13. Ar-Ra'd

The Quran enjoins the acceptance of the one and only God. Those who do not believe in God advance the argument that if God is in existence, He should be visible to everyone. But our known universe shows that a thing’s invisibility does not prove that it has no existence at all. An example of this is the force of gravity. There are innumerable stars and many planets in space. Human knowledge claims that in between these astronomical bodies there is an ethereal and intangible force of gravity (or force of attraction) which is balancing them in the vastness of space. So man believes in the force of gravity in spite of its being intangible and unseen. Then how can he be justified in denying the existence of God, simply because of His being unseen? This is the case with Revelation and prophethood. When an observer of the universe studies its phenomena, he finds that everything here functions according to a system. It appears as if all things are bound by a special order. This ‘order’ does not exist in the things themselves. Certainly, it comes from outside. In other words, the whole universe seeks instruction from ‘outside’ for its working. This external instruction in the case of our world (leaving out of account its human population) is generally referred to as the Law of Nature. In the case of human beings, this external instruction, or guidance, comes in the form of revelation and inspiration. The Universe is, so to say, a machine and the Quran is its ‘Guide Book’. The former is the example of God’s regulation of affairs and the latter is the example of God’s detailing of signs. There is perfect consistency between these two. Whatever exists in the universe in physical form, exists in the Quran in verbal form. This consistency simultaneously proves two things—first, that there is a Creator of this universe and second, that the Quran is the Book of that Creator and not the creation of the limited mind of a human being.

When we observe the earth, we will find that the conditions here appear to be most suitable for human settlement and growth. The earth is spread out beneath human beings like a natural floor. Deep oceans cater to human needs on the one hand and on the other there are the mountain ranges, so that both of them together help in maintaining a balance on the earth. The plants and trees could have grown independently, but they have been paired off, and pollination must play its part between them so that flowers, fruits and seeds will grow. The position of the earth is that, apart from its annual revolution around the sun, it rotates continuously on its axis. This rotation is completed in twenty-four hours, resulting in the creation of night and day. Anyone who seriously gives consideration to signs of this kind will be forced to accept that this earth is under an authoritative and powerful Lord. And He, by His own will, has made it subject to purposeful planning. Without conscious planning, this meaningfulness on earth would not have been at all possible.

When we observe the earth, we will find that the conditions here appear to be most suitable for human settlement and growth. The earth is spread out beneath human beings like a natural floor. Deep oceans cater to human needs on the one hand and on the other there are the mountain ranges, so that both of them together help in maintaining a balance on the earth. The plants and trees could have grown independently, but they have been paired off, and pollination must play its part between them so that flowers, fruits and seeds will grow. The position of the earth is that, apart from its annual revolution around the sun, it rotates continuously on its axis. This rotation is completed in twenty-four hours, resulting in the creation of night and day. Anyone who seriously gives consideration to signs of this kind will be forced to accept that this earth is under an authoritative and powerful Lord. And He, by His own will, has made it subject to purposeful planning. Without conscious planning, this meaningfulness on earth would not have been at all possible.

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas says that one strip of land is fertile while another is barren. One strip of land produces crops while one nearby does not. Mujahid says that the same is the case with mankind. There are good people in this world and also bad, though the origin of all is one. There is a strange phenomenon on this earth: the soil in different places may be similar and may be watered by the same water, but in one place it will produce a tree whose fruit is sweet, while in another place it will produce a tree whose fruit is sour. One tree may have a high yield and another a low yield. This is a parallel in nature to the human condition. It is like all human beings, although cast in the same mould, showing a marked difference from one individual to another when it comes to deriving any benefit from the divine guidance which is consistently offered to all. One will receive the full benefit of such guidance, and thus have his entire life enriched by it, while another may avail of only a part of it or even reject it altogether. In other words, the same ‘seeds’ of guidance when ‘sown’ in different individuals will produce outcomes as different as the sweet and sour fruits of our analogy.

The case of those who deny the life after death is very strange. While accepting the occurrence of an event once, they deny the occurrence of the same event on future occasions. Those who do not accept the occurrence of life after death, or a second life, express their surprise at those who believe in a second life. They think that acceptance of a second life is irrational, whereas the position is just the opposite, because an unbeliever can only reject second life. As far as the first life is concerned, it is not possible for anybody to reject it, because it is evident to everybody as a real event. So, if the occurrence of the first life is possible, why should the occurrence of a second life be impossible? There are few who would actually reject the existence of God. Mostly people believe in a Creator, but they do not accept the Hereafter. But after the denial of the Hereafter, the acceptance of a Creator has no value. God is not only the Creator of this universe, but He Himself is the Truth. God’s Being necessarily warrants that whatever He does, should be done with Rectitude and Justice. The Hereafter is, in fact, a manifestation of God’s attribute of Justice. Acceptance of God is acceptance in the real sense only when it is followed by acceptance of the Hereafter. Belief in God remains incomplete without acceptance of the Hereafter. People’s rejection of the straightforward and true message of Truth is mostly due to their being victims of bias, prejudice and egoism. They are slaves of their own ideas. Thus mentally shackled, they are unable to give due consideration to any external reality. This condition has been described as being ‘chained by the neck’ – the chain being the symbol of slavery. Those who are bent on making prisoners of themselves in this world can expect nothing other than remaining prisoners in the Hereafter.

The Prophet Muhammad used to tell the people of Makkah to follow the guidance of God, otherwise they would be seized upon by Him. In reply to this they would say, ‘O, God! If whatever Muhammad declares is true, then shower pieces of stone on us from the sky.’ Apparently this prayer was addressed to God but, in fact, it was directed at the Prophet. At that time he appeared to be worthless to the people of Makkah. It was very difficult for them to believe that God would punish them on their rejecting such an ordinary man. Any imposition of punishment for their rejecting ‘Muhammad’ appeared to them such a distant possibility that they used to say, quite ridiculously, ‘We want that the punishment with which you are threatening us to actually be meted out to us.’ God says that His punishment is definitely going to overtake them due to their rejection of Truth. It is due to their being misguided that they wanted it to happen earlier. In fact, they should have spent this period of respite in giving careful consideration to the call of the Quran, rather than invite the punishment of God before time. People want to see the punishment of God with their own eyes and then accept it. But this is a demand made in sheer blindness. If they have observing eyes, then whatever happened with others should be enough to teach them a lesson. Many communities have passed before them who, like them, rejected the prophets of their age and finally they had to face punishment for this. By the law of God man is allowed respite to perform certain deeds. Unfortunately, this law of respite has made people arrogant. But there is a limit to respite. After this limit nothing awaits them except a horrible punishment from which they will not be able to save themselves.

Today, throughout the world, there are more than a billion people who accept the Prophet Muhammad as a prophet of God. But in his lifetime the people of Makkah could not understand that God had made him His prophet. The reason for this was that in the preliminary stage, his prophethood was a controversial issue. But now, in this advanced stage of history, his prophethood is no longer controversial. It is now as easy to believe in the prophethood as it was difficult to believe in it at an earlier, controversial stage. The standards by which the people of Makkah lived were those of wealth, power and popularity. By these standards the Prophet Muhammad did not appear to them to be in any way exceptional, so they wanted him to have some extraordinary sign which would be a definite proof of his prophethood. In response to this it was said that these people demanded something which was not in accordance with God’s plan and as such it would remain beyond human reach. The present world is a place of trial. Here guidance is not available in the form of such clear signs that there is no scope for human doubt, because if that were so, the purpose of the divine test would be defeated. Here the only possibility is for man to take guidance in the shape of ‘information’ and accept it after examining it. One who does not pass this test will never have his share of guidance. God raises in every community a man from among them so that he may deliver the message in a language familiar to them. This arrangement was made for the convenience of the different communities. But it often happened that the communities were affected in the opposite manner: they rejected God’s prophets. Their vision was clouded by the ordinary nature of the messenger. Their eyes could not see the extraordinary nature of the message itself.

The womb of a mother is a wonderful factory. The wonderful aspect of the human produce is that it conforms to a ‘fixed proportion’. There is a constant balance between ‘demand and supply’. For instance, this wonderful plant which has been working for thousands of years, produces men as well as women, but a constant proportion is maintained between these two sexes. It never happens that this plant produces males only or females only. An event like war sometimes temporarily disturbs this proportion. But it has been observed, strangely enough, that after a certain period this original proportion is soon restored. The same is true of the balance of talent in the men and women coming out of this plant. Research has shown that those being born are not of a uniform capacity. There is a great diversity in their talents. This diversity is of importance in civilization, because persons of diverse capacities are required to manage the affairs of a civilization. The plant of mothers is quietly and successfully producing persons with different talents, as if it were receiving ‘orders’ from outside which led to how the persons in the womb were constituted. If there had not been this diversity in the production of human beings, the whole system of civilization would have descended into chaos and all development would have ceased. The existence of this planning in the working of the mother’s womb clearly shows that there is a Planner behind it. Without conscious planning, a system marked by such regularity could never exist. This also proves that the Creator and Lord of this world is a Being Who is aware not only of whatever is plain for everyone to see, but also of what is unseen and hidden. Whatever happens in a woman’s womb is apparently a secret matter. But the above-mentioned details show that God is completely aware of it. Then this Being Who is aware of the open and hidden aspects of everything is bound to know the hidden, and open aspects pertaining to human beings. Belief in angels is also proved by this, because it is an extension of the present system of keeping ‘watch’.

The womb of a mother is a wonderful factory. The wonderful aspect of the human produce is that it conforms to a ‘fixed proportion’. There is a constant balance between ‘demand and supply’. For instance, this wonderful plant which has been working for thousands of years, produces men as well as women, but a constant proportion is maintained between these two sexes. It never happens that this plant produces males only or females only. An event like war sometimes temporarily disturbs this proportion. But it has been observed, strangely enough, that after a certain period this original proportion is soon restored. The same is true of the balance of talent in the men and women coming out of this plant. Research has shown that those being born are not of a uniform capacity. There is a great diversity in their talents. This diversity is of importance in civilization, because persons of diverse capacities are required to manage the affairs of a civilization. The plant of mothers is quietly and successfully producing persons with different talents, as if it were receiving ‘orders’ from outside which led to how the persons in the womb were constituted. If there had not been this diversity in the production of human beings, the whole system of civilization would have descended into chaos and all development would have ceased. The existence of this planning in the working of the mother’s womb clearly shows that there is a Planner behind it. Without conscious planning, a system marked by such regularity could never exist. This also proves that the Creator and Lord of this world is a Being Who is aware not only of whatever is plain for everyone to see, but also of what is unseen and hidden. Whatever happens in a woman’s womb is apparently a secret matter. But the above-mentioned details show that God is completely aware of it. Then this Being Who is aware of the open and hidden aspects of everything is bound to know the hidden, and open aspects pertaining to human beings. Belief in angels is also proved by this, because it is an extension of the present system of keeping ‘watch’.

The womb of a mother is a wonderful factory. The wonderful aspect of the human produce is that it conforms to a ‘fixed proportion’. There is a constant balance between ‘demand and supply’. For instance, this wonderful plant which has been working for thousands of years, produces men as well as women, but a constant proportion is maintained between these two sexes. It never happens that this plant produces males only or females only. An event like war sometimes temporarily disturbs this proportion. But it has been observed, strangely enough, that after a certain period this original proportion is soon restored. The same is true of the balance of talent in the men and women coming out of this plant. Research has shown that those being born are not of a uniform capacity. There is a great diversity in their talents. This diversity is of importance in civilization, because persons of diverse capacities are required to manage the affairs of a civilization. The plant of mothers is quietly and successfully producing persons with different talents, as if it were receiving ‘orders’ from outside which led to how the persons in the womb were constituted. If there had not been this diversity in the production of human beings, the whole system of civilization would have descended into chaos and all development would have ceased. The existence of this planning in the working of the mother’s womb clearly shows that there is a Planner behind it. Without conscious planning, a system marked by such regularity could never exist. This also proves that the Creator and Lord of this world is a Being Who is aware not only of whatever is plain for everyone to see, but also of what is unseen and hidden. Whatever happens in a woman’s womb is apparently a secret matter. But the above-mentioned details show that God is completely aware of it. Then this Being Who is aware of the open and hidden aspects of everything is bound to know the hidden, and open aspects pertaining to human beings. Belief in angels is also proved by this, because it is an extension of the present system of keeping ‘watch’.