matter as pertaining to God, whereas Satan, on the contrary, saw it as the affair of a mere mortal. When an issue concerns God, man has no option but to bow to His wishes. But when it is treated as relating to a human being, the person in question will appraise the human being before him. If the latter is comparatively stronger, he will kneel down; otherwise he will refuse to kneel down, even if such an action be the demand of truth and justice.
‘Here you shall not go hungry or be naked, you shall not thirst, nor feel the sun’s heat.’ But Satan whispered evil to him, saying, ‘Adam, shall I lead you to the tree of immortality and to a kingdom that never declines?’ They both ate the fruit of this tree, and so they became conscious of their nakedness and began to cover themselves with the leaves of the Garden. Thus Adam disobeyed his Lord and fell into error. Then his Lord had mercy on him, accepted his repentance and guided him. (20: 118-122)
God kept Adam, with his spouse, in Paradise, where he was freely and amply provided with all the necessities of life—food, clothing, water and shelter. Adam was not required to do anything in return for these blessings, unlike in the present world where man has to earn all these things by his own hard labour.
In Paradise, the fruit of a certain tree was prohibited for Adam. But Satan came and described to him the eternal advantages of this fruit. Adam, influenced by what he said, ate it, then immediately felt that he was naked. This was symbolic of the fact that God had instantly withdrawn the guarantee of providing him with sustenance without his having to earn it by his own labour. Thereafter, on his supplication and repentance, he was pardoned. However, he was removed from a world where God’s bounty had been freely given and sent to a world where he had to earn his living by the sweat of his brow. Such was the beginning of human existence on this earth.
God said, ‘Go down, both of you, from here, as enemies to one another.’ If there comes to you guidance from Me, then whoever follows My guidance will not lose his way, nor will he come to grief, but whoever turns away from My reminder, will lead a straitened existence and on the Day of Judgement We shall raise him up blind and he will ask, ‘Lord, why have You raised me up blind, while I possessed sight before?’ God will say, ‘Just as Our signs came to you and you ignored them, so will you on this Day be ignored.’ Thus We shall reward the transgressor who denies the signs of his Lord. But the suffering of the life to come is more terrible and more lasting. (20: 123-127)
God settled Satan as well as Adam on the earth and gave due warning in the very beginning that clashes of interest between the two would go on till Doomsday. Satan would make every possible effort to mislead mankind, therefore, people should make it a point to treat him as their greatest enemy and try to stay far away from his inducements.
To give further guidance to man, God periodically sent him His messengers, or prophets, who instructed him in the reality of life in a language which was clearly intelligible to him. Now, the success or failure of man depends on his own acceptance or rejection of the Prophet’s guidance. One who accepts this guidance will once again be ushered into the comfortable life of Paradise, whereas the life of one who fails to accept it will be a very severe one, from which he will never be able to escape.
Those who turn away from God’s guidance will be reduced in the Hereafter to blindness, being deprived of both the eyes. The reason for this is such people are given eyes in the world in order to be able to see and recognize God’s signs. But they live in such a manner that, when they encounter God’s signs, they fail to recognize them. Thus, they prove that, in spite of having eyes, they are really blind. So God will ask on that Day, what use it had been to give eyes to those who were determined to be blind.
Good Speech
Most of our activities are
related to speech in one way or
another. Each one of us ought
to cultivate the art of speaking
that is positive and which
creates a healthy atmosphere
in the family, society and the
nation. Good speech is the basis
of nation building.