Al-Baqarah

Muqatta‘at, which in Arabic means abbreviated or shortened letters, are symbolic letter combinations. They appear respectively at the beginning 29 chapters of the Quran in the form of Alif Lam Mim, Ha Mim, Nun, Ayn Sin, Qaf, etc. They also appear as chapter names, such as Ta Ha, Ya Sin, Sad and Qaf.

There is no doubt that the Quran is a book of guidance. But it guides only those who are sincere in their search for truth, and who are anxious to be guided. The search for truth is inherent in man’s nature; one has simply to uncover one’s own true nature in order to find it. True searching and true finding are but the initial and the advanced stages of the same journey. One who searches for truth unravels the closed faculties of his own inner self. Thus with God’s help, the vague yearnings of his nature begin to receive a definite response. The awakening within one of these sincere yearnings is an attempt to discern the world of meanings (the hidden world) behind the world of forms (the present world). When this leads to a discovery, it is transformed into faith in the unseen. That which is initially an urge to submit to some superior power, later takes on the form of bowing to the Almighty. That which is initially a wish to sacrifice oneself for some greater good, later takes the form of spending one’s wealth for the cause of God. That which is initially a quest to comprehend the final outcome of life beyond this world, finds an answer in the form of faith in the life to come. To discover truth is to raise one’s consciousness to the level of the supreme reality. Those who find truth in this way become complex-free souls. They come to see truth as it really is. Wherever truth is, and whoever proclaims it, they immediately recognize and accept it. No rigidity, convention or prejudice, can come between them and the truth. God gives His protection to people having this nature. His universal order embraces them, so that they may be guided on a sure course in this world. Heaven will be their final destination in the life to come. Only those who seek truth can find it. Those who seek it shall surely find it. On this path, there is no divide between seeking and finding.

If one closes one’s eyes, one will not be able to see. If one blocks one’s ears, one will not be able to hear. However clear the call of truth may be, it can be understood and accepted only if one opens one’s mind to it. God’s inaudible call present in the universe, and the audible expression of that call by the preacher of God’s word, cannot touch those who have closed minds. The call of truth in its pure, unadulterated form is founded on reality; it is in accord with nature. When it is made, none can fail to recognize it. If one hears it with an open mind, one will know in one’s heart that it is nothing else but truth. However, where society is rigidly bound by age-old conventions, people are less concerned with opening their minds to divine realities than they are with supporting the vested interests of the existing system. As God’s emissary, the preacher is neither a representative nor a supporter of the conventional structures of society. His call, being new and unfamiliar, poses itself as a threat to material security. Much as people are urged by him to submit to the will of God, they baulk at doing so, because it would mean demolishing the world they have made for themselves. It is difficult also for him to convey his message to highly placed individuals who are afraid that, if they follow an ‘insignificant’ person, they will thereby suffer some diminution of their own personal glory. The two greatest obstacles then to the success of the preacher are people’s worldliness and arrogance. It is these mental states, which prevent people from accepting the truth; the Quran has called them ‘seals’ over people’s hearts. The minds of those who do not consider the call of truth seriously, who are proud and worldly in their attitude, are covered with an invisible veil which makes them impervious to the truth. When one is prejudiced against something, one cannot see its rationality, even if there are clear signs in support of it.

For those who put worldly interests and expediency first, total and unconditional devotion to truth appears unwise, for their true allegiance is to their worldly interests; only on a superficial level can they attach themselves to the truth. They consider themselves clever. They think they are safeguarding themselves in this world, and also qualifying to be considered among the pious. But this is no more than wishful thinking; it is a figment of their imagination rather than a real fact of life. Every test in life removes them further from the path of true religion and brings them closer to their own world-oriented ‘religion’. Their hypocrisy is like a cancer which keeps on growing. They consider true believers, who act in the interests of truth, to be ruining themselves for no good reason. They call their own policy, on the other hand, one of reform; they prize it because it enables them to pursue a safe course without clashing with anyone; but this just shows how distorted their reasoning is. If they were to think deeply, they would realize that on earth reform can only come from man giving himself up to God alone, while obstructing any movement aimed at consolidating man’s relationship with the will of his Lord amounts to creating disorder on earth. Their seemingly profitable business is in fact running at a loss. For, they are forsaking pure truth for an adulterated version of it, which can benefit none.

In a dark room black and white look the same, but as soon as the lights are turned on, black appears as black, and white as white. The same is true of the message of God, which was revealed to the prophets. The divine scriptures are God’s beacons to the world. When this light is shed upon mankind, guidance and error clearly appear for what they are. It becomes evident what good and evil deeds consist of, and what their consequences are. But some people, instead of bowing to the truth, want the truth to be subservient to them. The light of God only serves to confuse them. Their hidden jealousy and pride take hold of them. As soon as they see themselves in the divine mirror, their negative sentiments are aroused. Deep-rooted prejudices overcome their senses. They have eyes, but cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear; they have tongues, but cannot speak. They can neither hear the call of truth, nor respond to it in any way, nor can they find their way by any sign from God. Instead of reflecting upon the call of truth, as they should do, they evade it either by attaching no importance to it, or by not listening to it at all.

Fear is another factor which prevents them from acknowledging the truth. Rain is a wonderful blessing of God. But with rain, come thunder and lightning, which terrify faint-hearted people. God’s word as revealed to His prophets affects them similarly. On the one hand, it holds out to man the promise of great success, but on the other hand, its acceptance places man temporarily at risk: there is the fear of losing one’s worldly position; of clashing with the conventional set-up. Fear of these things sometimes makes one halt, and sometimes makes one move hesitantly on. But such caution cannot help one. Those who do not respond to God’s call open-heartedly shall be deprived of God’s blessings in this world as well as in the Hereafter.

God alone has created man and all that is in the heavens and on earth. He has invested the world with profound significance and He constantly looks after its needs. The proper course for a man is to take God as his Creator, Master and Sustainer, and not attempt to set up anyone as a partner with Him; that is, a man should give himself up entirely to God. But since He is invisible, it often happens that man gives importance to some visible object and worships that instead of God. He equates the created with the Creator—sometimes just a part of it and sometimes creation in its entirety, at times calling it by the name of God and at times doing so without taking God’s name. Therein lies man’s basic error. The prophets taught man to glorify God alone, and forsake the other things that he had elevated to a position of glory. People whose hearts are attached to objects other than God consider the call of true religion repugnant. They have become so greatly attached to their supposed ‘deities’ that they cannot believe that they are unreal. They cannot believe that the truth is what is proclaimed by a mortal just like themselves.

The call of truth is indisputably marked with a divine radiance. Its inimitable style and its irrefutable reasoning go to show that it is a message from God. Those who deny it, irrespective of this, shall find no refuge in God’s universe. Those who find God in the word of God are already given a glimpse of the next world. They are the ones who shall be admitted into the gardens of Paradise.

Man’s first duty to God is to be true to the covenant made between the Creator and His creatures at the beginning of the world, namely, that man should remain God’s servant. Then, his conduct towards his fellow men should be such that all the ties that God has enjoined man to keep may be consolidated. Thirdly, man should not turn people away from following the divine call raised by one of God’s servants by inventing groundless arguments against it. The message of truth seeks to harmonize man with his own nature: those who prevent others from receiving it are guilty of spreading corruption in the land. God has created man from nothing. This is a favour great enough to make man completely surrender himself to God. But God has not just created man and left it at that: He has given him an earth made to suit his needs perfectly. But there is more to the matter than merely this. Immediately after his demise, he will be brought before the Lord of the Universe to be judged. This state of affairs demands that he devote himself entirely to God; that he remember and obey God throughout his life, forever remaining His humble servant. When the divine message is so clear and reasonable, why do people not accept it? The chief cause is unwillingness to learn. This manifests itself in various ways: deliberate denigration of God’s message, attempts to belittle it by finding flaws in it, or misrepresenting it as irrational or concerned with mere trivialities. One who is not willing to learn from sound advice does not think seriously about it. When some argument is presented to him, he looks at it superficially and sets about finding some shortcomings in it. But those who are willing to learn take the trouble to give those arguments serious thought and they do not take long to realize that they are faced with the truth. It does not make any difference to them that the truth has been explained in parables of mere gnats, and other equally insignificant creatures.

God has created man from nothing. This is a favour great enough to make man completely surrender himself to God. But God has not just created man and left it at that: He has given him an earth made to suit his needs perfectly. But there is more to the matter than merely this. Immediately after his demise, he will be brought before the Lord of the Universe to be judged. This state of affairs demands that he devote himself entirely to God; that he remember and obey God throughout his life, forever remaining His humble servant.

The literal meaning of ‘khalifah’ or ‘caliph’ is ‘one who takes another’s place’—a successor. In the age of hereditary rule, it was generally used for a monarch who took the place of his predecessor. According to this usage, the word came to refer to one invested with power. When God created man to dwell on earth, He decreed that he might enjoy freedom of will. The angels became apprehensive of man being corrupted by this grant of power and free will and, as a consequence, spreading evil and causing bloodshed in the world. History showed that their fears were well founded. God was also fully aware of this possibility. But He had a particular reason for investing man with power and freedom on earth. If many human beings were to be corrupted by their power, there would also be a substantial number who, in spite of their power and freedom on earth, would acknowledge God’s greatness and power and their own helplessness. Such people would, of their own free will, adopt the path of submission and obedience to God. Although comparatively few in number, they would be specially prized above all others. They would be just like the food grains at harvest time, which, although greatly outweighed in bulk by chaff and straw, are the truly valued part of the crop. (Indeed if the chaff and straw are permitted to grow, it is solely so that people may have access to grain.)