2. Al-Baqara

Perversion sets in in the People of the Book for just one reason. They come to believe that by uttering mere words, or by performing lifeless rituals, they will be able to earn salvation, but salvation can be earned only by performing righteous actions. During this stage of decline, superstition comes to be more highly regarded than actual good deeds. People begin to expect mysterious kinds of results or benefits by performing senseless rituals. This thinking, initially centreing on salvation, later comes to dominate the entire national policy of the group. A realistic approach is thus replaced by a superstitious approach. Now those who merely make an outward show of following their religion are inevitably averse to responding in earnest to the proclamation of true, unadulterated religion. For such people, the call is seen as a threat to the worldly honour and status that they enjoy owing to their worldly interpretation of religion. Due to their negativism, they begin to make such representations as are outwardly correct but which, in terms of the inner reality, are totally meaningless. There is no doubt about it that the coming of the angels and messengers was entirely a part of the divine plan. All arguments point to the fact that the Arab Prophet received the same message as was sent down to Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and that the revelation received by the Arab Prophet tallied exactly with the predictions made in previous divine scriptures. This proves beyond all doubt that it was sent by God Himself. People make many protestation of their faith, but all these mouthings being hollow and meaningless, they bear no relation to true faith and piety.

When superstition and apathy set in in the declining Jewish race, certain individuals exploited this tendency in order to make commercial gains, by providing success-seekers with magical prescriptions. To make their business flourish, these unscrupulous profiteers attributed their art to Solomon, saying that the extraordinary powers he exercised over the spirits and winds were, in fact, based on his knowledge of magic, and claimed that this knowledge had been passed on to them by the spirits. This claim to authority accounted in great measure for the rapid spread of sorcery, which soon developed into a highly popular art among the Jews. When angels came to Lot’s people, who were practising homosexuals, they came in the garb of handsome boys in order to test them. Similarly, angels were sent to the Jews in Babylon in the garb of holymen to teach them magic, at the same time making it quite clear that they were only putting the Jews to the test, this being a form of knowledge that should not be practised. But the Jews took no heed of this warning: they practised magic with great fervour and even used it for illicit ends.

Some people would sit in the Prophet’s company and, by playing on words, make a mockery of his teachings. For instance, instead of using the unambiguous Arabic word for ‘May we have your attention’—‘unzurna’—they would say ‘ra‘ina’. ‘Ra‘ina’, when pronounced properly, has much the same meaning as ‘unzurna’, but with the protraction of the second vowel, it becomes ‘raeena’, meaning ‘our shepherd,’ and with the protraction of the first it becomes ‘raaina’, which means idiot.

The Muslims were told therefore to avoid ambiguous words, and to be quite clear in their speech; words with a derisive shade of meaning should be especially avoided. Furthermore, they were enjoined to pay close attention to what the Prophet said and to try to understand it on their own, without resorting to excessive questioning; receptiveness rather than obstinacy was to mark their attitude to his instructions. This was the way to gain faith, and it was the consolidation and strengthening of faith that was to be sought. The believers were also told not to be jealous of another person’s valuable possessions, for it was God Himself who had bestowed that particular blessing on His servant. God Himself decreed that the Prophet be the recipient of divine revelation. If one were earnest in seeking to learn from him, one could share in the blessing he received.

One who has discovered the truth by the help of God has to face stiff opposition when he starts to communicate it to others. One reason is that acceptance of truth entails negation of the self. People of high social status always find this hard, and none more so than the People of the Book, who considered prophethood to be their exclusive right. Unable to conceive of a prophet coming amongst people other than them, they tried various ploys to turn people away from the Arab prophet. One of the theological objections that they raised to his teachings was on the subject of abrogation. Some of the Quranic injunctions differ from Mosaic law, so they would say, ‘Does God make mistakes in His revelations, that He sends down one commandment, and then replaces it with another? This shows that what your Prophet Muhammad is teaching is not from God, but is his own creation.’ So intensive had this propaganda campaign become that even some simple-minded Muslims were affected, and started raising the issue with the Prophet.

One who has discovered the truth by the help of God has to face stiff opposition when he starts to communicate it to others. One reason is that acceptance of truth entails negation of the self. People of high social status always find this hard, and none more so than the People of the Book, who considered prophethood to be their exclusive right. Unable to conceive of a prophet coming amongst people other than them, they tried various ploys to turn people away from the Arab prophet. One of the theological objections that they raised to his teachings was on the subject of abrogation. Some of the Quranic injunctions differ from Mosaic law, so they would say, ‘Does God make mistakes in His revelations, that He sends down one commandment, and then replaces it with another? This shows that what your Prophet Muhammad is teaching is not from God, but is his own creation.’ So intensive had this propaganda campaign become that even some simple-minded Muslims were affected, and started raising the issue with the Prophet.

One who has discovered the truth by the help of God has to face stiff opposition when he starts to communicate it to others. One reason is that acceptance of truth entails negation of the self. People of high social status always find this hard, and none more so than the People of the Book, who considered prophethood to be their exclusive right. Unable to conceive of a prophet coming amongst people other than them, they tried various ploys to turn people away from the Arab prophet. One of the theological objections that they raised to his teachings was on the subject of abrogation. Some of the Quranic injunctions differ from Mosaic law, so they would say, ‘Does God make mistakes in His revelations, that He sends down one commandment, and then replaces it with another? This shows that what your Prophet Muhammad is teaching is not from God, but is his own creation.’ So intensive had this propaganda campaign become that even some simple-minded Muslims were affected, and started raising the issue with the Prophet.

One who has discovered the truth by the help of God has to face stiff opposition when he starts to communicate it to others. One reason is that acceptance of truth entails negation of the self. People of high social status always find this hard, and none more so than the People of the Book, who considered prophethood to be their exclusive right. Unable to conceive of a prophet coming amongst people other than them, they tried various ploys to turn people away from the Arab prophet. One of the theological objections that they raised to his teachings was on the subject of abrogation. Some of the Quranic injunctions differ from Mosaic law, so they would say, ‘Does God make mistakes in His revelations, that He sends down one commandment, and then replaces it with another? This shows that what your Prophet Muhammad is teaching is not from God, but is his own creation.’ So intensive had this propaganda campaign become that even some simple-minded Muslims were affected, and started raising the issue with the Prophet.

Once the Jews had set their minds against the message of Islam as being worthless, they became alarmed by the heartfelt acclaim with which many were receiving it. They considered themselves the only ones qualified to pass decrees on truth and falsehood: how could others be allowed to believe in what they themselves had chosen to disbelieve? The first step that they took was to incite the polytheists to rise up against the Muslims. Secondly, they tried to mislead Muslim converts about their new religion, putting doubts into their minds in the hope that they would revert to the religion of their forefathers. It was only natural that this should provoke the Muslims, but God told them that this was not the time for violent reaction. Muslims should always be patient, since patience prevents one from taking negative retaliatory measures in the heat of the moment. They should be steadfast in prayers, for prayer brings one closer to God. They should never fail in the payment of the prescribed alms (zakat), for a society in which the rich are willing to share with the poor will be based on compassion; there will be a real sense of togetherness among its members. The Jews used to tell new Muslim converts that if they had to forsake their ancestral religion, they should become Jews or Christians. Being the descendants of saints and prophets throughout history, they were the ones who would go to heaven. But the Quran tells us that one does not merit entry into heaven by dint of belonging to a certain community. Everyone will be judged according to his own actions. National status is of no significance in the sight of God. To be sincere in one’s faith is to become so devoted to God that everything else assumes secondary importance. Prejudices, personal loyalties, material or worldly interests should not come in the way of responding to the call of truth.