16. An-Nahl

The reality of religion is that man should apprehend the Being of God and His workmanship in the universe so intensely and realistically that the Being of the one God should become everything for him; man should fear only Him and on Him alone, should he build up his hopes. The one God should be the entire focus of his heart and mind. This is what constitutes the act of making God the object of worship (ilah) and amounts to praying to Him. All the prophets came into the world in order to bring about this condition. Those who prove to have this sense of submission to God will be treated as successful on Judgement Day, but those who go against this will be left without hope. For the general people, this decision will be taken on Doomsday (Judgement Day), but for the addressees of the prophet, it starts in this world itself. There is perfect unity in the universe and at the same time, there also is perfect meaningfulness. Unity in the universe makes it unwarranted for anyone to make somebody other than the one God the centre of his attention. And it is the natural consequence of its meaningfulness that it should meet a meaningful end. In this way, the system governing the universe provides arguments in favour of both the unity of God (tawhid) and the existence of the Hereafter.

The reality of religion is that man should apprehend the Being of God and His workmanship in the universe so intensely and realistically that the Being of the one God should become everything for him; man should fear only Him and on Him alone, should he build up his hopes. The one God should be the entire focus of his heart and mind. This is what constitutes the act of making God the object of worship (ilah) and amounts to praying to Him. All the prophets came into the world in order to bring about this condition. Those who prove to have this sense of submission to God will be treated as successful on Judgement Day, but those who go against this will be left without hope. For the general people, this decision will be taken on Doomsday (Judgement Day), but for the addressees of the prophet, it starts in this world itself. There is perfect unity in the universe and at the same time, there also is perfect meaningfulness. Unity in the universe makes it unwarranted for anyone to make somebody other than the one God the centre of his attention. And it is the natural consequence of its meaningfulness that it should meet a meaningful end. In this way, the system governing the universe provides arguments in favour of both the unity of God (tawhid) and the existence of the Hereafter.

The reality of religion is that man should apprehend the Being of God and His workmanship in the universe so intensely and realistically that the Being of the one God should become everything for him; man should fear only Him and on Him alone, should he build up his hopes. The one God should be the entire focus of his heart and mind. This is what constitutes the act of making God the object of worship (ilah) and amounts to praying to Him. All the prophets came into the world in order to bring about this condition. Those who prove to have this sense of submission to God will be treated as successful on Judgement Day, but those who go against this will be left without hope. For the general people, this decision will be taken on Doomsday (Judgement Day), but for the addressees of the prophet, it starts in this world itself. There is perfect unity in the universe and at the same time, there also is perfect meaningfulness. Unity in the universe makes it unwarranted for anyone to make somebody other than the one God the centre of his attention. And it is the natural consequence of its meaningfulness that it should meet a meaningful end. In this way, the system governing the universe provides arguments in favour of both the unity of God (tawhid) and the existence of the Hereafter.

Man’s life begins from a humble fluid. But when man grows up, he tries to take a stand in opposition to God. If he were to keep in view the reality of his origin, he would never allow himself to become arrogant in this world. Animals, in particular, cattle, are among the various bounties with which man has been blessed in the present world. These are just like living machines of nature that are engaged in catering to the various requirements of man. Cows consume grass and fodder and convert them into meat and milk for his consumption. Sheep produce wool on their bodies which is used for his clothing. The owner of these animals includes them in his assets and this enhances his prestige. ‘He creates other things beyond your knowledge’ refers to those benefits that are available through sources other than animals. A part of these other sources was available to man even in ancient times. Man has discovered the major part of it in modern times and, for instance, is utilizing machines in place of animals. Man’s innumerable worldly endowments have not been created by him but have been provided for him by God. This shows that the Creator of this world is a kind Creator. Thus it necessarily follows that man should be grateful to his Creator and discharge the obligations due to Him as his Benefactor.

Man’s life begins from a humble fluid. But when man grows up, he tries to take a stand in opposition to God. If he were to keep in view the reality of his origin, he would never allow himself to become arrogant in this world. Animals, in particular, cattle, are among the various bounties with which man has been blessed in the present world. These are just like living machines of nature that are engaged in catering to the various requirements of man. Cows consume grass and fodder and convert them into meat and milk for his consumption. Sheep produce wool on their bodies which is used for his clothing. The owner of these animals includes them in his assets and this enhances his prestige. ‘He creates other things beyond your knowledge’ refers to those benefits that are available through sources other than animals. A part of these other sources was available to man even in ancient times. Man has discovered the major part of it in modern times and, for instance, is utilizing machines in place of animals. Man’s innumerable worldly endowments have not been created by him but have been provided for him by God. This shows that the Creator of this world is a kind Creator. Thus it necessarily follows that man should be grateful to his Creator and discharge the obligations due to Him as his Benefactor.

Man’s life begins from a humble fluid. But when man grows up, he tries to take a stand in opposition to God. If he were to keep in view the reality of his origin, he would never allow himself to become arrogant in this world. Animals, in particular, cattle, are among the various bounties with which man has been blessed in the present world. These are just like living machines of nature that are engaged in catering to the various requirements of man. Cows consume grass and fodder and convert them into meat and milk for his consumption. Sheep produce wool on their bodies which is used for his clothing. The owner of these animals includes them in his assets and this enhances his prestige. ‘He creates other things beyond your knowledge’ refers to those benefits that are available through sources other than animals. A part of these other sources was available to man even in ancient times. Man has discovered the major part of it in modern times and, for instance, is utilizing machines in place of animals. Man’s innumerable worldly endowments have not been created by him but have been provided for him by God. This shows that the Creator of this world is a kind Creator. Thus it necessarily follows that man should be grateful to his Creator and discharge the obligations due to Him as his Benefactor.

Man’s life begins from a humble fluid. But when man grows up, he tries to take a stand in opposition to God. If he were to keep in view the reality of his origin, he would never allow himself to become arrogant in this world. Animals, in particular, cattle, are among the various bounties with which man has been blessed in the present world. These are just like living machines of nature that are engaged in catering to the various requirements of man. Cows consume grass and fodder and convert them into meat and milk for his consumption. Sheep produce wool on their bodies which is used for his clothing. The owner of these animals includes them in his assets and this enhances his prestige. ‘He creates other things beyond your knowledge’ refers to those benefits that are available through sources other than animals. A part of these other sources was available to man even in ancient times. Man has discovered the major part of it in modern times and, for instance, is utilizing machines in place of animals. Man’s innumerable worldly endowments have not been created by him but have been provided for him by God. This shows that the Creator of this world is a kind Creator. Thus it necessarily follows that man should be grateful to his Creator and discharge the obligations due to Him as his Benefactor.

Man’s life begins from a humble fluid. But when man grows up, he tries to take a stand in opposition to God. If he were to keep in view the reality of his origin, he would never allow himself to become arrogant in this world. Animals, in particular, cattle, are among the various bounties with which man has been blessed in the present world. These are just like living machines of nature that are engaged in catering to the various requirements of man. Cows consume grass and fodder and convert them into meat and milk for his consumption. Sheep produce wool on their bodies which is used for his clothing. The owner of these animals includes them in his assets and this enhances his prestige. ‘He creates other things beyond your knowledge’ refers to those benefits that are available through sources other than animals. A part of these other sources was available to man even in ancient times. Man has discovered the major part of it in modern times and, for instance, is utilizing machines in place of animals. Man’s innumerable worldly endowments have not been created by him but have been provided for him by God. This shows that the Creator of this world is a kind Creator. Thus it necessarily follows that man should be grateful to his Creator and discharge the obligations due to Him as his Benefactor.

Generally, of the various highways the traveller has to choose from, there is a recognized route by which he can go straight to his destination. But, running parallel with, or connecting to each highway, there are always many lanes and by-ways. If the traveller chooses to drive along one of the latter, thinking he is on the right road, he will never reach his destination, but will stray many miles to the right or left of it. The same is true of reaching God. God has already shown man which way will lead to Him. This is the way of the Unity of God (tawhid) and the fear of God (taqwa). One who follows this path will reach God and one who goes another way will be lost by the wayside; he will never be able to reach his Lord. Everything in the world treads the path fixed by God. Had God so wished, man also would have been compelled to follow the path fixed by God. But the scheme of the creation of man is different from that of the creation of other things. Other things are required only to follow a regulatory discipline. But in the case of man, what is required is voluntary obedience to this discipline. The result of there being this opportunity to voluntarily submit to regulation is that while one person will take the right path, another will leave it and become lost on paths of his own devising.

The clouds send down rain from the sky and, thanks to this, extremely fruitful results appear on the earth down below. This coordinated and harmonious action of ‘heaven and earth’ clearly proves that the God of earth is the same as that of heaven. There is perfect harmony among the different parts of the universe. This harmony is definite proof of the fact that the Creator and Lord of the whole universe is only one. In the present structure of the universe, there is no scope for more than one God, and when the real Creator and Lord is one God, making any thing other than Him an object of worship will be absolutely indefensible.