13. Ar-Ra'd

There are always two kinds of human beings—one who use their reason granted by God and give serious thought, with an unbiased approach, to the matter of truth. Finally when their minds are addressed they adopt the truth by their conscious decision. The other kind of human beings think within the sphere of their social traditions. They view things in the light of customs and not in the light of reasoning. And then they adopt as truth whatever appears to them to be popular with the masses. According to the Quran, the first type of person is one who has become a believer in the light of knowledge; as opposed to this the other type of man is blind. The first knows truth and falsehood by his own realization, while the other is swayed only by hearsay. He considers that thing false which others consider false and he believes that thing to be true which others generally think of as true. The call for the Truth seeks out those who are able to take decisions using their wisdom. Such a call does not benefit those who are blind, in spite of having eyes.

God created man; He provided the best world for him to live in; at all times He looks after him. All these things bind a man with his Creator and Lord by a natural bond. This bond demands that man should not become arrogant but should accept the realities and bow down before God. Man’s life in this world is marked by different types of relationships and connections. It is a requirement of man’s subordination to God that he should develop relations with those liked by God and he should cut off relations as commanded by God. His realization of God’s Majesty should be so intense that he bows down before Him: a regular form of this obedience is prayer (salat). And he should give to others from his assets as God has given to him from His assets. If he is badly treated by somebody, he should for his part respond with good treatment in order that in the Hereafter God should overlook his evil side and treat him with Grace and Mercy. All this requires constant patience. It calls for the believer to hold out against the inducement of the self, to be steadfast in the face of loss of benefit, and to stand up to the pressure of his surroundings. For the sake of paradise the believer has to exercise patience in all such cases. Patience is the price of paradise. Nobody can attain eternal paradise without paying the price of patience.

God created man; He provided the best world for him to live in; at all times He looks after him. All these things bind a man with his Creator and Lord by a natural bond. This bond demands that man should not become arrogant but should accept the realities and bow down before God. Man’s life in this world is marked by different types of relationships and connections. It is a requirement of man’s subordination to God that he should develop relations with those liked by God and he should cut off relations as commanded by God. His realization of God’s Majesty should be so intense that he bows down before Him: a regular form of this obedience is prayer (salat). And he should give to others from his assets as God has given to him from His assets. If he is badly treated by somebody, he should for his part respond with good treatment in order that in the Hereafter God should overlook his evil side and treat him with Grace and Mercy. All this requires constant patience. It calls for the believer to hold out against the inducement of the self, to be steadfast in the face of loss of benefit, and to stand up to the pressure of his surroundings. For the sake of paradise the believer has to exercise patience in all such cases. Patience is the price of paradise. Nobody can attain eternal paradise without paying the price of patience.

Man is bound to God by the bond of nature and to his fellow beings by the bond of humanity. Breaking both bonds leads to creating mischief on God’s earth. Living a peaceful life on God’s earth means making his life subject to the above-mentioned bonds. In liberating himself from these bonds – caring nothing for the rights of God or men—he only creates mischief. Those who act thus incur the curse of God. Such as these will not share in the Grace of God. They have fouled God’s earth, so they deserve to be pushed into the foulest of places—Hell. In this world one receives less and another receives more. The one who receives more develops a superiority complex, while the one who receives less suffers from an inferiority complex. But, in the eyes of God, neither attitude is correct. The correct reaction is that if one receives more, he should become grateful to God; one who receives less, should strive to remain patient and be contented with what he has. Worldly-oriented people invariably ignore the preacher of Truth. The reason for this is that a worldly person recognizes only worldly glories. As the preacher is in possession of only sublime truths, he is not recognized and is ignored as an unimportant person. But, when the veil over reality is torn asunder, man will come to know at that time that the apparent glory which he considered everything, was absolutely valueless. The truly valuable thing was reality which, because it was unseen, could not claim his attention.

Man is bound to God by the bond of nature and to his fellow beings by the bond of humanity. Breaking both bonds leads to creating mischief on God’s earth. Living a peaceful life on God’s earth means making his life subject to the above-mentioned bonds. In liberating himself from these bonds – caring nothing for the rights of God or men—he only creates mischief. Those who act thus incur the curse of God. Such as these will not share in the Grace of God. They have fouled God’s earth, so they deserve to be pushed into the foulest of places—Hell. In this world one receives less and another receives more. The one who receives more develops a superiority complex, while the one who receives less suffers from an inferiority complex. But, in the eyes of God, neither attitude is correct. The correct reaction is that if one receives more, he should become grateful to God; one who receives less, should strive to remain patient and be contented with what he has. Worldly-oriented people invariably ignore the preacher of Truth. The reason for this is that a worldly person recognizes only worldly glories. As the preacher is in possession of only sublime truths, he is not recognized and is ignored as an unimportant person. But, when the veil over reality is torn asunder, man will come to know at that time that the apparent glory which he considered everything, was absolutely valueless. The truly valuable thing was reality which, because it was unseen, could not claim his attention.

Man is bound to God by the bond of nature and to his fellow beings by the bond of humanity. Breaking both bonds leads to creating mischief on God’s earth. Living a peaceful life on God’s earth means making his life subject to the above-mentioned bonds. In liberating himself from these bonds – caring nothing for the rights of God or men—he only creates mischief. Those who act thus incur the curse of God. Such as these will not share in the Grace of God. They have fouled God’s earth, so they deserve to be pushed into the foulest of places—Hell. In this world one receives less and another receives more. The one who receives more develops a superiority complex, while the one who receives less suffers from an inferiority complex. But, in the eyes of God, neither attitude is correct. The correct reaction is that if one receives more, he should become grateful to God; one who receives less, should strive to remain patient and be contented with what he has. Worldly-oriented people invariably ignore the preacher of Truth. The reason for this is that a worldly person recognizes only worldly glories. As the preacher is in possession of only sublime truths, he is not recognized and is ignored as an unimportant person. But, when the veil over reality is torn asunder, man will come to know at that time that the apparent glory which he considered everything, was absolutely valueless. The truly valuable thing was reality which, because it was unseen, could not claim his attention.

Man is bound to God by the bond of nature and to his fellow beings by the bond of humanity. Breaking both bonds leads to creating mischief on God’s earth. Living a peaceful life on God’s earth means making his life subject to the above-mentioned bonds. In liberating himself from these bonds – caring nothing for the rights of God or men—he only creates mischief. Those who act thus incur the curse of God. Such as these will not share in the Grace of God. They have fouled God’s earth, so they deserve to be pushed into the foulest of places—Hell. In this world one receives less and another receives more. The one who receives more develops a superiority complex, while the one who receives less suffers from an inferiority complex. But, in the eyes of God, neither attitude is correct. The correct reaction is that if one receives more, he should become grateful to God; one who receives less, should strive to remain patient and be contented with what he has. Worldly-oriented people invariably ignore the preacher of Truth. The reason for this is that a worldly person recognizes only worldly glories. As the preacher is in possession of only sublime truths, he is not recognized and is ignored as an unimportant person. But, when the veil over reality is torn asunder, man will come to know at that time that the apparent glory which he considered everything, was absolutely valueless. The truly valuable thing was reality which, because it was unseen, could not claim his attention.

The reason for the rejection of the preacher of truth is generally that the people do not find any tangible glories around this person. But this amounts to being unsuccessful at the very point where a man has to prove successful. God wants man to recognize the truth in its absolute shape and to surrender himself to that truth. Now, one who insists that he will not accept the Truth without tangible feats will be fated in this world never to find the truth according to the law of God and he will always be deprived of God’s guidance. This world is a testing ground. Here man can find God at the level of remembrance; he cannot find God at the level of ‘observation’. Those who agree with this godly plan will find God and those who do not will be unsuccessful in finding Him, just as one who insists on seeing the sun with his naked eyes will be unsuccessful in doing so. In this world only that person succeeds who accepts God’s plan and who moulds his life according to it, because it is God who is the Creator of this world and not man.

Signs having been shown to those who asked for them, a final verdict should be pronounced upon them. Now, if at the instance of human beings, God did show any tangible signs and if, even after that, they did not accept Him, they would deserve immediate destruction. But God, ignoring human demands for tangible signs, goes on, in His special Grace and Mercy, conveying the Truth through His messengers in the language of advice and reasoning. In this way people have a longer period in which to reform themselves and become entitled to God’s Grace. In view of this, it is necessary for the missionary not to be disturbed by the foolish demands of his addressees. He himself should be agreeable to God’s plan and should continue to call upon them to accept it likewise.