7. Al-A'raaf

The previous verses offered a remedy of calling Allah by His good names to those who were neglectfully not making proper use of their faculties. Now the verse 181 speaks of those who followed the right path. The verse said, “ And among those we have created, there are people who guide with truth and do justice thereby”. That is, they are a people who guide others to the straight path and decide all their matters according to the dictates of truth (the divine law).

Ibn Jarir has reported from his own sources that the Holy Prophet ﷺ recited this verse and said, The people referred to in this verse are my people who shall decide their controversies according to justice and truth and observe justice in all their dealings."

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Abd ibn Humaid has reported that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said addressing his companions, "This verse has been revealed in your favour and prior to you there has been a group of people bearing the same attributes." Then he recited this verse:

وَمِن قَوْمِ مُوسَىٰ أُمَّةٌ يَهْدُونَ بِالْحَقِّ وَبِهِ يَعْدِلُونَ ﴿159﴾

"And among the community of Musa there are people who guide with truth and do justice thereby." (7:159)

That is to say, there was a group of people among the Israelites who had the attributes referred to in this verse, of guiding other people to the truth and deciding their matters according to the law of the Torah. Similarly, the Muslim Ummah has the same attributes as their distinct feature.

The essence of the message is firstly, to guide people to the right path in accordance with the dictates of the Shari` ah, and secondly, to decide all their controversies according to the law of Islam. The above two features offer, in fact, the guaranteed way of success, both in this world and in the Hereafter. Any group or individuals who follow the truth and justice in all their modes of life, and do not exhibit their personal prejudices while making judgments even for their enemies, are the people of truth refered to in this verse. The same has been the main characteristic of the Muslim Ummah who strictly observed the demands of truth and justice in all their dealings and overlooked their personal priorities when making judgments between people. The history has recorded unique examples of such truthful practices from the lives of the blessed Companions and their disciples.

From the day the Muslims started to show disregard to these two distinctive features of their character, an evident regression started to show itself in every sphere of their life. Remorsefully though, we have to acknowledge that majority of the Muslim Ummah have fallen prey to their personal desires. All their activities, their political, social and educational set ups are motivated by downtrodden worldly gains. Their guidance to other people is mainly aimed at getting some worldly benefits. Most of their family ceremonies are not only devoid of Islamic character, but demonstrate a behaviour opposed to Shari'ah. There are some family traditions designed in the name of religious ceremonies. Any one going against or showing dislike to these innovations has to face active opposition on their part. People are no more interested in organizing themselves …

The next verse (182) has provided answer to a common question which bothers the minds of many Muslims. If prosperity and progress can only be achieved by following the way of truth and justice why the non-Muslim nations of the world are seen more prosperous, more advanced and more powerful while they are very far from the truth? The verse answered this question in these words:

"As for those who belie our signs, we shall let them be drawn gradually towards (their punishment) from where they do not know."

That is to say, Allah does not punish those who reject the signs or verses of Allah immediately for their sins. He, out His wisdom and Mercy, lets them enjoy their worldly life for a while and then draws

them to their ignominious end as gradually as they do not know of their being led to their ill-fate. The present prosperity and progress of the non-Muslims should, therefore, not deceive people, because their

prosperity, in fact, is not something propitious for them. Rather it is a kind of respite, a temporary period of relief before the execution of their punishment, which in Qur'anic terminology is called Istidraj

Istidraj is a more powerful punishment in disguise. The most essential element of Istidraj is that a person is not punished for his evil deeds immediately; the more he increases in his evil deeds, the

more he is increased in prosperity and worldly possessions which prevents him from having a sense of guilty and taking warning against his crimes. Consequently, he is deprived of turning in repentance to Allah and save himself from everlasting punishment. This perverted state of mind makes one take illness as health and poison as remedy. He is let to go on with his perverted life until death overtakes him and draws him to the eternal chastisement.

The Holy Qur'an has made mention of 'Istidraj' in many other verses. It said in Surah al-An'-am:

فَلَمَّا نَسُوا مَا ذُكِّرُ‌وا بِهِ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَبْوَابَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا فَرِ‌حُوا بِمَا أُوتُوا أَخَذْنَاهُم بَغْتَةً فَإِذَا هُم مُّبْلِسُونَ ﴿44﴾

"So, when they forgot what they were required to remember, We opened to them the gates of everything, until, when they were rejoicing in what they were given, We seized them suddenly, and then they were confounded in despair." (6:44)

Dealing with Istidraj is not limited to disbelievers only. The iniquitous among Muslims are also dealt with this kind of punishment. It was for this reason that our elders used to fear Allah when they were favoured by Him with prosperity and comforts. They feared lest their prosperity should be a sign of 'Istidraj'

The next verse (183) is also related with 'Istidraj'. It said:

وَأُمْلِي لَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ كَيْدِي مَتِينٌ ﴿183﴾

"And I give them respite. Surely, My plan is firm."

That is, the disbelievers are left to enjoy their worldly life just for a while. Then, they shall be caught by punishment.

The verse no. 184 has refuted the false notion of the disbelievers that the Holy Prophet , 1n was a man of unsound mind or was possessed by devil. It said:

أَوَلَمْ يَتَفَكَّرُ‌وا مَا بِصَاحِبِهِم مِّن جِنَّةٍ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ‌ مُّبِينٌ

"Have they not reflected that with their friend there is no madness? He is but an open warner."

The verse said that a little reflection on their part shall be enough to prove that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was neither a man of unsound mind, nor was he under the influence of Jinns. His matchless wisdom and knowledge is an obvious feature of his personality. Those having claim to wisdom and knowledge are astoundingly bewildered how a man of such extraordinary insight and sagacity could be blamed of madness? Blaming him with madness, in fact, is madness itself. He is only an elucidator of realities and a warner against the punishment from Allah.

The verse 185 has invited mankind to practice two important things. Firstly, to make thoughtful observation of the creation of Allah, the heavens, the earth and the things existing between them. Secondly, to be mindful of the period of life given to an individual. It does not require to be a genius to perceive the signs of Allah's power and wisdom in everything around us. A little amount of serious thought is enough to make one see that everything, rather every particle of this world, is singing the praise of it's Creator and is, in itself, a strong proof of Allah's power and wisdom. Any one applying his intellect in conscious observation of things cannot avoid natural demand of faith in Allah, the One.

Being mindful of uncertain period of one's life makes him more active in attaining his objectives, because he is not sure how much time of life he has at his disposal. It would be noticed that all crimes and evil deeds are activated by disregard to one's death. Those who are conscious of their indefinite period of life mostly avoid involving themselves in unwanted activities. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said:

اَکثرُوا ذکرَھَا ذِم اللَّذَّاتِ المؤت

"Frequently remember the thing which eliminates the pleasures - the death."

The verse 185, has therefore said:

"Have they not looked into the kingdoms of the heavens and the earth, and into things Allah has created, and into the fact that their time may possibly have drawn near."

The Arabic word مَلَکُوت (Malakut) signifies kingdom indicating a superlative degree, that is, the great Kingdom. The verse implies that the disbelievers have not used their common intellect in seeking the Truth which is evident in everything created by Allah, nor are they mindful of the uncertainty of life which may come to an end any moment, depriving them of all the chances of accepting the truth and repenting to Allah for their evil deeds. The last sentence of the verse warned them saying:

"In what other word, then, shall they believe after it?" That is Allah has provided them with transparent signs, both internal and external, of the right path and of the True Faith. Those who are neglectful of such clear signs, there is nothing in the world to guide them to the right path.

The preceding verses spoke of the obstinate ignorance of the disbelievers who rejected the true Faith, despite all the clear signs given to them by Allah. This could be a source of grief to the Holy Prophet ﷺ as he was highly considerate and the greatest well-wisher of the mankind. The verse 186 provides him with a consolation saying that whomsoever Allah leaves wandering in his ignorance and lets him go on with his evil deeds can never be guided by any one and Allah leaves him at the mercy of his abject desires. That is to say, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has done his duty by conveying the message of Allah as explicitly as was possible, and that their rejection of the true faith was not for any of his faults.

Among the themes of this Surah (Al-A` raf) three topics are of great importance: the unity of Allah (Tauhid), the Prophethood (Risalah) and the life in the Hereafter (آخرَت). These three principles are, in fact, the mainstay of the whole edifice of Islam. Exposition of the first two principles, the Tauhid and the Risalah have been provided in the foregoing verses.

The verse 187 speaks of the third principle, that is, the life in the Hereafter (آخرَت). The revelation of this verse is related with the following incident reported by Ibn Jarir and ` Abd ibn Humaid on the authority of Qatadah.

The Quraish of Makkah once asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ by way of mockery as to when the Hour of doom was to occur of which he used to warn them so often. The verse was revealed in response to this question.

The Arabic word Sa` ah سَاعَۃ signifies a short period without specific number of minutes or hours, while in our calendar it is a single unit out of twenty four units of the day and night. In Qur'anic terminology, however, it is used for the day when all the created beings will cease to exist, as well as for the day when all the creation shall be revived and presented before the Lord of all the creations. مُرسٰی Mursa signifies to stop or to stay, لَا يُجَلِّيهَا ' is a derivative of تَجلِیہ which means to disclose or open. Baghtatan بَغتۃ means suddenly while the word 'Hafiyyun' حَفِیُّ is used for a scholar or a knowledgeable person according to Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn ` Abbas ؓ The word is generally used for a person who invests his effort and employs all his resources to ascertain some-thing.

The quintessence of the verse, therefore, is that the Quraish of Makkah should be answered that the exact time of the Doom is not known, and shall never be made known to anyone. It is a divine secret which shall disclose itself by it's sudden occurrence, as has been decided by the Qur'anic phrase "It shall not come upon you but suddenly".

Al-Bukhari and the Muslim have reported on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said with regard to sudden occurrence of the 'Qiyamah' (The Doomsday) that it has been made a close secret. The wisdom behind it is obviously to make people live their lives peacefully which would have not been possible in case the definite time of death was known to them. Besides, those who do not believe in Doomsday would have made mockery of it by knowing the remotely long period of its occurrence. The divine wisdom chose to keep it undefined in order to keep people vaguely in fear of its dreadful events which, in fact, is an effective measure against crime and corrupt practices.

By implication, the above verses make us alive to the fact that once we have come to believe that the day of Qiyamah has inevitably to come and all the created beings shall necessarily be presented before the Lord of all the creation and be called to account for all their minor or major deeds, and shall be rewarded or punished according to their performance in this world, the knowledge of time and period of the death becomes immaterial. It will not be wise to waste precious time of one's life in futile discussions like the time of occurrence of the Doomsday. On the contrary, human reason and wisdom demands that every moment of uncertain period of life is spent carefully in preparing oneself for the great Day of Judgment. This answer to the Quraish of Makkah made it clear that their question regarding the time of the Doomsday was a product of their ignorance. The next phrase of this verse speaks of …

The Verse 188 clears away a common misbelief of the people regarding the prophets of Allah. They thought that the prophets must possess the knowledge of each and everything in the universe, including the knowledge of the unseen future and unknown past. Similarly, they thought that the prophets must possess the power of bringing benefit or harm to any one out of their own will. The verse made it clear that the all-encompassing knowledge is an exclusive attribute of Allah which cannot be ascribed to any created being. Ascribing these exclusive attributes to anyone other than Allah is the greatest transgression and is tantamount to associating partners with Allah. The very purpose of the revelation of the Holy Qur'an and the advent of the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been to eliminate all the traces of plurality of god and to establish the purest unity of Allah (Tauhid).

The Holy Prophet has been asked to declare that, not to speak of others, even he was unable to harm or benefit himself and that he did not possess the knowledge of the unseen. Had he possessed such knowledge, he would have stored all the good for himself and would have saved himself from every possible harm. There are evident instances in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ could not achieve his objectives inspite of all his effort, and in many other instances, he could not save himself from the damages and harm that reached him. The incident of the treaty of Hudaibiyah is an evident example when the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his companions travelled all the way to Makkah in order to perform the ` Umrah but were stopped by the unbelievers of Makkah. Despite all their desire and effort, they had to go back to Madinah without performing ` Umrah. similarly, the Holy Prophet ﷺ was wounded in the battle of Uhud and the Muslims faced temporary defeat.

Perhaps, such events were allowed to happen, so that it may be demonstrated in practical terms that the Prophets, with due regards to their being closest to Allah and being the best of all the human beings, did not possess divine power and encompassing knowledge.

They were human like other human beings. The Christians fell prey to the same error. They ascribed the divine attributes of Allah to their Prophet and went astray.

The Prophets, however, are invested by Allah with as much knowledge and power as no other human being has ever acquired. They Holy Prophet ﷺ was certainly favoured with the degree of knowledge which surpassed the knowledge of all other prophets. He informed the Muslims of many things which were to happen in future. All his foretellings were seen to happen exactly as he had foretold.

We can say that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was given the knowledge of a number of unseen things, but in Qur'anic terminology this is not termed as (the knowledge of the unseen). Therefore, on the basis of this we are not allowed to call the Holy Prophet ﷺ عَالِمُ الغیب (the knower of the unseen), as knower of the unseen is none other than Allah.

The last sentence of the verse said, إِنْ أَنَا إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ‌ وَبَشِيرٌ‌ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ I am but a warner and a harbinger of good for people who believe." That is, he has been assigned the duty of warning the evil …

The next verse 189 speaks of the most basic belief of Islam that is Tauhid and, at the same time, brings out the falsity of believing in more than one god. In the beginning of the verse Allah سُبحَانہ و تعالیٰ has mentioned the creation of Sayyidna 'Adam and Sayyidah Hawwa' (علیہما السلام) which was a manifestation of His perfect power. The verse said:

هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا لِيَسْكُنَ إِلَيْهَا

"He is the One who has created you from a single soul and from him created his wife, so that he may find comfort in her."

This manifestation of Allah's great Power should have made mankind more grateful to Allah and they must have abstained from associating partners with Allah, but negligent as they were, they acted differently. Their neglectful attitude has been referred to in this verse and in the next, in these words:

فَلَمَّا تَغَشَّاهَا حَمَلَتْ حَمْلًا خَفِيفًا فَمَرَّ‌تْ بِهِ ۖ فَلَمَّا أَثْقَلَت دَّعَوَا اللَّـهَ رَ‌بَّهُمَا لَئِنْ آتَيْتَنَا صَالِحًا لَّنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِ‌ينَ ﴿189﴾ فَلَمَّا آتَاهُمَا صَالِحًا جَعَلَا لَهُ شُرَ‌كَاءَ فِيمَا آتَاهُمَا ۚ فَتَعَالَى اللَّـهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِ‌كُونَ ﴿190﴾

"So when he covered her with himself, she carried a light burden and moved about with it. Thereafter, when she grew heavy, they both prayed to Allah, their Lord, "If you bless us with a perfect child, we shall be among the grateful." So, when Allah blessed them with a perfect one, they ascribed partners with Him."

That is to say, at the initial stage of pregnancy the woman feels free to move about, but later when fetus grows heavy in her womb, the parents are anxious about their unborn. They are not sure if they would get a perfect child, because there are occasions when new born is not a normal child or is deaf dumb or blind etc. Having such apprehensions, they start praying for a perfect child and make promises with Allah to be grateful to Him if He favours them with a perfect child. Now, when Allah grants their prayers by giving them a normal and healthy baby, they ascribe partners with Allah, and thus their children, themselves, become the source of their misguidance.

It happens in a variety of ways. Sometimes they are misled by their false belief that their new born is a gift of some holy or godly person. Sometimes, they devote it to some living or dead person and start making offerings in their names. Some people take their children to them and bow their forehead before them. Sometimes, they involve themselves in Shirk شِرک by naming their children like ` Abdullat عبدَاللات ` Abd ul ` Uzza عبد العُزٰی ` Abdul Shams عَبد الشمس or Bandah ` Ali بَندہِ علی etc., assigning their children to false gods, indicating that these children have been created or gifted by these gods or personalities.