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
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
All praise be to God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, who made the angels His messengers, with wings—two, or three, or four pairs. He adds to His creation whatever He wills; for God has the power to will anything. No one can withhold the blessings God bestows upon people, nor can anyone apart from Him bestow whatever He withholds: He is the Almighty, the Wise One. (35: 1-2)
God created angels to carry messages and execute orders. But, Satan misled people to believe that the angels had a distinct identity of their own and that they could be the source of bringing blessings in this world and salvation in the Hereafter. So, some communities drew imaginary pictures of them, giving them names ‘Lat’ and ‘Manat’ and started worshipping them. Some communities treated them with the reverence which rightfully was due to God. In the present age, reverence for the ‘law of nature’ is the modern version of a similar misconception. But the fact is that both the angels and the law of nature are subject to the will of One God alone.
People, remember God’s favour to you. Is there any creator other than God who provides for you from the heavens and the earth? There is no God save Him. How then are you turned away from the truth? If they reject you, other messengers have been rejected before you. To God all affairs will be returned. (35: 3-4)
Man is in need of innumerable things to sustain his life, for example, light, water, air, food, minerals, etc. Each of these elements require the combined and concerted actions of universal forces to come into existence. Who else except the one God is capable of bringing about such a big event? When the Creator and Organizer of all these things is the One God, then how could it be reasonable for people to worship any entity other than Him?
It is a peculiar historical experience that those who accord a position of greatness to things other than God are intractable when it comes to re-assigning that greatness to God, even though the call for this may be made by a prophet in person. The reason for this is people find it easy to continue with previously accepted notions; whereas accepting a new prophet would mean putting one’s faith in something different. For the individual to acquire this type of ‘iman’ (faith), he must activate his own thinking powers; he should discover the Truth through his own insight. Undoubtedly, this has always been the most difficult task for a man to perform.
O Men! The promise of God is true. Let not the life of this world deceive you, nor let the Deceiver deceive you about God. Surely Satan is your enemy: so, treat him as an enemy: he calls on his followers only so that they should become inmates of the burning Fire. Those who are bent on denying the truth will have a severe punishment, while those who believe and do good deeds will have forgiveness and a great reward. (35: 5-7)
On the face of it, the facts of life (and Hereafter), though conveyed to us by God through His prophets, appear to be figments of human imagination, because they are not immediately encountered. Conversely, the things of the present world appear to be real, because man encounters them today itself.
Sudden death, the upheaval of earthquakes and other such incidents shake a man’s composure. These, in fact, remind one of Doomsday, before its actual occurrence. But Satan immediately diverts the attention of the people by saying that these events have natural causes and are not a result of divine intervention. That day is bound to come when a distinction will be drawn between the true and the false; righteous people will be rewarded for their virtue and wrongdoers will be punished for their evil deeds.
Is he whose evil deeds are made alluring to him so that he looks upon them as good, [equal to the man who is rightly guided]? God leaves to stray whom He wills, and guides whom He wills. Do not destroy yourself with grief for them. God has full knowledge of all their actions. (35: 8)
Almighty God has blessed every man with the capability to think and distinguish between truth and untruth. One who utilizes this innate talent, receives proper guidance and one who does not is left to go astray.
When Truth appears before a man, he has two options before him. If he accepts the Truth, his mind starts off in the right direction and he becomes a wayfarer journeying towards the Truth. But if some extraneous consideration or some psychological complication comes in his way and, under its influence, he refuses to accept the Truth, he then starts devising ways and means of justifying his rejection of it and tries to prove that his bad deeds are actually good deeds. Those who suffer from such psychological barriers never admit the Truth. It is only when, after death, they come face to face with God that they reap what they have sown.
It is God who sends forth the winds so that they raise up the clouds. We drive them to a dead land, and by them bring the earth to life after its death. Such is the Resurrection. If anyone seeks glory, let him know that glory belongs to God alone. Good words ascend to Him and righteous deeds are exalted by Him. Those who plot evil deeds shall be sternly punished and their plotting will come to nothing. (35: 9-10)
The present world gives us an introduction to the Hereafter. Rain, a common phenomenon, indicates that a force is at work which is beyond our ken. Rain results from the action of universal forces. The sun, the air, the sea, gravitational force and many other factors combine with each other in perfect coordination to produce the rain which makes dry land come alive.
This process of rain-making proves that the Organizer of the universe has full powers over it. He brings about an event according to His plan. Revitalizing a barren piece of land and resurrecting a dead man are both feats of the same calibre. If the possibility of the first event is proved, by analogy, the possibility of the second event automatically stands proved.
The present world is a testing ground. Therefore, here even an undeserving person may temporarily receive honour, but in the Hereafter all the honours will fall to the lot of those who are really deserving of them. The criteria for judging worthiness will be righteous words (al-kalim at-tayyib) and pious deeds (al-‘amal as-salih), that is, man’s expression—in thought, word and deed—of his discovery of God and the devotion of all his strength to the service of the Almighty. Those who build their lives in piety are bound to secure God’s help.