- 1-6. To say that the Quran is a revelation...
- 7-11. Very often, an admission of the Truth...
- 12-13. God has made water subject to such...
- 14-15. Those who do not firmly believe that...
- 16-20. According to verse 16, God exalted...
- 22. One who thinks that it is all the same...
- 23. To make desire one’s deity means...
- 24-26. ‘Nothing but time destroys us.’...
- 27. Those who, in this world, rise with...
- 30-32. Here arrogance does not imply...
- 33-35. In the present world when a man...
- 36. The universe is of infinite immensity...
Commentary By Maulana Wahiduddin khan
1-6. To say that the Quran is a revelation…
To say that the Quran is a revelation from the All-Powerful and Wise God amounts to giving on His behalf a definite standard on the basis of which its veracity can be demonstrated. Its divine origin means, moreover, that it will prove to be unassailable. The Quran will, in any case, prevail over its opponents.
This statement was made in the Makkan period. At that time, circumstances were entirely against the Quran. But later history has most wonderfully testified to the veracity of this statement. The call given by the Quran met with the greatest success in history. Similarly, the notion of revelation from God the Omniscient and Almighty implies that all its contents must be based on knowledge and wisdom.
The Quran was revealed before the age of science. But now, even in this age of sciencenothing mentioned in the Quran has been proved irrational.
Furthermore, all the things in the Universe spread out far and near are testimonies to the truth of the Quran’s message. However, this testimony will be valid only for one who possesses a receptive and believing mind; who is capable of grasping the real meaning of such matters as are expressed in the language of signs.
7-11. Very often, an admission of the Truth…
Very often, an admission of the Truth is synonymous with the surrendering of a high position. Since man does not want to lose his elevated status, he does not accept the Truth. But, not bowing down before the Truth amounts to a refusal to bow down before God. God will mete out the most severe of punishments to the recalcitrant.
Though a man turns away from Truth out of conceit, he nevertheless presents theoretical arguments meant to justify his behaviour. But these arguments are nothing but false utterances. The denier of truth misrepresents some facet of reality and makes this an excuse; and on the basis of this excuse ridicules the Truth and the preacher of Truth. Such individuals deserve the most severe punishment, because they compound their misdeeds with arrogance. What prompts them to behave arrogantly is the prominence of their worldly position. But, worldly position will be of no avail to anyone in the Hereafter.
12-13. God has made water subject to such…
God has made water subject to such natural laws that large ships may sail back and forth across deep oceans and safely reach their destinations. Such is the case with the entire universe. The universe has been created in such a way that it is completely subservient to man’s interests. Man may harness its resources in whatever manner he likes. It is thanks to the serviceability of this world that it has been possible for man to develop glorious civilizations.
We assume that the existing structure of the universe is unique and that it has taken its final shape. Yet it could have been created in a variety of other ways. What is truly miraculous is that, out of all the possible alternatives, it has taken a form which is useful to mankind. This is a sign of God which, if given deep consideration, will demonstrate a glorious lesson.
14-15. Those who do not firmly believe that…
Those who do not firmly believe that the Day of Judgement is going to dawn on them, venture to oppress others. They harass the preacher of Truth in every possible way. At that time feelings of revenge may develop in the heart of the preacher, but he should be forgiving towards his addressees. He should concentrate all his attention on the work of his mission and leave the matter of dealing with others’ evil deeds in the hands of God.
The value of the preacher’s efforts is not assessed on the basis of the number of persons he has influenced and brought on to the path of Truth. The value of his performance in the eyes of God depends upon the extent to which he remained steadfastly dedicated to the Truth; and to what degree he himself exemplified the behaviour expected of him.
16-20. According to verse 16, God exalted…
According to verse 16, God exalted the Children of Israel over the peoples of the world. This parallels what was said of the people (ummah) of the Prophet Muhammad, i.e. ‘You are the best ummah (nation)’ (3:110). To make a group the bearer of the Book of God is in fact making it responsible for guidance to other nations’ and it is in this sense that the community that bears the Book is superior to all nations.
In principle, the Children of Israel were commanded to convey the message to the whole world, as is now the case with the Muslims. But the Children of Israel, by introducing deviations into their Book, lost this status forever.
There is always uniformity in the authentic teachings of religion. But additions to them by scholars create differences and undue complexities. Then every scholar makes additions according to his taste. Thereafter every scholar and his followers set about proving their additions to be correct and others’ additions to be incorrect.
In this way, religious sects start forming and finally a stage is reached when one religion becomes divided into several religions.
When the Children of Israel distorted their revealed religion, God thereupon revealed the Quran through the Prophet Muhammad. Since no other prophet was to appear after him, God caused the Quran to be preserved and kept safe by special arrangements, so that it should never again happen that the religion of God be lost in the labyrinth of human additions.
22. One who thinks that it is all the same…
One who thinks that it is all the same whether a man leads a virtuous life or a life of evil – since either way he ultimately has to die and perish?is nurturing an extremely erroneous idea. This way of thinking runs counter to the consciousness of justice which is found in the very nature of every man right from his birth.
Moreover, this amounts to denying the meaningfulness of the universe, which is immanent in it to the ultimate degree. The fact is that man’s inherent nature and the vast universe around him both completely nullify the concept by which life is treated as being so purposeless as not to lead to any significant outcome.
23. To make desire one’s deity means…
To make desire one’s deity means giving it the supreme position in one’s life. One who thinks and acts under the influence of desire has, in effect, made himself a slave to it. Man’s mind is perfectly capable of distinguishing between right and wrong. But, when he mindlessly follows his desires, he closes the door to reason. Then when he encounters arguments in support of the Truth, he fails to feel their weight. In reply to every statement, he presents false arguments and rejects it. Such behaviour ultimately impairs his mental powers.
His ears hear the words, but fail to grasp their meaning. His eyes look at the Truth, but fail to learn a lesson from it. The message of truth reaches his heart, but fails to warm it.
God has made man’s power of reasoning the entrance gate for guidance. But if a man enslaved by his desires shuts off his mind, how can guidance enter?
24-26. ‘Nothing but time destroys us.’…
‘Nothing but time destroys us.’ These are not the words of the common man. Such maxims are typically uttered by a special calibre of individual. Such an individual, because of his intelligence, attains the status of an intellectual representative of society. However, whatever he says is based on conjecture and not on any real knowledge. On the contrary, whatever a prophet says is based on a concrete foundation.
Every day we witness the birth of a human being out of a death-like state of non existence. It is as if here every man receives life after “death”, then after being alive, he dies again. This is an indication of the fact that, just as life appeared after death like non-existence for the first time, similarly, for the second time also, there will be life after death.
With this, the possibility of life after death is proved beyond doubt. Therefore, it is not correct to demand that those who are due to be resurrected in future should be brought back to life today for the purpose of demonstrating this truth, because the whole purpose of the present world is to put man to the test. If, today, the state of the future world were to be shown, the purpose of testing would be nullified.
27. Those who, in this world, rise with…
Those who, in this world, rise with the Message of God, do so, in fact, on the basis of Truth; and those who stand up on any other basis, do so, in fact, on the basis of falsehood. In the Hereafter, the latter will have no footing; because whatever they had considered to be a solid foundation was nothing of the sort. It was a mere deceit or illusion which vanished on the appearance of reality.
28. Having one’s deeds ‘written down’…
Having one’s deeds ‘written down’ does not mean having them written with pen and ink in the usual sense; it means rather having one’s deeds recorded. Man’s motives, his utterances and his deeds are all being recorded with precision in accordance with God’s arrangements. This record will be so supremely real that it will not be possible for anybody to deny its correctness.
30-32. Here arrogance does not imply…
Here arrogance does not imply contempt for God, it is directed rather against the messenger of God. In the present world, accepting God’s word is, in effect, synonymous with acceptance of the word of the messenger of Truth. Now, those who suffer from overweening pride consider it beneath their dignity to accept the word of a man like themselves. So they ignore it. Unlike them, those who are free of pride immediately bow down before it. While the wrath of God will descend upon the former, the latter will be blessed by the grace of God.
One who denies the Truth makes different types of statements in order to justify his stand. Sometimes he tries to prove the preacher untrustworthy and sometimes he tries to cast doubts upon his message. But it will be clear on the Day of Judgement that these attempts stemmed from a sinful mentality and not from a Truth-loving mind.
33-35. In the present world when a man…
In the present world when a man commits evil, its bad results do not at onceappear before him. This serves to embolden him. When he is warned about his baddeeds, he is not prepared to give any serious attention to this. But, in the Hereafter,the consequences of his misdeeds will appear before his eyes and he will becompletely engulfed in them. At that time he will accept the Truth, which he hadformerly ridiculed as being worthless.In the Hereafter, man will accept the Truth which he denied in this world. Butthis will carry no weight there, as it is only acceptance of Truth at the ‘unseen’ levelwhich is of value, not acceptance after the revelation of Reality.
36. The universe is of infinite immensity…
The universe is of infinite immensity. So, its Creator and Lord must also be onewho is of unlimited greatness: this mighty being cannot be anyone except the oneand only God. Nobody can seriously venture to assume anybody except God to bethe Creator and Lord of the universe. So, if the Creator and Lord of the universeis one and only one being, then it follows essentially that all praises should also bedue to Him; man should devote his full attention to Him; he should make Him his all.
