Al-Hijr 15:61–93

It was one command with which the angels had gone to Abraham. It was another command with which they reached Lot. The first command was in the shape of a special gift from God and the second one was in the shape of God’s special punishment. Those angels had come to Lot in the shape of human beings. Their task was to carry into effect God’s verdict upon the prophet’s rejectors. According to the angels’ advice, Lot along with other people of the Faith, left the town in the darkness of the night. Thereafter, in the early morning the whole area was devastated by the explosions of a severe earthquake. All the deniers were summarily killed. Where did this devastation take place? It took place in this very world which they had considered their own world; in which all appeared to them their comrades and supporters. That very plan which a man considered his key to success becomes an instrument of destruction for him, if God so commands. That very palace of which a man is so proud is turned into a ruin, like a heap of debris descending upon him.

The angels who went to the town of Lot’s community took the shape of extremely handsome youths. This was like the last examination paper to test this community which was steeped in debauchery. In their overweening arrogance, they made a rush towards these youths with the intention of molesting them, as usual. But they did not know that those they looked upon as charming youths were, in fact, the angels of punishment who had come only to leave them disgraced and dishonoured.

This means that ‘here are the young girls of the city for you to marry’. When Lot saw that, in spite of his opposition, the rogues were rushing upon his guests, he said, ‘For God’s sake! Please don’t dishonour me in the eyes of my guests. If at all you want to do something, here are the daughters of the community. You can marry any of them you like.’

Why did the community of Lot go beyond all limits of arrogance? The reason for this was that they saw this matter in relation to Lot. Since they were more powerful than Lot, they thought that they could do anything they liked and there was nobody to prevent them. Had they seen this matter in relation to God, the situation would have been just the opposite. Then they would have come to know that their arrogance was absolutely ridiculous, because nobody has any standing before the power of God. As a consequence, early in the morning, they were struck by a severe storm of thunder and lightning. At the command of God, the winds started showering pebbles on the towns of Lot’s community (Sodom and Gomorrah). In a very short time, the whole community was destroyed. There is a lesson in this event for those who give it serious consideration, i.e. in this world one’s dealings in reality are with God and not with human beings. If a man realises this fact, all his arrogance will come to an end.

The people of the Wood, or al-Aykah, refers to the community of Shu‘ayb. The real name of this community was ‘Banu Madyan’ (the children of Madyan). These people were settled in the area presently known as Tabuk. The people of Hijr refers to the community of Thamud to whom Salih was sent as a prophet. This area was located to the north of Madinah. The arrogance of the people of al-Aykah not only made them polytheists but also pushed them into committing the worst moral crimes. When, in spite of Shu‘ayb’s admonition, they did not mend their ways, God commanded the earth. Thereafter, the earth which had been a cradle of comfort and luxury for them became a cradle of punishment. The community of Thamud were experts in the art of stone-carving. They had cut into the hills and had turned them into lovely dwellings. They thought that they had made complete provision for their safety. When they ignored the call of God, He gave a command and their magnificent dwellings turned into magnificent graves.

The study of heaven and earth reveals that the entire system is marked throughout by wisdom. Here everything is as it should be. In this entire system, only human beings set themselves up against reality. This contradiction between human beings and the universe implies that it must come to an end. From this point of view, belief in the Day of Judgement is absolutely rational and logical, because nothing other than the Day of Judgement can eliminate this contradiction. Graciously overlooking or turning away from others’ improper behaviour is an essential part of the preacher’s task in spreading the word of God. That is, when the addressee of his call starts some irrelevant discussion or picks a quarrel, politely ignoring him instead of answering him is the best policy. Without adopting this principle, the propagation of the word of God cannot be effectively performed.

The ‘seven oft-repeated verses’ refers to the first chapter of the Quran. It is the essence of the whole Quran, and the rest of the Quran is an elaboration upon it. Undoubtedly, the Quran is the greatest gift of God. Its being a book of guidance offers the guarantee of success in the Hereafter to its believers and its being the last book makes it essential that it should necessarily overcome its opponents, because if it does not prevail, it cannot exist as the last book. The preacher of God’s word should not be despondent over those who have not embraced the Faith, but should be satisfied looking at those who have embraced the Faith and devote his full attention to making them contented and giving them training. Fragmenting the Quran (the scriptures) means fragmenting the Torah. The ancient Jews had divided their holy scriptures into two parts. They used to leave out those teachings that went against the desires of the self, while those that were consistent with the wishes of the self were welcomed by them. The first type of verses were kept only as holy relics but were disregarded. Because these verses did not find favour with them, they did not propagate them, whereas they gave wide publicity to the other type of verses which were in consonance with their desires. In other words, they had made the Book of God subservient to their self-interest, instead of it being a means to encourage human beings to obey the commands of God. There are two ways of finding a thing. One is to find its parts and the other is to find it in its totality. When a man recognises a tree in its totality, he says: ‘This is a tree.’ But if he does not recognise it in its totality, he will mention its trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruit. He will not be able to utter that one word, on uttering which different parts become rooted in one root and take the shape of one unit. The same is true of God’s Book. There are many different commandments in God’s Book. At the same time it has its totality and its central point. Those who are engrossed in God’s Book will find God’s Book in its totality. On the contrary, when those who are engrossed in themselves see God’s Book, it appears to them only as a collection of miscellaneous commandments. From these they pick and choose a part which suits their taste and condition and start laying stress upon it, as if only that was what mattered most. When the roots of a tree are watered, the water reaches all of their parts. Similarly, if the central aspect of God’s Book is revivified, the moment this happens, all the remaining parts come necessarily to life. As opposed to this, if some parts are selected to the exclusion of all others and much emphasis is laid on them, there can be a great deal of outward fanfare about this, but the real revival of religion does not take place, because its core features have been ignored. And the revival can take place only by reviving its central point.