Ибрахим 14:31–52

When a man confronts troubles, he tries his utmost to save himself from them; if he has friends, he uses their strength; if he has wealth, he spends it in that connection. A man’s anxiety to save himself compels him to rush towards both these solutions. Prayer (salat) and spending (infaq) are, in fact, the worldly manifestations of man’s feelings about the problem of the Hereafter. Prayer (salat) is running towards God’s protection so that one may thereby save himself from God’s wrath in the Hereafter. In the same way, openly and secretly spending in this world is like donating one’s earnings for the cause of God, so that it may become the means of obtaining relief from the rigours of the Hereafter. In the Hereafter, one may wish to spend, but one will have nothing with which one could ransom oneself from the suffering there.

To the most wonderful extent, the present world bears testimony to God’s existence. The rotation of stars and planets in the vastness of space; the provision and sustenance for life on the earth, the abundance of water; man’s ability to run his vehicles on land, sail on water and fly in space; the earth’s being favourable to man with the help of rivers and mountains; the regularity of the seasons and the occurrence of day and night with the help of the sun and the moon—all these are phenomena too great to be adequately expressed in words. There is such perfect co-ordination between man and the universe that every imaginable, or unimaginable necessity of man has already been provided for here in abundance. All these things are so wonderful that they should shake a man and should overwhelm him with feelings of submission to God. In spite of this, why, on seeing the universe, is he not filled with wonder and why does he not tremble at the concept of the Creator of the universe? The reason for this is that man sees the universe as soon as he is born. By seeing it again and again he takes it to be an ordinary thing; he does not find any uniqueness in it, and takes it for granted. Moreover, when a man receives anything in this world, it appears to be available to him through the ‘cause-and-effect’ process. On this basis, he thinks that whatever he attains is due to his own diligence and talents. That is why the feeling of gratitude to God, the Giver, does not develop in him.

Prior to the advent of the period of Abraham, the condition of countries and communities had become such that polytheism (ascribing partners to God—shirk) had become the order of the day. The sun, the moon and other natural phenomena had become objects of worship. In ancient times, polytheism became so dominant over all activities of life that it thrived from one generation to the next. It seemed impossible that people could be taken away from the atmosphere of polytheism and brought into the sphere of belief in the unity of God—monotheism (tawhid). At that time, at the especial behest of God, Abraham left Iraq and entered the Arabian desert, which was a desolate place, far away from civilization. In this isolated atmosphere, he settled his wife, Hagar (Hajrah), and his son, Ishmael (Isma‘il), so that a new generation would grow up, which would be cut off from the polytheistic trend prevalent at the time, and which, having been brought up in a free atmosphere, would follow its true nature in its formation. Abraham’s statement reveals this particular fact in prayer-like style. This was God’s plan in settling the children of Ishmael in a dry and deserted place. Now, the people who made the unity of God (tawhid) the voice of their hearts, were, so to say, the true fruits of the Garden of Abraham. By contrast, the people of this place who reverted to the way of polytheism (shirk) would be treated as the poisonous weeds of this Garden.

The hilly and desert world of ancient Makkah was a natural training ground for the realization of God; the entire panorama of nature was an encouragement to man to remember Him. The only sign of human construction here, which claimed man’s attention, was the stone mosque, the Ka‘bah, built by Abraham and Ishmael. Here man could enter and engage in the remembrance of God. In this atmosphere, the children of Ishmael were miraculously provided with water from the Zamzam spring. Moreover, it was so arranged that they received sustenance (rizq) from produce which was not grown there. This was, in fact, a special arrangement to make them grateful. With the provision of extraordinary bounties, extraordinary feelings of gratefulness arise in man. This was the wisdom which was hidden in Abraham’s prayer that in the desert they should be provided with sustenance in the shape of fruits.

In this prayer of Abraham, one sees glimpses of all those emotions which emerge in the heart of a true subject of God while addressing a prayer to Him. His submissive attitude compels him to admit his humility before God; whatever he requests is on the basis of his being needy and not on the basis of any entitlement; on the one hand, he admits to the bounties already available to him and, on the other, presents his request with all due respect. He admits that God is the Giver and man the beneficiary. He prays to God to make him live in the world as His worshipper. He makes this request for himself, for his family members and for all believers also. At the time of prayer, the greatest problem before him should not be that of the world but that of the Hereafter, where a man has to live forever. The prayer then made is prophetic in nature, and if such a prayer comes from a true heart, it will necessarily be accepted by God.

When the Truth presents itself to a man, he sets himself against it. He shows such fearlessness in the face of it, as if there were nobody else in the world more courageous than he. But this very Truth which is made manifest by a preacher of God’s word in the present world, will become evident in the Hereafter at the level of God; the opponents of Truth will then lose all their bravado. After seeing the horrible scenes of the Hereafter, their condition will be such that their eyes will leap from their heads; they will not even be able to wink. Tilting their heads back, they will rush towards the ground where all will be gathered and their hearts will be terror-struck.

Man’s behaviour is such that he does not realize his fate right to the very end. If he attains some power or status, he becomes boastful and conceited as if these things were never going to be snatched away from him. He rejects the call of God and forgets that the things on the strength of which he rejects the call were all given to him by God Himself. Arguments are presented to him, but he pays no attention to them. The ultimate fate of the arrogant people of the past is well known to him, but he thinks that whatever happened was meant for others and that this will never happen in his case. Those who have been given opportunities for betterment in the present world feel proud of ignoring the Truth. But after death, when they see the result of their arrogance, they will be so ashamed of their past that they will want to return to the past, so that they can contradict themselves and accept that very truth which they had earlier proudly rejected. Opposition of Truth amounts to opposition of God. Opponents of the Truth which is supported by God, are always unsuccessful, even if they come with preparation of Himalayan proportions.

A prophet bears testimony to the religion of God to the fullest possible extent. So, God gives him His perfect support. Subsequent followers of the prophet will also go on becoming entitled to the help of God to the extent that they live up to the example set by the prophet. Today, on the earth, man feels that he is the lord of land and sea; he is able to control spaces and vacuums; he has the power to use or not to use the resources available here. But, all this is possible only because God has subjected heaven and earth to man for as long as the period of testing lasts. The moment the period of testing is over, these conditions will completely change. Thereafter, the earth will be a different earth and heaven also will be a different heaven. Man will suddenly find himself in a whole different world. Where man saw himself as a ruler, now God will hold sway. Where everything was subservient to his orders, all men and all things will now disobey him. Those who had become great men in the present world, will all appear to be helpless criminals on that day. Bodily adornments will now be like tar smeared all over the body. Glorious faces will be ravaged. All this will happen to those who were not ready to live as subjects of God in the world and who ignored the declarations made on His behalf. The fact being a fact is not enough for man to accept it. For the acceptance of a fact, it is necessary for man to be willing to accept it. Only one who is serious about fact finding, who hears things with an open mind, will be successful in coming to grips with reality.