6. Al-An'aam

In the matter of eating and drinking and other everyday routines, every community develops a customary religion. People have strong feelings about this customary or traditional religion because of the testimonies of ancestors and of great men of the past, which exist in its support. Deviation from this becomes synonymous with turning away from the religion of the revered forefathers. So, when the call of Truth clashes with this customary religion, all sorts of objections are raised against it. The great men of the day seek out such aspects of established practices as will convince the general public that their customary religion is correct and the ‘new religion’ is wrong. But God is aware of everything. On Doomsday, when He lays bare the realities, every individual will see whether he has been standing on the firm ground of reality or on the thin ice of superstition.

In the eyes of God that person has life who accepts the light of guidance which appears before him and makes it the illumination of his path. Conversely, that person is lifeless who remains deprived of the light of guidance and roams about groping in the darkness of falsehood. The lifeless person is one who is so caught up in the net of superstitions and prejudice that true, straight facts do not fall within the scope of his understanding. He is so unaware of the true nature of things that he is unable to distinguish between meaningless argument and real discourse. He is so engrossed in self-aggrandisement that it is not possible for him to accept the Truth coming from any source other than that of tradition. Customary and traditional ideas so dominate his mind that he is unable to assess things by any other standard. Due to these weaknesses, he is left groping in the dark. Though apparently alive, he becomes virtually a dead person. In direct contrast to this, one who opens his heart to guidance becomes free of all psychological knots; it takes him no time at all to recognise the Truth. The veils of words fail to hide the face of reality from his eyes. The problems of taste and habit do not attain such a position in his life as to come between the Truth and himself. Truth becomes a bright reality for him; his gaze does not falter looking at it and he does not remain indolent once he has discovered it. He himself treads the path of light and endeavours to make others walk in that light.

In the eyes of God that person has life who accepts the light of guidance which appears before him and makes it the illumination of his path. Conversely, that person is lifeless who remains deprived of the light of guidance and roams about groping in the darkness of falsehood. The lifeless person is one who is so caught up in the net of superstitions and prejudice that true, straight facts do not fall within the scope of his understanding. He is so unaware of the true nature of things that he is unable to distinguish between meaningless argument and real discourse. He is so engrossed in self-aggrandisement that it is not possible for him to accept the Truth coming from any source other than that of tradition. Customary and traditional ideas so dominate his mind that he is unable to assess things by any other standard. Due to these weaknesses, he is left groping in the dark. Though apparently alive, he becomes virtually a dead person. In direct contrast to this, one who opens his heart to guidance becomes free of all psychological knots; it takes him no time at all to recognise the Truth. The veils of words fail to hide the face of reality from his eyes. The problems of taste and habit do not attain such a position in his life as to come between the Truth and himself. Truth becomes a bright reality for him; his gaze does not falter looking at it and he does not remain indolent once he has discovered it. He himself treads the path of light and endeavours to make others walk in that light.

Those who have captured public attention by claiming self-made things to be God’s religion, become inimical toward every voice which calls upon people to adhere to true religion. Every such voice appears to them to be a no-confidence motion directed against themselves. The luminaries of the time then ferret out trivial points by which to defame the call of Truth, so as to prevent the general public from being influenced by it. They give wrong direction to the reasoning of Truth and cause the public to become doubtful. They even try to denigrate the personality of the preacher by casting baseless aspersions on him. But such efforts only increase their guilt; they are unable to harm the preacher and his call in any way. The righteous person is one who sees the Truth, even when worldly glories have not graced it. Accepting the Truth when it is surrounded by worldly glories, amounts to accepting the worldly glories and not the Truth.

Truth by its very nature is so clear that it is not difficult for anyone to understand it. Still, in every age, in spite of the Truth being made clear, countless people do not accept it. This is due to a flawed mentality. One person attaches himself to ‘holy’ beings to the extent that he fears that leaving them will completely destroy him. In the case of another, the fear of the breakdown of the system of his worldly interests is so strong within him that it becomes impossible for him to proceed towards the Truth. Yet another feels that if he accepts anything against the established custom of the time, he might become a stranger to the whole atmosphere of his own society. Man is overcome by such thoughts to the extent that acceptance of Truth appears synonymous with climbing a steep and difficult slope and, simply by looking at it, he loses heart. The case of individuals who do not suffer from any psychological complications is entirely different; they place Truth higher than everything else. They are seekers of the Truth right from the very beginning. So, when the Truth appears before them, they recognise it without delay and, ignoring all excuses and suspicions, they accept it. God reveals His Truth before the people in the shape of signs and symbols. Now, those who have weaknesses in their hearts, make self-made interpretations of these signs to justify their rejection of them, whereas those who have open hearts, discover in these signs their real depth, and make them the nourishment of their minds. Their lives are immediately launched on that straight path which is traversed under the direct guidance of God and which leads a man to enduring success. What God values above all else is a man’s good deeds. One who obeys God will deserve God’s help and will be led to His Abode of Peace. This Abode of Peace is God’s Paradise, where man will lead a life of eternal peace, secure from every kind of grief or trouble. God’s help will be given to individuals in the life after death according to their deeds. Moreover, if a considerable number of people become obedient to God in the world, this group will be given a share of God’s grace in this world also.

Truth by its very nature is so clear that it is not difficult for anyone to understand it. Still, in every age, in spite of the Truth being made clear, countless people do not accept it. This is due to a flawed mentality. One person attaches himself to ‘holy’ beings to the extent that he fears that leaving them will completely destroy him. In the case of another, the fear of the breakdown of the system of his worldly interests is so strong within him that it becomes impossible for him to proceed towards the Truth. Yet another feels that if he accepts anything against the established custom of the time, he might become a stranger to the whole atmosphere of his own society. Man is overcome by such thoughts to the extent that acceptance of Truth appears synonymous with climbing a steep and difficult slope and, simply by looking at it, he loses heart. The case of individuals who do not suffer from any psychological complications is entirely different; they place Truth higher than everything else. They are seekers of the Truth right from the very beginning. So, when the Truth appears before them, they recognise it without delay and, ignoring all excuses and suspicions, they accept it. God reveals His Truth before the people in the shape of signs and symbols. Now, those who have weaknesses in their hearts, make self-made interpretations of these signs to justify their rejection of them, whereas those who have open hearts, discover in these signs their real depth, and make them the nourishment of their minds. Their lives are immediately launched on that straight path which is traversed under the direct guidance of God and which leads a man to enduring success. What God values above all else is a man’s good deeds. One who obeys God will deserve God’s help and will be led to His Abode of Peace. This Abode of Peace is God’s Paradise, where man will lead a life of eternal peace, secure from every kind of grief or trouble. God’s help will be given to individuals in the life after death according to their deeds. Moreover, if a considerable number of people become obedient to God in the world, this group will be given a share of God’s grace in this world also.

Truth by its very nature is so clear that it is not difficult for anyone to understand it. Still, in every age, in spite of the Truth being made clear, countless people do not accept it. This is due to a flawed mentality. One person attaches himself to ‘holy’ beings to the extent that he fears that leaving them will completely destroy him. In the case of another, the fear of the breakdown of the system of his worldly interests is so strong within him that it becomes impossible for him to proceed towards the Truth. Yet another feels that if he accepts anything against the established custom of the time, he might become a stranger to the whole atmosphere of his own society. Man is overcome by such thoughts to the extent that acceptance of Truth appears synonymous with climbing a steep and difficult slope and, simply by looking at it, he loses heart. The case of individuals who do not suffer from any psychological complications is entirely different; they place Truth higher than everything else. They are seekers of the Truth right from the very beginning. So, when the Truth appears before them, they recognise it without delay and, ignoring all excuses and suspicions, they accept it. God reveals His Truth before the people in the shape of signs and symbols. Now, those who have weaknesses in their hearts, make self-made interpretations of these signs to justify their rejection of them, whereas those who have open hearts, discover in these signs their real depth, and make them the nourishment of their minds. Their lives are immediately launched on that straight path which is traversed under the direct guidance of God and which leads a man to enduring success. What God values above all else is a man’s good deeds. One who obeys God will deserve God’s help and will be led to His Abode of Peace. This Abode of Peace is God’s Paradise, where man will lead a life of eternal peace, secure from every kind of grief or trouble. God’s help will be given to individuals in the life after death according to their deeds. Moreover, if a considerable number of people become obedient to God in the world, this group will be given a share of God’s grace in this world also.

If someone is misled by another, it is not a one-sided affair. Both the individuals for their part think that they are fulfilling some purpose. When Satan deceives a man and wins him over to his side, he tries to fulfil his challenge to God at the beginning of creation that he would make a large part of God’s creation fall a prey to his temptations (

17:61

). Those who surrender themselves to Satan have definite self-interests in mind. There are some who promote their business dealings through magic in the name of jinn, or connect their poetry or charms with some jinn master and thus establish superiority over the general public. Similarly, the supporters of all such movements as rise under satanic inducements, extend their support to them because they expect that in this way they can easily establish their leadership in society. Satanic slogans, as compared to the Divine call, have always proved to be more attractive to the general masses.

If someone is misled by another, it is not a one-sided affair. Both the individuals for their part think that they are fulfilling some purpose. When Satan deceives a man and wins him over to his side, he tries to fulfil his challenge to God at the beginning of creation that he would make a large part of God’s creation fall a prey to his temptations (

17:61

). Those who surrender themselves to Satan have definite self-interests in mind. There are some who promote their business dealings through magic in the name of jinn, or connect their poetry or charms with some jinn master and thus establish superiority over the general public. Similarly, the supporters of all such movements as rise under satanic inducements, extend their support to them because they expect that in this way they can easily establish their leadership in society. Satanic slogans, as compared to the Divine call, have always proved to be more attractive to the general masses.

On Doomsday, when the veil is torn from reality, it will be clear that those who had gone astray, or had misguided others, did not do so because of any misunderstanding. The reason for this was not their being unaware of the truth but their deliberately ignoring it. They could not rise above worldly pomp and show; they could not forego timely benefits. The guidance provided by God through His special subjects was so clear that nobody could have remained unaware of realities, but their worship of the world drew a veil over their eyes; in spite of knowing, they became unaware; in spite of listening, they did not hear. In the Hereafter, they will be shorn of the artificial supports on the strength of which they had remained careless of the Truth. Then it will be pointed out how the Truth had appeared before them and how they had rejected it with the help of false words; how, though their mistake had been explained to them, they still thought that they had been successful in justifying their stand by clever misrepresentations.