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 AD. 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
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Believers, do not push yourselves forward in the presence of God and His Messenger. Fear God—God hears all and knows all. (49: 1)
To hold one’s opinion superior to that of the Prophet is forbidden. During the life of the Prophet Muhammad, this attitude on the part of an addressee took the shape of indulgence in verbosity at his meetings, the object being to excel the Prophet’s discourse. Subsequently, this meant the forming of opinions in disregard of the guiding principles laid down by God and His Prophet.
This sort of lapse occurs because man forgets that God is keeping a watch over him. If he came to know that his utterances reached God before they reached other human beings, he would prefer to remain silent rather than talk.
Believers, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and do not speak as loudly when speaking to him as you do when speaking to one another, lest your actions come to nothing without your realizing it. Those who lower their voices in the presence of God’s Messenger are men whose hearts God has tested for piety—they shall have forgiveness and a great reward—those who call out to you from outside your apartments are lacking in understanding. If they waited patiently until you came out to see them, it would be better for them. But God is forgiving and merciful. (49: 2-5)
The Bedouin tribes from the areas surrounding Madinah were not mature in understanding. When they used to come to the meetings of the Prophet Muhammad, they did not address him as ‘O Prophet ofGod’, but rather as ‘O Muhammad.’ Their manner of speech was not modest or humble, but overbearing. Such behaviour was prohibited. A Prophet is God’s representative in this world. Rudeness to him of this nature amounts to rude behaviour towards God, which renders a man absolutely worthless.
After the demise of the Prophet Muhammad, the guidance brought by him stands in his place. Now this divine guidance necessitates obedience just as obedience to the Prophet personally was required during his lifetime.
Fear of God makes a man serious. If fear of God really enters a man’s heart, he will come to know automatically, as a matter of instinct, all those realities of which others remain unaware in spite of being informed of them.
Believers, if an evil-doer brings you news, ascertain the correctness of the report fully, lest you unwittingly harm others, and then regret what you have done, and know that the Messenger of God is among you. If he were to obey you in many things, you would suffer for it. However, God has endeared the faith to you, and beautified it in your hearts, and has made denial of the truth, wickedness, and disobedience hateful to you. People such as these are rightly guided through God’s bounty and favour; God is all knowing, and wise. (49: 6-8)
If anyone provides information about another which takes the form of allegations against the latter, ready acceptance of this news on simply hearing it is absolutely against the precautions imposed by the Faith. It is essential on the part of the hearer of the news to make the necessary investigation about it, and whatever opinion he forms should be after impartial inquiry and not before.
It frequently happens that when information of this kind is received, there are immediate suggestions of taking punitive action. This is a case of gross irresponsibility. Nobody should form any opinion about such news before investigation; nor should others suggest direct action without a thorough probe.
Those who tread the path of righteousness and guidance develop an entirely different temperament from those who do not. They are averse to levelling allegations against others. They prefer to remain silent rather than talk about a supposed misdemeanour which is as yet uninvestigated. Being of such a nature is an indication of their having been blessed with a share in God’s Graces. The Faith that has really permeated their lives now is being acknowledged in verbal form.