Юнус 10:31–60

Man needs sustenance. How does he receive it? It is through the coordinated action of the universe. The whole universe, with the utmost harmony, acts in a particular direction. Then only is it possible to make available to man that provision without which it would not be possible for him to survive on this earth. Studies show that every phenomenon in the universe is a product of a great and harmonious coordination among numerous elements of different and opposite nature. According to the polytheists’ stand, this universal coordination of such a high degree becomes unexplainable. For these supposed partners in ‘godhead’ are responsible for only one part of the functioning of the universe. And a ‘god’ of one part can never cause an event which comes into existence through harmonious coordination of all parts. Moreover, there is the example of the wonderful capabilities bestowed upon man that are represented by his ears and eyes. These could not be treated as the endowment of any false god. The false gods and goddesses themselves are either devoid of these capabilities, or even if these are found in any supposed god, he is not their creator. Even these can be taken away as they are taken away from ordinary human beings. Similarly, it is not possible for these false gods to give life to lifeless things or to make living things lifeless. There is no proof of this and no worshippers of theirs hold this belief about them. Then how will it be possible for man to get such things from them? How strange it is that man believes in a great God but, in spite of that, he attributes such things to God as nullify His superior qualities. The reason for this is that he has no fear of God. As a result of his false ideas, he has consoled himself that God is not going to make him give an account of himself, and if the stage of reckoning comes, there are such beings who, in his support, will recommend him to God and save him. Fear makes a man serious; if a man’s heart is devoid of fear, nothing can stop him from adopting the way of injustice. Such a man becomes arrogant and an arrogant man never admits the Truth.

Except for God, no being who has been given the status of godhead, either from among human beings or non-human beings, has the power to bring anything into existence. It is only God whose creative power stands proved; and when God’s creativity has once been proved, it also stands to reason that He can and will repeat His acts of creation in the Hereafter. Then it is futile to pay attention to the so-called other partners. From them, man cannot obtain anything either in his first life or in his second. This is also the case with guidance. It is only God who sends guidance. The utterances of the prophets, presented by them as God’s guidance, were definitely such. As opposed to this, the condition of partners is that either they are entirely incapable of giving knowledge about right or wrong to human beings, or due to their own shortcomings and limitations, they are themselves in need of guidance, leave alone giving guidance to others. Given this state of affairs, man should revert to the one and only God and dismiss from his mind any imaginary partners. The tenets of polytheism are based not on any real knowledge but on suppositions or imagination. Without any basis, people have been wrongly persuaded that certain beings possess godly qualities, though such an important assessment of such beings can be formed only on the basis of real knowledge and not simply on conjecture or guesswork.

The Quran is its own proof. With its superior literary style, it is quite inimitable; and this in itself is enough to prove that it presents superhuman discourse. Had it been the work of a human being, it would certainly have been possible for other human beings also to create a similar discourse by their own efforts. The second proof of the Quran being a divine discourse is that it fulfills the prophesies made about it while waiting for a final book of guidance. The Quran has appeared in answer to this expectation. Then why should anyone have any doubt about it? Moreover, it is the details of the ‘Book’ which elucidate and present in correct and unadulterated form the divine teachings which are the essence of all divine scriptures. This is a clear indication which shows that the Quran has come from God, on whose behalf the previous divine scriptures had come. Claims that the Quran is not the product of divine wisdom, its having been authored by a human being, can be instantly dismissed by asking the claimants to produce a book the equal of the Quran or even a chapter as excellent as those of the Quran. Neither they nor anyone else will be able to do so. Despite their claims having been proved incorrect, they still challenge the Quran. And if they do so, it is because they are devoid of any fear of the consequences of rejecting the Quran. They are not afraid that, by rejecting the Quran, they will have to suffer severe retribution. Their antagonistic behaviour is caused by the flippant attitude developed in them due to their fearlessness and not because of any kind of rational or cogent line of reasoning.

One who does not embrace the Faith is, in the eyes of God, mufsid (a disturber of the peace) because it is only by disturbing his nature that it is possible for anyone to prevent himself from accepting the truth. Such a man curbs the voice of his conscience; he does not put to use his thinking capacity; he ignores clear reasoning by uttering false words; he is not receptive even after listening and does not try to understand even after having had everything explained to him. He gives preference to his prejudices, and his self-interests overwhelm the truth. Those who argue falsely, and at length, go on arguing till the last, saying: ‘You mind your own business and I’ll mind mine.’ To make such a statement seems to them like a way of avoiding defeat. But a missionary performs his work, rising above the psychology of victory or defeat. So, when he observes that the opponent has stooped to adopt an adamant and stubborn attitude and finds that there is no use in arguing further, he disassociates himself by saying that real decision is with God; and that his opponent’s final fate will be in accordance with his position in God’s assessment.

Certain rejectors of Truth are clearly such right from the beginning. But the clever ones among them make a show of attentively listening, as if they really want to understand things, though in their hearts they maintain that they do not have to understand. They look at the signs of the veracity of the Prophet as if they want to observe them with an open heart, though they are already determined not to observe and not to accept. The preacher is thus misled into thinking that they are about to accept the Truth. But, in the eyes of God, they are people who are deaf in spite of having ears and blind in spite of having eyes. Such people do not receive inspiration from God to accept the Truth. God has blessed man with superior capacities. If he utilises these capacities, he will never go astray. But man, finding himself free, misunderstands things. He falls to indulging in utter arrogance. This happens because he fails to understand God’s plan. The things given to him purely for the purpose of putting him to the test are taken by him to be rightfully his.

Today, the Hereafter is not before man; today, a man desirous of seeing it has to see it with the eye of his imagination. Therefore, to a man who is not serious about the Hereafter, it will appear to be a far-away thing. But when the Hereafter sweeps over him as the greatest reality, and when he starts seeing it in all its rigour with his own eyes, he will forget his arrogance. At that time, all those worldly matters which had made him neglectful and careless about the Hereafter, will appear to him lowly, frivolous and contemptible. The Hereafter will not occur in any strange world, but in this thoroughly-familiar world of ours. Then, man will find himself in the same atmosphere in which he had earlier rejected the Truth; he will find himself among the same persons on the strength of whose support he indulged in arrogance. But, at that time, none of them will be of any avail. Everything will be fresh in his mind, as if no time had elapsed at all. The relation between a preacher and his hearers is the most delicate of all affairs. If the preacher has come forward in actuality to bring the Truth, he is God’s representative in this world. Accepting him is like accepting God and rejecting him amounts to rejection of God. Such events cannot be without consequences. After the appearance of the preacher of Truth, it necessarily follows that the divine discourse which falls from his lips, will leave his hearers speechless. This is the first victory of Truth over falsehood. The second victory will take place in the Hereafter when his opponents, by God’s grace, will be powerless before Him. The first event necessarily occurs right here in this world. The second event also occurs to a certain extent in this world, if God wishes to reveal it in the present world. This sort of happening is bound to take place with every group when, prior to its being directly presented before God, it is indirectly presented before God’s representative in this world. In this way, God sees who surrenders himself to Him.

Man finds himself free in this world. It seems to him that whatever he may do, there is nobody to catch hold of him and nobody to punish him. This state of affairs makes him unheeding, so much so that when the preacher warns him on behalf of God about the outcome of his deeds, he ridicules the missionary and asks, ‘When will the warning of retribution for my arrogance which you have been giving me materialise?’ The reason behind all such talk is nothing but foolishness; because this punishment is executed not on behalf of the preacher but on behalf of God; and at all times God is revealing in this world of His that His way is not that of inordinate haste. If a boat has a hole in it and if a sailor heedlessly sets sail in it, then in accordance with the law of God, it will sink. But such a boat does not sink immediately. It does so only at its appointed time and according to God’s law. Such instances abound in the world and they acquaint man with the methods of God. But, in spite of observing all this, man says, ‘If all such deeds entail God’s punishment, why does not this punishment come soon?’ The reason for asking such pointless questions is that man is not serious about God’s scourge.

Earthquakes and storms are God-managed events. These events show that whenever an issue arises between God and man, the power of deciding rests entirely with the former. But man does not take this factor into consideration. He sees only that the Law of God is not immediately coming into effect; and this being so, he remains neglectful. But when God’s decision comes into force, man will find himself ready to accept everything, though accepting at that time will be of no avail, because that will be the time when one is faced with the consequences of deeds already performed, with no account taken of the performance of fresh deeds.

The Prophet Muhammad told the Arab people that if they did not reform themselves, they would be set upon by the punishment of the Hereafter. In answer to that they started ridiculing his warning. This does not mean that they were not believers in the Hereafter. In fact, they were not disregarding the fact of the Hereafter itself, but rather dismissing the Prophet Muhammad’s warning as valueless. At that time the greatness of the Prophet Muhammad had not yet come to be recognised. In the eyes of his addressees, he appeared to be in the shape of an ‘ordinary’ human being. They failed to understand how they would be liable for God’s punishment on rejecting this ‘ordinary’ man’s words. They were doubtful of his being the representative of God and the Hereafter. This comparison was not between acceptance of the Hereafter and denial of the Hereafter but between the religion of a celebrated personality and the religion of an insignificant personality. They allied themselves with the established great ones of the past. They considered themselves to be following the religion of the recognised personalities. As against the recognised personalities of the past, when they saw their contemporary Prophet, he appeared to be an ordinary human being. They were not able to understand that their association with those great personalities would not be sufficient for their salvation and that it would be necessary for them to associate themselves with that person who was not apparently vested with greatness. This was the psychology which emboldened them to ridicule the Prophet Muhammad.

Man is a sensitive being. He cannot bear trouble. As long as he is not confronted with retribution, he ridicules the Truth; he spurns it with unconcern. But when the retribution of the Hereafter is before him, he will be stricken with such terror that everything will appear insignificant to him. Even if he possessed the wealth of the entire world and all the bounties of the world, all that will appear so valueless to him seeing the punishment before him that he will fervently desire that he should be relieved of that chastisement in exchange for all the bounties. But the issue in the Hereafter is not that of bargaining. It is the question of facing the consequences for the deeds performed. It is an essential part of God’s plan regarding life and death. It is the demand of Divine Justice that it should happen; and God’s omnipotence is the sure guarantee that it will take place. The seeming delay in the occurrence of this is only due to having to await that appointed hour, when the period of the present test will be over, and all human beings will be presented before God to face their final fate.

Man is a psychological being. If psychologically he is vitiated, his whole life is affected. The guidance revealed by God in the form of the divine Book is an absolute mercy to all humanity. It consists of the best advice and guidance, but it is necessary for a man to be its recipient that he should not have lost his power of right thinking. As for one who has perverted his faculty of right thinking, the principles enshrined in the divine Book will fail to guide him. The things of the present world and its glories and grandeur are ‘cash’ benefits in the eyes of man. Man relishes their taste and savours them at every moment. In comparison to this, the bounties of the Hereafter count as mere ‘promises’. Man only hears about them; he does not experience them. For this reason, many people rush towards and fall all-out on the ‘ready’ benefits of world. But those who think deeply will be happy with the thought that God, by revealing His guidance, has opened for them the doors to attaining eternal bounties.

Whatever God has given to man—whether in the form of agricultural produce or in some other form—everything is divine provision (rizq). If a man treats them as gifts of God and utilizes them in the way shown by God, then a feeling of gratitude to God will develop in him. But Satan wants man to fail to remember God while making use of divine provisions. In ancient times Satan fixed the rites of certain imaginary false gods and goddesses in the produce so that man should not remember God but those false gods and goddesses while availing of the produce. In the present age Satan is achieving this purpose by advancing material explanations for things. God-gifted things are being shown to people as resulting from certain material factors, so that when they receive these things, they will not treat these bounties as the provision (rizq) of God but as the outcome of worldly events.