2. Al-Baqara

Literally ‘We favoured some above others’.

When God sends one of his messenger to bring the truth to mankind, his call is marked by signs so unmistakable that his congregation has no difficulty in recognizing his message to be from God. Yet, in spite of this, people give no credence to his words. The first to deny God’s messenger are those who are followers of past prophets. Each prophet received certain special favours from God in order to facilitate the communication of his message according to the varying exigencies of the different historical periods in which he lived. But the followers, attaching too much importance to the miracle bestowed by God on a particular prophet, came to believe that their particular prophet was superior to all others. They felt that none could surpass the prophet they believed in. They consequently saw no reason to listen to the contemporary prophet whose name had yet to be hallowed by tradition. For instance, believers in Moses rejected Jesus. Followers of the latter disbelieved in the Prophet Muhammad. In the case of Moses, his followers held him to be greater than all other prophets, because he had had the distinction of being addressed directly by God. Believers in Jesus considered him peerless, because he had been born to a virgin mother. Those who have come to reform and revitalize the Muslim community since the passing of the Final Prophet have fared no better. They have been treated with total irreverence, as creatures of no account whatsoever, for the simple reason that their contemporaries believed themselves to be successors of earlier saints and thus were in no need of further religious counselling, particularly by someone who appeared to be inferior to their own predecessors. When communities begin to go into a decline, they become preoccupied with wordly interests, yet they do not wish to forfeit their ‘right’ to salvation, and as a form of psychological defence, attach themselves mentally to hallowed religious personalities. They fondly imagine that the lofty status of their saintly patrons will ensure their redemption in the next world, no matter how unethical their conduct might have been in this world. It is this false sense of security which gives such people the audacity to oppose those who call them to God. It is imaginable that God might have arranged human destiny in such a way that man, having no freedom to demur, was obliged invariably to bow to His will. But this was not part of God’s scheme for mankind. God gave man freedom of action in order to put him to the divine test: He wished to see if man could find his way to his Maker, while He Himself remained invisible. For this reason, man is required to be able to recognize the word of God, albeit uttered by the human tongue, and to penetrate the veil of outward forms in order to reach the hidden, inner truth.

Only one who spends for the cause of God finds God. When he finds Him, he comes into possession of a light which leads him on to the straight and undeviating path to paradise—the final destination of a true believer. On the other hand, one who wants God without paying this price, remains in darkness forever. ‘Spending for God’s cause’ relates here to any kind of sacrifice made for the sake of God, and not merely to spending one’s wealth: for instance, devoting one’s life to the cause of God; sacrificing one’s material interests and considerations to go ahead along God’s path. When one accepts an ideology at the cost of sacrifice, then it shows that one is sincere about it. Sincerity is a matter of great importance, for, regardless of the issue, it is only when one is sincere that one can delve deeply into the subject; then all its secrets are laid bare before one. It is this element of sincerity that enables a real relationship to be created between the man and his goal. In consequence, all the aspects of that goal are revealed to him.

Unlike sincere devotees, there are some who never accept religion at the cost of the surrender of their being. They are never serious in matters of religion, and as a result believe that intercession by certain religious seers or the performance of certain rituals, or the observance of certain forms is enough to earn salvation in the Hereafter. Due to their insincerity about the Hereafter, they fail to understand that Doomsday is the Day of the manifestation of God’s power and majesty. Hoping that the performance of certain superficial rituals might earn them God Almighty’s pleasure is indeed an underestimation of God’s divinity. This only increases their sinfulness in the eyes of God. The truth comes to one in the form of arguments, and one who is not sincere summarily rejects them. This is one of Satan’s temptations. Guidance comes only to those who scrupulously resist Satan’s temptations and, recognizing the divine arguments, wholeheartedly concur in them.

Unlike sincere devotees, there are some who never accept religion at the cost of the surrender of their being. They are never serious in matters of religion, and as a result believe that intercession by certain religious seers or the performance of certain rituals, or the observance of certain forms is enough to earn salvation in the Hereafter. Due to their insincerity about the Hereafter, they fail to understand that Doomsday is the Day of the manifestation of God’s power and majesty. Hoping that the performance of certain superficial rituals might earn them God Almighty’s pleasure is indeed an underestimation of God’s divinity. This only increases their sinfulness in the eyes of God. The truth comes to one in the form of arguments, and one who is not sincere summarily rejects them. This is one of Satan’s temptations. Guidance comes only to those who scrupulously resist Satan’s temptations and, recognizing the divine arguments, wholeheartedly concur in them.

Unlike sincere devotees, there are some who never accept religion at the cost of the surrender of their being. They are never serious in matters of religion, and as a result believe that intercession by certain religious seers or the performance of certain rituals, or the observance of certain forms is enough to earn salvation in the Hereafter. Due to their insincerity about the Hereafter, they fail to understand that Doomsday is the Day of the manifestation of God’s power and majesty. Hoping that the performance of certain superficial rituals might earn them God Almighty’s pleasure is indeed an underestimation of God’s divinity. This only increases their sinfulness in the eyes of God. The truth comes to one in the form of arguments, and one who is not sincere summarily rejects them. This is one of Satan’s temptations. Guidance comes only to those who scrupulously resist Satan’s temptations and, recognizing the divine arguments, wholeheartedly concur in them.

In the modern age, the right to govern a people is secured by popular support. However, that was not the case in pre-democratic times, when kings sanctioned their rule over their subjects by laying claim to being some kind of divine incarnation. Nimrod, a king of ancient Iraq, was a case in point. A contemporary of Abraham, he was one of those monarchs who used this method to back up his right of sovereignty over the people. The sun was believed by his people to be the Chief of the gods and was thus revered by them as an object of worship. Nimrod claimed that he was an incarnation of the sun-god, a position which gave him a divine right to worldly sovereignty. When Abraham preached the message of the One God in the land of Iraq, his teachings had no direct connection with politics or government in the country. All he did was to impress upon the people that there was but One God; He was their sole Lord and Master. There were no partners with Him in the godhead, so mankind should worship Him alone, fearing Him and placing their hopes in Him. Though Abraham’s message was apolitical, it nevertheless appeared to Nimrod as a threat to his political claims, for according to the message taught by Abraham, even the sun was part of God’s creation. It had no power of its own, but was controlled by God Almighty. Had his subjects accepted Abraham’s message of the One God, it would have amounted to demolishing the theological base on which the edifice of his political power rested. It was for this reason that Nimrod turned vehemently against Abraham and his teachings. The dialogue conducted between Abraham and Nimrod shows us the method adopted by the prophets in the communication of their message. First of all, Abraham pointed out that his Lord had control over life and death. Immediately, Nimrod disputed this, claiming himself to have power over life and death. Abraham, of course, could have answered this claim made by Nimrod, but he did not want the conversation to deteriorate into a heated polemical discussion. So, instead of persisting with this point, he changed the subject and chose another example, one with which Nimrod would not be able to argue. Abraham did not consider Nimrod his enemy or rival. Rather, he had compassion for him as a madu‘ (addressee) and earnestly wished to communicate to him the message of Truth. It was this compassion which showed Abraham the correct method to be adopted in addressing the Iraqi king. Since the present world is a place where man is being tested, there are always different options open to everyone. This causes people to construe situations in different ways. For instance, should one be endowed with worldly wealth and power, one may consider these to be a personal success, the outcome of one’s own talent. One may, on the other hand, look at them purely as blessings from God. The former way of seeing things amounts to grave injustice, while the latter shows a grateful disposition. For one who is thankless in his outlook, everything in this world will only serve to lead him further astray. Everything he experiences will only add to his pride and conceit. But for those who are grateful for what they have been …

The two experiences of resurrection after death mentioned here relate to the prophets. It is generally thought that in the first incident, the prophet in question was Ezra (Uzayr) (5th century BC), while in the second, as the Quran itself makes clear, it was Abraham, who lived between the years 2160 and 1985 BC. Prophets are sent by God in order to inform mankind of realities which, for ordinary people, lie beyond the realm of human vision, being screened by a veil of cause and effect. This veil is removed, however, in the case of the prophets, since it is their task to inform others of these realities. This can be done with far greater conviction if they have actually witnessed with their own eyes the facts which they attempt to convey to the rest of mankind. Their hearers, also, are more likely to believe in their message, rather than treating it purely as hearsay. Prophets have generally been endowed with prophethood around the age of forty. Prior to this, they have shown impeccable honesty in their dealings with their fellows. Having provided practical proof of their truthfulness, the time then came for them to inform mankind of those realities of life which God, in order to test men, has kept hidden from them. These truthful human beings, known as prophets, communicated to mankind the message revealed to them by God, while providing evidence based on nature and reason to back up their teachings. The prophets have always been fully sincere in what they taught. It is shown by the fact that they themselves have never wavered from the truth, despite the severe hardships which they had to endure as a result of following this course. If they had simply concocted their message, they would not have proved so persistent in their adherence to it, for the mendacious usually crack under pressure and abandon the subject. Neither does something, which has been formulated by the human mind, as opposed to being inspired by God, conform so perfectly to the phenomena of the outside world.

The two experiences of resurrection after death mentioned here relate to the prophets. It is generally thought that in the first incident, the prophet in question was Ezra (Uzayr) (5th century BC), while in the second, as the Quran itself makes clear, it was Abraham, who lived between the years 2160 and 1985 BC. Prophets are sent by God in order to inform mankind of realities which, for ordinary people, lie beyond the realm of human vision, being screened by a veil of cause and effect. This veil is removed, however, in the case of the prophets, since it is their task to inform others of these realities. This can be done with far greater conviction if they have actually witnessed with their own eyes the facts which they attempt to convey to the rest of mankind. Their hearers, also, are more likely to believe in their message, rather than treating it purely as hearsay. Prophets have generally been endowed with prophethood around the age of forty. Prior to this, they have shown impeccable honesty in their dealings with their fellows. Having provided practical proof of their truthfulness, the time then came for them to inform mankind of those realities of life which God, in order to test men, has kept hidden from them. These truthful human beings, known as prophets, communicated to mankind the message revealed to them by God, while providing evidence based on nature and reason to back up their teachings. The prophets have always been fully sincere in what they taught. It is shown by the fact that they themselves have never wavered from the truth, despite the severe hardships which they had to endure as a result of following this course. If they had simply concocted their message, they would not have proved so persistent in their adherence to it, for the mendacious usually crack under pressure and abandon the subject. Neither does something, which has been formulated by the human mind, as opposed to being inspired by God, conform so perfectly to the phenomena of the outside world.