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 AD 610 and 632. It is a book that brings glad
tidings to humankind, 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
Ta Seen. These are verses from the Quran, a book that makes things clear; it is guidance and good news for the believers who pray regularly and pay obligatory alms and have firm faith in the Hereafter. We have made those who do not believe in the Hereafter feel their actions appear good to them, so they wander blindly: they are the ones who will have the worst of punishment, and in the Hereafter they will be the greatest losers. You have received this Quran from One who is allWise, all-Knowing. (27: 1-6)
When Truth appears before a man and he accepts it without any reservation, he immediately finds himself on the right path. His life becomes righteous in every respect. But, one who is not prepared to mould himself in accordance with the Truth, is forced to twist reality to suit himself. From this develops an attitude of perverseness which is expressed here as ‘their actions appear beautiful to them’ (zayyanna lahum a‘malahum). One with such an attitude seeks self-made arguments to justify his behaviour. These so-called arguments gradually take hold of his mind in such a way that he believes them to be perfectly correct. In the light of his false reasoning, his misdeeds appear virtuous to him. Those to whom God has made their misdeeds appear beautiful are those who are not serious about the call to accept the Truth. As a result of this thinking, they become completely unmindful of self-reformation. They have to pay a heavy price for this tendency of theirs to consider their wrong as right: the path they tread leads straight to Hell.
Tell of Moses who said to his family, ‘I have seen a fire. I will bring you news from there, or a burning brand for you to warm yourselves. ’When he came up to it, a voice called out, ‘Blessed be whoever is near this fire, and whoever is around it! Glory be to God, Lord of the universe! (27: 7-8)
Moses left Egypt and went to Midian (or Madyan), which was situated on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. He spent eight years there. Then he left along with his wife for Egypt. During this journey, he reached the foot of a mountain which was situated on a peninsula projecting into the Red Sea. This mountain was called Tur in ancient days and is now known as Gebel Moses.
It was probably a winter night. Moses saw something, which to him looked like a fire far away on the mountain side. He went towards it. But on drawing near, he found that it was God’s light and not a fire lit by human beings.
There is an ancient tree at the place on the mountain where Moses saw the light. It is said that this is the very same tree from which God’s voice was heard by Moses. The Christians subsequently constructed a church and a monastery at this place which till today is a place of pilgrimage.
'O Moses, I am God, the Powerful, the Wise. Throw down your staff.’ But when he saw it moving like a snake, he turned and fled. ‘Moses, do not be afraid! The messengers need have no fear in My presence; as for those who do wrong and then do good after evil, I am most forgiving, most merciful. Now put your hand inside your cloak next to your bosom and it will come out [shining] white, without any blemish. This will be one of the nine signs for Pharaoh and his people: for truly they are a rebellious people. ’But when Our signs came to them in all their clarity they said, ‘This is clearly sorcery!’ And they persisted in rejecting them wrongfully and arrogantly, while in their hearts they were convinced of their truth. Observe, then, how evil was the fate of the evil-doers. (27: 9-14)
Moses had gone to the mountain to obtain a burning brand. But after reaching it, he came to know that he had been called there to have prophethood bestowed upon him. When Almighty God blesses any subject of His with a special gift, He gives it suddenly and unexpectedly, so that the recipient may attribute it directly to God and develop in himself the most profound feelings of gratitude towards Him. On the one hand, the community of Moses (the Children of Israel), though a believing community, had degenerated. On the other, Moses had to proclaim the message of God to a tyrant king like Pharaoh.
Therefore, Almighty God blessed him with the miracle of the stick at the very beginning of his mission. This stick was an enduring divine power for Moses, by means of which nine miracles were performed to awe the Pharaoh, apart from the miracles which were meant for the Children of Israel.
The miracles of Moses finally established his truthfulness. In spite of this, Pharaoh and his companions did not accept him. The reasons for this were their proneness to transgression, their false pride, and their unwillingness to curtail their freedom. Moreover, they knew that accepting Moses’s preaching would amount to negating their own greatness. And who accepts Truth at the expense of his own greatness?