Al-A'raf 7:175–180

The above verses have described the story of a religious leader of the Israelites who had a great following for his piety and knowledge but suddenly went astray and became among the rejected. This event contains a number of lessons and points of exhortation, and has a link with the preceding verses. The foregoing verses spoke of the covenant made by Allah with the children of Adam in general, and with certain people in varied circumstances. The above verses also made a mention of those people who did not fulfill their pledge with Allah. For example, the Israelites who were awaiting the arrival of a prophet and used to describe his attributes to others, but after the Holy Prophet made his appearance, they rejected him just for worldly considerations.

The story of Bal'am bin Ba'ura

The present verses have related the story of a saintly person among the Israelites. The Holy Prophet ﷺ has been asked to relate this story to his people to show how a devoted scholar and great spiritual leader was deprived of all the knowledge, wisdom, popularity and fame only by following the mundane desires.

We do not find any personal identification or name of this person mentioned in the Holy Qur'an. There are, however, many Traditions reported by the exegetes of the Holy Qur'an and the Companions and their disciples, giving a variety of information about him. The most authentic and trusted by the majority of scholars is the Tradition reported by Ibn Marduwaih on the authority of the Companion ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ which is as follows:

The name of this man was Bal'am bin Ba'ura. He belonged to Syria living in Canaan near Jerusalem. According to a report he was an Israelite by birth. He had knowledge of certain books revealed by Allah. The Qur'anic phrase اَلَذِی آتَینٰہُ آیٰتنا . "The one whom We gave Our verses" refers to the same knowledge.

This event belongs to the period after the death of pharaoh and his people and the victory of the Israelites over Egypt. Allah commanded The Prophet Musa (علیہ السلام) and his people to fight war against a people called جَبَّارِین Jabbarin. The Jabbarin who had seen the fate of Pharaoh and his people were greatly frightened when they saw the army of the Prophet Musa علیہ السلام approaching them. They came to Bal'am and said that the Prophet Musa (علیہ السلام) was a strong man and that he had come with great army in order to expel them from their land. He should therefore pray Allah that He may turn them back without fighting war against them. Bal'am bin Ba` ura was known to be having the knowledge of " اِسمِ اَعظَم ' (the most gracious name of Allah). He used to pray with the help of this name and his prayers were generally granted.

Bal'am said to them that Musa, being the prophet of Allah, had the support of Allah's angels and he could not pray against him. He said that he knew the rank that Musa (علیہ السلام) held with Allah, and that by praying against him he will ruin himself both in this world and in the world to come. Being insisted by the people Bal'am promised that he will first seek the consent of Allah for such a prayer, and in case Allah permitted him to pray against Musa he shall do so accordingly.

He performed some act to seek Allah's consent and in a dream was prohibited by Allah from making such prayer. He came to the people and informed them of this prohibition. The Jabbarin presented him a gift of considerable value which he accepted. Subsequent to this gift their insistence increased. Some reports said that his wife advised him to accept the gift, and pray for them. Being blinded by the love of wealth and wife, he started praying against the Prophet Musa (علیہ السلام) and his people. An unusual thing happened at this occasion. By the will of Allah the words he wanted to utter against the Prophet Musa علیہ السلام in his invocation, were uttered against the people of Jabbarin themselves. They cried out and admonished him that he was invoking against themselves. Bal'am said that he was unable to utter a word against Musa (علیہ السلام) and that he had no control over his utterances.

Consequently the Jabbarin met the fate of disaster from the heavenly punishment, and the punishment of Bal'am was that his tongue protruded from under his mouth so much so that it dangled on his chest. Bal'am having ruined his life both in this world and in the world to come and being deprived of all spiritual powers he had, made a suggestion to the people of Jabbarin saying, "There is only one way you can overcome the Israelites. Decorate your beautiful girls and send them to the Israelites giving them instructions that they should not put on any resistance against whatever is done by the Israelites. Being away from their homes they are likely to involve themselves in adultery. Being the most detestable act to Allah, adultery has to incur the wrath of Allah. An adulterous people can never win over their enemy." This satanic suggestion was accepted by the people and they acted accordingly. A prominent person of the Israelites fell prey to this trap. The Prophet Musa (علیہ السلام) made all his effort to stop him from this act but he involved himself in this wicked act.

Consequently plague overtook them as a punishment, with a death toll of seventy thousand people in one day. The person who had committed the sin was murdered along with the girl and was hung by the Israelites at a public place. Then they turned to Allah in repentance and asked His forgiveness, which relieved them of this disgraceful punishment.

The Holy Qur'an used the expression of 'wriggling out' for Bal'am's disregard to the knowledge and wisdom Allah had given to him through His verses. The Arabic expression فَانسَلَخَ مِنْهَا "He wriggled out from the verses of Allah" signifies coming out of an animal from its skin like a snake which leaves its old skin behind having no concern with it. This indicates that Bal'am had totally disregarded the knowledge and wisdom he was granted by Allah. The text phrase: فَأَتْبَعَهُ الشَّيْطَانُ "So, Satan overtook him" implies that as long as he possessed the knowledge of the verses of Allah, Satan was unable to possess him. As soon as Bal'am was deprived of this great gift of Allah, he overtook him and led him astray. Consequently he became one of the misguided people فَكَانَ مِنَ الْغَاوِينَ "And he became one of the misled.

The next verse (176) has said:

وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَرَ‌فَعْنَاهُ بِهَا وَلَٰكِنَّهُ أَخْلَدَ إِلَى الْأَرْ‌ضِ وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ

"And if We so willed, we would have elevated him thereby, but he clung to the earth, and followed his desire."

The word' أَخْلَدَ (Akhlada) is a derivative of اِخلَاد which means to incline or to cling to something. The word أَرْ‌ض (ard) meaning the earth includes the globe itself and all the things present. Furniture, machines; clothes and food are in fact, the gift of this earth. By implication all the worldly possessions have been taken to include in a single word - the earth. The quintessence of this verse is that the knowledge of the verses of Allah are the real source of gaining prominence and advancement. For those who show disregard to them and give preference to worldly desires and possessions, this very knowledge becomes a source of disgrace and disaster for them.

The verse under discussion has expressed this fact by way of a similitude. It said.

فَمَثَلُهُ كَمَثَلِ الْكَلْبِ إِن تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْهِ يَلْهَثْ

"So his example is like the example of a dog; if you attack him, he pants, and if you leave him alone he pants."

The word لْهَثْ (Lahath) signifies to breath hard by ejecting one's tongue out.

The process of inhaling fresh air and exhaling unclean air is vital for every living being. Allah has made this process as automatic and easy as requires no effort on the part of living creatures - dog is excepted. It is only dog that has to labour hard for the process of breathing, while other animals have to make such effort only when they are attacked or undergo some strenuous task. Bal'am b. Baura has been mentioned in this verse as being similar to dog. He had his tongue protruded and panted like a dog who pants when attacked and pants when let alone.

The next sentence of the verse said: ذَّٰلِكَ مَثَلُ الْقَوْمِ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا "That is the example of those who belied our signs." According to the Companion ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ "this has a reference to the Israelites of Makkah who were always longing for someone sent to them as their leader inviting them to Allah and teaching them the ways of following the right path. When this long-awaited prophet came to them with as transparent signs of Truth as left no room -for the resistance in his way, they too, 'wriggled out' from the commandments of Torah exactly as Bal'am Ba'ura had done.

The last sentence of this series said: فَاقْصُصِ الْقَصَصَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُ‌ونَ "So relate the chronicles (to them) so that they may ponder." The Holy Prophet ﷺ has been asked to relate the story of Bal'am Ba'ura to them in order that they may take lesson from it and use their understanding.

The last verse in this series 176 said, "So evil is example of those who belied our signs and they have been doing harm to themselves."

The General Message of the Verses

The above verses contain a number of useful points for the benefit of those who are heedful and make use of their understanding. Firstly, no one should be boastful of his knowledge and be proud for his piety. Things can change without notice just as happened with Bal'am Ba'ura. One has to be grateful to his Lord for all the knowledge and wisdom he has, and should keep praying Allah for being firm in his faith.

Secondly, one should avoid situations which seem to threat his faith and knowledge. Specially so, when money, wife and children are involved because the love, of these things is the most powerful agent of misguidance.

Thirdly, one should avoid the company of the misguided people and be careful in accepting gift or invitation from them. Bal'am met the evil fate through accepting the gift of the Jabbarin.

Fourthly, the acts of immodesty like adultery and fornication are the source of ruin and disaster for all the people living in a society. Those who want to save themselves from distress must prevent their people from committing such crimes, otherwise it will invite Allah's wrath and punishment upon them.

Fifthly, deviation from the commandments of Allah is, in itself a punishment and it opens the door to satanic influences, which work upon them quite unknowingly and lead them astray. Therefore, any one with knowledge must be conscious of this valuable treasure and seek Allah's help in protecting it from evil influences. He must care-fully keep correcting himself against error.

The main theme of the verse 178 is that guidance and misguidance both are from Allah. He is the creator of good and evil, guidance and misguidance. The guided are those whom Allah has given guidance and losers are those whom Allah lets go astray. This theme has been mentioned repeatedly by the Qur'an in many other verses to make the mankind know that Allah has created good and evil and has provided with clear instructions to distinguish one from the other, and with a kind of free will to choose one of the two paths. Those who willfully choose the right path and do good deeds get their reward from Allah while those who willfully take to the other path and do evil deeds are punished and sent to Hell.

Here we note that the above verse has mentioned the people of guidance in singular person while the people who are wrong and misguided have been mentioned in plural. This indicates that the path of guidance is the one true faith which was followed by all the prophets right from Adam (علیہ السلام) to the last of all Prophets ﷺ . The basic message of all the prophets has been one and the same. That is to say, the fundamentals preached by all the prophets were all same in every age. Therefore, people of any age and denomination who believed in their prophets and followed the teachings preached by them are considered by Allah belonging to one and the same category - that is, the guided. On the contrary, the ways of misguidance have been thousands in number, hence mentioned in plural in this verse.

Another point to be noted in this verse is that the people following the path of misguidance have been mentioned along with their punishment of Hell, while no mention has been made of any reward of the people following the right path. The verse mentioned them saying that they are 'the guided'. This implies that guidance, in itself, is the greatest blessing of all, which encompasses all the rewards and bounties existing in this world or in the Hereafter. The reward of guidance requires no specific mention of other rewards which are embodied therein.

For example, some great king assures some individual that he is a close friend of the king and he shall be heard and trusted by him. Certainly he enjoys the highest position among the royal officials. He does not require the achievement of a formal rank or position. Similarly, when Allah has given the title of being 'the guided' to any one, he has got all the rewards of the world. The elders have therefore said that the remembrance and worship of Allah are themselves the reward of the worship, because they are the great favour of Allah.

Any one engaged in the worship of Allah is receiving the greatest reward of Allah at the same time. Other blessings which wait for him in this world and in Paradise are second to it, as they are the fruit of this guidance.

This also explains the meaning of another Qur'anic verse in which the believers are promised to receive from their Lord their reward. It said جَزَاءً مِّن رَّ‌بِّكَ عَطَاءً "A recompense from your Lord, a gift." Here the reward of the believers has been expressed by two different words جَزَاءً a recompense and Ata which is gift. The word جَزَاءً signifies something offered in return of some service while the word: عَطَاءً ‘Ata is a gift offered without any service or performance. This leads us to the fact that things which we take to be rewards of our performance or attainments are, in fact, the gift from our Lord. For the performance which has drawn this reward was in itself a gift from Allah Almighty who let us perform that particular service.

The next verse is an extension of the same theme. It said:

وَلَقَدْ ذَرَ‌أْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرً‌ا مِّنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ ۖ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لَّا يُبْصِرُ‌ونَ بِهَا

"And surely, we have created for Hell a lot of people from among Jinn and mankind. They possess heart wherewith they understand not, have eyes wherewith they see not and they have ears wherewith they hear not."

That is, many Jinns and human beings have been created for Hell, because in spite of having all the means of guidance, the heart, the eyes and the ears, they do not use them to seek guidance. They could find the right path, had they used these faculties in proper way. They do not use their hearts to understand, their eyes to see things to be seen and their ears to hear things to be heard.

As a substance of the verse we are given to understand that ultimate end or destiny is a divine secret, not known to anyone, but there are definite signs which help us to make a surmise. The people of Hell can be identified by their characteristic sign of not making proper use of their faculties of seeing, hearing and understanding. Allah has blessed us with these faculties for acquiring knowledge and recognition of our Lord. The people of Hell invest these abilities in worthless objectives and are evidently heedless of the real aim of man's life, that is, to earn with his capabilities eternal comfort and peace in the Hereafter through seeking guidance.

A Question and its answer

A question may be asked about the above Qur'anic verses. Here the Holy Qur'an has negated their qualities of hearing, seeing and understanding. On the other hand, we see that in real life they are not blind, deaf and insane. Like other human beings they do see, hear and understand things around them. How can this negation be reconciled with the actual fact?

The answer requires to refresh our usual knowledge with regard to things and living beings around us. Everything created has an amount of sensibility equal to the need of its purpose of existence. The things we call inanimate are not totally devoid of sensibility or life. The stones and the earth which are not assigned with the duty of growth or movement have so little an amount of sensitivity that can hardly be detected1.

1. Human reason essentially requires the presence of some kind of perception or life in things called inanimate. It is because there must be some way of communication between the Creator and the created. The one who cannot communicate with created beings for the absence of sensibility on their part, is not worthy of being called god. Allah does communicate with all His created beings, animate or inanimate, which proves some kind of sensibility in all inanimate things. (Translator)

The vegetable Kingdom comes next in this series. The purpose of their existence requires growth and nourishment. The amount of perception or life given to them is greater in degree and is equal to their requirements. Next we come to animal kingdom where we find more elaborate and complex form of life. In addition to growth and nourishment, the animals have to move on the earth from one place to another. They have to seek their food to maintain their existence. They require protecting themselves from dangers and above all, they are required to reproduce their children. The amount of life given to them is greater and more obvious than the others so far discussed. They are, however, equipped with as much powers only as were needed to assist them in feeding and protecting themselves from dangers and enemies.

The last, but not the least, is human being who, in addition to, and more prominent of all the functions discussed above, has the duty of recognizing his Creator and the Lord of the universe, and seek His pleasure by following His commandments and avoid doing things disliked by Him. He is required to contemplate and give due thought to the creations and use his faculty of reason to distinguish right from wrong, abstain from evil and do good to please his Lord. Another distinction of a human being from other creatures is that he has been provided with vast opportunity to make progress in making his life more purposeful and more elevated in position. When he comes to make progress, he can attain more elevated rank than the angels. He is accountable for his acts and is promised of eternal peace and comfort for his good acts and everlasting punishment and distress for his evil deeds. He has been, therefore, trusted with the highest and the most perfect degree of life, in order that he is engaged in doing things that are proper for the aim of his life. He is not expected to waste his special faculties of understanding, hearing and seeing in the achieve-ment of material things only like animals.

Keeping the above points in view, the human faculties of understanding, hearing and seeing should essentially be distinct from those of the animals. If he did not make special use of these faculties like distinguishing right from wrong, doing good and keeping away from evil, he would be rightly considered among those who have eyes but do not see, have ears but do not listen, have mind and heart but do not understand. The Hoy Qur'an has therefore termed them as صُمٌّ بُكْمٌ "deaf, dumb and blind".

The verse therefore has not negated their physical ability of seeing, hearing and understanding. Rather, the Holy Qur'an has affirmed their knowledge about worldly things in the following words,

يَعْلَمُونَ ظَاهِرً‌ا مِّنَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ عَنِ الْآخِرَ‌ةِ هُمْ غَافِلُونَ ﴿7﴾

"They know the outward aspect of this worldly life, but of the Hereafter they are heedless." (30:7)

In another verse the Holy Qur'an, speaking the destruction of the people of ` Ad and Thamud, said: وَكَانُوا مُسْتَبْصِرِ‌ينَ "While they could see clearly." (29:38)

The people of ` Ad and Thamud being allured by satanic influences involved themselves in evil deeds which led them to their destruction. That is to say they kept the use of their capabilities limited to abject worldly gains like serving their physical needs and remained heedless to their spiritual demands. No matter what great advances they make in science and technology, they may conquer space, explore moon and other planets, make the world full of their sophisticated satellites, and tame the natural forces to serve their varied needs, but all such efforts are no more than a means of serving their physical and material life. It does not go beyond, to seek spiritual peace and comfort. This achievement science and technology of man is certainly confined to serving his physical life only, which does not make him distinct from the animal in technicality. It is why the Holy Qur'an calls them deaf, dumb and blind because they heard, saw and understood things that belonged to this world only. They did not make proper use of these functions which could lead them to eternal success and peace. The last phrase of this verse said that they are like cattle investing all their effort in serving their bodily desires. Next the verse added بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ "Rather they are much more misled." that is, they are far more unwise than are the cattle, because the animals are not bound to follow the laws of the Shari'ah. They have no reward or punishment for their acts. They are required only to serve their physical needs which they are efficiently doing, contrary to human beings who are accountable for everything they do in this world, and they are going to be punished or rewarded according to their performance. If they confine their effort only to seek material gains of this world and do not make proper use of their faculties, they are certainly more imprudent and unwise as compared to animals.

This verse has a relationship with the preceding verses in the sense that the people of Hell discussed above did not use their abilities in seeking the everlasting comforts of the Hereafter, and made themselves liable to eternal punishment. The present verse has provided with remedy of their disease. That is, seeking help from Allah by calling Him with His good names and often remembering Him through them.

The good names of Allah

The good names are the ones that denote the attributes having the highest degree of perfection. It goes without saying that the perfection of the highest degree is not possessed by anyone but Allah. In case of a 'perfect' human being there is always a possibility of someone being higher than him in some qualities. This is what the Qur'anic phrase has said: وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ "And above every man of knowledge there is someone more knowledgeable." (12:76)

The style of the verse has suggested that these 'beautiful names' are peculiarly meant for Allah. فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا "So, call Him by them", because there is none other than Allah who owns these attributes, therefore the only one worthy of being called in need is none but He. Calling is a rendering of the word which has two characteristics: Praising, purifying and remembering Allah, and calling Him for help in times of need or difficulty. It implies, that Allah alone is worthy of praise and glorification and He alone has to be called for help and relief. The verse has also suggested that the best method of calling Him is to call Him by His Beautiful Names.

Preconditions of Du` a (calling Allah)

The verse has provided us with two valuable information. Firstly, there is none other than Allah worthy of praise and worthy of being called for help. Secondly, Allah has provided us with specific words for calling him, proper to His glorious being, as we are not capable of choosing appropriate words for this purpose. That is, we are required to call Him by His attributes of perfections.

Bukhari and Muslim have reported on the authority of the Companion Abu Hurairah ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said:

"There are ninety nine names of Allah. Whoever learns them by heart shall enter paradise."

Tirmidhi and Hakim have enumerated these names in detail. Invocations made by reciting these names are generally granted. Allah has promised in the Holy Qur'an ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ "Call me and I will answer you" (40:60). The most definite and certain method of seeking help in one's need and getting relief from one's distress is calling Allah and praying Him for His help. This is the only way that is certain to meet success. The immediate benefit of praying to Allah is that it is, in itself, a worship. The reward of this worship is included in the sheet of one's deeds.

The Holy Prophet وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ said in a Tradition: اَلدُّعَاُء مُخُ العِبَدَہِ "Invoking Allah is the quintessence of worship." The invocation is granted by Allah in many ways. Sometimes, the very thing for which the invocation has been made is granted by Allah, while some other times, when one asks for something untimely or unsuitable for him in the knowledge of Allah is exchanged with something more proper or beneficial for him.

Remembering Allah by glorifying and praising Him is the food for one's Faith in Allah ('Iman) which helps in magnifying the love, respect and awareness of Allah making the hardship of this world worthless in one's eyes.

Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi and Nasa'i have reported through authentic sources that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said that anyone who finds himself in some difficulty or is distressed with some grief should recite the following words:

لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللہُ الْعَظِيمِ اَلحَلِیمُ ، لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللہُ رَ‌بُّ الْعَرْ‌شِ الْعَظِيمِ ، لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللہُ رَّ‌بُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالاَرضِ وَرَ‌بُّ الْعَرْ‌شِ الْکريم

"There is no god but Allah, the Greatest, the Most forbearing, There is no god but Allah, the Lord of the great Throne. There is no god but Allah, the Lord of the Heavens, and the earth and the Lord of the Glorious Throne."

Hakim in his Mustadrak has reported on the authority of the Companion Anas ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said to his daughter Sayyidah Fatimah al-Zahra ؓ

"What is there to prevent you from hearing my advice of reciting the following invocation at morning and evening every day?"

یِا حَیُّ یَا قَیُّومُ بِرَحمَتِکَ اَستَغِیثُ اَصلِح لِی شَأنِی کُلَّہُ وَلَا تَکِلنِی اِلٰی نَفسِی طَرفَۃَ عَین

"0 The Alive, The All-Sustaining, I call for help by Your Mercy. Set right every situation that I am in, and do not leave me at the mercy of my inner-self for even a wink of an eye."

The above invocation is also an effective remedy of hardships and distress. In short, we have been given two instructions in this verse namely making invocation to Allah alone for seeking help or for pleasing the Creator, secondly, calling Allah by His attributes of perfection without changing them.

The next sentence said:

وَذَرُ‌وا الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي أَسْمَائِهِ ۚ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

"And leave those who deviate in (the matter of) His names. They shall be recompensed for what they had been doing."

The Arabic word اِلحَاد 'Ilhad' signifies to decline from the centre. In Qur'anic terminology the word 'Ilhad' is used for deviating from the correct interpretation of the Qur'anic words or distorting the meanings of the Qur'anic message.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ has been asked to keep away from the people who distort or decline from the prescribed names of Allah.

The Deviation from the good names

There are many forms of deviating from the prescribed names of Allah. Firstly, calling Allah by such names as are not specified in the Holy Qur'an or in the Sunnah. The ` Ulama' (Scholars) of the ummah are unanimous on the point that it is not permissible to call Allah by any names or attributes of one's own choice or to praise Him by the names which have not been specified by the Qur'an and the Sunnah. For example, Allah may be called by the word: نُور Nur (light) but not by the word 'white'. Similarly Allah may be called 'Karim' (generous) but not by the word 'Sakhi': سَخِی having the same meaning. He can be called Shafi شَافِی (The one who provides cure from disease) but not طَبِیب 'Tabib' (The doctor). Though the matching words carry the same meanings they are not allowed simply because they have not been reported by the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

The second way of deviating from these names of Allah is to abandon certain name or names only because one thinks them to be inappropriate in certain situations. It, obviously, amounts to lack of respect to the glorious names of Allah.

Calling the people with the names of Allah

The third way of deviation from these names is to use any of the good names of Allah for other people. This however, has some exceptions as explained in the following lines:

There are certain names in the list of the glorious names of Allah which have been used by the Qur'an and the Sunnah for human beings. Such names can be used for beings other than Allah. For example, Rahim, Rashid, ` Ali, Karim and ` Aziz etc., while there are other names which denote to exclusive attributes of Allah. Their use for anyone other than Allah is an act of deviation from these names. For example, Rahman, Razzaq, Subhan, Khaliq, Quddus and Ghaffar etc. Using such names for anyone other than Allah is prohibited in the Islamic Shari` ah.

Now, if someone calls anyone other than Allah by these names because of his false belief, that he has the attributes denoted by these names it would be an act of infidelity. However, if someone used any of these names for anyone other than Allah just heedlessly and for the lack of knowledge, it would not be an act of infidelity, but having similarities with it would be called a major sin.

It is a pity that Muslims in general are having a number of wrong practices with regard to naming their children and, calling them by improper names.

There is a group of people who have abandoned the practice of naming their children with Islamic names. Their modern names having, non Islamic character, mark it difficult to identify them as Muslims by their names. Specially so, when their general appearance and manners are already devoid of Islamic character. The Islamic female names like Khadijah, ` A'ishah, and Fatimah have been replaced with Najma, Pervin, Nasim, Shamim and Shahnaz etc.

More doleful practice among Muslims is to heedlessly curtail the Islamic names like ` Abd al-Khaliq, ` Abd al-Rahman ` Abd al-Razzaq or ` Abd al-Quddus etc. to Khaliq, Rahman, Razzaq and Quddus when calling people of these names. The attributes Khaliq خَالِق (The Creator) Rahman رَحمَٰن (The Merciful) Razzaq رَزَّاق (The Sustainer) and Quddus قُدُّوس (The Pure) are all exclusive attributes of Allah and using these attributes for anyone other than Allah is a major sin (گُنَاہِ کَبِیرَہ). The number of times one calls any one by these attributes only commits a major sin every time and becomes liable of great punishment.

This sinful practice has become quite common among Muslims for no gain. They have been committing this sinful act simply for being thoughtless to the gravity of this error. The present verse has warned against it by saying سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ "They shall soon be recompensed for what they have been doing".

Many evils are committed for certain worldly gains or benefits. Any one committing such evil deed may pretend to offer an excuse that being constrained by some necessity he had committed the sin, while a great number of evil deeds are simply of no avail, and produce no worldly benefit at all. It is a sad situation that people are seen committing such evil deeds just for being careless of the commandments of Allah and being indifferent to what is prohibited or permitted by Allah. May Allah save us from such ignorance.