In the Shade of the Qur'an by Sayyid Qutb

In this new round or wave, an address is made to the Prophet (peace be upon him). It begins with God, limitless is He in His glory, consoling and comforting him.

He, honest and truthful, was particularly distressed ‘ at the charges of falsehood that were laid at his door. Here, he is told by his Lord that they never thought him a liar, but used this as a ploy to maintain their stubborn denial of God’s signs and their rejection of the faith. He is also comforted with the information that earlier messengers of God were similarly accused of falsehood and subjected to abuse, and that they endured all this with patience. Eventually, they were given God’s help to triumph, in accordance with the consistent laws He has set in operation. When the comforting and reassurance are over, the address makes clear the essential truth concerning God’s message. It moves according to God’s will and His laws. Its advocates have nothing to do with it other than to convey it to people and to make it clear. Other than that, it is God who decides what happens to it. Hence, its advocates, including the Prophet himself, have nothing to decide other than to continue with their task, without hastening its moves or suggesting anything to God. They are not to pay any attention to people’s suggestions concerning its strategy, the proofs that may be given of its truth or the miracles needed to prove it. The point is that those who are alive and have the power of hearing will respond. On the other hand, those whose hearts are dead will not. The ultimate decision belongs to God: He may give people life or keep them dead until they return to Him on the Day of Judgement.

The people the Prophet was addressing demanded a miracle like the ones granted earlier prophets. God is certainly able to give them such a miracle, but He, in His wisdom, does not wish to do so. If the Prophet is so distressed by their turning away, then let him try, by his own human effort, to bring them such a miracle. God is the Creator of all living creatures, and He knows all their secrets and the differences in their nature. He leaves those human beings who reject His message to wander in the deep darkness, deaf and dumb. He leaves some to go astray and guides others to the truth, according to His infallible knowledge of His different creatures.

We know too well that what they say grieves you. Yet it is not you that they charge with falsehood; but it is God’s revelations that the wrongdoers deny. (Verse 33)

The pagan Arabs with their idolatrous beliefs, particularly those of them who took upon themselves the unworthy task of opposing the message of Islam, had no doubt that Muĥammad (peace be upon him) was telling the truth. They have known him to be truthful and honest. They knew that he had never told a lie before starting to convey God’s message. Those who were most hardened in their opposition to him did not doubt the truthfulness of his message either. They knew that the Qur’ān could not have been authored by a human being. They, nevertheless, stubbornly refused to declare their belief or to embrace a new faith. Their reason for rejecting it was not that they could not believe the Prophet; rather, it was their realisation that his message threatened their positions and influence. Hence, they decided to deny God’s revelations and to stick to their idolatrous beliefs. There are numerous reports that clearly state the reasons behind the Quraysh’s attitude. We will now look at just a few of these.

Ibn Isĥāq reports on the authority of al-Zuhrī that three of the Quraysh’s notables, namely, Abū Sufyān, Abū Jahl and al-Akhnas ibn Sharīq, protected by the cover of darkness, took their separate ways to listen to God’s Messenger as he recited the Qur’ān during his night worship. They sat just outside his house, listening to his recitation of the Qur’ān. Each was on his own, thinking that no one would know about his action. One can only assume that their motivation was either to try to judge Muĥammad’s message objectively, or to learn the truth about it, or to listen to the superb literary style of the Qur’ān. As the day began to break, each of them returned the way they had come such that their clandestine activities would not be found out.

However, their individual plans were foiled when the three happened, by chance, to meet with each other. There was no need to ask each other what they were doing.

There was only one reason for their presence there at that particular time. Therefore, they counselled each other against such action: “Should some of your followers see you”, one of them said, you would stir doubts in their minds”.

The following night they did the same, and once again they met at the break of day. Again they counselled each other against their irresponsible’ action.

Nevertheless, the third night each of them again went to sit outside the Prophet’s home and listen to the Qur’ān. When they met in the morning, they were ashamed of themselves. One of them suggested that they should give each other their word of honour not to come again. They did so before going home.

Later that morning al-Akhnas ibn Sharīq went to see Abū Sufyān in his home. He asked him what he thought about what he had heard Muĥammad reciting. Abū Sufyān said: “I heard things which I know and recognize to be true, but I also heard things whose nature I cannot understand.” Al-Akhnas said that he felt the same. He then left and went to Abū Jahl’s home to put the same question to him.

Abū Jahl’s answer was totally different. For once, he was candid and honest with himself and his interlocutor:

I will tell you about what I heard! We have competed with the clan of `Abd Manāf for honours: they fed the poor, and we did the same; they provided generous support to those who needed it and we did the same. When we were together on the same level, like two racehorses running neck and neck, they said that one of their number was a Prophet receiving revelations from on high! When can we attain such an honour? By God, we shall never believe in him. 5

Commenting on the Qur’ānic verse, “We know too well that what they say grieves you.

Yet it is not you that they charge with falsehood; but it is Gods revelations that the wrongdoers deny” (Verse 33), al- Ţabarī quotes the following report on the authority of al-Suddī: “On the day of the Battle of Badr, al-Akhnas ibn Sharīq said to his tribesmen, the Zuhārah people, `Muĥammad is your sister’s son, and you are the ones who defend their nephew. If he is truly a Prophet, why would you fight him today? And if he is a liar, you should repel aggression against your nephew. Wait until I meet Abū al-Ĥakam, i.e. Abū Jahl. Should Muĥammad be victorious, you will return home safely, but if he is defeated, your people will do you no harm.’ [It was on that day that he was nicknamed al-Akhnas, while his real name was Ubayy.] He went to meet Abū Jahl and spoke to him in private: `Tell me about Muĥammad: is he telling the truth, or is he a liar? There is no one from the Quraysh listening to this conversation between us.’ Abū Jahl said: `By God, Muĥammad is telling the truth.

Muĥammad never told a lie in his life. But what would happen, should the descendants of Quşayy add prophethood to their other honours, such as holding the banner in war, providing water for the pilgrims, etc. What will remain for the rest of the Quraysh?’“6 All this then explains the statement made in the above verse.

In considering this report, we have to realise that this incident took place on the day of the Battle of Badr, nearly two years after the Prophet had settled in Madinah, while the sūrah and this verse are Makkan revelations, i.e. they precede this incident.

To account for this, we have to understand that commentators on the Qur’ān might report an event and cite a particular verse in connection with it, but this is not to say that the verse in question was revealed on that occasion. Rather it explains the verse in relation to life events.

The following report is given by Ibn Isĥāq in his history of the Prophet’s life: One day, as `Utbah was sitting with a group of Quraysh notables, he noticed the Prophet sitting alone close to the Ka`bah. `Utbah suggested to his friends: “Shall we go to Muĥammad and make him some offers? He may accept one or the other. If he does, we will give him that and put an end to our problem with him”.

This idea was greeted with unanimous approval. As `Utbah sat with the Prophet he addressed him: “My nephew, you know you command a position of high esteem and noble birth among us. You have brought into the life of your community something very serious indeed. You have thus caused disunity to creep into their ranks; you have belittled their ideals, ridiculed their gods and their religion and spoken ill of their forefathers. Now listen to me. I am making you some offers which I would like you to consider. You may, perhaps, find some of them acceptable.” The Prophet asked him to make his proposals, and listened attentively. `Utbah said: “My nephew, if you have started this affair hoping to make money out of it, we are all willing to give you some of our own wealth so that you would be the richest among us. If it is honour and position you want, we will make you our master and seek your advice in all matters. If it is a throne you are after, we will make you our king. If, on the other hand, you are possessed and are unable to resist what overwhelms you, we will spare no expense in seeking a medical cure for you.” When `Utbah stopped speaking, the Prophet asked him whether he had finished.

As `Utbah affirmed that he had, the Prophet asked him to listen to what he had to say. The Prophet then recited the first 38 Verses of Sūrah 41 of the Qur’ān. `Utbah listened attentively. When the Prophet had finished his recitation, he prostrated himself in humble devotion to God, before saying to `Utbah: “You have heard what I have to say and you can make up your own mind.” `Utbah left quietly and went to his people, who realized as they saw him approaching that a change had come over him. They looked up at him curiously, listening to his words: “I have heard something the like of which I have never heard in my life. It is neither poetry nor sorcery. Take up the suggestion I am making to you, and lay the blame for the outcome at my door. Leave this man alone. What I have heard from him will certainly bring about great events. Should the rest of the Arabs kill him, you would have been spared the trouble. If he wins, whatever glory he achieves will be yours.” They retorted: “He has certainly bewitched you.” He said:

“I have stated my opinion, and you can do as you wish.” 7

In his commentary on the Qur’ān, al-Baghawī reports a different ending for the above incident. He mentions that, “as the Prophet recited the opening passage of Sūrah 41, he read up to Verse 13, stating: `Should they turn their backs on you, say to them, I am warning you against a calamity like those that befell the peoples of `Ād and Thamūd.’ At this point `Utbah placed his hand on the Prophet’s mouth and appealed to him by his blood relationship with the Quraysh. He then went home and did not go out to see his people. When they spoke to him about this, he mentioned the warning he had heard from the Prophet and said: `I stopped him putting my hand on his mouth and appealed to him by our kinship. You know that Muĥammad does not lie. I feared that a calamity might befall you.’“ 8

Another incident reported by Ibn Isĥāq took place close to the pilgrimage season.

A meeting attended by a large number of Makkans and chaired, as it were, by al- Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah, defined their strategy for a defamation campaign. In his opening address, al-Walīd said: “Now that the pilgrimage season is approaching, people will start arriving from all over the place. They must have heard about your friend [meaning the Prophet]. So you had better agree what to say when you are asked about him. We must guard against having too many opinions, particularly if they are mutually contradictory.” When his audience asked his advice as to what they should say, he preferred to listen to their suggestions first. What concerned al-Walīd most was that the opinion they would come out with should take account of the fact that Muĥammad was asking people to listen to the Qur’ān, God’s message, expressed in the most beautiful language and employing the most powerful of styles. The description they would attach to Muĥammad should also account for his persuasive, eloquent argument.

Descriptions like ‘fortune-teller’, ‘madman’, ‘poet’ and `magician’ were proposed.

None was considered convincing by al-Walīd, who pointed out weaknesses in each, one after the other. He told his people that what Muĥammad said was nothing like what was said by such men. When nobody could suggest anything more plausible, they asked al-Walīd to come up with a better suggestion.

He said: “What Muĥammad says is certainly beautiful. It is like a date tree with solid roots and rich fruit. Every one of these suggestions you have made is bound to be recognized as false. The least disputable one is to claim that he is a magician who repeats magic words which make a man fall out with his father, mother, wife and clan”. They all approved of al-Walīd’s suggestion and set about preparing their propaganda campaign to make the pilgrims wary of Muĥammad and unwilling to meet him.9

Another report mentions that al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah met the Prophet once and the Prophet read him some passages of the Qur’ān. Al-Walīd seemed to have been favourably influenced by what he had heard. News of this was communicated to Abū Jahl who went straight to al-Walīd and said: “Uncle, your people are starting a collection of money for you!” Surprised, al-Walīd asked the reason for this. Abū Jahl said: “They want to give you that money because you went to Muĥammad trying to find what you may get out of him.” (Abū Jahl was making this insinuation knowing that al-Walīd would be on the defensive because his pride would not allow him to appear in this light at all.) Al-Walīd answered: “All the Quraysh are aware that I am the richest among them.” Abū Jahl then offered the following advice: “Then you should say something about him to reassure your people that you disagree with what he says and that you are fully against it.” Al-Walīd said: “What shall I say? None of you is a better judge of poetry than I.

None of you can appreciate the finer points of poetry as I do. By God, what he says has no similarity with poetry. It is sweet, fine, overpowering and cannot be excelled.” Abū Jahl said: “By God, your people will not be satisfied unless you denounce him.” Al-Walīd asked for time to think the matter over. When he had done so, he came up with the idea of describing the Qur’ān as sorcery handed down from olden times.10

There is a reference to this in the Qur’ān: “Leave Me alone [to deal] with the one whom I created alone, and to whom I have granted vast wealth and thriving children. I have made his progress smooth and easy; yet he greedily desires that I shall give him more. By no means! Because he has stubbornly denied Our revelations, I shall constrain him to endure a painful uphill climb. He reflects and meditates. Confound him how he meditates! Again, confound him how he meditates! He then looks around him, and then he frowns and glares; and in the end he turns his back in scornful pride and says: ‘This is but sorcery handed down [from olden times]. This is nothing but the word of a mere mortal!’ I shall cast him in the Fire.

Would that you knew what the Fire is like! It leaves nothing, it spares no one; it burns the skin of men. It is guarded by nineteen keepers.” (74: 11-30)

Another version of this story suggests that when al-Walīd showed signs of appreciating the Qur’ān some people in Makkah said: “If al-Walīd will desert his religion, all the Quraysh people will follow suit.” Abū Jahl then said: “I will take care of him.” He then went to him and said what we have learned of in the above reports.

When al-Walīd came up with his ill-conceived suggestion, he justified it in the following words: “It is sorcery. We all see how it causes friction between a man and his family, children and members of his household.” All these reports confirm that these unbelievers did not think that the Prophet Muĥammad (peace be upon him)

was telling them something untrue when he conveyed God’s message to them. They only persisted with their disbelief for the sort of reasons indicated in these reports and because they realized that the triumph of Muĥammad’s message meant that they would have to give up their authority which rightly belonged to God, and which they had unfairly and unjustifiably usurped. They knew their language very well and they perfectly understood the meaning of the declaration that there is no deity other than God, which is the cornerstone of the Islamic faith. They simply did not want to put that declaration into practice, because it meant an all-out rebellion against any authority, other than that of God, which aimed to regulate human life.

God certainly tells the truth when He says: “We know too well that what they say grieves you. Yet it is not you that they charge with falsehood; but it is God’s revelations that the wrongdoers deny.” The term `wrongdoers’ refers to the unbelievers, and is frequently used in the Qur’ān in this context.

Having given the Prophet this consolation, the sūrah reminds him of what happened to past messengers, some of whose history is given in the Qur’ān. They endured abuse and hardship with patience and moved along the way God had shown them until they were granted victory by God. This is, then, an assertion that meeting affliction was only natural for God’s messengers. The outcome must never be precipitated even though the advocates of the divine message may be subjected to torture, abuse, denial and other hardships: “Other messengers were charged with falsehood before your time, but they patiently endured all those charges and abuse, until Our help came to them. There is no power that can alter God’s words. You have already received some of the history of those messengers.” (Verse 34)

Advocates of God’s message have continued along the same difficult way, overcoming numerous hurdles. They move along with steady steps, opposed by wrongdoers of all sorts, rejected by those who have chosen to go astray and their followers. Harm may be inflicted on some of those advocates, pressure, torture, and death. Yet the advocates of the truth will move on, maintaining their way, undeterred. The outcome remains the same, long as it may take. At the end of the road awaits victory, granted by God: “Other messengers were charged with falsehood before your time, but they patiently endured all those charges and abuse, until Our help came to them. There is no power that can alter God’s words. You have already received some of the history of those messengers.” (Verse 34)

These are words said by God to His Messenger, Muĥammad, (peace be upon him)

to remind and console him. However, these words show the advocates of Islam who will come after the Prophet the way they have to travel and the role they have to play. Indeed, the difficulties they are to expect are held up before their eyes. They are also told what to expect at the end of the road. These verses make clear that the same rules apply to all divine messages. In fact, these messages constitute a single and integral unity. The majority of people reject the message as false and inflict hardship on its advocates who, in turn, face all this with patience and perseverance. The ultimate outcome, however, is victory, which comes at the time determined by God.

That outcome is not precipitated by the fact that honest and devoted advocates have to bear hardship and rejection, or that hardened criminals are able to inflict torment on innocent, defenceless people. Nor is it hastened by the fact that a totally dedicated advocate of faith is keen to see his people follow divine guidance, simply because he loves them and feels distressed when he sees them in their erroneous ways, knowing what punishment awaits them in the life to come. God does not hasten things because anyone of His creatures is over enthusiastic to see the end. There is simply no way that God’s words can be altered, whether they relate to the ultimate victory or the appointed time. What we have here is a statement combining seriousness and decisiveness with consolation and reassurance.

Seriousness is further heightened in order to counter what might have been entertained by God’s Messenger of a keen, kindly desire to make his people recognise guidance. It also deals with any hope he may have entertained that their request for a sign, so that they may accept God’s message, might be answered. The same desire was similarly entertained by other Muslims at the time, as later verses in this sūrah explain. This was a perfectly natural human desire. However, in order to make a final statement about the nature of this message, its method, the roles of earlier messengers and people in its promotion and progress, the Qur’ān makes this very clear delineation of the right attitude: “If you find it so distressing that they turn their backs on you, seek, if you can, a chasm to go deep into the earth or a ladder to the sky by which you may bring them a sign. Had God so willed, He would have gathered them all to (His] guidance. Do not, therefore, allow yourself to be one of the ignorant. Only those that can hear will surely answer. As for the dead, God will bring them back to life, then to Him shall they return.” (Verses 35-6)

These are majestic words, portraying an awesome scene. We cannot appreciate fully the whole idea unless we recall vividly that these are words addressed by God, the Lord of all worlds, to his noble Prophet who has shown maximum perseverance and who is one of the small number of messengers endowed with the strongest resolve. He patiently endured all that his people tried to inflict on him. He never uttered a prayer akin to that of the Prophet Noah, despite his long and arduous suffering. He is being told how God’s law works. If he finds their rejection and aversion too much to cope with and wants to bring them a miraculous sign, then he is free to do so. He may, in the process, try to find a chasm to go deep into the earth or a ladder to ascend to heaven for the purpose.

That people should follow divine guidance does not depend on their having a miraculous sign or receiving any clear proof. This was not what they found lacking in Muĥammad’s message. Had it been God’s will, he would have united them all under His guidance, either by making their nature akin to that of angels, so that they could follow proper guidance, or by directing their hearts to enable them to receive such guidance and respond to it. Alternatively, He could, if He so wished, accomplish something of a miraculous nature in the face of which they would have to give up their stubborn rejection. There are other ways and means and all of them are within God’s ability.

However, in His superior wisdom, God has created man for a particular purpose of His own, giving him certain abilities that are different from those of angels. This has meant that man should contain within himself a varying ability to receive guidance and pointers to faith and able to make different responses to them. He has a range of ability to determine his direction so that justice is maintained, as he receives reward for following guidance or punishment for his deliberate error. For this reason, God has not brought all mankind together to His guidance by a decree He promulgates. He has only commanded them to follow His guidance, and given them the ability to choose either to obey or disobey Him. At the end, everyone will have his fair reward. The Prophet is told to keep this in mind and not to ignore it: “Had God so willed, He would have gathered them all to [His] guidance. Do not, therefore, allow yourself to be one of the ignorant.” (Verse 35) What a decisive word given by way of comment on a situation which requires such a decisive finality.

This is followed by an explanation of the nature God has given to mankind, and their different attitudes to His guidance which lacks no proof: “Only those that can hear will surely answer. As for the dead, God will bring them back to life, then to Him shall they return.” (Verse 36)

In their attitude to the truth sent down by God from on high and preached by His Messenger, people can be divided into two groups: one who are alive, opening up their receptive faculties and responding to divine guidance. They find such guidance to be strong, clear, consistent with human nature and easily heard. Hence, there is no problem with responding to it: “Only those that can hear will surely answer.” (Verse 36)

The other group are dead, their nature out of order and, as such, they cannot listen or respond. They do not lack any evidence of the truth, because the evidence is inherent in it. Once it touches human nature, response is certain. What this group actually lack is to have their nature awakened and their responses activated. The Prophet can do nothing to such people. Proofs have no use for them. Their case is left to God. He may raise them up if they show that they deserve to be brought to life. By the same token, however, He may not raise them up at all in this life. He may leave them dead despite their moving about in this world, until they return to Him in the hereafter: “As for the dead, God will bring them back to life, then to Him they shall return.” (Verse 36)

This is, then, the full explanation of responding to guidance or rejecting it. It sets out all the issues clearly, outlining the role of God’s Messenger and leaving the ultimate decision to God who accomplishes what He wills.

The sūrah then refers to the unbelievers’ request that a sign in the form of something supernatural be sent down to the Prophet. It points out that such a request betrays ignorance of God’s law and the mercy He shows them by not responding to their request. Were they to continue with their rejection after a supernatural sign is given them, they would be destroyed.

What they requested was a physical miracle such as those given to earlier messengers. They were not satisfied with the permanent sign embodied in the Qur’ān, which heralds the ultimate stage of mankind’s maturity. It makes a final address to man’s mature mind. Moreover, its significance is not limited to the generation that sees it, as is the case with material miracles; its miraculous message will continue to address the human intellect until the Day of Judgement.

As they made their requests for a miracle, they overlooked the divine law which brought immediate punishment to those who continued to deny divine messages after a miraculous sign had been given them. They simply did not appreciate God’s kindness by not responding to their request, when He knew that they would continue to deny Him, as earlier people had done. That would have sealed their fate.

God wanted to give them an extended chance to believe in Him. Those who continue to reject faith may have children who grow up as believers. Needless to say, they did not thank God for His grace in giving them such an extended chance.

The sūrah mentions their request and comments that most of them do not know what it entails or the reason for its rejection. It states that God is certainly able to give them the miraculous sign they want, but His wisdom and grace have stopped the woeful doom that is certain to follow: “They say: ‘Why has no sign been sent down to him from his Lord?’ Say: God is well able to send down any sign, but most of them are devoid of knowledge.” (Verse 37)

The Qur’ān then begins another gentle approach to awaken their senses, inviting them to reflect on the numerous pointers to faith which they see all around them:

“There is not an animal that walks on earth and no bird that flies on its wings but are communities like your own. No single thing have We left out of the book. Then to their Lord shall they all be gathered.” (Verse 38)

Human beings are not the only residents of this universe, so as to consider that they come into existence by sheer coincidence, or that human life is meaningless.

There are numerous creatures in the world and they all have their lives regulated in a way that indicates careful planning and elaborate design. Moreover, they all confirm the oneness of the Creator and the consistency of His law of creation.

All animals that walk on earth, be they insects, reptiles, or vertebrates and all flying creatures, including every winged insect or bird, and indeed every living creature, belong to a community which shares certain characteristics and a particular way of life, just as human beings do. God has not left any type of His creation without providing it with an elaborate plan to organize its existence and without taking account of what it does with its life. At the end, all creatures are gathered to their Lord for judgement.

This short verse, which makes an all-important statement about life and the living, has a strong effect on our hearts as it describes God’s complete supervision, elaborate planning, total knowledge and superior power. We cannot elaborate here on each of these aspects, because such elaboration is beyond the scope of this work. What we need to say is that directing our attentions to the system of creation, God’s management and knowledge of them and His ultimate gathering of them to Himself, is much greater than providing physically miraculous signs, seen only by one isolated generation.

This round concludes with a statement that God’s will and law remain operative when people choose either to follow His guidance or to go astray: “Those who deny Our revelations are deaf and dumb, groping along in darkness. Whomever God wills, He lets go astray; and whomever He wills, He guides along a straight path.” (Verse 39)

This is indeed a reiteration in a new form, using a different scene, of what has been stated earlier in this passage concerning the fact that only those who listen attentively will respond, while those who are dead can make no response. Those who deny God’s signs which are present all over the universe, and who also deny God’s revelations, do so because their receptive faculties have been knocked out of order.

They are deaf, unable to hear; dumb, unable to speak; groping in total darkness, unable to see. This is not a description of their physical status, because they indeed have eyes, ears and mouths. It is rather that their faculty of comprehension is not working, which makes their senses of no value, as if they cannot receive or transmit any signal. This is an apt description because God’s revelations have their own inherent effect, if they are only properly received. Only a person whose nature has been corrupted turns away from them because he is no longer able to benefit by guidance or rise to the higher level of life which divine revelations promote.

God’s will is seen to work behind all this. It is God’s will which has determined that this particular species of creation, known as man, has the dual ability to follow guidance or go astray, according to his own free choice, not as a result of any compulsion. This is how God lets whomever He wills go astray and how He helps whomever He wills follow the straight path. His will helps everyone who strives to implement divine guidance, while it abandons and lets go astray anyone who stubbornly rejects guidance. It does no injustice to anyone.

A human being may follow guidance or may allow himself to go astray: both possibilities are part of his nature. Both directions have been created by God’s will.

Similarly, the consequences that follow upon a person’s choice to follow one way or the other are also determined by God’s will which is active, absolute. Reckoning, judgement and reward are based on man’s choice of the course he follows. That choice is of his own making, although the ability to choose either has been planted in him by God’s will.

Having looked at this passage, we need to take a short pause to point out the extent of the directives it contains to all advocates of God’s message throughout all generations. These directives transcend the historical occasion which required them to be issued. They delineate a system of advocating God’s faith that applies to all advocates, free of all constraints of time and place. We cannot, in this commentary, speak about this system in detail. We will only indicate its main features.

The road the advocates of Islam have to follow is tough and full of hardship.

Although God will undoubtedly grant victory to the truth, this victory comes at the time God, in His wisdom, chooses. Moreover, God keeps the timing of this victory to Himself, giving no information of it to anyone, not even His Messenger. The hardship along this road has two basic sources. The first is the denial and rejection with which the message of Islam is confronted at the beginning, as well as the harm inflicted on its advocates. The second source is the natural human desire felt by every advocate to guide people to the truth he himself has experienced, his enthusiasm to support the truth and his desire to see it victorious. Contending with this desire is no less difficult than facing up to denial, rejection and the infliction of harm.

We see in this passage how the Qur’ān tackles both aspects. It states that those who reject this faith and try to suppress it know full well that they are only called upon to follow the truth. They realise that the Messenger who conveys it to mankind tells the truth. Nevertheless, they refuse to respond. Indeed they persist, for certain ulterior motives, in their stubborn rejection. They realize that this truth has an intrinsic evidence to support it: it addresses human nature which responds to it positively once it is alive and receptive: “Only those that can hear will surely answer.” (Verse 36) Those, on the other hand, who oppose the truth have dead hearts and they themselves are “deaf and dumb, groping along in darkness”. (Verse 39) The Messenger cannot make those who are dead or deaf hear. An advocate of the truth is not required to bring the dead back to life. This is something only God can do. On the other hand, God is certain to grant victory to His message. But that victory comes at the right time, according to God’s law and by His will. God’s law cannot be precipitated or changed with regard either to the certainty of ultimate victory, or to its timing. God does not hasten things simply because the advocates of His message, or even His messengers are made to endure rejection, harm and suffering. Indeed, an advocate of God’s cause is required to submit himself to God’s will, without trying to precipitate it. He is also required to show patience in the face of adversity and to demonstrate his certainty of the ultimate victory.

The Qur’ān also defines the role of God’s Messenger, as also successive generations of advocates of Islam. All that is required of them is to convey God’s message and to follow the road God has chosen for them, despite the hardships they may have to face. People’s responses to the same are beyond their terms of reference.

People follow guidance or error in accordance with a divine law that will never change, even to accommodate God’s Messenger’s desire to get some of those whom he loves to follow the guidance he brings them from God. Nor will this law change as a result of his distress at what is done by those whom he must confront. His own person is not considered here. He will not be accountable for the number of those who follow guidance as a result of his efforts. He is judged on the basis of his efforts and his obedience of his instructions. What happens to people afterwards is determined by their Lord: “Whomever God wills, He lets go astray; and whomever He wills, He guides along a straight path.” (Verse 39) “Had God so willed, He would have gathered them all to [His] guidance. Do not, therefore, allow yourself to be one of the ignorant.” (Verse 35)

As we have already explained, an advocate of God’s message may not act on the suggestions of people whom he addresses nor can he force the divine method. He must not try to adapt Islam to his own liking. The unbelievers used to request miracles, as was expected at their time. Such requests are mentioned in several places in this sūrah and in other sūrahs as well: “They say: ‘Why has not an angel been sent down to him?’“ (Verse 8) “They say: ‘Why has no sign been sent down to him from his Lord?’“ (Verse 37) “They swear by God most solemnly that if a miracle be shown to them they would believe in it.” (Verse 109)

In other sūrahs we have even more amazing suggestions: “They say: ‘We shall not believe in you till you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth, or [till] you have a garden of date trees and vines, and you cause running waters to flow through it, or till you cause the sky to fall upon us in pieces, as you have threatened, or till you bring God and the angels face to face before us, or till you have a house of gold, or you ascend to heaven. Indeed we shall not believe in your ascent to heaven until you bring a book for us to read.’’’ (17: 90- 3) “Yet they say: ‘What sort of messenger is this [man] who eats food and goes about in the market place? Why has not an angel been sent down to him, to act as a warner together with him? Or, [why has not] a treasure been granted to him? Or, he should at least have a garden, so that he could eat from its fruits.’’’ (25: 7-8)

The Qur’ānic directive in this passage makes it clear to God’s Messenger and the believers that they must not entertain any desire to have a miraculous sign given to them, regardless of its type. The Prophet is told in plain terms: “If you find it so distressing that they turn their backs on you, seek, if you can, a chasm to go deep into the earth or a ladder to the sky by which you may bring them a sign. Had God so willed, He would have gathered them all to [His] guidance. Do not, therefore, allow yourself to be one of the ignorant. Only those that can hear will surely answer. As for the dead, God will bring them back to life, then to Him shall they return.” (Verses 35-6) Those believers who entertained the desire to have the unbelievers’ request for a sign granted, when those unbelievers vowed that they would certainly believe once they saw such a sign, have been told: “Miracles are in the power of God alone. How can you tell that even if one is shown to them, they may still not believe? We will turn their hearts and eyes away [from the truth] since they did not believe in it the first time. We shall leave them to blunder about in their overweening arrogance.” (Verses 109-10) The believers should know that those who deny the truth do not lack a sign nor is it true that they cannot find evidence to support the truth. The believers also know that this religion follows a set pattern which does not change. It is far too sublime to modify its methods in accordance with the desires of those who make whatever suggestions come into their heads.

This leads us to the wider implication of this Qur’ānic directive which is not limited to any particular period of time, or concerned with a particular incident or suggestion. Times change, and so do people’s desires and suggestions. The advocates of the divine faith must not allow themselves to be swayed by people’s desires.

Indeed, it is the tendency to respond to other people’s suggestions that makes some of the advocates of Islam in our time try to shape the Islamic faith into a theory similar to man-made ones. These, as we know, are shown, with the passage of time, to be full of defects and contradictions. It is the same desire which makes some advocates of Islam try to fashion the Islamic system into a theoretical system or draft laws regulating certain situations of modern jāhiliyyah that have nothing to do with Islam. They do this in order to counter what people say about Islam to the effect that it is merely a faith that has nothing to do with the practical affairs of society. Some of the advocates of Islam try to provide people with such theoretical drafts while the people themselves continue to follow their own ways, unwilling to implement God’s law or abide by it. All such attempts are contemptible and must not be entertained by any advocate of Islam.

Even more contemptible is the attempt of those who try to impart certain colours to Islam because they happen to be popular at a particular period of time, such as describing Islam as socialist or democratic, etc. They think that they are doing Islam a service by donning it with such colours. Socialism is a man-made economic and social doctrine. Like any other such system, whether it be democracy or whatever, it may be right or it may be wrong in its details. Islam is a way of life that includes an ideological concept and economic, social and executive systems. It is made by God and, as such, is free of all defects. How much of a true Muslim is the person who seeks to justify God’s system by showing it as akin to human systems, or who seeks to make God acceptable to people by endorsing their statements?

All that the Arab idolaters did in their ignorant days was that they took for their patrons certain creatures hoping that the latter could win them favour with God:

“And yet they who take for their protectors other beings beside Him, say: ‘We worship them for no other reason than that they bring us nearer to God.’“ (39: 3) This manner of seeking favour for oneself with God by being patronized by some of His servants is described in the Qur’ān as idolatrous. What description would then fit those who are guilty of a much more ghastly practice as they try to win favour for God, limitless is He in His glory, with His servants by associating His message with a man-made doctrine or code of practice?

Islam has its own distinctive characteristics while socialism and democracy are what they are. Islam is a code of living devised by God and it admits no title or description other than that given to it by God Himself. Socialism and democracy are man-made systems based on human experience. If people want to choose them, then they must be fully aware of the basis of their choice. A believer who advocates the implementation of the faith chosen by God must never allow himself to yield to the temptation of anything that happens to be temporarily fashionable, deluding himself that he is doing the divine faith a favour.

I would like to put a question to those whose faith has sunk so low in their valuation and who have no true understanding of the Divine Being. If you present Islam to people today associating it with socialism and democracy because these are fashionable trends in this present time, you should remember that capitalism was, for a period of time, people’s favourite system when it replaced the feudal system.

Similarly, there were periods of time when absolute power was a desirable pattern of government, particularly when the objective was the unification of small provinces into a national set-up as happened in the cases of Germany and Italy under Bismark and Mazzini. Only time will tell what sort of social system and method of government will be preferred in the future. So, what sort of colour will you be giving Islam tomorrow in order to present it to people in the guise they like most?

It is no coincidence that the Qur’ānic directives make it clear that the advocates of Islam must think highly of their faith and refuse to consider futile suggestions. They must not try to delude themselves and present this faith to people under any name or description which does not belong to it, or to give it any method other than its own.

God has no need of anyone. Those who do not respond to Islam by way of submitting themselves to God alone are not needed by this faith, nor does God have any need of anyone, be he obedient or disobedient to Him.

Moreover, this religion has its own distinctive characteristics and constituent elements which God wants to prevail in human society. Similarly, it has its own distinctive method of operation and its particular style of addressing human nature.

The One who bestowed this religion from on high and gave it its distinctive characteristics and constituent elements, as well as its method of operation, is the One who has created man and who knows what man’s innermost soul whispers within him. All glory and praise be to Him.

In this passage, we have one of the various ways in which the Qur’ān addresses human nature. It establishes a link between human nature and the existence of the universe, leaving the latter to work its full inspiration on it. God knows that when such inspiration, profound and strong as it is, touches human nature it will certainly respond: “Only those that can hear will surely answer.” (Verse 36)

The pattern which we have in this passage begins in this way: “They say: ‘Why has no sign been sent down to him from his Lord?’ Say: God is well able to send down any sign, but most of them are devoid of knowledge.” (Verse 37) This verse reports what is said by those who denied God’s revelations and demanded a miracle which would have had a temporary effect on their own generation. It then refers to the destruction which would have followed, had the suggestion been acted upon. God is certainly well able to accomplish any miracle, but it is the bestowing of His mercy that prevents it. It is His wisdom that precludes acting on their suggestion. Then, suddenly, their attention is made to turn from their little world to the wide expanse of the universe with all the great signs which they see in the universe around them and which are far greater than the one they demanded. The signs in the universe are permanent, available for all generations to behold: “There is not an animal that walks on earth and no bird that flies on its wings but are communities like your own. No single thing have We left out of the book. Then to their Lord shall they all be gathered.” (Verse 38)

This is a great fact which at that time, when humanity had not developed and regulated its branches of science, they could understand by mere observation alone.

They could see animals, birds and insects grouping in communities, each of which has its own characteristics and rules. As human knowledge develops, this fact has greater application, but human knowledge cannot add to its basis. Relevant to it, however, is the fact that God’s knowledge is absolute and total and it is He who manages everything in the universe. The facts that people can observe around them testify to the great truism of God’s oneness and His Lordship over all the universe.

Could the physical miracle they demanded provide more than that? They have the great miracle of creation in front of them. They see its manifestations and effects in every direction they turn.

In this particular example, the Qur’ānic method presents human nature neither with theoretical or dialectic argument, nor any material or logical theory. It only puts it face to face with practical existence, what is perceptible of it and what is imperceptible. It then invites human nature to react to it and respond to its inspiration within a well-defined and regulated system, so that it does not lose its way.

It then provides the following comment on the attitudes of those who deny such magnificent signs; “Those who deny Our revelations are deaf and dumb, groping along in darkness. Whomever God wills, He lets go astray; and whomever He wills, He guides along a straight path.” (Verse 39) What an apt description of the rejecters for they are indeed deaf and dumb, groping along in darkness. The Qur’ānic verse states God’s law with regard to guidance and error, stating that God’s will operates either way in accordance with the nature God has given to man.

We, thus, have a full concept of man’s position. We have a clear idea of the appropriate method of presenting Islam to others. We also have a definitive statement of how an advocate of Islam should operate and make his address to human beings in all situations and at all times.