5. Al-Maaida

It is the dayee who performs the duty of calling upon people to Truth. But a positive response to this call cannot be given unless it is God-inspired. Even after being convinced of the veracity of the call, a man still does not necessarily proceed to accept it, as many impediments still remain—the appearance of the missionary as a common man; the fear that on acceptance of the call the structure of the life already built up will crumble, the question that if this is the Truth, whether certain great men were strangers to the Truth, etc. This is a critical juncture where a man is unable to take a decision, even having reached the stage of decision-making. This is the point at which God helps him. He holds the hands of a person in whom He sees some goodness and leads him across the borders of doubt and ushers him into the area of certainty.

Man is constantly being provided with the provisions for his life by God. In fact, the whole earth has become a table laid with provisions for man. But the demand made by the believers in Jesus for food to be sent down from the sky caused a severe warning to be given to them. The reason for this is that the provisions we receive under normal conditions are routed through a veil of cause and effect, while the demand of the believers involved the removal of that veil. This is again the way of God, because if this veil is removed, how can the conditions for human trial be perpetuated?

Man is constantly being provided with the provisions for his life by God. In fact, the whole earth has become a table laid with provisions for man. But the demand made by the believers in Jesus for food to be sent down from the sky caused a severe warning to be given to them. The reason for this is that the provisions we receive under normal conditions are routed through a veil of cause and effect, while the demand of the believers involved the removal of that veil. This is again the way of God, because if this veil is removed, the very purpose of test will be defeated.

Man is constantly being provided with the provisions for his life by God. In fact, the whole earth has become a table laid with provisions for man. But the demand made by the believers in Jesus for food to be sent down from the sky caused a severe warning to be given to them. The reason for this is that the provisions we receive under normal conditions are routed through a veil of cause and effect, while the demand of the believers involved the removal of that veil. This is again the way of God, because if this veil is removed, the very purpose of test will be defeated.

The fact is that crops flourishing in the fields, or the emergence of a tree, stout and green, from beneath the earth are all as miraculous events as the descent to us of a platter containing food from the midst of the clouds. But the miraculous nature of these events is not apparent to us because they appear from behind a veil. It is the test of man that he should be able to see the reality by tearing down that veil. He should be able to look upon the basic elements of foodstuffs emerging from the earth as if they were descending from heaven. If a person insists that he will accept the Divine Truth only on ‘seeing’ it, then he is saying, as it were, that he will receive God’s grace without undergoing His trial, and that is not possible according to the way of God.

When the Day of Judgement arrives, man will come to know without being told what is right and what is wrong. People will witness with their own eyes that all powers are with the one and only God. He has no partner in being our Creator and Lord. No one but Him has any powers and there is no one except Him who deserves to be worshipped and obeyed. Under these circumstances, when God asks His prophets with what message they were sent to the world, then it will amount to asking about something which would have already become known to the people. The answer to this question will be so clear at that time that, without anybody’s saying anything, the whole atmosphere of the Judgement Day will have been shouting it out. This question and answer will serve only to increase the abasement of the people being judged by God. It will be for the purpose of clarifying in the presence of the prophets that the religion concocted by them in the name of prophets was not at all connected with their teachings.

When the Day of Judgement arrives, man will come to know without being told what is right and what is wrong. People will witness with their own eyes that all powers are with the one and only God. He has no partner in being our Creator and Lord. No one but Him has any powers and there is no one except Him who deserves to be worshipped and obeyed. Under these circumstances, when God asks His prophets with what message they were sent to the world, then it will amount to asking about something which would have already become known to the people. The answer to this question will be so clear at that time that, without anybody’s saying anything, the whole atmosphere of the Judgement Day will have been shouting it out. This question and answer will serve only to increase the abasement of the people being judged by God. It will be for the purpose of clarifying in the presence of the prophets that the religion concocted by them in the name of prophets was not at all connected with their teachings.

This world has been created for the sake of putting man to the test. Therefore, everybody has freedom here. Here man may prosper even after linking with God and his prophet a religion which is not connected with God and His prophet. Here, even on the strength of imaginary hopes and false wishes, the right to paradise can be claimed. Here, it is possible for a man to create a great fanfare about his leadership and to ‘prove’ that whatever he does is exactly according to the religion of God. But, no such thing will be useful on the Day of Judgement. What will be useful on the Day of Judgment will be that man should prove truthful in the eyes of God. The test of the community bearing the Divine Scripture is not whether they are the claimants of faith or not. Their real test is a demonstration of their ability to prove their claim to Faith.

This world has been created for the sake of putting man to the test. Therefore, everybody has freedom here. Here man may prosper even after linking with God and his prophet a religion which is not connected with God and His prophet. Here, even on the strength of imaginary hopes and false wishes, the right to paradise can be claimed. Here, it is possible for a man to create a great fanfare about his leadership and to ‘prove’ that whatever he does is exactly according to the religion of God. But, no such thing will be useful on the Day of Judgement. What will be useful on the Day of Judgment will be that man should prove truthful in the eyes of God. The test of the community bearing the Divine Scripture is not whether they are the claimants of faith or not. Their real test is a demonstration of their ability to prove their claim to Faith.