7. Al-A'raaf

Man is able to imagine virtues or qualities through names. If a good word is attached to a person, he appears to be good and if a bad word is attached to him he appears to be bad. Things or beings other than God who become the centre of the attention of men come to be such because of these names. Certain individuals come to be called by such names as ghaus-e-pak (holy hearer of plaints), ganj bakhsh (granter of treasure), gharib nawaz (benefactor of the poor), or mushkil kusha (solver of difficulties). Gradually these names become so attached to their personalities that people start believing that the person called ghaus really has the power to hear plaints and pleas; and that the person known as mushkil kusha can really solve difficulties. But the truth is that names of this kind are all devised by human beings. There is nobody existing who carries these names. There is no religious or rational argument in their favour. The above kind of tradition in names is that which is prevalent among the ignorant masses. However, there is a civilized form of this tradition which is popular among educated people. In this, too, extraordinary words are attached to certain personalities, for example, qudsi sifat (having the attributes of angels), mahbub-e-khuda (beloved of God), sutun-e-Islam (pillar of Islam), najat dehenda-e-millat (saviour of the community), etc. Gradually, these words become integral parts of the names of the respective persons. People start considering them as being as extraordinary as their conferred names and titles indicate. Whatever, as a result of long-standing conventions, has acquired the holiness attaching to the past, assumes great importance and loftiness in the eyes of the people. Compared to it, the call of today’s preacher appears to be trivial. So, they ignore the present missionary considering him unimportant. They are confident that nothing will harm them, as they consider themselves the inheritors of the glory of their forefathers. Recklessness in respect of God gradually makes a man insensitive. He does not remain capable of reforming himself through the language of admonition or remembrance. It will be only when he hears the voice of God pronouncing the verdict of divine retribution that he will become aware of his own shortcomings.

After the destruction of the ‘Ad community, certain righteous people redeemed by God settled in the Hajr, the area in the north west of Arabia. Their race increased and they made immense progress in the fields of agriculture and construction. They constructed palaces in the plains and by chiselling the hills, made stone houses. But later on they fell victim to the evils that generally follow a community’s material development and worldly well-being, i.e. debauchery, obliviousness of the Hereafter, heedlessness about the limits laid down by God, self-conceit and disregard for the greatness of God. At this juncture God raised Salih so that he might warn them of the chastisement of God. But they did not accept the admonition. They were not willing to mend their ways. In the universe, where all things are living in complete obedience to God, they opted to live in arrogance and disobey God: where everything strictly observed the limits set by God, man wanted to lead his life by transgressing His limits. Their transgression created disturbances in the reformed world. Therefore, they were held unfit to inhabit the world. For the purpose of testing the community of Thamud, God assigned a she-camel to them and commanded them not to harm her, or else they would be destroyed. It would have been quite possible for God to appoint a terrifying lion for this purpose. But God appointed a she-camel instead of a lion. The reason for this is that the test of a man’s fear of God is always taken at the level of a ‘she camel’ and not at the level of a ‘lion’. In society there are always some people who are like the camel of God. These are the weak individuals who do not have the material strength which could act as a deterrent to oppression. Through these people, God tests the true faith of His people. And the certificates of Heaven and Hell are given on the basis of the results of these tests.

The people of Thamud perfected the art of construction. They were definitely well versed in related branches of knowledge, for example, mathematics, geometry and engineering, otherwise such development could not have been possible. But they were held guilty not of material developments but of spreading disturbance on the earth. This means that God does not prohibit progress within legitimate limits. But, in the matter of how he conducts his life, man should follow the balanced system which God has enforced in the whole universe. When a prophet comes to the world, he is a controversial figure in his time rather than an established personality. Moreover, he is not surrounded by worldly glories. He is not the occupier of any of the important seats of the time. That is why his contemporaries, unable to understand his prophethood, reject him. They find it difficult to believe that one whom they know as an ordinary person is the very individual whom God has chosen to deliver His message. ‘We are believers in that with which he has been sent.’ This reply of Salih’s companions tells us the difference between them and others. Those who deny the truth looked at the personality of Salih while the believers looked at the real message. Since, for those who denied the truth, no outward glory surrounded the personality of Salih, they ignored him. The believers, on the contrary, saw glimpses of Truth in Salih’s message, so they immediately accepted his words and became his companions.

The people of Thamud perfected the art of construction. They were definitely well versed in related branches of knowledge, for example, mathematics, geometry and engineering, otherwise such development could not have been possible. But they were held guilty not of material developments but of spreading disturbance on the earth. This means that God does not prohibit progress within legitimate limits. But, in the matter of how he conducts his life, man should follow the balanced system which God has enforced in the whole universe. When a prophet comes to the world, he is a controversial figure in his time rather than an established personality. Moreover, he is not surrounded by worldly glories. He is not the occupier of any of the important seats of the time. That is why his contemporaries, unable to understand his prophethood, reject him. They find it difficult to believe that one whom they know as an ordinary person is the very individual whom God has chosen to deliver His message. ‘We are believers in that with which he has been sent.’ This reply of Salih’s companions tells us the difference between them and others. Those who deny the truth looked at the personality of Salih while the believers looked at the real message. Since, for those who denied the truth, no outward glory surrounded the personality of Salih, they ignored him. The believers, on the contrary, saw glimpses of Truth in Salih’s message, so they immediately accepted his words and became his companions.

The people of Thamud perfected the art of construction. They were definitely well versed in related branches of knowledge, for example, mathematics, geometry and engineering, otherwise such development could not have been possible. But they were held guilty not of material developments but of spreading disturbance on the earth. This means that God does not prohibit progress within legitimate limits. But, in the matter of how he conducts his life, man should follow the balanced system which God has enforced in the whole universe. When a prophet comes to the world, he is a controversial figure in his time rather than an established personality. Moreover, he is not surrounded by worldly glories. He is not the occupier of any of the important seats of the time. That is why his contemporaries, unable to understand his prophethood, reject him. They find it difficult to believe that one whom they know as an ordinary person is the very individual whom God has chosen to deliver His message. ‘We are believers in that with which he has been sent.’ This reply of Salih’s companions tells us the difference between them and others. Those who deny the truth looked at the personality of Salih while the believers looked at the real message. Since, for those who denied the truth, no outward glory surrounded the personality of Salih, they ignored him. The believers, on the contrary, saw glimpses of Truth in Salih’s message, so they immediately accepted his words and became his companions.

Truth always reveals itself on the strength of arguments and not on the strength of worldly glories. Those who are capable of seeing the Truth in the shape of arguments immediately find it, while those perpetually awed by outward glories remain doubtful. They never receive God’s guidance to become supporters of truth. The killer of Salih’s she-camel was an arrogant member of that community. But this action was attributed to the entire community and it was said, ‘They hamstrung the she-camel.’ This shows that if one member among a group performs a bad deed and other people do not condemn such deeds, all of them are treated as a party to this criminal action. The community which succumbs to desire is not at all impressed by realistic talk. It is not prepared to support anyone who invites its members to engage in serious and sincere action. On the contrary, huge crowds gather around people who utter pleasant words and trade in false promises. They are not attracted towards true well- wishers, but rush towards the exploiters.

Truth always reveals itself on the strength of arguments and not on the strength of worldly glories. Those who are capable of seeing the Truth in the shape of arguments immediately find it, while those perpetually awed by outward glories remain doubtful. They never receive God’s guidance to become supporters of truth. The killer of Salih’s she-camel was an arrogant member of that community. But this action was attributed to the entire community and it was said, ‘They hamstrung the she-camel.’ This shows that if one member among a group performs a bad deed and other people do not condemn such deeds, all of them are treated as a party to this criminal action. The community which succumbs to desire is not at all impressed by realistic talk. It is not prepared to support anyone who invites its members to engage in serious and sincere action. On the contrary, huge crowds gather around people who utter pleasant words and trade in false promises. They are not attracted towards true well- wishers, but rush towards the exploiters.

Truth always reveals itself on the strength of arguments and not on the strength of worldly glories. Those who are capable of seeing the Truth in the shape of arguments immediately find it, while those perpetually awed by outward glories remain doubtful. They never receive God’s guidance to become supporters of truth. The killer of Salih’s she-camel was an arrogant member of that community. But this action was attributed to the entire community and it was said, ‘They hamstrung the she-camel.’ This shows that if one member among a group performs a bad deed and other people do not condemn such deeds, all of them are treated as a party to this criminal action. The community which succumbs to desire is not at all impressed by realistic talk. It is not prepared to support anyone who invites its members to engage in serious and sincere action. On the contrary, huge crowds gather around people who utter pleasant words and trade in false promises. They are not attracted towards true well- wishers, but rush towards the exploiters.

Lot was Abraham’s nephew. The community to which he was sent as a prophet was settled on the banks of the river Jordan in southern Syria. The prosperity of the community led its members into an excessive love of luxury, and evil behaviour which went to extremes in sexual promiscuity and even homosexuality. The prophet warned them against this open shamelessness. The universe has a scheme of nature. This scheme is called the reformed state (islah) in Quranic terminology. Going against this means a disturbance in the balance of things (fasad) in this universe. It is only man who takes undue advantage of his freedom and goes against the way of nature. The community of Lot also committed such a disruption of the divine order. The natural form of sexual relationship is that of a husband and wife. This means following the way of islah. As opposed to this, if a sexual relation develops between man and man, and a woman and a woman, this amounts to transgressing the limits fixed by God. This is what is called fasad in the Quran. Only a few people close to Lot had any faith in him. The rest of the people were sunk in debauchery. They even said: ‘When these people consider us dirty and want to keep themselves pure, why should the clean live with the unclean? They had better leave our town.’ This statement of theirs smacked of their haughtiness. They had the courage to say this because they were in the majority and enjoyed material superiority; they thus considered themselves safe. When God’s retribution visited Lot’s community, the Prophet Lot’s wife was one of the victims. This shows the unbiased justice of God in the matter of reward and punishment. In the judicial balance of God there is no regard for relationships or friendships. God’s decision was so unbiased that it did not spare even Noah’s son, Abraham’s father, Lot’s wife and the Prophet Muhammad’s uncle. On the other hand, when Pharaoh’s wife performed righteous deeds, she was admitted to Paradise.