Аль-Анам 6:151–165

In the name of Divine restrictions, people introduce different types of formal and outward restrictions, and by paying particular attention to these formalities, they feel satisfied that they have completely fulfilled their duty to God. But the regulations that God requires man to obey are real and substantial, and are not just formal rites. The first requirement is that man should accept as his God the one and only God. The greatness of anybody except Him should not dominate his mind. He should not have faith in anybody except Him; he should not entertain hopes of anybody except Him; he should not be afraid of anybody except Him; and he should not feel intense love for anybody except Him. If an individual’s parents are weak and needy, while he is strong, and if he treats them well, this is not the outcome of self-interest but of righteousness. In this way, the question of discharging the rights of parents becomes the first test of a man’s adoption of God’s religion, not just at the level of mere talk but as a matter of practical action. If he places emphasis on the parents’ rights rather than on their weakness, if his love for his friends and his wife and children does not take him away from his parents, he has, as it were given the first proof that his behaviour will be subject to principles and regard for rights and not to self-interest and self-consideration. But there are many who, out of greed, act oppressively, in that they do not allow God-created provision to reach all of God’s subjects in the proper manner. Then, when the artificially created problems of scarcity of essential commodities arise, they take the lives of unborn children. All such action amounts to negating God’s system of provision. Moreover, there are many wrongs that are so lewd in nature that no special knowledge is required to understand their evil, and man’s nature and his conscience are enough to indicate that it is not proper for such acts to be perpetrated upon anyone. Under these circumstances, if someone indulges in acts of shamelessness, he proves, as it were, that he is devoid of even the most rudimentary humanity. Every human being’s life is sacred. It is not legitimate to take the life of any man unless he commits a crime in terms of the Creator’s law, in which case it would be legitimate to take his life on the fulfilment of certain conditions. All these things are so clear that no one who exercises his mind could fail to realize this.

With the advent of the explosion of Doomsday, all hidden realities will reveal themselves to the people. At that time, man will be compelled to accept God and act only at His behest, but acceptance at that time will have no value. Only that acceptance is real acceptance which takes place at the stage of the Almighty still being unseen. True faith lies in accepting, without seeing, that which one is compelled to accept after seeing. One who accepts after seeing has, as it were, not accepted at all.

The orphan is the least likely to receive good treatment, because he is the weakest member of any society. In his case, any of the factors which would predispose an individual to behave well towards others are unlikely to come into play. Shouldering responsibility in the case of an ‘orphan’ can be done only by one who has become a man of character purely out of principle and not on the basis of self-interest. Such a person who is the well-wisher of an orphan will also give exceptionally good treatment to other people. All things in the universe are so interrelated as to ensure that giving and taking are done on an equitable basis and are mutually beneficial. This very principle has to be adopted by man in his life. If an individual has to measure out something for others, he should measure it out properly and, if he has to weigh out something, he should weigh it out properly. It should never happen that he uses one scale for himself and a different scale for others. It happens from time to time that a man is required to express an opinion against somebody. On such occasions, the way to win God’s approval is to utter such views as meet the standards of justice. Whether the person in question is one of his own or a stranger; whether his relations with him are friendly or inimical, whether or not his interests are linked with him, he should remain uninfluenced by all these factors and should say only what is right and proper. Every man is bound by certain vows. Some are in writing and others are purely verbal. But a man’s Faith, his humanity and his nobility demand that right action should be taken in the fulfilment of pledges of any form. The Muslim is duty- bound to fulfil both the written and the verbal kind—all this is very clear. Heavenly revelation and man’s mind both bear testimony to this being proper. But, only that person will learn a lesson from divine revelation who himself wants to learn. These commandments (verses 151- 53) are basic sections of the divine Shariah. To follow these within their strict and direct meaning is in fact to follow the straight highway of God. But if, by means of hair-splitting, different by-ways are introduced and if all emphasis is laid on them, this amounts to going astray on various paths (other than the straight highway) which will never lead a man towards God.

The Book which is revealed on behalf of God contains many details, but its purpose is but one and that is that man should firmly believe that he has to face God. In other words, he should spend life in the world in such a way that he should always treat himself as being answerable to God for his each and every action. His life should be a responsible life and not a free and unrestricted life. This was the purpose of previous Books and this is likewise the aim of the Quran. God has given full freedom to human beings, while keeping the rest of the world under His direct orders and subject to His regulation. The method devised by Him for human guidance is to make people aware of Truth and falsehood through the Prophets as well as His Books which are couched in the language of reason.In the world, God’s will appears before the people in the shape of reasoning. Here, acceptance of this reasoning means acceptance of God and rejection of this reasoning amounts to rejection of God.

With the advent of the explosion of Doomsday, all hidden realities will reveal themselves to the people. At that time, man will be compelled to accept God and act only at His behest, but acceptance at that time will have no value. Only that acceptance is real acceptance which takes place at the stage of the Almighty still being unseen. True faith lies in accepting, without seeing, that which one is compelled to accept after seeing. One who accepts after seeing has, as it were, not accepted at all. If those enjoying the power to choose today make themselves subject to God’s will, they will be rewarded by God with Paradise. But, if they bow down before God only after the arrival of Doomsday, their bowing down will amount to proving their guilt with more force. This will mean that, by their own admission, they did not accept something which was really worth accepting; they did not perform such tasks as were really worth performing.

Adherence to religion requires that the individual should not give a higher status to anyone in his life than God. He should build relations on the basis of recognition of the Truth and not on the basis of self-interest, and the first symbol of that is the proper treatment of parents. He should consider the provision made by God as a divine gift and should not meddle with His system. In this connection a man’s misguidance leads him into the foolishness of the killing of children. He should be shown deeds of shamelessness so that his heart’s sensitivity to evil remains alive. He should not exploit the weak: the acid test of this is how he treats an orphan. In the discharge of duties and in matters of give and take, he should strike a just balance. He should always speak with justice. He should spend his life with the feeling that he is bound by a divine pledge, and that he is never free of its responsibilities. This is the straightforward way for a man to spend his life—one which is liked by God. Man should keep himself on this straight path without deviating to the right or left. The Ten Commandments mentioned above (verses 151-153) are simple and natural. Every man’s mind testifies to their truth. If stress is laid on these things, there can never be differences or sectarianism. But when communities decline, such leaders are born among them as wilfully misinterpret these straightforward precepts and this is what fragments religious unity. If unnecessary discussions are introduced into the Faith of monotheism—e.g. whether God has a body or is bodyless; if there is hair-splitting on the subject of orphans, i.e. what is the definition of orphanhood; if the point is raised that Divine commands cannot be carried out unless the government is overthrown and as such the first task is changing the ‘un-Islamic’ government—there will be no end to the difficulties created and it will be impossible to achieve a general consensus on these points. Then different schools of thought will form; separate sects will take shape; long-established unity will turn into internal discord. To devote one’s full attention to this simple and natural religion is the best act of righteousness. But for this purpose, a man has to fight with his self; even if the atmosphere is unpropitious, one has to remain firm by exercising patience and making sacrifices. This is an arduous task, and that is why the reward for it is multiplied many times over by God. Those who practice evil, those who adopt paths other than that specified by God, indulge in the worst type of crime. However, God does not take excessive measures against them. He gives them a punishment commensurate with their crime.

In the pages of the Quran, God has revealed His religion in the uncorrupted state in which He had given it to Abraham and other prophets. Now, one who wants to be blessed by the Grace of God and His support should adopt this religion. He should dedicate his prayers to God; he should have a relation with God at the level of sacrifice; if he lives, he should live for the sake of God, and when he is overtaken by death, he should by that time have unreservedly become a subject of God, in body and soul. The vast universe with its heavenly bodies follows this religion of obedience to God. Then, how can a man adopt a path other than this? In the world of obedience to God, how can arrogance directed against God lead to success? This is a matter which concerns every individual. Nobody can share another’s reward or suffer another’s punishment. The individual should be as serious about this as he is about all matters which concern him personally.

The system of this world is that one person goes away and another takes his place. One community is thrust aside and another community takes its place and captures the resources of the land. These incidents remind us again and again that here nobody’s dominance is permanent. But man’s behaviour is strange. When he sees some opportunity to advance himself, he forgets the fate of his forebears. He fabricates different types of arguments to justify oppression and arrogance. But when God lays bare the realities, man will see that his actions—which he had considered strong enough to justify his position—were meaningless. The reason for man’s arrogance in this world is that he thinks of the good things of this life as God’s reward. The fact is that whatever a man receives in this life is meant to be a test and not a reward. If a man considers the good things available to him in this life as his due, this will cause him to be proud, but if he considers them as a means of testing him, this will develop a sense of humility in him. While a proud mentality is marked by haughtiness, a humble attitude is marked by the willingness to obey God.