9. At-Tawba

But this idea of the polytheists was absolutely wrong. They were making the mistake of comparing the outward appearances of things with the realities. Supplying drinking water to the visitors of the Sacred Mosque; cleaning the Mosque and lighting it; covering the Ka‘bah, attending to its floor and walls—all these are outward, showy deeds. How can they be equal to the deeds of a man who discovers God and spends the rest of his life caring about the Hereafter; who dedicates his life and property to God; who denies all other greatness and makes God his great one? The real discoverers of Truth are not those who discover it at the meaningless level of outward show, but those who are attached to Truth at the level of self-sacrifice and not simply at the level of superficial exhibitionism. There are two types of attachment: one is to ritual, in which a man performs deeds of a showy nature, but does not offer himself or his wealth for the cause of God. The other is one in which a man is so serious about his faith that if he is required to renounce anything for its sake, he does so willingly, and whatever he is required to give, he gives willingly. One who evinces the second kind of attachment will, after death, be blessed by God with great munificence.

But this idea of the polytheists was absolutely wrong. They were making the mistake of comparing the outward appearances of things with the realities. Supplying drinking water to the visitors of the Sacred Mosque; cleaning the Mosque and lighting it; covering the Ka‘bah, attending to its floor and walls—all these are outward, showy deeds. How can they be equal to the deeds of a man who discovers God and spends the rest of his life caring about the Hereafter; who dedicates his life and property to God; who denies all other greatness and makes God his great one? The real discoverers of Truth are not those who discover it at the meaningless level of outward show, but those who are attached to Truth at the level of self-sacrifice and not simply at the level of superficial exhibitionism. There are two types of attachment: one is to ritual, in which a man performs deeds of a showy nature, but does not offer himself or his wealth for the cause of God. The other is one in which a man is so serious about his faith that if he is required to renounce anything for its sake, he does so willingly, and whatever he is required to give, he gives willingly. One who evinces the second kind of attachment will, after death, be blessed by God with great munificence.

For human beings, their families, their wealth and their economic interests have the greatest value. They consider these things the most important. They prefer these things to all other things and sacrifice their all for them. This sort of life is of the worldly type, and whatever the worldly person receives, he receives only in this world. There is nothing for him in the eternal life after death. As opposed to this, the other type of life is that in which a man gives the greatest importance to God, His Prophet and to efforts for the cause of God and, for the sake of these things, he is ready to leave everything else. It is the latter which is the God-worshipping life and for God’s worshippers, the doors of paradise will remain eternally open in the Hereafter. The first sort of life is based on worldly connections and worldly interests. The second is based on Faith. Whatever a man chooses to adopt as the basis of his life, it is always at the cost of having to leave all other things for its sake; he has to develop relations with some people and break off relations with others. Certain losses are absolutely unbearable to him and at the risk of his life and at the cost of the greater part of his wealth, he tries to avert them, but as regards certain other losses, he is not perturbed by their occurrence. Those who invest their all in worldly affairs, achieve worldly success. Similarly, the Hereafter will be the achievement of those who sacrifice everything else for its sake. Giving up a materially advantageous thing in favour of something apparently less advantageous is a serious matter. So much so that a man’s belief or disbelief comes to be determined on that basis. Just as in this world of God, open infidels are not destined to succeed, similarly there is no possibility of success for those who make tall claims of faith, but when faced with a critical situation, give preference to the world-oriented way. If such claimants of faith have any misconceptions about themselves, they will come to know of their fate at the time God pronounces His verdict.

Reliance on oneself develops sort of a haughtiness in a man which results in carelessness of external facts. He falls short in carrying out disciplinary regulations. Due to overweening self-confidence, he starts acting in an unrealistic manner, the result of which is necessarily defeat in this world of cause and effect. As opposed to this, having confidence in God is reliance on the greatest power. This develops humility in a man; he becomes extremely realistic; and realism is the key to all success.

In Ramadan of the year 8 Hijrah, the Muslims successfully subdued the Quraysh and conquered Makkah. This was a virtually bloodless entry into Makkah. But in the very next month of Shawwal of the year 8 Hijrah, they were defeated by the polytheistic tribes of Hawazin and Thaqif, though at the conquest of Makkah, the number of Muslims was only ten thousand, while in the battle against the Hawazin and the Thaqif their number was twelve thousand. The reason for this was that when the Muslims had marched against the Quraysh, they had set out simply relying on God. But while proceeding to fight against the Hawazin and the Thaqif, they were proud of the fact that they were the conquerors of Makkah; that they had an army of twelve thousand men; that now nobody could defeat them. They were successful when they had reposed confidence in God; when they reposed confidence in themselves, they had to face defeat. Reliance on oneself develops a sort of a haughtiness in a man which results in carelessness of external facts. He falls short in carrying out disciplinary regulations. Due to overweening self-confidence, he starts acting in an unrealistic manner, the result of which is necessarily defeat in this world of cause and effect. As opposed to this, having confidence in God is reliance on the greatest power. This develops humility in a man; he becomes extremely realistic; and realism is the key to all success.

In Ramadan of the year 8 Hijrah, the Muslims successfully subdued the Quraysh and conquered Makkah. This was a virtually bloodless entry into Makkah. But in the very next month of Shawwal of the year 8 Hijrah, they were defeated by the polytheistic tribes of Hawazin and Thaqif, though at the conquest of Makkah, the number of Muslims was only ten thousand, while in the battle against the Hawazin and the Thaqif their number was twelve thousand. The reason for this was that when the Muslims had marched against the Quraysh, they had set out simply relying on God. But while proceeding to fight against the Hawazin and the Thaqif, they were proud of the fact that they were the conquerors of Makkah; that they had an army of twelve thousand men; that now nobody could defeat them. They were successful when they had reposed confidence in God; when they reposed confidence in themselves, they had to face defeat. Reliance on oneself develops a sort of a haughtiness in a man which results in carelessness of external facts. He falls short in carrying out disciplinary regulations. Due to overweening self-confidence, he starts acting in an unrealistic manner, the result of which is necessarily defeat in this world of cause and effect. As opposed to this, having confidence in God is reliance on the greatest power. This develops humility in a man; he becomes extremely realistic; and realism is the key to all success.

Initially, when the entry of polytheists into the Sacred Mosque of Makkah was banned, Muslims were worried because, Arabia being a non-agricultural country, its economy was based on trade and commerce, and trade is based on mutually harmonious relations. Muslims thought that when the entry of polytheists into the Sacred Mosque ended, trade relations with them would also come to an end. But they did not keep in view the possibility that these very polytheists might soon embrace Islam. And that is exactly what happened. Due to the general acceptance of Islam by Arabs, trade activities were restored in a new form. Moreover, the result of this initial sacrifice was that finally Islam became an international religion. The doors of their economy, which seemed to be closed at a local level, were opened at a universal level.

If faith is active and alive, man attributes every event to God. He is able to understand a thing only when he forms an opinion about it with reference to God. He appreciates and understands the sweet smell of a flower when he finds the fragrance of God in it. He discovers the sum only when he comes to know of its donor. Every greatness seems to him the blessing of God. Every good reminds him of God’s Grace. Contrary to this, if man’s relation with God is reduced to the stage of a feeble belief, then God will become an unknown entity in the sphere of his active consciousness; he will start imagining God on the pattern of the visible things of the world. Those of feeble belief start seeing their Creator in the same way as they see the things of the world known to them. They bring the Creator down to the level of the created ones. This was the condition of the ancient Jews and the Christians during the period of their deviation from the true faith. At that time the concept of God they had was relegated to the position of a flimsy belief. Accordingly they started giving to their great ones and saints the status which they should have given to the All Knowing God, Who is Aware of the Unseen. They saw that the Greek and Roman nations had made the sun their god and had presumed the existence of a son of that god. So, they too felt that this was the highest ranking title for their great ones. They made their own interpretation of the words ab (father) and ibn (son) appearing in their Holy Books and started calling God ‘the father’ and each of their prophets His ‘son,’ though the fact is that God is One and only One; He is incomparable; He alone deserves to be accepted as the Greatest and most worthy of being worshipped.

If faith is active and alive, man attributes every event to God. He is able to understand a thing only when he forms an opinion about it with reference to God. He appreciates and understands the sweet smell of a flower when he finds the fragrance of God in it. He discovers the sum only when he comes to know of its donor. Every greatness seems to him the blessing of God. Every good reminds him of God’s Grace. Contrary to this, if man’s relation with God is reduced to the stage of a feeble belief, then God will become an unknown entity in the sphere of his active consciousness; he will start imagining God on the pattern of the visible things of the world. Those of feeble belief start seeing their Creator in the same way as they see the things of the world known to them. They bring the Creator down to the level of the created ones. This was the condition of the ancient Jews and the Christians during the period of their deviation from the true faith. At that time the concept of God they had was relegated to the position of a flimsy belief. Accordingly they started giving to their great ones and saints the status which they should have given to the All Knowing God, Who is Aware of the Unseen. They saw that the Greek and Roman nations had made the sun their god and had presumed the existence of a son of that god. So, they too felt that this was the highest ranking title for their great ones. They made their own interpretation of the words ab (father) and ibn (son) appearing in their Holy Books and started calling God ‘the father’ and each of their prophets His ‘son,’ though the fact is that God is One and only One; He is incomparable; He alone deserves to be accepted as the Greatest and most worthy of being worshipped.