7. Al-A'raaf

Shu‘ayb’s community was not guilty of denying God, but of misrepresenting Him, i.e. it had attributed to God a religion which was not sent by Him. This has been the position of the communities of all the prophets. The communities of the prophets were no different from those to whom God had earlier revealed His religion. But, by means of self-made changes and additions, they made it into something else. They changed the religion of God into the religion of their desires and started calling it the religion of God. The religious leaders of today, who have the support of the people and are in power, do realize that they cannot argue with the prophets, as they would not succeed. But since they do not want someone to usurp them of their importance, they look for a way to silence them. Allowances can be made for a person so long as the Truth is not clear to him. But after the Truth has been made clear, and if a man still chooses to be arrogant, he loses any right to sympathy. In this world, punishment is given on this basis; and on this same basis, punishment will be decided according to the guilt of the people in the Hereafter.

Shu‘ayb’s community was not guilty of denying God, but of misrepresenting Him, i.e. it had attributed to God a religion which was not sent by Him. This has been the position of the communities of all the prophets. The communities of the prophets were no different from those to whom God had earlier revealed His religion. But, by means of self-made changes and additions, they made it into something else. They changed the religion of God into the religion of their desires and started calling it the religion of God. The religious leaders of today, who have the support of the people and are in power, do realize that they cannot argue with the prophets, as they would not succeed. But since they do not want someone to usurp them of their importance, they look for a way to silence them. Allowances can be made for a person so long as the Truth is not clear to him. But after the Truth has been made clear, and if a man still chooses to be arrogant, he loses any right to sympathy. In this world, punishment is given on this basis; and on this same basis, punishment will be decided according to the guilt of the people in the Hereafter.

According to the tradition (of the Prophet), a believer goes on getting into difficulties until he becomes clear of sins, and a hypocrite is like a donkey who does not know why his owner has tied him and why he has let him loose. (Tafsir ibn Kathir). God imposes various types of difficulties on man so that his heart may soften, he may give up his reliance on anything other than God, and his haughtiness—which prevents him from accepting the Truth from outside may diminish. In this way, by God’s arrangements, the psychology of shortcomings and helplessness is instilled in man, so that he may give his full attention to the voice of Truth. The general public as well as the prophet’s addressees undergo this treatment. However, according to the usual procedure of God, all this happens garbed in doubt. For example, if some trouble affects somebody, it does so as part of the cause-and-effect process. This sort of occurrence poses a test for many people. They ignore it, saying that this was bound to happen and it happened. When they do not learn a lesson from these difficulties, God changes their conditions for the better. Now such people are pushed towards more severe misunderstandings. They firmly believe this to be a part of the occurrences of the time; a matter of the usual ups and downs which people are subjected to, under normal conditions; otherwise they would not have experienced good days after bad days. So they are thus prevented from learning a lesson from the first set of circumstances as well as from the second set. To be blessed with progress even after being guilty of arrogance is very dangerous. It is a sign of the fact that God has decided to catch hold of the culprit at the point where he has become most fearless of God’s punishment. The real reward of a God-fearing life will come in the Hereafter. However, if God wishes, He gives the initial reward in this world also in the shape of well-being and respect.

According to the tradition (of the Prophet), a believer goes on getting into difficulties until he becomes clear of sins, and a hypocrite is like a donkey who does not know why his owner has tied him and why he has let him loose. (Tafsir ibn Kathir). God imposes various types of difficulties on man so that his heart may soften, he may give up his reliance on anything other than God, and his haughtiness—which prevents him from accepting the Truth from outside may diminish. In this way, by God’s arrangements, the psychology of shortcomings and helplessness is instilled in man, so that he may give his full attention to the voice of Truth. The general public as well as the prophet’s addressees undergo this treatment. However, according to the usual procedure of God, all this happens garbed in doubt. For example, if some trouble affects somebody, it does so as part of the cause-and-effect process. This sort of occurrence poses a test for many people. They ignore it, saying that this was bound to happen and it happened. When they do not learn a lesson from these difficulties, God changes their conditions for the better. Now such people are pushed towards more severe misunderstandings. They firmly believe this to be a part of the occurrences of the time; a matter of the usual ups and downs which people are subjected to, under normal conditions; otherwise they would not have experienced good days after bad days. So they are thus prevented from learning a lesson from the first set of circumstances as well as from the second set. To be blessed with progress even after being guilty of arrogance is very dangerous. It is a sign of the fact that God has decided to catch hold of the culprit at the point where he has become most fearless of God’s punishment. The real reward of a God-fearing life will come in the Hereafter. However, if God wishes, He gives the initial reward in this world also in the shape of well-being and respect.

According to the tradition (of the Prophet), a believer goes on getting into difficulties until he becomes clear of sins, and a hypocrite is like a donkey who does not know why his owner has tied him and why he has let him loose. (Tafsir ibn Kathir). God imposes various types of difficulties on man so that his heart may soften, he may give up his reliance on anything other than God, and his haughtiness—which prevents him from accepting the Truth from outside may diminish. In this way, by God’s arrangements, the psychology of shortcomings and helplessness is instilled in man, so that he may give his full attention to the voice of Truth. The general public as well as the prophet’s addressees undergo this treatment. However, according to the usual procedure of God, all this happens garbed in doubt. For example, if some trouble affects somebody, it does so as part of the cause-and-effect process. This sort of occurrence poses a test for many people. They ignore it, saying that this was bound to happen and it happened. When they do not learn a lesson from these difficulties, God changes their conditions for the better. Now such people are pushed towards more severe misunderstandings. They firmly believe this to be a part of the occurrences of the time; a matter of the usual ups and downs which people are subjected to, under normal conditions; otherwise they would not have experienced good days after bad days. So they are thus prevented from learning a lesson from the first set of circumstances as well as from the second set. To be blessed with progress even after being guilty of arrogance is very dangerous. It is a sign of the fact that God has decided to catch hold of the culprit at the point where he has become most fearless of God’s punishment. The real reward of a God-fearing life will come in the Hereafter. However, if God wishes, He gives the initial reward in this world also in the shape of well-being and respect.

It happens again and again that a community reaches a high level of honour and prosperity and thereafter faces decline. It is removed from the scene and in its place another community occupies the same position of honour and prosperity that the former community enjoyed. This event is a sign of God, which should remind man of His supremacy. It shows that all the strings controlling gains and losses are in the hands of a supreme being. He may award good fortune to one or take it away from another. Making use of the powers of observation and thinking bestowed on him by God, man can easily understand these facts. He will realise that had the real source of power not been in other hands, the group which once managed to attain ascendancy would never have allowed others to replace it. If man can learn such lessons, he will find divine nourishment in the rise and fall of nations. But whenever a community falls from grace and another community rises in its place, the members of the rising community entertain the misunderstanding that whatever happened to the previous community was the fate particular to that community, and that it was never going to happen to them.

It happens again and again that a community reaches a high level of honour and prosperity and thereafter faces decline. It is removed from the scene and in its place another community occupies the same position of honour and prosperity that the former community enjoyed. This event is a sign of God, which should remind man of His supremacy. It shows that all the strings controlling gains and losses are in the hands of a supreme being. He may award good fortune to one or take it away from another. Making use of the powers of observation and thinking bestowed on him by God, man can easily understand these facts. He will realise that had the real source of power not been in other hands, the group which once managed to attain ascendancy would never have allowed others to replace it. If man can learn such lessons, he will find divine nourishment in the rise and fall of nations. But whenever a community falls from grace and another community rises in its place, the members of the rising community entertain the misunderstanding that whatever happened to the previous community was the fate particular to that community, and that it was never going to happen to them.

It happens again and again that a community reaches a high level of honour and prosperity and thereafter faces decline. It is removed from the scene and in its place another community occupies the same position of honour and prosperity that the former community enjoyed. This event is a sign of God, which should remind man of His supremacy. It shows that all the strings controlling gains and losses are in the hands of a supreme being. He may award good fortune to one or take it away from another. Making use of the powers of observation and thinking bestowed on him by God, man can easily understand these facts. He will realise that had the real source of power not been in other hands, the group which once managed to attain ascendancy would never have allowed others to replace it. If man can learn such lessons, he will find divine nourishment in the rise and fall of nations. But whenever a community falls from grace and another community rises in its place, the members of the rising community entertain the misunderstanding that whatever happened to the previous community was the fate particular to that community, and that it was never going to happen to them.

It happens again and again that a community reaches a high level of honour and prosperity and thereafter faces decline. It is removed from the scene and in its place another community occupies the same position of honour and prosperity that the former community enjoyed. This event is a sign of God, which should remind man of His supremacy. It shows that all the strings controlling gains and losses are in the hands of a supreme being. He may award good fortune to one or take it away from another. Making use of the powers of observation and thinking bestowed on him by God, man can easily understand these facts. He will realise that had the real source of power not been in other hands, the group which once managed to attain ascendancy would never have allowed others to replace it. If man can learn such lessons, he will find divine nourishment in the rise and fall of nations. But whenever a community falls from grace and another community rises in its place, the members of the rising community entertain the misunderstanding that whatever happened to the previous community was the fate particular to that community, and that it was never going to happen to them.

It happens again and again that a community reaches a high level of honour and prosperity and thereafter faces decline. It is removed from the scene and in its place another community occupies the same position of honour and prosperity that the former community enjoyed. This event is a sign of God, which should remind man of His supremacy. It shows that all the strings controlling gains and losses are in the hands of a supreme being. He may award good fortune to one or take it away from another. Making use of the powers of observation and thinking bestowed on him by God, man can easily understand these facts. He will realise that had the real source of power not been in other hands, the group which once managed to attain ascendancy would never have allowed others to replace it. If man can learn such lessons, he will find divine nourishment in the rise and fall of nations. But whenever a community falls from grace and another community rises in its place, the members of the rising community entertain the misunderstanding that whatever happened to the previous community was the fate particular to that community, and that it was never going to happen to them.