11. Hud

In the present world, the opportunity to live and to settle is available to man for the sole reason that he has to be put to the test. Those who continue to deny the truth even after the conclusion of the preaching process by the prophets, lose their right to remain on God’s earth any further. That is why God destroyed the rejecters of the Prophet ( 29:40 ). Mostly this destruction took place in the form of the severest natural calamities. For example, cyclones, floods or earthquakes which, under normal conditions, remain within a limit, were made to wreak havoc to an unlimited extent. Such destruction of communities as took place in the past were called ‘climatic pulsation’ by the scholars of geographic history, as if whatever happened was the result of a geographical upheaval. However, they are unable to explain why such ‘climatic pulsations’ (changes) occurred only in the past and why these do not occur now, after the end of the period of prophethood. The fact is that these events were not merely geographical events in the simple sense. They were manifestations of God’s will. This proves that the system of the present world is based on justice. Here, according to the law of nature itself, a transgressor will perforce receive punishment for his transgression, while the righteous one will receive a reward for his just behaviour. To call these events ‘climatic pulsation’ amounts to consigning them to the geographical realm. On the contrary, if these are treated as forms of divine retribution, they can teach great lessons about the fear of God and create anxiety about the Hereafter. The events that occurred during the age of the prophets, were, so to say, small signs prior to the advent of the great Doomsday. In these cases it so happened that those who denied the truth were given respite for some period. Thereafter, God’s verdict was made manifest and all were destroyed. Only those were saved who, being the supporters of the truth, were treated as favoured in the eyes of God. Others who were, in the assessment of God, arrogant and, therefore, disfavoured, were directly afflicted by God’s retribution; so much so that the recommendations of the prophets could not save them, as proved by the examples of Noah and Abraham.

In the present world, the opportunity to live and to settle is available to man for the sole reason that he has to be put to the test. Those who continue to deny the truth even after the conclusion of the preaching process by the prophets, lose their right to remain on God’s earth any further. That is why God destroyed the rejecters of the Prophet ( 29:40 ). Mostly this destruction took place in the form of the severest natural calamities. For example, cyclones, floods or earthquakes which, under normal conditions, remain within a limit, were made to wreak havoc to an unlimited extent. Such destruction of communities as took place in the past were called ‘climatic pulsation’ by the scholars of geographic history, as if whatever happened was the result of a geographical upheaval. However, they are unable to explain why such ‘climatic pulsations’ (changes) occurred only in the past and why these do not occur now, after the end of the period of prophethood. The fact is that these events were not merely geographical events in the simple sense. They were manifestations of God’s will. This proves that the system of the present world is based on justice. Here, according to the law of nature itself, a transgressor will perforce receive punishment for his transgression, while the righteous one will receive a reward for his just behaviour. To call these events ‘climatic pulsation’ amounts to consigning them to the geographical realm. On the contrary, if these are treated as forms of divine retribution, they can teach great lessons about the fear of God and create anxiety about the Hereafter. The events that occurred during the age of the prophets, were, so to say, small signs prior to the advent of the great Doomsday. In these cases it so happened that those who denied the truth were given respite for some period. Thereafter, God’s verdict was made manifest and all were destroyed. Only those were saved who, being the supporters of the truth, were treated as favoured in the eyes of God. Others who were, in the assessment of God, arrogant and, therefore, disfavoured, were directly afflicted by God’s retribution; so much so that the recommendations of the prophets could not save them, as proved by the examples of Noah and Abraham.

In the present world, the opportunity to live and to settle is available to man for the sole reason that he has to be put to the test. Those who continue to deny the truth even after the conclusion of the preaching process by the prophets, lose their right to remain on God’s earth any further. That is why God destroyed the rejecters of the Prophet ( 29:40 ). Mostly this destruction took place in the form of the severest natural calamities. For example, cyclones, floods or earthquakes which, under normal conditions, remain within a limit, were made to wreak havoc to an unlimited extent. Such destruction of communities as took place in the past were called ‘climatic pulsation’ by the scholars of geographic history, as if whatever happened was the result of a geographical upheaval. However, they are unable to explain why such ‘climatic pulsations’ (changes) occurred only in the past and why these do not occur now, after the end of the period of prophethood. The fact is that these events were not merely geographical events in the simple sense. They were manifestations of God’s will. This proves that the system of the present world is based on justice. Here, according to the law of nature itself, a transgressor will perforce receive punishment for his transgression, while the righteous one will receive a reward for his just behaviour. To call these events ‘climatic pulsation’ amounts to consigning them to the geographical realm. On the contrary, if these are treated as forms of divine retribution, they can teach great lessons about the fear of God and create anxiety about the Hereafter. The events that occurred during the age of the prophets, were, so to say, small signs prior to the advent of the great Doomsday. In these cases it so happened that those who denied the truth were given respite for some period. Thereafter, God’s verdict was made manifest and all were destroyed. Only those were saved who, being the supporters of the truth, were treated as favoured in the eyes of God. Others who were, in the assessment of God, arrogant and, therefore, disfavoured, were directly afflicted by God’s retribution; so much so that the recommendations of the prophets could not save them, as proved by the examples of Noah and Abraham.

In the present world, the opportunity to live and to settle is available to man for the sole reason that he has to be put to the test. Those who continue to deny the truth even after the conclusion of the preaching process by the prophets, lose their right to remain on God’s earth any further. That is why God destroyed the rejecters of the Prophet ( 29:40 ). Mostly this destruction took place in the form of the severest natural calamities. For example, cyclones, floods or earthquakes which, under normal conditions, remain within a limit, were made to wreak havoc to an unlimited extent. Such destruction of communities as took place in the past were called ‘climatic pulsation’ by the scholars of geographic history, as if whatever happened was the result of a geographical upheaval. However, they are unable to explain why such ‘climatic pulsations’ (changes) occurred only in the past and why these do not occur now, after the end of the period of prophethood. The fact is that these events were not merely geographical events in the simple sense. They were manifestations of God’s will. This proves that the system of the present world is based on justice. Here, according to the law of nature itself, a transgressor will perforce receive punishment for his transgression, while the righteous one will receive a reward for his just behaviour. To call these events ‘climatic pulsation’ amounts to consigning them to the geographical realm. On the contrary, if these are treated as forms of divine retribution, they can teach great lessons about the fear of God and create anxiety about the Hereafter. The events that occurred during the age of the prophets, were, so to say, small signs prior to the advent of the great Doomsday. In these cases it so happened that those who denied the truth were given respite for some period. Thereafter, God’s verdict was made manifest and all were destroyed. Only those were saved who, being the supporters of the truth, were treated as favoured in the eyes of God. Others who were, in the assessment of God, arrogant and, therefore, disfavoured, were directly afflicted by God’s retribution; so much so that the recommendations of the prophets could not save them, as proved by the examples of Noah and Abraham.

What has been mentioned in the Quran as being of the utmost importance, and has been the most often repeated, is that human beings will not be spared the final reckoning, but after death will be presented in God’s court. There everybody will be consigned either to Paradise or to Hell, according to his performance in this world. The reason for giving this point so much importance and repeating it so often is the ‘doubts’ which people have. People see that there are countless individuals on the earth who do not carry out God’s instructions; there are countless individuals who act independently of God’s instructions; many persons live self-centred lives instead of God-oriented lives, without any loss to themselves; all of them are still successful. Here, apparently, it is nowhere to be seen that those loyal to God receive special rewards and those disobedient to God have to face punishment. For this reason, people start entertaining doubts. They are unable to believe that people are destined to meet any fate other than what they have gone on witnessing with their own eyes. Here the Quran states that people’s upholding of untruth is not because they had studied the problem from every aspect and had found untruth reasonable. It was rather because of their adherence to customs and tradition instead of being open to arguments and reasonableness. If, in spite of this, they are not faced with the result of their actions, it is because of the respite they are given for being tested; for the life on earth before death is a life of trial. So, to make the test valid, the opportunity is given to man here till the time of his death to say whatever he likes and to do whatever he likes. Death marks the end of this period. Death means that man is transported from the place of testing to the place of judgement. There everyone will receive whatever he actually deserves and everyone will lose whatever he had assembled around himself without deserving it.

What has been mentioned in the Quran as being of the utmost importance, and has been the most often repeated, is that human beings will not be spared the final reckoning, but after death will be presented in God’s court. There everybody will be consigned either to Paradise or to Hell, according to his performance in this world. The reason for giving this point so much importance and repeating it so often is the ‘doubts’ which people have. People see that there are countless individuals on the earth who do not carry out God’s instructions; there are countless individuals who act independently of God’s instructions; many persons live self-centred lives instead of God-oriented lives, without any loss to themselves; all of them are still successful. Here, apparently, it is nowhere to be seen that those loyal to God receive special rewards and those disobedient to God have to face punishment. For this reason, people start entertaining doubts. They are unable to believe that people are destined to meet any fate other than what they have gone on witnessing with their own eyes. Here the Quran states that people’s upholding of untruth is not because they had studied the problem from every aspect and had found untruth reasonable. It was rather because of their adherence to customs and tradition instead of being open to arguments and reasonableness. If, in spite of this, they are not faced with the result of their actions, it is because of the respite they are given for being tested; for the life on earth before death is a life of trial. So, to make the test valid, the opportunity is given to man here till the time of his death to say whatever he likes and to do whatever he likes. Death marks the end of this period. Death means that man is transported from the place of testing to the place of judgement. There everyone will receive whatever he actually deserves and everyone will lose whatever he had assembled around himself without deserving it.

What has been mentioned in the Quran as being of the utmost importance, and has been the most often repeated, is that human beings will not be spared the final reckoning, but after death will be presented in God’s court. There everybody will be consigned either to Paradise or to Hell, according to his performance in this world. The reason for giving this point so much importance and repeating it so often is the ‘doubts’ which people have. People see that there are countless individuals on the earth who do not carry out God’s instructions; there are countless individuals who act independently of God’s instructions; many persons live self-centred lives instead of God-oriented lives, without any loss to themselves; all of them are still successful. Here, apparently, it is nowhere to be seen that those loyal to God receive special rewards and those disobedient to God have to face punishment. For this reason, people start entertaining doubts. They are unable to believe that people are destined to meet any fate other than what they have gone on witnessing with their own eyes. Here the Quran states that people’s upholding of untruth is not because they had studied the problem from every aspect and had found untruth reasonable. It was rather because of their adherence to customs and tradition instead of being open to arguments and reasonableness. If, in spite of this, they are not faced with the result of their actions, it is because of the respite they are given for being tested; for the life on earth before death is a life of trial. So, to make the test valid, the opportunity is given to man here till the time of his death to say whatever he likes and to do whatever he likes. Death marks the end of this period. Death means that man is transported from the place of testing to the place of judgement. There everyone will receive whatever he actually deserves and everyone will lose whatever he had assembled around himself without deserving it.

What has been mentioned in the Quran as being of the utmost importance, and has been the most often repeated, is that human beings will not be spared the final reckoning, but after death will be presented in God’s court. There everybody will be consigned either to Paradise or to Hell, according to his performance in this world. The reason for giving this point so much importance and repeating it so often is the ‘doubts’ which people have. People see that there are countless individuals on the earth who do not carry out God’s instructions; there are countless individuals who act independently of God’s instructions; many persons live self-centred lives instead of God-oriented lives, without any loss to themselves; all of them are still successful. Here, apparently, it is nowhere to be seen that those loyal to God receive special rewards and those disobedient to God have to face punishment. For this reason, people start entertaining doubts. They are unable to believe that people are destined to meet any fate other than what they have gone on witnessing with their own eyes. Here the Quran states that people’s upholding of untruth is not because they had studied the problem from every aspect and had found untruth reasonable. It was rather because of their adherence to customs and tradition instead of being open to arguments and reasonableness. If, in spite of this, they are not faced with the result of their actions, it is because of the respite they are given for being tested; for the life on earth before death is a life of trial. So, to make the test valid, the opportunity is given to man here till the time of his death to say whatever he likes and to do whatever he likes. Death marks the end of this period. Death means that man is transported from the place of testing to the place of judgement. There everyone will receive whatever he actually deserves and everyone will lose whatever he had assembled around himself without deserving it.

This means that the addressees of the Book given by God to Moses had diverse opinions about its statements. Some of them rejected them and some of them accepted them. (at-Tabari). Whenever a statement is made, a man has two alternatives—one is to make the correct interpretation of it and the other is to make the wrong interpretation of it. If the hearers are really serious, they will inevitably arrive at the one correct interpretation. Their seriousness will guarantee their unity of opinion. On the contrary, if they are not serious, they will not give the statement any importance and will interpret it differently according to their own individual thinking. One will say this and the other will say that. In this way their levity will lead them to differences of opinion. This happened in the case of all the prophets. God has nevertheless tolerated this, because He has created the present world as a place for the performance of deeds and the coming world as a place for reward or retribution. That is the way of God. That is why people are given full respite here. The present state of affairs is entirely due to this respite being given so that human beings may be tested and not due to God being under any compulsion.