5. Al-Maaida

A pledge was taken from the Children of Israel by their prophet that they would lead a godly life, and twelve chiefs from their twelve tribes were appointed to keep a watch over them. The pledge taken from the Children of Israel was that they would make themselves godly by offering salat (prayers); that they would discharge the rights of others in the shape of zakat (obligatory alms-giving); align themselves on the side of God by supporting His prophets; and spend their assets in support of the struggle for the religion of God. It was only after undertaking all this and after establishing a collective system among themselves for ensuring the continued fulfillment of these duties that they were entitled to God’s company and support, and entitled to enter the aesthetic atmosphere of paradise, after being purified. One attains paradise by the performance of good deeds and not due to any racial relationship. The requirements mentioned in this pledge are the very same basic requirements of religion. This is the highway which leads all human beings towards God and His paradise. But when the communities blessed with Divine Scriptures go astray, they turn to the right or left of this highway. Now, it happens that with the help of self-made interpretations the concepts of religion are changed. In the name of ceremonial prayers irrelevant discussions are started. Ways of salvation which are supposed to lead a man to his destination without discharging the claims or rights of his fellowmen, are sought. In the name of the call for truth, meaningless worldly activities find favour with such communities. They devise various means of justifying worldly expenditure. In other words, they concoct a religion of their own, keeping purely worldly considerations in view, and start calling it the religion of God. Once a group reaches this stage in its wrong-doing, God withdraws His attention from it. Deprived of Divine guidance, such people reach the stage where they understand only the language of their base desires and remain preoccupied with satisfying their desires, until the angel of death approaches in order to catch hold of them and take them to the court of God.

A pledge was taken from the Children of Israel by their prophet that they would lead a godly life, and twelve chiefs from their twelve tribes were appointed to keep a watch over them. The pledge taken from the Children of Israel was that they would make themselves godly by offering salat (prayers); that they would discharge the rights of others in the shape of zakat (obligatory alms-giving); align themselves on the side of God by supporting His prophets; and spend their assets in support of the struggle for the religion of God. It was only after undertaking all this and after establishing a collective system among themselves for ensuring the continued fulfillment of these duties that they were entitled to God’s company and support, and entitled to enter the aesthetic atmosphere of paradise, after being purified. One attains paradise by the performance of good deeds and not due to any racial relationship. The requirements mentioned in this pledge are the very same basic requirements of religion. This is the highway which leads all human beings towards God and His paradise. But when the communities blessed with Divine Scriptures go astray, they turn to the right or left of this highway. Now, it happens that with the help of self-made interpretations the concepts of religion are changed. In the name of ceremonial prayers irrelevant discussions are started. Ways of salvation which are supposed to lead a man to his destination without discharging the claims or rights of his fellowmen, are sought. In the name of the call for truth, meaningless worldly activities find favour with such communities. They devise various means of justifying worldly expenditure. In other words, they concoct a religion of their own, keeping purely worldly considerations in view, and start calling it the religion of God. Once a group reaches this stage in its wrong-doing, God withdraws His attention from it. Deprived of Divine guidance, such people reach the stage where they understand only the language of their base desires and remain preoccupied with satisfying their desires, until the angel of death approaches in order to catch hold of them and take them to the court of God.

A pledge was taken from the Children of Israel by their prophet that they would lead a godly life, and twelve chiefs from their twelve tribes were appointed to keep a watch over them. The pledge taken from the Children of Israel was that they would make themselves godly by offering salat (prayers); that they would discharge the rights of others in the shape of zakat (obligatory alms-giving); align themselves on the side of God by supporting His prophets; and spend their assets in support of the struggle for the religion of God. It was only after undertaking all this and after establishing a collective system among themselves for ensuring the continued fulfillment of these duties that they were entitled to God’s company and support, and entitled to enter the aesthetic atmosphere of paradise, after being purified. One attains paradise by the performance of good deeds and not due to any racial relationship. The requirements mentioned in this pledge are the very same basic requirements of religion. This is the highway which leads all human beings towards God and His paradise. But when the communities blessed with Divine Scriptures go astray, they turn to the right or left of this highway. Now, it happens that with the help of self-made interpretations the concepts of religion are changed. In the name of ceremonial prayers irrelevant discussions are started. Ways of salvation which are supposed to lead a man to his destination without discharging the claims or rights of his fellowmen, are sought. In the name of the call for truth, meaningless worldly activities find favour with such communities. They devise various means of justifying worldly expenditure. In other words, they concoct a religion of their own, keeping purely worldly considerations in view, and start calling it the religion of God. Once a group reaches this stage in its wrong-doing, God withdraws His attention from it. Deprived of Divine guidance, such people reach the stage where they understand only the language of their base desires and remain preoccupied with satisfying their desires, until the angel of death approaches in order to catch hold of them and take them to the court of God.

When The People of the Book (i.e. those communities blessed with Divine Scriptures) go astray, they disregard the clear-cut, eternal parts of the Scriptures and hasten to embrace those parts which are of purely local or topical interest. This leads to conflict and results in degradation in the Hereafter. Whenever such groups leave the right path, infirmities become apparent. They start adopting a religion of their own imagining, casting aside their time-honoured authentic religion. Dissatisfied with the clear commandments given by God and His prophets on religious laws, spirituality and politics, they delve into them to find new points of contention. This opens up the door to differences and sectarianism. Sometimes, to justify worldly desires, sometimes to perfect the ‘imperfect’ religion of God, sometimes just to move with the times, dissatisfied elements introduce new elements into religion which are not really part of it. In this way, different new editions of religion take shape—some spiritual, some political, and so on. Around each one of them, like-minded persons start gathering and finally they form a sect. Succeeding generations start protecting this new version, treating it as if it were the heritage of their forefathers. A stage comes when it will clearly be perpetuated until Doomsday, because man tends to treat the past as sacred, and once something is sanctified by time and tradition, it takes on an aura of being eternal. Sectarianism in the name of religion on the one hand becomes sacred and eternal and on the other comes to be regarded as God’s command and gives licence for harbouring hatred and indulging in violence against others.

The People of the Book made two mistakes in their religion. One is that they omitted some teachings from it by means either of deliberate misinterpretation or distortion. For instance, they made certain changes in their Book obviating the necessity to accept any further prophet for their salvation; their attachment to the religion of their forfathers was considered enough for their salvation. The other mistake which they made in the name of religion, was that they imposed upon themselves restrictions which had not been ordained by God: for example, the petty rites of sacrifice, which were not commanded by their prophets, but which were concocted by their scholars by means of their hair-splitting interpretations. The Quran came to them as a blessing. It revived or renewed their Divine religion, when they had been groping in the darkness on a path which they deludedly thought was leading them towards paradise, when it was actually taking them towards the wrath of God. The Quran pulled them out of this darkness. On the one hand, the Quran presented their lost teachings in their original form, and on the other hand, liberated them from the unnecessary religious restrictions by which they had shackled themselves. Now those who obey and follow their desires will remain groping in the dark, and those who seek the pleasure of God, will find the right path. With the help of God’s guidance, they will be successful in pulling themselves out of darkness and enter the brightness of light. The fact of Truth being Truth and falsehood being falsehood is clarified perfectly, but it is always in terms of reasoning, and reasoning appeals to the minds of only those people who keep their minds open. The false deities (other than the one and only God) set up by human beings are such that they are not capable of creating or destroying anything by themselves. This fact is in itself enough to establish that there is no deity except the one and only God. How can beings that have no powers over creation and death be God?

A community which is blessed with the Book and a prophet, and proves that it accepts them, receives many blessings from God—special help and victory over opponents; domination on the earth; God’s pardon and the promise of paradise, etc. In the case of the earlier generations of a community, this is a reward for their actions; they surrendered their existence to God, therefore, God blessed them with His bounties. However, in the case of later generations, the position changes. Now the whole matter assumes a national or communal character. Whereas the earlier people enjoyed the blessings of God by virtue of their performance, the later generations assume that they are entitled to the same blessings—whatever their actions—simply because they belong to a certain community or race. Then they start believing that they are the specially favoured people of God, and whatever they do, they will definitely receive the bounties of God. With a view to removing this misunderstanding on the part of the people of the Book, God has specifically ordained that the rewards meant for them will start right here in this world. Such people can see in the present world itself how their God is going to deal with them in the future world. If, in this world, they are enjoying supremacy over their enemies, then it means that they are the favourite group of God, and if their enemies prevail over them, then it means that the reverse is true. If a group which is in possession of the Book is repeatedly vanquished and remains downtrodden in this world, in spite of being large in number, it should never entertain the hope of enjoying a high position and honours in the Hereafter.

A community which is blessed with the Book and a prophet, and proves that it accepts them, receives many blessings from God—special help and victory over opponents; domination on the earth; God’s pardon and the promise of paradise, etc. In the case of the earlier generations of a community, this is a reward for their actions; they surrendered their existence to God, therefore, God blessed them with His bounties. However, in the case of later generations, the position changes. Now the whole matter assumes a national or communal character. Whereas the earlier people enjoyed the blessings of God by virtue of their performance, the later generations assume that they are entitled to the same blessings—whatever their actions—simply because they belong to a certain community or race. Then they start believing that they are the specially favoured people of God, and whatever they do, they will definitely receive the bounties of God. With a view to removing this misunderstanding on the part of the people of the Book, God has specifically ordained that the rewards meant for them will start right here in this world. Such people can see in the present world itself how their God is going to deal with them in the future world. If, in this world, they are enjoying supremacy over their enemies, then it means that they are the favourite group of God, and if their enemies prevail over them, then it means that the reverse is true. If a group which is in possession of the Book is repeatedly vanquished and remains downtrodden in this world, in spite of being large in number, it should never entertain the hope of enjoying a high position and honours in the Hereafter.

A community which is blessed with the Book and a prophet, and proves that it accepts them, receives many blessings from God—special help and victory over opponents; domination on the earth; God’s pardon and the promise of paradise, etc. In the case of the earlier generations of a community, this is a reward for their actions; they surrendered their existence to God, therefore, God blessed them with His bounties. However, in the case of later generations, the position changes. Now the whole matter assumes a national or communal character. Whereas the earlier people enjoyed the blessings of God by virtue of their performance, the later generations assume that they are entitled to the same blessings—whatever their actions—simply because they belong to a certain community or race. Then they start believing that they are the specially favoured people of God, and whatever they do, they will definitely receive the bounties of God. With a view to removing this misunderstanding on the part of the people of the Book, God has specifically ordained that the rewards meant for them will start right here in this world. Such people can see in the present world itself how their God is going to deal with them in the future world. If, in this world, they are enjoying supremacy over their enemies, then it means that they are the favourite group of God, and if their enemies prevail over them, then it means that the reverse is true. If a group which is in possession of the Book is repeatedly vanquished and remains downtrodden in this world, in spite of being large in number, it should never entertain the hope of enjoying a high position and honours in the Hereafter.

Considering any community as a favourite community of God is an absolutely meaningless thought. Before God the reckoning is individual to individual and not community to community. Everybody will get his reward before God according to his deeds. In the eyes of God, every man is a human being irrespective of his belonging to this community or that. Every man’s future will be decided on the basis of his performance in this world of test and trial. Paradise is not the native place of any community; nor is hell the prison for any particular community. It is the way of God that He, on His behalf, raises certain individuals who acquaint the people with the realities of life; warn them of hell and give them the good news of paradise. It is only by supporting these ‘warners’ and ‘bringers of good news’ and cooperating with them that man finds God, and not in any other way.