Al-An'am 6:92–121

This brazen disregard for the truth developed in the Jews because they had disintegrated God’s Book page by page. They used to call attention to certain teachings of God, while there were others which they deliberately omitted to mention. For example, they used repeatedly to listen to and recite all verses relating to rewards, while omitting those verses which mentioned the deeds which merited rewards. They used to make special mention of those verses from which they could draw support for the petty details of their politics, while ignoring the verses in which instructions were given about quiet reformation. They used to elaborate upon those verses which gave them the opportunity to display their verbal hair-splitting talents, while cursorily passing over verses in which the eternal realities of religion were set forth. Frequent public airings were given to such verses as gave an indication of their superiority, while verses in which their responsibilities were mentioned used to be neglected. In those who disintegrate God’s Book ‘page by page’ in this way, a tendency to insolent bravado naturally develops. They indulge in frivolous and trivial discussions, then bicker, and make contradictory statements. One cannot expect real co-operation from them. If people do not do justice to God’s Book, how can they be just while dealing with human beings? The call of religion is actually a call to awaken people. The caller, however perfect he may be, can be effective and make an impact on the listener’s heart only when the listener has a fearing heart in his breast and considers the Hereafter a matter of the utmost gravity. If these elementary qualities are not found in the listener, then the giver of the call cannot offer him any benefit.

When God chooses one of His subjects for the purpose of conveying His will to mankind, He blesses him with capability to do dawah work. A glimpse of the fear of the Hereafter is seen in his character. The power of divine reasoning emerging in his talk, he is successful in discharging his task of conveying God’s message in the best manner possible, even in the face of tremendous opposition. His whole existence is a sign of God in this world of God. But those who are lost in worldly glories are unable to understand the greatness of one who urges them to accept the realities of the Hereafter. By their own worldly material standards, their own personality appears to them to be greater than that of God’s messenger. This inclines them towards haughtiness or conceit, and from those of such a mentality, irrational behaviour is to be expected.

This haughtiness which develops in a man is due to his worldly position and the material goods that are available to him in the world. He forgets that whatever blessings come his way, are only for the purpose of testing him and that too during a finite period. As soon as the time of death arrives, all these things will suddenly be snatched from him. Thereafter, his will be a lone existence, just as it was at the time of his birth. Immediately after death man will reach that stage where he will have neither wealth nor position; where he will have neither his companions nor his intermediaries; there will be only God and himself. None of the things he was proud of in the world will be there to save him from God’s scourge. Many people try to charm their way through life with the magic of words. Every man seeks and finds words to show his existence to be justified and righteous. He portrays the path he treads as straightaway leading towards correct goals. But when the revolution of the Hereafter unveils the realities, how utterly meaningless will his words appear.

When anyone has to manufacture a motor car or any other such complex mechanism, he manufactures every part of it separately. Then he assembles these parts and gives them the requisite finish. But when God causes a tree to grow or creates a human being, the methodology is different. He produces the entity in its totality all at one time. In God’s workshop the whole tree or the whole man issues forth from the one seed or the one drop and then proceeds to grow. This is a unique process which no human being can set in motion. This proves that there exists a Being superior to the human being, a Being whose plan is superior to all other plans.

The volume of the sun is 1.2 million times that of the earth, and the earth itself is four times larger than the moon. The moon is about two hundred and fifty thousand miles away from the earth and revolves around it. The earth is at a distance of about 95 million miles from the sun and is moving round the latter in two ways—one in rotation on its axis and the other in orbit around the sun. Similarly, there is the revolution of other stars which are at vast distances from us and each other but all moving with extreme regularity. Due to this system of the universe, day and night come into existence; systems based on the measurement of time take shape; in turn, it becomes possible for man to regulate his life on land and sea. This gigantic system runs with such exactitude that no discrepancy has crept into it even after millions of years. This proves the immanence of a Being whose powers are of unlimited greatness. These large-scale signs of God show that the Maker of this workshop is extremely knowledgeable. No ignorant being could erect such a complex structure. He is all-powerful; otherwise the running of this enormous workshop in this manner would not have been possible. Its planning is absolutely perfect; without such planning, it would not have been possible to have such meaningfulness and harmony in such a colossal universe. God’s world is full of His signs and arguments. But reasoning or argument is the name of theoretical reasoning and not that of a hammer. So, acceptance of an argument by a man is possible only when he is really serious, i.e. when he is consciously ready to accept the argument, irrespective of whether it goes in his favour or against him.

Man-made workshops, or factories, are not capable of making a machine which can start giving birth to similar countless machines. Our factories have to manufacture such machines one after another. But in the workshop of God, such an event takes place every day. The seed of a tree is sown and then generations of trees go on multiplying out of that simple, original seed. This is the case with human beings also. Starting with a man and a woman, billions and billions of human beings have started coming into existence—and there is no end to this process. This observation shows that the power of God, who created the universe, is limitless. He is capable of this rare feat of creation by which, primarily, one entity is brought into existence and thereafter it continuously replicates itself in countless numbers. Similarly, God can create a great and perfect world out of this present world. The concept of the Hereafter is not a far-fetched theory; belief in it amounts to acceptance of the possible occurrence of certain future events on the strength of the present observation of similar events taking place every day.

Earth, or mud, is apparently a dead and inert thing. Then rain falls on it. Soon after the absorption of water, a new lush green world springs out of the earth. Sundry varieties of crops and different kinds of fruit-bearing trees come forth from it. This event also is an example of the coming world after this world. As soon as water permeates the earth, the emergence of a fresh, beautiful and fragrant carpet of colours from the earth indicates the potential which the Creator of the World has implanted here. The righteous deeds which a man performs in this world of today are on a parallel with this. When God’s grace rains down, this potential will become a reality—flourishing and producing the burgeoning crops of the Hereafter. Man, in the beginning, is nurtured in the womb of his mother and thereafter makes his entry into the present world. The grave is also, so to say, a sort of ‘womb’, to which man is ultimately consigned. Thereafter, he opens his eyes in another, future world, so that he may be sent to Heaven or Hell according to his deeds. Glimpses of and arguments in favour of the unseen hidden world, which man must necessarily accept, are already there in the present tangible and visible world. But only that person will accept it who is already mentally prepared to do so. It is only when a man has travelled half the distance along the path towards Faith (iman) that it is possible for the call to the faith to enter freely into his mind and to be acceptable to him. Exhortations to believe in God will not in any way benefit a man who has been travelling in a direction opposite to that of Faith.

Since ancient times it has been a weakness on the part of man to find some distinction or mysticism in a thing and then to consider that thing to be a partner of God and start worshipping it in order to seek its help or save himself from any harm it may do him. It was because of this mentality that many people started worshipping angels, stars and jinns, though the clear proof of their not being gods is that they do not possess the capacity to create. They have neither created themselves, nor are they capable of creating any other thing. They were themselves created by some other Being. So, the question is, whether the Creator will be accepted as God, or His creatures will usurp the position of His godhead. A tree receives the things it requires for its sustenance in perfect proportions. This is the condition of all things in the universe. When it is a fact that they receive things, (whatever be their nature) because a Giver gives them to them, then it naturally follows that the Giver will be the One who is aware of all things at all times. If He were not aware of them, how could He fulfil the needs of every single thing exactly according to its requirements? Now, for what purpose should God—the Possessor of such superlative attributes—take anybody as a partner in his godhead?

Man wants to see God in a tangible shape and when God does not manifest Himself in this way, he presumes other tangible things to be gods and thus satisfies his appearance-loving instinct. But this shows a very poor appreciation of God’s Being. After all, how can God, who is so great as to have created this gigantic universe with its highly regulated systems, be so ordinary as to present Himself to a weak human creature in a form that will be visible to his eyes and touchable with his hands? Man must rather discover God through his heart and see Him with the eye of his faith. Only one who is satisfied with observation through insight will discover God. One who insists on His being visible to the naked eye will never truly find God, just like the person who fails to recognise a flower by its fragrance and insists on referring to chemical standards.

There are some who have the urge to acquire knowledge and learn; who are in search of Truth. There are others who have acquired wealth and power and consider themselves successful to the point of feeling that there is nothing lacking in them which needs to be compensated for. When the call of Truth is given, it is mostly the former kind of people who accept it, unlike the latter who do not attach any significance to it. They never give it any serious thought, and therefore its importance does not become clear to them. The call of Truth provides answers for those who earnestly go in quest of the truth, and gives those who are not so inclined, a logical conclusion to their arguments. With regard to the former, the aim is to enable them to accept the truth; as for the others, it is meant to make them concede that at least the divine message had been conveyed to them in full.

Those who reject the divine message invent different excuses to justify their doing so. In these circumstances, it may occur to the preacher that he should change the way he conveys his message, so that it becomes acceptable to the addressees. But this would not be proper. He should adhere to the style which has been directly taught to him by God, because the real purpose of his activity is to link man with God and not to win people over and draw them into his sphere by hook or by crook. On the other hand, neither is it proper to respond to the addressee’s obduracy with abusive outbursts. The individual develops a bias in favour of the particular traditions to which he is born, or the kind of thinking with which he has become familiar. According to this, he develops a particular frame of mind which affects all his thinking process. This frame of mind presents the greatest impediment to the acceptance of Truth. Unless it can be altered, that door of his mind, through which the voice of Truth might enter, will never open.

The truth may be laid before a man with all its supporting arguments and he will still reject it. There is just one reason for this, i.e. his looking at things perversely instead of looking at them in a straightforward manner. An argument may be most rational and based on sound reasoning, but if one is not inclined to accept it, he will find some words or the other to reject it. For example, instead of viewing the arguments of a preacher as definitive, he will start discussing whether all the previous great men were all wrong and strangers to the Truth, and will go on to raise other similar points. It is extremely difficult for one who has developed such a temperament to arrive at the right path. He can give the wrong colour to any subject and seek an excuse to reject it. In order to contradict theoretical arguments, he will find the excuse that they were against the creed of his ancestors. Similarly, in order to allege the falsity of physical observations, he will voice the opinion that they are optical illusions or mere conjuring tricks. This attitude, which impedes the acceptance of theoretical arguments, will likewise obstruct the acceptance of physical facts in support of the truth. One who is determined to remain unreceptive to the truth will, as always, have to go without guidance. Such deniers are arrogant in nature. They want to see themselves set above others at any cost. When a preacher appears before them with a message of Truth, it frequently happens that he is a stranger in those surroundings and has none of the elegant trappings of the times. So, forming any connection with him amounts to degrading one’s position. Those with a superiority complex are therefore unable to accept him. Offering a variety of excuses, they reject him.

Wisdom lies in man’s acceptance of God’s plan and in preparing himself to regulate his mind according to that plan. Conversely, it would be foolish for a man to have a self-made standard instead of God’s plan and to maintain that he will accept anything which conforms to that standard and will reject anything which does not. For such a man there is nothing but perdition in this world. In this world of God man can reach his goal only by adopting the ways laid down by God—not by departing from them.

Ibn Jarir has quoted Abu Dharr al-Ghifari as saying, ‘I attended a meeting of the Prophet Muhammad. It was a long meeting. He asked me, “O, Abu Dharr, have you said your prayers?” I replied, “No, O Prophet of God.” He said, “Get up and offer salah of two rakat.” Thereupon, I offered salah and joined the meeting again. Then he (the Prophet) asked, “O Abu Dharr, did you seek the protection of God against the Satans among human beings and jinns?” I replied, “No, O Prophet of God. Are there Satans among human beings also?” The Prophet said, “Yes, those Satans are worse than those among the jinns.’” (Ibn Kathir, Tafsir). Here, ‘Satans among human beings’ refers to those people who have attained respectability and popularity on the basis of self-made religion, and who will stop at nothing to disprove the call of Truth. When the call of the Truth is given in its purest form, they feel that they are being stripped of all protection. The straight path for them would have been to accept the Truth on its being clarified. But, compared to acceptance of the Truth, their position is dearer to them. To save their position, they set about proving the dubiousness of the preacher and his call. They make allegations that are themselves baseless, but because they express themselves so beautifully, many people are influenced and are filled with doubt.

If a preacher of Truth can present the Truth in the language of rational arguments, the proponents of falsehood may also utter such beautiful words against the Truth as could appear to be valid arguments in its disfavour. Both liars and tellers of the truth having at their command the same range of plausible expressions with which to support their arguments creates a situation in which man is put to the test. He must at all events pass the test of being able to distinguish between true and false arguments, and then accept true arguments, having rejected whatever is baseless. This state of affairs will necessarily continue till Doomsday. The ‘Satans’ among human beings misuse their intelligence to deceive others, but only those who have no fears about the Hereafter are influenced by them. Anxiety about the Hereafter makes a man serious and the reality of things can never remain hidden from one who sincerely serves God. But those who are devoid of any cares about the Hereafter are not serious about Truth and, as such, they are unable to understand the difference between solid argument and triviality.

Rules about the sacrifice of animals were given in the Quran, it being specified where sacrificed animals might be eaten. There was also a ban on eating animals which had died of natural or other causes. On this some people commented, ‘The religion of Muslims is strange; they consider animals sacrificed by their hands as permitted and consider dead animals, i.e. those killed by God, as prohibited.’ In this statement there is no argument—only verbal gymnastics. But many people were deceived by it and started looking at Islam with suspicion. This always happens. In every age there are only a few people who can place matters in their true perspective. Many people become lost in a verbal labyrinth. They take illusory things to be real, only because these are described in beautiful words. But this is a world in which God has made Himself clear about all basic realities. So, going astray on the pretext of ignorance is not pardonable. God’s discourse is a clear touchstone by which every man can test all statements and ascertain whether they are mere verbal tricks or are based on facts. God has made true statements about all the essential matters of the past, present and future. He has shown the way of perfect justice in regard to all aspects of human relations. If a man is really serious, it is not at all difficult for him to know what is right and what is wrong. Only those whose thinking processes work under the influence of something other than God’s revelation will have doubts. For one who brings his thinking in line with Divine realities, there is no possibility of deviance of thought. Even after this Divine explanation, if a man goes astray, God knows his condition very well. He knows that person who, in order to maintain his status, attaches no significance to any reality beyond himself; that person whose bias has deprived him of any capacity to understand godly matters; that person who, due to his inclination for cheap display, pays no attention to the voice of Truth; that person who, being a prey to feelings of jealousy, remains a stranger to the Truth.

Whatever there is in the world is all ‘others’ property’ for us, because all of it belongs to God. We have no right to possess or use anything unless it is obtained and utilized in the manner shown by God. This holds good for animals also. Animals provide valuable food for us, but the question arises as to how we acquired the right to use them as food. God creates animals and He alone rears them and brings them to maturity. Then, how does it become permissible for us to use them as our food? Taking God’s name at the time of sacrificing an animal is the answer to this very question. But the taking of God’s name is not a verbal formality. It is, in fact, the recognition of God’s ownership rights over the animal and a demonstration of our gratitude to Him for his gift. Taking God’s name at the time of sacrifice is the symbol of this admission and of our gratitude—the ‘price’ on payment of which an animal in the eyes of our Lord becomes sacrificeable for us. However, one who faces accidental compulsion has been exempted by God from this restriction. When man neglects God’s commands on the subject of what is permitted or prohibited, legal or illegal, superstitions begin to take the place of divine injunctions. On the basis of superstitious ideas, people form divergent opinions. There are some self-devised philosophies behind these superstitions, and on their basis some formalities become established. It is necessary for those who want to become God’s obedient servants to completely give up these superstitions, in practice as well as in theory.

In the matter of eating and drinking and other everyday routines, every community develops a customary religion. People have strong feelings about this customary or traditional religion because of the testimonies of ancestors and of great men of the past, which exist in its support. Deviation from this becomes synonymous with turning away from the religion of the revered forefathers. So, when the call of Truth clashes with this customary religion, all sorts of objections are raised against it. The great men of the day seek out such aspects of established practices as will convince the general public that their customary religion is correct and the ‘new religion’ is wrong. But God is aware of everything. On Doomsday, when He lays bare the realities, every individual will see whether he has been standing on the firm ground of reality or on the thin ice of superstition.