Аль-Анбия 21:91–112

The special quality of Mary (Maryam) is said to be that she guarded her chastity. By way of a reward for this, she was made the mother of a prophet who was born by a direct miracle of God. This is true of common men and women also. Everybody is being tried in this world by being required to keep his urges and desires under control. The more an individual shows self-discipline on this score, the more he will share in God’s special blessings.

God has sent all prophets with the same religion, namely, one according to which the one and only God should be one’s God and that He alone should be worshipped. Had people been steadfast in this original religion, all of them would have continued as one Community (ummah). But, people on their own started entering into disputes and thus concocted different versions of the same religion. Individuals exercised their ‘right’ to choose whatever religion best suited their interests. Thus one religion came to be divided into many religions. To God, faith and deeds have importance only when they signify true realization of Him and true obedience to Him. Anything other than these will not be appreciated by God, however much the individuals themselves may attach value to them.

When the Truth appears with clear arguments, a man is compelled to recognise it by the compulsion of his very nature. Now, those who accept the Truth after recognising it, remain in consonance with their nature. On the other hand, those who give importance to material things and, therefore, do not accept the Truth, are as if ignoring their nature—virtually casting a veil over it. Denial of Truth is always at the cost of shutting one’s senses. The fate of those who run this risk is that their entry into Islam becomes absolutely impossible: they are no longer receptive to the truth. Those who fail to recognise the Truth, though presented in rational arguments, will recognise it only when the Day of Judgement tears the veil away from their eyes. But, recognition at that stage will be of no avail, because it will be time not for acceptance itself, but for reaping the benefit of an earlier acceptance of the Truth.

‘Abdullah ibn az-Zab‘ari was a famous poet of ancient times. When this verse was revealed, he urged the people to ask the Prophet Muhammad if all those being worshipped other than God along with their worshippers would go to hell. He then pointed out that, in fact, they were worshipping angels, the Jews were worshipping the Prophet ‘Uzayr and the Christians were worshipping the Messiah. The polytheists were very anxious to understand this point and asked the Prophet Muhammad about it. He replied that the one who was being worshipped, and liked to be worshipped instead of God, would accompany the worshipper. On hearing this reply, ‘Abdullah ibn az-Zab‘ari did not enter into any further arguments but embraced Islam. (Tafsir ibn Kathir, vol. III, p. 199 ). This shows that this verse refers to a deity made of stone, etc., or one who himself liked to be worshipped. One who worshipped anybody other than God and one who was so worshipped and liked to be so worshipped, would both be cast into hell in order to teach the people a lesson. Doomsday will be a terrible day. But those who fear Doomsday before its arrival, will be safe from the terror of that day. They will be sent to a world full of heavenly pleasures.

The expanse of the present universe was brought into existence for the purpose of creating a testing ground. Subsequently, when the time comes for creating the world of reaping results (the Hereafter), God will wind up this world, and perhaps with the same material will create another world which will fulfil result-and reward- oriented purposes. The coming into existence of one world (the present world) itself provides sufficient proof of the fact that another world can be brought into existence. In the present world, bad persons attain positions of greatness, but this is only for as long as the period of trial lasts. When the period of trial is over and God’s eternal and perfect world is created, every kind of comfort and honour will be in evidence, but only for those who had proved to be God’s true subjects in this world of trial. This has been set down in detail in the Bible, ‘And do not envy the evil people....Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday – for evil-doers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. The righteous shall inherit the earth and dwell in it forever.’ (Psalms, chapter 37, verses 1, 3, 6, 9 and 27).

All the prophets who were sent by God were sent here for one and the same purpose. Through them, God wanted to impart to man that knowledge of reality which would enable him to become an inhabitant of eternal paradise. But every time a prophet came, he was rejected. All prophets were dispensers of God’s grace on earth. But, what distinguished the Prophet Muhammad from the others was that God chose him as a means of sending a special kind of His blessings to His subjects. God decided that a door of guidance, which had hitherto been closed to them, should be opened forever. Accordingly, it was God’s plan that his addressees’ community should somehow be brought on to the right path, so that a strong band of his Companions could be formed, made up of stalwarts who could then bring about a revolution in the world and thus change the course of history. This gracious plan of God was indeed fulfilled, completely and perfectly, through the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions.