Yunus 10:61–90

All of God’s gifts to man—whether agricultural produce or other things which are useful to man—are divine provision (rizq). As man utilizes them in the way shown by God, he developes a feeling of gratitude towards his Maker. But Satan wants man to fail to remember God while making use of divine provisions. In ancient times Satan induced people to associate with these provisions the rites due to false gods and goddesses so that in availing of them, they would forget the remembrance of their true Lord. 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 toils.

Giving the call for Truth is a very difficult task. The preacher has to totally devote himself to Truth alone, and only then can he become a preacher (da‘i), in the true sense. When the preacher presents God’s religion in its original form and makes it very clear with the help of sound reasoning, then all those who follow their self-made religion become perturbed and infuriated. Showing themselves to be pious established leaders, they try to degrade the preacher. They treat everything, such as baseless propaganda, conspiracies, even violent actions as all being permissible in opposing him. The freedom granted to them in the present world gives them the opportunity to go on doing whatever they want to do against the preacher. A stage comes when all the power of materialism is ranged against the preacher’s arguments. And because the preacher’s opponents are vested with so much worldly power, they feel they can suppress his voice. This state of affairs is undoubtedly very trying. For it happens that, on the one hand, the opponents of Truth appear to be successful and thus become emboldened. On the other hand an errant thought crosses the mind of the preacher: ‘Is God neutral on this issue? Has He disassociated Himself after drawing me into this battle between truth and falsehood?’ But this is not so. It is not possible that God would cease to support the truth. The opponent’s becoming bereft of sound reasoning and all the strength of reasoning being totally on the side of the preacher are sure proofs that God is with the preacher of Truth. It is so, because reason is God’s representative in the present world. If anyone has the power of reasoning, then it is as if God is with him. The opponents have the opportunity of committing aggression and violence, simply due to the freedom given to them for the sake of testing them. As soon as the world of trial comes to an end, this position will change. At that time superiority and respect will be accorded to those who took a stand on the basis of reasoning, while others who failed to do so will be dishonoured. The group of true preachers of God are the friends of God. God gives them good news of a sublime life in the Hereafter in which they neither suffer any regrets about their past life nor have any fears about their future life.

Who has created heaven and earth; and who is sustaining them?—These questions have been the central point of the human quest in every age. But finding the correct answers to these questions will be possible only when a man is able to see beyond the physical world, and nobody possesses eyes which can see beyond the physical world. This is why every answer which man himself devises is based on mere guesswork and conjecture and not on any knowledge based on facts. In this world, those who speak on the basis of real knowledge are known as prophets. These are the particular people who have direct contact with the world above. God Himself, on His own, informs them of the reality of things. Therefore, prophets’ knowledge is the only knowledge on which one can rely with certainty. We have no direct means of testing the veracity of the Prophet’s claims. However, there certainly exists an indirect means; and that is the signs (ayat) of the universe. These signs, in effect, corroborate the inner realities explained by the Prophet. For instance, we see that on earth, day follows night and night follows day. This phenomenon of rotation has come into existence due to an extremely stable system which is regulated with mathematical precision. Moreover, this phenomenon is wonderfully favourable to our life. There appears to be a clearly purposeful plan at work behind it. This state of affairs is definitely a proof of the existence of a Being who is vested with Absolute power, who is Benevolent and Merciful, and about whom the prophets have been giving us information throughout the ages. Those who, according to their own ideas, follow ‘partners’ are not following any factual reality, but only their own conjecture and imagination. The reality revealed through the prophets is corroborated by the entire universe, but there is nobody here to corroborate or uphold the claim of the polytheists, or those who attribute partners to God (mushriks).

Imagining the sons and daughters of God is like imagining God on the lines of a human being. Man is the victim of shortcomings and limitations; he therefore needs children so that, through them he can compensate for these shortcomings and limitations. But imagining such a position in respect of God is absolutely baseless. The pattern of God’s creations itself confirms the existence of a Creator. The image of God which should be projected is that of one who is perfect to the final degree; one who is free of all kinds of flaws and deficiencies. Had God not been a perfect being, had He been full of shortcomings and defects, He would not have been able to create a universe like the present one and would not have been able to control it in the present, precisely regulated manner. This means that all the signs of heaven and the earth establish the existence of the one God, the concept of which has been presented by the prophets. But the concept of God devised for themselves by the polytheists has absolutely no proof in the present universe. Now, obviously, the polytheists’ acceptance of an unproved god shows that such people can never be successful, because how can a god who is actually non-existent come to help anybody or fulfil anybody’s wishes? God, who is really in existence, is not accepted by the polytheists and the god they accept does not exist anywhere. Under these circumstances, how can the polytheists be successful in the present universe? Their only possible fate will be to finally become helpless and without support and forever suffer disgrace and disappointment.

In the present world nobody loses anything by rejection of the Truth or shirk (assigning partners to God). This leads to great misunderstanding. But, this state of affairs comes about simply because of the respite given to man during his period of trial. In the present world man has been given freedom of action, so that he may be put to the test. The moment the period of testing is over, the present condition will also come to an end. At that time man will see that he has been left with none of those things of which he considered himself the owner, and on account of which he had become arrogant. It has been recorded in a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad that God apostrophied wisdom, saying, ‘O, wisdom! In this universe I have not created anything superior to you, anything more beautiful or any creature better than you.’ The necessary consequence of the grant of such a great boon to a human being is that his responsibility should also be great. That is why rejection of truth is the greatest crime before God. When Truth is proved by reasoning, it becomes necessary for man to accept it. If, even after the truth has been proved by arguments, a man rejects it, then he is committing an unpardonable crime. When God has given to man the wisdom by which he may recognise the Truth as Truth and falsehood as falsehood, in such a situation there can be no excuse for his wrongdoing before God.

Noah (Nuh) was a Prophet of the most ancient period. As long as he was silent, his community respected him, but when he came forward as a call-giver of the Truth and started telling the people what to do and what not to do, he became persona non grata in the eyes of his community, so much so that they gave him the ultimatum: ‘Either you give up this call-giving and tendering of advice or else we will not allow you to stay in this land of ours.’ Noah said that they were saying all this because they were treating his message as the affair of a human being, while this was actually God’s own concern. He said that, in order to fight with him, they would have to fight God. He further said, ‘If you don’t believe it, then what you can do is gather your companions and partners and formulate any unanimous plan against me, and then carry it out with all your might. Then you will see that your every plan against me is a failure.’ In the present world, the standard confirming the veracity of a caller for truth is that he fulfills his mission at all costs and nobody succeeds in thwarting him.

One who comes forward on behalf of God with the call for the Truth, does so always on the strength of argument. Although reasoning (argument) pertains to the intellect, man fails to realise its greatness. In spite of having no answer to it, he refuses to bow down before it. One of the considerations of the task which a messenger of Truth has to carry out is that he should not make any economic or material demands upon the community he addresses, even if this means great sacrifice on his part. This is so that the relation between them may remain that of the missionary and his addressee. It should not turn into group or material rivalry. When Noah had finally delivered his message in its entirety to his community, and still his community was adamant and arrogant, they were drowned in turbulent flood waters so that the earth was rid of them, while the Faithful (adherents of Noah) were given the opportunity to live in the world as inheritors of the earth. This, in Quranic terminology, is described as ‘khalifah.’ Before the flood, the community of Noah was the khalifah of the earth; after the flood those faithful to Noah were made the successors of the earth.

In this verse ‘transgressors’ refers to those who, once having rejected the Truth, stick to that position, make it a prestige issue and then go on continuously ignoring the Truth so that their religious knowledge and their being on the right path do not become doubtful in others’ eyes. Those who display this sort of behaviour are punished in this world by having their hearts sealed, that is, under the law of God, their psychology becomes gradually affected and finally they lose their sensitivity to the matter of Truth. The little sensitivity which they had earlier is ultimately benumbed. They do not remain capable of being anxious about Truth and untruth, or accepting the Truth rather than untruth. The history of Noah and the succeeding prophets bears testimony to this. The condition of any preacher of Truth who comes forward on behalf of God is such that he is not surrounded by outward worldly glories. The only strength he possesses is the power of reasoning. Those who are capable of recognising Truth in the language of reason are the only ones who acknowledge the preacher of Truth. Those whom the language of argument cannot influence are incapable of accepting or supporting the preacher of Truth.

Because of their arrogance, Pharaoh and the chiefs of his people did not accept the word of Moses and Aaron. They judged all matters by the standard of power and glory instead of seeing them in the light of reason. Due to this self-established standard, they considered themselves of a high status and Moses and Aaron of a lower status. This mentality prevented them from accepting the Truth as presented to them by Moses and Aaron whom they regarded as inferior persons.

When the language of reasoning was not understood by Pharaoh, he (Moses) drew his hand out of his armpit and it shone brightly. Pharaoh had no answer for this. So, he tried to hide his defeat at the hands of Moses by giving the false impression that what Moses said and did was not the Truth but a form of magic. It is true that there is some outward similarity between magic and miracles. But very soon it becomes clear that magic is simply a feat, a trick. On the contrary, a miracle is real. Magic finally proves to be magic and a miracle finally establishes itself as a miracle. On this occasion Pharaoh made two more statements calculated to divert his people from the call of Moses—one being that Moses wanted them to turn away from the religion of their ancestors. Pharaoh should have tried to understand the Message of Moses in terms of Truth and untruth. But he tested it by the ancestral and non-ancestral standard, so that he should not have to admit his wrong approach. By keeping to ancestral and non-ancestral matters, he had some justification for continuing to act as he did. The second point that Pharaoh made was that Moses and Aaron wanted to establish their supremacy in their country. This was only a political stunt to deceive the public, because in the very first instance Moses had made it clear to Pharaoh that his sole purpose was to deliver the message of God to him and thereafter to leave Egypt for the Sinai desert along with the Israelites. This being so, the allegation that Moses was planning to usurp the rule of Egypt was obviously untrue.

When Pharaoh called upon expert magicians to perform, it was not because he thought that he would actually subdue Moses with their help. His action, rather than being a rational course to follow, was more the result of his over-anxiety to reject Moses. The plan to prove God’s Prophet wrong with the help of magicians was one whose failure could be foreseen. But when a man does not want to accept the truth and is bent upon rejecting it, this desire takes him to such extremes that he takes ill-advised steps to do so: he constructs a dam of tiny splinters to hold back a rising flood, though he knows full well that tiny splinters will be absolutely useless in this instance. So things happened as they were bound to happen. The magicians threw down on the ground ropes and sticks, which crept towards the people like snakes. Then Moses threw down his stick. This turned into a huge snake which started running along the ground. This ‘snake’ was not merely a snake; it was, in fact, a force of God which had appeared to establish truth as Truth and falsehood as falsehood. So, as soon as it appeared, the magicians’ ropes reverted to their original form. Thus Pharaoh was defeated in an arena he himself had chosen. But even then, Pharaoh did not accept defeat. He found words to contradict Moses as he had earlier done.

Acceptance of thinking which breaks fresh ground is always at the cost of the individual having to face numerous unforeseen problems in his society. That is why elderly people exercise caution in accepting any new idea. For a number of reasons elderly people are overwhelmed by a variety of considerations. In spite of admitting the correctness of a new idea, they are unable to proceed further and support it. But the younger generation are generally free from such considerations. So it has always happened throughout history that only those who have not yet attained old age have gone ahead and accepted a new and revolutionary call. This happened likewise in the case of Moses. The youth supporting Moses, on the one hand, risked the retribution of Pharaoh. On the other, they received no encouragement from the elders of their own community. Though these elders accepted the prophethood of Moses, they looked to their own interests, and did not want their sons and daughters to give enthusiastic support to Moses and thus incur the wrath of Pharaoh as a result. However, the existence of such a state of affairs does not call for people to sit quietly, without taking any counter measures. They should keep in view God’s support and favour, rather than human opposition. Relying on God, they should rise in defence of that Truth which they personally found impossible to support.

The word ‘qiblah’ in Arabic means a place to be turned towards or a centre of attention. Here, the statement ‘build houses in the city’ means that some houses or suitable portions of these houses in the settlements of Israelites should be set apart for use as centres for the missionary efforts of Moses; religious gatherings could be held there for consultation, and planning could be done there for God’s word to be spread peacefully. Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, was very displeased by Moses’ sermons about the unity of God and the Hereafter. He imposed the most severe restrictions on him (Moses), so much so that it became very difficult for Moses to continue his dawah activities openly. At that time it was commanded that, instead of clashing with Pharaoh, the Israelites should continue their activities within a close circle; they should form small missionary and organisational centres in their settlements; and continue their work in a limited sphere without creating any disturbance. The second command which was given to them under these circumstances was to say their prayers regularly, in order to develop a bond with God and to seek His help. They were to arrange to pray, both individually as well as collectively. Prayer is in fact a method of seeking the help of God by getting close to Him. By becoming engrossed in prayer, a servant of God brings himself to the position of humility and modesty, and it is in this position that he meets God; there is no other point from which he can meet God. The secret of the welfare and salvation of the Israelites was hidden in this plan which was shown to them. This command was, in a way, a piece of good news for them, indicating that God was going to bring them out of the prevailing conditions into which their enemies had thrust them.

Those who are anxious about the Hereafter are generally slow to accumulate worldly things as compared to those who, completely neglecting the Hereafter, rush towards worldly benefits. A lessening of worldly prosperity is the cost of being mindful of the Hereafter and material prosperity is attained at the cost of being neglectful of the Hereafter. Moreover, one who has worldly glory and worldly things in abundance, develops a superiority complex. The result is that such people lose the innate capacity to recognise and appreciate the Truth when expounded by another and to bow down before it. Had they considered as a gift from God the resources they possessed, they would have spent them in supporting the cause of Truth. But, they consider these gifts of God stemming from their own talents. So, they utilise them to suppress the Truth and in this way maintain their supremacy. ‘Whereby they lead people astray from Your path.’ means that they used the wealth and resources granted by God solely for the purpose of alienating God’s subjects from Him: instead of devoting them to the service of Truth, they utilized them in the service of falsehood. Here, for the sake of making statements more forcefully, the style of discourse has changed. Moses called upon Pharaoh and his entourage to accept the true religion, and with the help of his great talents and God’s asssistance, he made his message clear down to the last detail. In spite of this, Pharaoh and his nobles did not accept the message of Moses. At that time Moses prayed: ‘O, God, give Pharaoh and others such punishment as arrogant people are destined to receive in accordance with Your law.’ The curse of a prophet, although issuing from the mouth of God’s representative, is actually a declaration made by God Himself.

The aforesaid prayer of Moses was accepted. However, as recorded in some traditions, there was a span of forty years between the prayer of Moses and the destruction of Pharaoh. (at-Tafsir an-Nasafi). This means that, even after that, for a long time the same conditions, in which Moses and his companions found themselves helpless, continued to prevail, while Pharaoh and his court continued as ever to enjoy a position of pomp and glory. Under these circumstances, if a man is unaware of God’s way of allowing some respite to arrogant people, he will, in haste, give up his main task and fall a victim to disappointment and frustration.

The mission of Moses in Egypt was two-sided—firstly to call upon Pharaoh and his people to accept the oneness of God and the Hereafter and, secondly, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt into the open atmosphere of the desert and to train them there. When the call for the Truth, meant for Pharaoh, had been fully accomplished in accordance with God’s command, Moses was commanded to set out from Egypt along with the Israelites. In order to reach the Sinai desert, they found it necessary to cross the Red Sea. When the Children of Israel reached the bank of the sea under the leadership of Moses, of God’s command Moses struck the water with his staff. The waters parted and rose up to the right and left. They stayed like that and in between a dry path appeared. Moses and the Children of Israel easily crossed over by means of this path. While in pursuit of the Children of Israel, Pharaoh forged ahead with his army. When he reached the bank of the sea, he saw that Moses and the Children of Israel were passing along a dry path. The wide stretch of the sea had been torn asunder and had given way to Moses and his companions. This event was, in fact, a sign from God. Pharaoh should have learned the lesson from this that Moses stood for the Truth and that God was with him. But he treated the separating of the waters as an ordinary mundane event instead of treating it as a Godly miracle. He saw only the sea between himself and Moses, though in fact God Himself was standing there. Thus an event in which there was a message of obedience (to God) and inclination (towards Him) for Pharaoh, merely caused an increase in his arrogance. He saw the ‘sea’ but did not see ‘God.’ He thought that he too could cross the sea as Moses and his companions had done.