4. An-Nisaa

When a group opts for a self-styled religion instead of the divine religion, it decides upon certain self-styled signs to show its religious status. According to the temperament and circumstances of its members, it formulates new rules about what is lawful and what is unlawful, and by sedulously observing them, it shows that it adheres to religion more than others do. The religion of such people is based on excessive care for certain outward forms, as opposed to paying proper attention to the spirit of the religion’s rules. By fully observing the form they are completely satisfied that they have been following their religion to the letter. Such so-called adherents of religion are not afraid of deriving worldly benefits from the ways forbidden by God and they are not afraid of putting obstacles in the path of the divine caller. Such people will be bracketted with the patently irreligious, far from being grouped along with truly religious people. There were certain people among the Jews, like ‘Abdullah ibn Salam, who believed in the Prophet Muhammad and fully supported him. Those who are not caught up in human interpolations in their religion; who have discovered the original divine religion; who have risen above the mentality of prejudice, blind imitation of their community’s ways and opportunism, find no obstacle to their recognizing the truth and surrendering themselves to it. They can see the truth despite all kinds of mental blocks. These are the people who will be ushered into the Paradise God has prepared for them.

When a group opts for a self-styled religion instead of the divine religion, it decides upon certain self-styled signs to show its religious status. According to the temperament and circumstances of its members, it formulates new rules about what is lawful and what is unlawful, and by sedulously observing them, it shows that it adheres to religion more than others do. The religion of such people is based on excessive care for certain outward forms, as opposed to paying proper attention to the spirit of the religion’s rules. By fully observing the form they are completely satisfied that they have been following their religion to the letter. Such so-called adherents of religion are not afraid of deriving worldly benefits from the ways forbidden by God and they are not afraid of putting obstacles in the path of the divine caller. Such people will be bracketted with the patently irreligious, far from being grouped along with truly religious people. There were certain people among the Jews, like ‘Abdullah ibn Salam, who believed in the Prophet Muhammad and fully supported him. Those who are not caught up in human interpolations in their religion; who have discovered the original divine religion; who have risen above the mentality of prejudice, blind imitation of their community’s ways and opportunism, find no obstacle to their recognizing the truth and surrendering themselves to it. They can see the truth despite all kinds of mental blocks. These are the people who will be ushered into the Paradise God has prepared for them.

God created man, and then He created Paradise and Hell. Man was later settled on the earth. Here man has freedom to do as he wishes. But this freedom is not forever. It is temporary and meant for his trial. It is so that good and bad may be distinguished from one another. God is watching those who, despite being granted freedom, can adopt realistic attitudes, and surrender themselves to the will of God, and who are the people who misuse their freedom and prove themselves to be rebels. Both kinds of people have been mixed in this world. Both have equal opportunity to gain fully from the blessings of God. But, after the completion of the appointed time of trial, those groups will be separated from one another. The first group will be lodged in the Gardens of Paradise forever, while the second group will be consigned to Hell for all eternity. This plan devised by God for human existence put man in an extremely delicate situation, for the outcome of his brief stay in this world was going to appear in one of two extreme forms—either eternal comfort or eternal chastisement. That is why, besides other natural arrangements for divine guidance, God also arranged to send to mankind His messengers and His Scriptures, so that no one should remain unaware of the reality of life. No one may then attempt to excuse his misconduct on the plea that he was not informed of the divine plan of how human beings were expected to lead their lives. From start to finish, this divine plan necessitated all of the prophets bringing the same message and the same mission to mankind. For, when all human beings without exception are to be weighed in the divine scale, how could their ‘test papers’ be different from one another? The truth is that the message brought by all the prophets was one and the same and they communicated that same message to all human beings: that everyone is standing at a perilous watershed. On one side of it is Paradise and on the other is Hell. If one steps to one side, one will reach Paradise; if one steps to the other, one will fall into the gorge of Hell. All the prophets had this identical message.

God created man, and then He created Paradise and Hell. Man was later settled on the earth. Here man has freedom to do as he wishes. But this freedom is not forever. It is temporary and meant for his trial. It is so that good and bad may be distinguished from one another. God is watching those who, despite being granted freedom, can adopt realistic attitudes, and surrender themselves to the will of God, and who are the people who misuse their freedom and prove themselves to be rebels. Both kinds of people have been mixed in this world. Both have equal opportunity to gain fully from the blessings of God. But, after the completion of the appointed time of trial, those groups will be separated from one another. The first group will be lodged in the Gardens of Paradise forever, while the second group will be consigned to Hell for all eternity. This plan devised by God for human existence put man in an extremely delicate situation, for the outcome of his brief stay in this world was going to appear in one of two extreme forms—either eternal comfort or eternal chastisement. That is why, besides other natural arrangements for divine guidance, God also arranged to send to mankind His messengers and His Scriptures, so that no one should remain unaware of the reality of life. No one may then attempt to excuse his misconduct on the plea that he was not informed of the divine plan of how human beings were expected to lead their lives. From start to finish, this divine plan necessitated all of the prophets bringing the same message and the same mission to mankind. For, when all human beings without exception are to be weighed in the divine scale, how could their ‘test papers’ be different from one another? The truth is that the message brought by all the prophets was one and the same and they communicated that same message to all human beings: that everyone is standing at a perilous watershed. On one side of it is Paradise and on the other is Hell. If one steps to one side, one will reach Paradise; if one steps to the other, one will fall into the gorge of Hell. All the prophets had this identical message.

However, according to the requirements of the age, different prophets received different kinds of succour from God. This is still how God functions, so that those of his servants who came forward to spread His message will likewise, according to their circumstances, receive special divine succour, in order that they may effectively continue to carry out their dawah responsibilities. At the time when the Prophet Muhammad was chosen as a Messenger by God, the Jews enjoyed the status of representatives of the divine religion. For their part, they had supposed themselves to be the chosen people, the sole custodians of divine religion. As such, they occupied all the religious positions of honour. Not wishing to acknowledge any other’s greatness save their own, they refused to believe that the Arab prophet had been sent by God to communicate His message to mankind. They thought that they had a monopoly over religion; that, if they did not testify to a person’s being a representative of God, he would lack all credibility. They had forgotten that this was God’s universe, its system tended by God’s obedient angels. Thus the real validation comes from God, and is supported by the entire system of the universe. Indeed, it is God, with His entire universe, who supports His messenger, rather than someone’s self-styled suppositions.

However, according to the requirements of the age, different prophets received different kinds of succour from God. This is still how God functions, so that those of his servants who came forward to spread His message will likewise, according to their circumstances, receive special divine succour, in order that they may effectively continue to carry out their dawah responsibilities. At the time when the Prophet Muhammad was chosen as a Messenger by God, the Jews enjoyed the status of representatives of the divine religion. For their part, they had supposed themselves to be the chosen people, the sole custodians of divine religion. As such, they occupied all the religious positions of honour. Not wishing to acknowledge any other’s greatness save their own, they refused to believe that the Arab prophet had been sent by God to communicate His message to mankind. They thought that they had a monopoly over religion; that, if they did not testify to a person’s being a representative of God, he would lack all credibility. They had forgotten that this was God’s universe, its system tended by God’s obedient angels. Thus the real validation comes from God, and is supported by the entire system of the universe. Indeed, it is God, with His entire universe, who supports His messenger, rather than someone’s self-styled suppositions.

Those who respond negatively to the call of God by ignoring and rejecting it show quite clearly that they have strayed far from true submission to God. They say such things as are refuted by the entire universe, and take up a position against a plan which is supported by the Lord of the universe. Obviously, there is no greater foolishness than this. Such perverse behaviour leads them into denying and rejecting God rather than acknowledging Him and submitting to Him. Day by day they are removed further away from the truth, until they ultimately fall into the pit of eternal damnation. The denial of the call of God is the denial of oneself. The call of God is made in such clear terms that no one should find any difficulty in understanding it. Moreover, those who deny the call of God are, as it were, showing their audacity in the face of God Himself. Impudence and presumptuousness are the greatest crimes in the eyes of God. If man were to keep the windows of his heart open, the divine call would appear to him an exact answer to his own quest. He would feel that the truth which had been veiled in human interpretations had been brought to him in its pure and original form by the arrangement of God Himself, and that it was an expression of God’s own wisdom and knowledge rather than its being a matter of the personal ambition of a human being.

Those who respond negatively to the call of God by ignoring and rejecting it show quite clearly that they have strayed far from true submission to God. They say such things as are refuted by the entire universe, and take up a position against a plan which is supported by the Lord of the universe. Obviously, there is no greater foolishness than this. Such perverse behaviour leads them into denying and rejecting God rather than acknowledging Him and submitting to Him. Day by day they are removed further away from the truth, until they ultimately fall into the pit of eternal damnation. The denial of the call of God is the denial of oneself. The call of God is made in such clear terms that no one should find any difficulty in understanding it. Moreover, those who deny the call of God are, as it were, showing their audacity in the face of God Himself. Impudence and presumptuousness are the greatest crimes in the eyes of God. If man were to keep the windows of his heart open, the divine call would appear to him an exact answer to his own quest. He would feel that the truth which had been veiled in human interpretations had been brought to him in its pure and original form by the arrangement of God Himself, and that it was an expression of God’s own wisdom and knowledge rather than its being a matter of the personal ambition of a human being.

Those who respond negatively to the call of God by ignoring and rejecting it show quite clearly that they have strayed far from true submission to God. They say such things as are refuted by the entire universe, and take up a position against a plan which is supported by the Lord of the universe. Obviously, there is no greater foolishness than this. Such perverse behaviour leads them into denying and rejecting God rather than acknowledging Him and submitting to Him. Day by day they are removed further away from the truth, until they ultimately fall into the pit of eternal damnation. The denial of the call of God is the denial of oneself. The call of God is made in such clear terms that no one should find any difficulty in understanding it. Moreover, those who deny the call of God are, as it were, showing their audacity in the face of God Himself. Impudence and presumptuousness are the greatest crimes in the eyes of God. If man were to keep the windows of his heart open, the divine call would appear to him an exact answer to his own quest. He would feel that the truth which had been veiled in human interpretations had been brought to him in its pure and original form by the arrangement of God Himself, and that it was an expression of God’s own wisdom and knowledge rather than its being a matter of the personal ambition of a human being.