In the Shade of the Qur'an by Sayyid Qutb

In this new round the sūrah again picks up the theme of the true nature of Godhead, after having discussed in the previous passage the nature of God’s message and the Messenger to whom it is entrusted. The discussion in Chapter 7

ended with a clear demarcation of the separate paths followed by the believers and the evildoers.

In this passage the nature of Godhead is brought out clearly in a number of areas which we will first outline very briefly. It is first of all clear in the Prophet’s heart as he knows that he has clear evidence given him by God. He is absolutely certain of this evidence, and his firm belief will not admit any doubts as a result of the attitude of unbelievers who deny his message. Hence, he devotes himself to his faith, and takes his stand away from his people. His certainty that they are in deep error is as strong as his certainty of the truth that he is rightly guided. (Verses 56-7)

The nature of Godhead manifests itself in God’s forbearance when He does not act on the unbelievers’ requests for a physical miracle. Should He give them such a miracle and should they continue to disbelieve, their continued rejection of the truth would ensure their total destruction. Had the Prophet been able to grant them what they hastily demanded, he would have done so. As a human being, he would have been fed up with their stubborn rejection. To allow them an indefinite chance is an aspect of God’s grace, one which reflects His Godhead. (Verse 58)

Again, the nature of Godhead is clearly reflected in God’s knowledge that encompasses everything that takes place throughout the universe. This is described in a way that cannot apply to anyone other than God, and cannot be painted by anyone but Him. (Verse 59)

Moreover, the truth of Godhead is seen in the fact that God holds sway over all His creatures in all situations, whether asleep or awake, in life and after death, in this present world and in the next one. (Verses 60-2)

Finally, it is manifested in the nature of the unbelievers themselves. When they are overwhelmed by serious danger, they call for help on none other than God. Yet, they associate partners with Him, forgetting that the one to whom they appeal for delivery from danger is able to inflict punishment on them that none can remove.

(Verses 63-5)

Say: I am forbidden to worship those beings whom you invoke instead of God. Say: I do not follow your whims, for then I would have gone astray, and would not be on the right path. Say: I take my stand on a clear evidence from my Lord, yet you deny Him.

It is not in my power [to produce] that which you so hastily demand. Judgement rests with God alone. He declares the truth and He is the best of arbiters. Say: If that which you so hastily demand were in my power, the case between me and you would have been decided. But God knows best as to who are the wrongdoers. (Verses 56-8)

This passage is particularly inspiring. It seeks to influence the addressees by stating the true nature of Godhead, explaining its different aspects, using varying cadences and a most effective style. One particularly inspiring feature is the use of the address form, “Say... Say... Say...” making it profoundly clear that this is an address to God’s Messenger (peace be upon him). He is required to deliver his Lord’s message as it is revealed to him. We are told with absolute clarity that the Messenger does not have or follow anything other than this message and seeks none other than its guidance: “Say: ‘I am forbidden to worship those beings whom you invoke instead of God’. Say: ‘I do not follow your whims, for then I would have gone astray, and would not be on the right path.’” (Verse 56)

God commands His Messenger to declare to the unbelievers that his Lord forbids him to worship those beings on whom they call instead of God and whom they make partners with God. He is forbidden to follow their whims. The fact is that they invoke those beings, giving them a divine status, as a result of their whims and caprice. This cannot be the outcome of any certain knowledge or any truth. If he responded to their whims, he too would then go astray and find no guidance whatsoever. Their whims can only cause him and them to deviate from the path of the truth and to lose their way altogether.

God instructs his Messenger to put the issues so clearly to the unbelievers and to explain to them how his way and their way cannot meet. Indeed, this is not the first time God issues such an order to His Messenger in this sūrah. Earlier, He ordered him to say: “Will you in truth bear witness that there are other deities beside God? Say: ‘I bear no such witness’. Say:’ He is but one God. I disown all that you associate with Him.’” (Verse 19)

The unbelievers used to try to tempt God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) to endorse their beliefs in return for their endorsement of his faith. They suggested to him that he should bow to their deities and, likewise, they would prostrate themselves before his, as if this could ever happen, and as if idolatry and Islam, with its emphasis on submission to God alone, could exist side by side in the heart of any one person, or worship of God alone could join hands with the worship of other beings. Nothing of this could ever be imagined. God is the One who is least in need of any partners. He requires His servants to submit to Him alone. He makes it clear to them that He will never accept their submission if they allow any traces of polytheism to creep into it.

Let us now consider an important linguistic usage in this verse: “Say: ‘I am forbidden to worship those beings whom you invoke instead of God.’” (Verse 56) This statement makes it clear that the Prophet must tell the unbelievers that he is forbidden to worship any of their idols or any other beings they worship. This applies to whatever being is invoked besides God. However, the rules of Arabic grammar indicate that use of the relative pronoun ‘whom’ in this statement is significant. Normally, its usage is limited to beings with minds of their own. Had the prohibition only meant idols and similar inanimate objects, the relative pronoun `what’ would have been used instead. The reference here must, then, include some intelligent beings to justify the use of the relative pronoun ‘whom’. This interpretation is consistent with the practical facts and with general Islamic terminology in this respect.

In practice, the Arab idolaters did not only worship idols. They also associated jinn, angels and human beings as partners with God. The partnership they ascribed to human beings manifested itself only in giving those human beings the authority to legislate. They set for them their norms and traditions and arbitrated in their disputes, in accordance with the prevailing customs and what they thought fit. We need, then, to look at how this is described in Islamic terminology. Islam considers all this as a form of idolatry. When human beings are given the authority to regulate people’s affairs in accordance with their own legislation, they are actually considered equal to God. This is as strongly forbidden in Islam as any actual prostration before idols. Both actions are manifestations of polytheistic beliefs. Both ascribe divinity to beings other than God.

The Prophet is then ordered by God to declare to those idolaters who deny the absolute oneness of their Lord his own firm belief and unshakable conviction that God is the only Lord in the universe and that He sends down revelations to him:

“Say: ‘I take my stand on a clear evidence from my Lord, yet you deny Him. It is not in my power [to produce] that which you so hastily demand. Judgement rests with God alone. He declares the truth and He is the best of arbiters.’” (Verse 57)

This is, indeed, what earlier prophets and messengers felt. They expressed it in similar terms. The Prophet Noah used practically the same wording: “Think, my people! If I take my stand on a clear evidence from my Lord and He has favoured me with grace from Himself, to which you have remained blind, can we force it upon you when you are averse to it?” (11: 28) Similarly did the Prophet Şāliĥ speak to his people, the Thamūd:

“Think, my people! If take my stand on a clear evidence from my Lord and He has bestowed on me His grace, who will save me from God, should I disobey Him? You are, in such case, only augmenting my ruin.” (11: 63) Abraham said it somewhat differently: “His people argued with him. He said: ‘Do you argue with me about God, when it is He Who has given me guidance?” (Verse 80) The Prophet Jacob stated the same idea to his children:

“When the bearer of good news arrived [with Joseph’s shirt], he laid it over his face; and he recovered his sight. He said: Did I not say to you that I know from God something that you do not know?” (12: 96)

This is, then, the nature of Godhead as it is fully understood by God’s most obedient servants. They feel its truth bringing them total reassurance and unshakeable faith. When the unbelievers in Arabia demanded miracles from the Prophet Muĥammad (peace be upon him), God commanded him to declare this truth as he felt it, putting it clearly in front of those unbelievers: “Say: ‘I take my stand on a clear evidence from my Lord, yet you deny Him.’” (Verse 57)

They also demanded that the Prophet accomplish for them some miracle or let God’s scourge loose on them so that they could believe that what he preached was revealed by God. He was ordered, in response, to declare to them the true nature of his message and what it meant to be God’s Messenger. He was commanded to make an absolutely clear distinction between this and the nature of Godhead. He had to declare that he had no control whatsoever over what they tried to hurry. It is controlled only by God. He himself was only a messenger, not a deity: “It is not in my power [to produce] that which you so hastily demand. Judgement rests with God alone. He declares the truth and He is the best of arbiters.” (Verse 57)

Hastening the punishment of the unbelievers when they continued to deny God even after miraculous proof had been given them is in effect a judgement put into effect. Hence, it belongs to God who tells the truth and who arbitrates between the one who advocates the truth and those who deny His message. No creature has been given any such authority to judge others.

The Prophet thus denies that he himself has any power or any say in what judgement God passes against His servants. The Prophet is no more than a human being who receives revelations which he conveys, discharging his duty as a warner.

God alone passes judgement. That is the perfect distinction between the nature of God and His attributes on the one hand and the nature of His servants on the other.

The Prophet is then ordered to explain to them a particularly effective argument about how the whole affair rests with God and operates according to His will. Had the accomplishment of miracles, including the subsequent administration of punishment been within his power, then, as a human being, he could not have refused it as they were insisting so strongly on a miracle. Since such a decision belongs to God alone, He treats them with forbearance and withholds miracles so that they do not put themselves in a position whereby their own destruction becomes inevitable, as happened to earlier communities: “Say: ‘If that which you so hastily demand were in my power, the case between me and you would have been decided. But God knows best as to who are the wrongdoers.” (Verse 58) Human beings have a limited capacity for forbearance. It is only God, the Supreme, the Almighty who can show such forbearance to human beings when they persist with their disobedience and boastful rejections.

God certainly tells the truth. We see some people behaving in a way which totally exhausts our patience and makes us absolutely angry. Nevertheless, God forbears with them, lets them enjoy His provisions, feeds them and gives them abundance. In such a situation, one can only say: “My Lord, how forbearing You are!” This is, indeed, what Abū Bakr said when the unbelievers in Arabia beat him so badly that his nose could not be distinguished from his eye. God forbears with them when He knows them full well: “God knows best as to who are the wrongdoers”. When He gives them a respite, He certainly has a purpose behind His decision. He forbears with them when He is certainly able to respond to their suggestions and to let loose His scourge to destroy them.

Developing the point of God’s knowledge of who are the wrongdoers, and continuing with the explanation of the nature of Godhead, the sūrah gives us an image of this knowledge as it pertains to one of its unique areas, namely, that of ghayb. This term will be explained presently.

“With Him are the keys to what lies beyond the reach of human perception: none knows them but He. He knows all that the land and sea contain; not a leaf falls but He knows it; and neither is there a grain in the earth’s deep darkness, nor anything fresh or dry but is recorded in a clear book.” (Verse 59)

This is an image of God’s complete knowledge that leaves out nothing in terms of time or place, land, sea or sky, in the depths of the world or in the wild expanse of space, including what is dead or alive, dry or fresh, green or withering away. But how prosaic is our own description as compared to the fine Qur’ānic portrayal?

Wholly inadequate when the latter combines within itself a purely arithmetic statement with a profoundly inspiring image! This short verse causes our human imagination to come to life trying to explore the horizons of what we know and what lies beyond our knowledge. We try to imagine the limitless nature of God’s knowledge as it encompasses the whole universe and goes far beyond what we know of that universe. We are in awe as we receive one image after another from all directions and as we try to lift the curtains drawn over what is kept hidden, whether it relates to the past, the present or the future. This is a complete world extending beyond our imagination. But the keys to all of it are with God, and He alone knows them. Our minds may try to discover what has so far been unknown to us in the land or at sea, realizing that everything in them is perfectly known to God. We visualize the leaves that drop from the trees:

innumerable as they are, yet every single one of them, wherever it falls, is seen by God. Every single grain, buried in the darkest depths of the earth, is beheld by God who sees everything, whether fresh or dry, dead or alive, anywhere in the universe.

Nothing escapes God’s knowledge.

Minds are left dizzy as they contemplate the picture this verse draws of God’s knowledge. Its lines are infinite, stretching endlessly in time and place, across the visible and the unseen. This endless expanse, which exhausts our minds to just imagine, is painted with absolute precision in only a few words.

Every time we look at this short verse, we cannot fail to recognize its miraculous style which tells of the author of the Qur’ān. One look at its subject matter is sufficient to make us absolutely certain that this is something no human being would say. Human intelligence does not stretch to limitless horizons when it describes perfect, unfailing knowledge. Instead, the human intellect has different characteristics and set limits, because its images reflect its own concerns. Why should human beings care about the number of leaves falling from the trees all over the globe? Why should they bother about grains buried in the deep dark recesses of the earth? What concern is it to them to know everything that is fresh or dry? People simply do not care about falling leaves, let alone about counting them. They care about the seeds they plant, hoping to have a good harvest. Otherwise, they would not care about the grains buried in the earth. They certainly like to use what they have of fresh and dry things, but none of these matters is thought of as evidence of perfect knowledge. It is only the Creator who knows and cares about every falling leaf, buried grain and the like, as He does about other things, fresh or dry.

No human being could ever contemplate that each falling leaf, each buried grain, every fresh object and also every dry one should be recorded in a clear book. They cannot see any benefit to them from keeping such a record. But the Sovereign of the whole universe is the One who has all that recorded because everything in the whole universe, large or small, visible or hidden, distant or close, apparent or unknown, is part of His dominion and, as such, is accounted for.

This is an expansive scene, one which leaves a profound effect on the human mind. The human intellect does not even try to paint such a scene comprising the leaves falling from every tree throughout the world and every grain hidden in the soil and every fresh and dry thing on earth. Indeed, neither our eyes nor our imagination care to visualize it in the first place. Nevertheless, it is a powerful scene that tells us much about God’s knowledge, reminding us that God oversees and records everything. His will takes care of what is large or small, highly important or infinitely insignificant, visible or hidden, distant or close, apparent or unknown.

Those of us who react to what we experience and have the talent of expression are keenly aware of our human limitations to visualize and express things. We know from personal experience that it does not occur to any human mind to paint such a scene and that no human being can use such a mode of expression. I invite anyone who disputes this to look into everything that human beings have ever written in an attempt to see if human literary talent has ever ventured in this direction. Indeed, this verse and similar ones in the Qur’ān are sufficient for us to know the Author of this glorious book.

If we look at the artistic excellence in this verse, we soon realize that it surpasses everything that human beings have ever attempted: “With Him are the keys to what lies beyond the reach of human perception: none knows them but He.” (Verse 59) The verse takes us first into the unfathomable reaches of the world beyond, stretching into time and place, as well as the past, present and future and into what takes place both in this life and in our imagination.

“He knows all that the land and sea contain.” (Verse 59) The picture here is of the seen world, stretching infinitely over the horizon so that the world we see is stretched into an infinite existence to provide harmony with the limitless nature of the world beyond.

“Not a leaf falls, but He knows it.” (Verse 59) This depicts the movement of death, the fall from above and disappearance after the end of life.

“Neither is there a grain in the earth’s deep darkness.” (Verse 59) This depicts the movement of growth and life, starting in the deep and going up onto the surface. We see how the dead quickens and the moving forward with vigour.

“Nor anything fresh or dry but is recorded in a clear book.” (Verse 59) This is an overall generalization that comprises both life and death, the thriving and the withering away of everything that lives on earth. Who other than God would begin with such material in order to paint such an expansive scene? And who would give it such beauty and harmony to add to its excellence? Who other than God can do that?

We need now to say a word about the first clause in this verse, which states: “With Him are the keys to what lies beyond the reach of human perception: none knows them but He.” (Verse 59)

It is important to define what we describe in English as lying “beyond the reach of human perception” and the keys to it as being known only to God. This expression is given in the Arabic text in one word, ghayb, which is an essential element of the Islamic concept of faith, existence and life. The term is derived in Arabic from a root which denotes “absence, disappearance, hiding, shielding from people’s senses and understanding”. 1

We need to speak about ghayb because it is frequently contrasted nowadays with `science’ and what is ‘scientific’. The Qur’ān states that there is something to describe as ghayb which lies beyond the reach of human perception, and that the keys to this world are known only to God. The Qur’ān also states that the knowledge man has been given is scanty, but sufficient for man and appropriate for his potential. Beyond the factual knowledge given them by God, people only indulge in guesswork, which is no substitute for the truth. God states that He has set into operation certain laws for this universe, and He has taught man how to understand some of these laws and deal with them according to his ability. He further states that He will reveal to man of these laws what strengthens his faith. This does not violate the unchangeable laws of nature or affect the world that remains beyond the reach of human perception.

Nor does it affect God’s absolute will or the fact that everything occurs in accordance with His will. We will now touch briefly on these facts.

In the Qur’ān, God often describes the believers as those who believe in what lies beyond the reach of human perception. This quality is indeed essential to faith: “This [the Qur’ān] is the Book, there is no doubt about it, a guidance for the God-fearing, who believe in what lies beyond the reach of human perception, observe prayers and give of what We bestow upon them. [They are] those who believe in what has been revealed to you and what was revealed before you, and are certain of the hereafter. Those follow their Lord’s guidance, and they shall surely prosper.” (2: 2-5)

To believe in God (limitless is He in His glory) is to believe in what lies beyond the reach of human perception. It is not possible for human beings to comprehend the nature of God. When they believe in Him, they recognize the results of His actions, but they cannot conceive His nature or what He works. Similarly, the life to come also lies beyond the reach of human perception. Everything that relates to the Day of Judgement: the reckoning, the reward, and the punishment — all belong to the world beyond. We believe in all these because God has told us about them.

The ghayb which we are required to accept in order to have true faith includes other facts mentioned in the Qur’ān as God describes the believers and their faith:

“The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him by his Lord, and so do all the believers. Each one of them believes in God, His angels, His books, and His messengers. We make no distinction between any of His messengers. And they say, `We hear and we obey.

Grant us Your forgiveness, our Lord; to You we shall all return.” (2: 285) Every believer, then, must also believe in what God has revealed to His Messenger (peace be upon him) which includes some knowledge of the ghayb which God imparts to His Messenger, in a measure He determines, as explained in another Qur’ānic verse: “He alone knows what lies beyond the reach of human perception, and He does not reveal it to anyone except those whom He chooses to be His messengers.” (72: 26-7)

Believing in the angels is also part of believing in the imperceptible, because we only know about angels what God has chosen to tell us. In addition, we have to believe in God’s will and its operation. That is also part of ghayb.

Man is, however, surrounded by imperceptibles in every direction. Part of this relates to time: past, present and future. Another part exists within man himself, and more is available in the universe. What does man know about the origin of this universe, its existence, nature and motion? What does he know about life and its cycles? All this lies beyond his perception. Indeed, man does not know what occurs within him at the present moment, let alone what occurs during the next moment or in the universe with its atoms and electrons, etc.

The human intellect floats in an ocean of the unknown, stopping every now and then at little islands which, to him, represent the landmarks of his world. Without God’s grace and His will to make this world subservient to man and to teach him a number of the rules of nature, man would not have been able to do anything. But he remains ungrateful to God: “Few of My servants are truly grateful.” (34: 13) Indeed, some men these days boast of the scanty knowledge God has given them and the laws of nature He has shown them to claim that “man stands alone”1 and that he is in no need of God. Sometimes, man’s boasting suggests that science is the opposite of the imperceptible and that scientific thinking contrasts with imperceptibility. The two, as he claims, are opposite extremes.

It is useful here to cast a glance at what some scientists have said about ghayb, remembering that man has only been given scanty knowledge. We do not need to look at what they say in order to confirm what God has said. A believer does not confirm a divine statement by a human one. We simply quote these scientists in order to put their statements in front of the eyes of those who are always talking about science, as the opposite of ghayb or the imperceptible. In this way, they may realize that they need to increase their knowledge in order to live in their world, and not to be left behind. This enables them to realize that the existence of ghayb is the only scientific fact that is proven by human experience and scientific achievement.

They would thus realize that, in the light of recent discoveries and experiments, `scientific’ goes hand in hand with `imperceptible’. What truly contrasts with believing in what lies beyond the reach of human perception is ignorance. It is a sort of ignorance that might have been acceptable in the last three centuries, but it is certainly unacceptable in the twentieth century.

Describing the ‘facts’ proven by science generally, a contemporary American scientist says:

Science is tested knowledge, but it is still subject to human vagaries, illusions and inaccuracies. It is legitimate only within the confines of its own areas. It is rigidly restricted to quantitative data for description and prediction. It begins and ends with probability, not certainty. Its results are approximations subject to ‘probable error,’ especially in measurements and correlations. Its products are tentative and are modified frequently by new data. There is finality in scientific inferences. The scientist says: “Up to the present, the facts are thus and so.”1

This sums up the nature of all scientific conclusions. Since these conclusions are the ones which man arrives at, working with his available means and within his own world which remains limited in comparison to the everlasting existence, these conclusions have a human mark. Like man, they are of limited scope, liable to error and admit of amendment.

Man arrives at his conclusions through experiment and analogy. He begins with a limited experiment and then generalizes his conclusions by comparison, all of which can only lead a scientist to admit a probability, not a certainty. One way of arriving at a certainty is to apply the result of a particular experiment to everything with the same nature, occurring at any time and under any conditions. This is not available to man. The only way to arrive at a certainty and absolute truism is through divine guidance. What this boils down to is that we have the certainties that God has chosen to give us through His messengers. Beyond these, human knowledge remains within the range of what is probable, not what is certain.

Ghayb exists all around us, beyond the realm of our knowledge which continues to be based on probabilities. Man looks at the universe around him and continues to work out hypotheses and theories about its origin, nature and movement, and about time and place, their inter-relationship with each other and with what takes place in the universe. Man also tries to think about life: its source, origin, nature, continuity, the factors and forces that influence it and how it relates to material existence. He also thinks about himself: how is man different from matter and what distinguishes him from other living things? How did he come to exist on this earth; and how does he behave? What is human intellect, and what are its distinctive features? What happens to him after death? Even if we take the human body: what occurs inside it of chemical interactions at every moment and how do such interactions happen?

All these belong to the realm of ghayb. Science stops at its peripheries, unable to penetrate through them even to assign relative probabilities to different hypotheses.

We will leave aside for the moment the subjects which scientists do not care to enlist among their priorities and preoccupations, such as the nature of Godhead and the nature of God’s other creatures, such as angels and jinn, the nature of death, and the hereafter. It is sufficient for our purposes to speak only about that sort of ghayb which is closer to us. Here also we find science acknowledging its limited ability. Let us take one or two examples.

The first example concerns the atom which, according to modern science, is the basic unit in the structure of the universe. Yet it is not the smallest unit, because it consists of protons with a positive electric charge, electrons with a negative charge and neutrons with a static charge. With an atomic fusion, electrons are released, but they do not stick to a uniform behaviour in a laboratory. At one time, they move like waves of light, and at another like missiles. We cannot determine their future behaviour in advance. This is subject to the law of probability. The same differences of behaviour apply to a single atom and a group of atoms forming a small unit.

Sir James Jeans, a prominent British physicist says:

The old science had confidently proclaimed that nature could follow only one road, the road which was mapped out from the beginning of time to its end by the continuous chain of cause and effect; state A was inevitably succeeded by state B. So far the new science has only been able to say that state A may be followed by state B or C or D or by innumerable other states. It can, it is true, say that B is more likely than C, C than D, and so on; it can even specify the relative probabilities of states B, C and D. But, just because it has to speak in terms of probabilities, it cannot predict with certainty which state will follow which; this is a matter which lies on the knees of the gods — whatever gods there be.1

This, then, is what is meant by ghayb, which relates to God’s will into which human knowledge cannot penetrate. All that human knowledge and scientific experiment can reach are only peripheries. Further than that, it cannot go. Professor Jeans gives the example of radiation and how the atoms of the radium are transformed into lead and helium. Throughout this process, they are subject to laws which remain closed to human knowledge:

It is known that the atoms of radium, and of other radioactive substances, disintegrate into atoms of lead and helium with the mere passage of time, so that a mass of radium continually diminishes in amount, being replaced by lead and helium. The law which governs the rate of diminution is very remarkable.

The amount of radium decreases in precisely the same way as a population would if there were no births, and a uniform death-rate which was the same for every individual, regardless of his age. Or again, it decreases in the same way as the numbers of a battalion of soldiers who are exposed to absolutely random undirected fire. In brief, old age appears to mean nothing to the individual random atom; it does not die because it has lived its life, but rather because in some way fate knocks at the door.2

To take a concrete illustration, suppose that our room contains two thousand atoms of radium. Science cannot say how many of these will survive after a year’s time, it can only tell us the relative odds in favour of the number being 2000, 1999, 1998, and so on. Actually the most likely event is that the number will be 1999; the probabilities are in favour of one, and only one, of the 2000

atoms breaking up within the next year.

We do not know in what way this particular atom is selected out of the 2000. We may at first feel tempted to conjecture it will be the atom that gets knocked about most or gets into the hottest places, or what not, in the coming year. Yet this cannot be, for if blows or heat could disintegrate one atom, they could disintegrate the other 1999, and we should be able to expedite the disintegration of radium merely by compressing it or heating it up. Every physicist believes this to be impossible; he rather believes that every year fate knocks at the door of one radium atom in every 2000, and compels it to break up; this is the hypothesis of “spontaneous disintegration” advanced by Rutherford and Soddy in 1903.3

What example may illustrate the imperceptible operation of God’s will better than the disintegration of atoms, in which neither the atoms nor anyone on earth has any say or choice.

We observe that the scientist who has given us this example is not trying to prove the operation of God’s will. Indeed, he tries hard to counter the pressure of the conclusions to which scientific research leads. The truth of ghayb in the Islamic sense stares him and all scientists in the face.

The truism of ghayb, or the imperceptible, also imposes itself on the rules governing the emergence of life. Professor Russell Charles Artist, Professor of Biology at Frankfurt-on-the-Main, Germany, says:

Many theories have been brought forward in the attempt to derive living cells from inanimate matter. Certain investigators are claiming that life has originated through the protogene, or through an aggregation of large protein molecules, which may leave the impression that at last the gap between the lifeless and the living has been spanned. Actually it must be admitted that all attempts to produce living matter experimentally from inanimate matter have failed utterly.

Furthermore, it is not by direct evidence that the one who denies the existence of God proves to a waiting world that a fortuitous aggregation of atoms and molecules is life, capable of maintaining and directing itself as do the cells described here. Not at all. He accepts this as a belief. It is his private interpretation of the facts visible to us all, that an accidental concourse brought the first cell into being. But this is to accept an even greater miracle than to believe that Intelligence called it into being! I maintain that each of these single cells (each a system so intricate and delicate that its complete functioning has so far escaped our study), and all the trillions of them on this earth, definitely present a justifiable inference — one of Mind, or Intelligence, or Thought, which we call God. Science both admits and accepts this inference.

I believe firmly that there is a God.4

We have quoted this example here only to emphasise that the secret of life and its origin belongs to the realm of what God has withheld from our knowledge. All human explanations are only hypothetical. God tells the truth when He says: “I did not call them to witness at the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor at their own creation.” (18: 51)

We take a giant stride to look at man and his life. One drop of man’s semen contains about 60 million sperms, all of which race to fertilize the female egg. No one knows which of these millions will win the race, because that is part of God’s will to which human beings have no access, not even the couple involved. The fertilized egg produces the foetus. The chromosomes in the female egg are all female, while those in the sperm have male and female characteristics. Hence, the sex of the child is determined by the male chromosomes. This is again subject to God’s will. No human being can influence it in any way, not even the child’s parents: “God knows what every female bears, and by how much the wombs may fall short [in gestation], and by how much they may increase. With Him every thing has its definite measure. He knows all that lies beyond the reach of human perception and all that anyone may witness. He is the great One, the highly exalted.” (13: 8-9) “To God alone belongs the dominion over the heavens and the earth. He creates whatever He wills: He bestows the gift of female offspring on whomever He wills, and the gift of male offspring on whomever He wills; or He gives both male and female (to whomever he wills), and causes to be barren whomever He wills: truly, He is all-knowing, infinite in His power.” (42: 49-50) “He creates you in your mothers’ wombs, one act of creation after another, in threefold depths of darkness. Thus is God, your Lord: to Him belongs all dominion; there is no deity other than Him. How, then, can you lose sight of the truth?” (39: 6)

The above are three examples showing how human knowledge in the twentieth century recognizes ghayb, acknowledging what lies beyond the reach of human perception. Those who remain influenced by the attitude of past generations continue to say that ghayb and science are contradictory. Science in this twentieth century readily admits that its conclusions are only statements of probabilities. The only certainty is that there is a world that cannot be reached by human perception.

Before we conclude we need to say a few words on the nature of ghayb as understood in the Islamic faith.

The Qur’ān, the basic source of Islamic faith, states very clearly that there is a world beyond the reach of human perception and another world that can be perceived. Not everything around man is ghayb, and not all forces of the universe are unknown. There are certain laws that operate in the universe without fail. Man can know some of these in as much as this knowledge can be tolerated or is needed by him to fulfil his role on earth.

God has given him the power to know this much of the laws of the universe and to manipulate these forces in accordance with these laws. He will then be able to accomplish his mission and make use of the potentials of the earth and promote life.

Side by side with these constant laws, God’s will operates free of all restrictions. It is God’s will that sets these laws in operation every time they operate. Theirs is not a purely automatic motion. Although they operate in accordance with the rules God has set for them, it is God’s will that operates them. That will is part of ghayb, which is not known to anyone with any degree of certainty. The maximum that people can know of it remains within the range of assumptions and probabilities. Science readily admits this.

Millions of processes and interactions occur within man at every given moment, all of which are, to him, imperceptible, while he is also unaware of millions of processes and interactions occurring in the world around him. Indeed, the imperceptible engulfs the past, the present and the future as they relate to man or to the universe. This works side by side with the constant laws of nature some of which are known to man, who benefits by them regularly and scientifically as he works to fulfil his role. Man comes into this world against his will and without any prior knowledge of his arrival here. He departs from it unwillingly and without any knowledge of his departure time. This applies to every living thing. No matter how much man increases his knowledge, this will remain the same. The Islamic mentality is a scientific one and it believes in the imperceptible, because science recognizes the imperceptible and accepts its existence.

Denying it is an exercise of ignorance in spite of all the claims of those who make such a denial. The Islamic mentality combines believing in what lies beyond the reach of human perception, the secrets of which are known only to God, with the belief in the constant laws of nature. Hence, a Muslim benefits by scientific achievements. At the same time, he remains at peace with the fact that there is a complete world which our faculties cannot fathom, and which is known only to God who determines how much He reveals of it to those whom He chooses.

It is animals that cannot comprehend anything beyond the reach of their senses.

When a person believes in ghayb, he elevates himself to the rank of man who realizes that the universe is far greater and wider than the limited scope of his senses. Such a belief represents a great departure in an individual’s perception of the nature of existence, the forces operating in the universe, and the Power which controls all that.

This belief has a profound effect on man’s own life. A person confining his concerns to the limited field in which his senses operate has a much narrower outlook than that of one who recognizes his place in the spacious universe which is far greater, in time and space, than whatever he can imagine in his limited life. He, therefore, recognizes that beyond all this existence there is a greater Truth, namely, the Supreme Being who gives the universe its existence, whom we cannot see with our eyes and whose nature we cannot comprehend with our minds.

Believing in the imperceptible is the point which signals the elevation of man high above the world of animals. However, those among us who have a materialistic outlook, and these can be found in every age, want man to sink back to the rank of animals where there is no recognition of anything beyond what the senses can perceive. Yet they call this progress, when it is actually a set-back against which God protects the believers. Their distinctive characteristic is that “they believe in what lies beyond the reach of human perception”. Praise be to God for His grace.

Those who reject the belief in the imperceptible as contrary to scientific progress also speak of `historical inevitability’, as if the future is certain. As we have seen, scientists today speak of probabilities, and tell us that there are no inevitabilities. Karl Marx used to speak about inevitabilities, but which of his prophecies has been realized? He predicted that England was certain to become communist, because it was the leading nation in industrial progress. As such, it was the leading capitalist country where the labour force suffered most. Communism was adopted instead by countries which were industrially backward, such as Russia, China and a handful of other nations. Likewise, Lenin and Stalin predicted that war was inevitable between the capitalist and the communist blocs. Their successor, Khrushchev, raised instead the banner of peaceful coexistence.

We need not dwell much on these prophecies. They are too trivial to merit any discussion. There is only one certainty, which is that of the world that lies beyond the reach of human perception. Everything else belongs to the world of probabilities.

There is also one inevitability, which is that God’s will shall come to pass. His will is part of the ghayb known only to Him. Nevertheless, there are constant laws of nature which man may study and recognize, and even utilize for his benefit. At the same time, the door remains open for God’s will to operate as He chooses. This is the absolute certainty. “This Qur’ān guides to the path that is straightest.” (17: 9)

Having emphasized that God’s knowledge includes everything in the universe, the sūrah cites one aspect of this absolute knowledge which relates to man himself, and another aspect which asserts God’s absolute power over everything in the universe: “It is He who causes you to be like the dead at night, and knows what you do in the daytime. He raises you again to life each day in order that a term set by Him be fulfilled. In the end, to Him you must return; and then He will tell you all that you have done.” (Verse 60) In a few simple words, this verse explains that all human life is in God’s hands, within His knowledge and subject to His will. This includes people’s sleep and awakening, death and resurrection, reckoning and judgement. The description follows the inimitable method of the Qur’ān in portraying everything vividly, alive.

Thus it is able to touch people’s hearts with every image drawn and every movement described.

“It is He who causes you to be like the dead at night.” (Verse 60) It is then a form of death that occurs to people when they are overtaken by sleep. Their senses do not operate, their minds stop functioning and their consciousness stops. Human beings cannot yet discover the secret of what happens to them when they sleep, although they know its effects. This is, then, one of the numerous forms of ghayb that engulfs human life. As they sleep, human beings lose all their power, including their consciousness. They are in God’s hands, as they are certainly all the time. He alone can bring them back to life. How weak we are in comparison to Him.

“He knows what you do in the daytime.” (Verse 60) Whatever good or evil we do, and whatever our hands take or leave, is known to God. None of our movements is left out.

“He raises you again to life each day in order that a term set by Him be fulfilled.” (Verse 60) It is He who awakens you in the day from your slumber so that you complete the term He has appointed for each one of you. This covers the status of human beings within the range set by God. His will is inescapable.

“In the end, to Him you must return.” (Verse 60) You return to Him just like sheep coming back to their shepherd at the end of the day. “Then He will tell you all that you have done.” (Verse 60) This is when the record that includes everything is laid open.

Absolute justice is then administered to all.

Although this is a short verse composed of a few words, it nonetheless includes a long sequence of scenes and images, statements of fact and wide-ranging connotations. Who other than God can produce such a style? What is miraculous if this is not a miracle? Yet those who reject the faith choose not to see it in its true colour. They demand instead a physical miracle despite the fact that this would inevitably be followed by God’s punishment, should they continue to reject Him afterwards.

An important feature of Godhead is that which combines absolute power over all creation and a constant, alert watch. That which combines the predetermination of the life span of every individual, and our inescapable destiny with the final reckoning which is both prompt and unfailing. All this belongs to the realm of those imperceptibles which encompass human life.

He alone holds sway over His servants. He sends forth guardians to watch over you until, when death approaches any one of you, Our messengers cause him to die. They leave no part of their duty unfulfilled. They are then brought back to God, their true Lord Supreme. Indeed, His alone is all judgement; and He is most swift in reckoning.

(Verses 61-2)

“He alone holds sway over His servants.” (Verse 61) All power belongs to Him, and all creatures are subject to His power. In front of Him, they are powerless. In front of the Almighty, they are no more than submissive slaves. This is the truth confirmed by the realities of human life. Despite all the freedom of action they are given and the degree of knowledge they are allowed, and the ability instilled in them to fulfil the task assigned to them, their every breath is allowed them in accordance with a specific measure; their every action is subject to God’s power. Such is the basic law of human life which they cannot violate, although this law may manifest itself each time in accordance with a specific divine will. This even applies to every individual breath or action.§ “He sends forth guardians to watch over you.” (Verse 61) The nature of those guardians is not mentioned here. Elsewhere in the Qur’ān, we are told that they are angels who record everything we do. The point here is to impart a feeling that there is a close supervision over everyone. No single person is left all alone, not even for a moment. Watchers count and record every word we say, every action we do and every movement we make. When we imagine this, we are at the height of our alertness.

“Until, when death approaches any one of you, Our messengers cause him to die. They leave no part of their duty unfulfilled.” (Verse 61) The same atmosphere is generated again by a different image. Every soul is left until a particular moment which always remains unknown to it, although it is specified by God. It can be neither advanced nor delayed. Every soul has an angel close at hand watching over it, counting its every breath, mindful of his task and never neglecting anything. He is a guardian angel. At the appointed moment, when the human soul is fully preoccupied with its affairs the guardian completes his task and the messenger delivers his message. As we think of this, we are bound to shiver as we feel that we are totally in the hands of a destiny which remains unknown to us. We realize that we could meet death at any moment.

“They are then brought back to God, their true Lord Supreme.” (Verse 62) He is indeed our true Lord, while all other deities are false. It is He who has originated us and given us our lives, keeping us all the time under His unfailing supervision. He then gathers us back to Him for final judgement: “Indeed, His alone is all judgement; and He is most swift in reckoning.” (Verse 62) It is He alone who reckons and judges. Both His judgement and reward are readily delivered. The reference to His speed here is meant to make us feel that we are not given even a short period of grace before we are held to account.

This sort of image which is outlined by the basic Islamic concept of life, death, resurrection, reckoning and reward, is sufficient to ensure that a Muslim acknowledges without hesitation God’s authority to rule over people’s lives on earth.

The reckoning, reward and judgement in the hereafter are based on what people actually do in this life. People cannot be held to account for what they do here in this world unless they are given a law which details for them what is lawful and what is forbidden. This explains the need for a single authority over both this life and the life to come.

When a law other than that of God’s is enforced in this world, how can people be judged in the hereafter? According to the law they implemented here? Or according to the divine law which they did not implement?

Human beings must realize that God will hold them to account on the basis of His own law. They must be aware that if they do not conduct their lives and establish their relationships as well as their worship, according to God’s law, then this will be the first thing for which they have to account. They will be questioned why have they not chosen God as their Lord on earth, preferring instead to claim other deities?

This means that they will have to account for denying God or associating partners with Him. This they do by following God’s law in matters of worship but adopting a different law in their social, political and economic systems as well as their interactions, dealings and relationships. We know that God forgives whomever He pleases, but only that which is short of associating partners with Him.

They are then called upon to listen to the voice of their very nature. Indeed, human nature recognizes the truth of Godhead and turns to God alone when it faces dangers and difficulties. The sūrah paints for them their nature when they are in distress, and describes how they go against its appeals when they go through a period of ease and comfort.

This is all portrayed in a short, fast, clear scene, producing a profound effect. They are reminded that great distress is not limited to the Day of Resurrection when they have to face their reckoning. They, indeed, go through periods of great distress in the deep darkness of land and sea. At such moments, they turn only to God, recognizing that only He can save them. Still they revert to their erring ways in periods of ease:

“Say: ‘Who is it that saves you from the dark dangers of the land and sea, when you call out to Him humbly and in secret: If He will but save us from this peril, we will most certainly be grateful? Say: God alone saves you from these and from every distress; and still you associate partners with Him.” (Verses 63-4) At times, it is sufficient to visualize danger and remember distress to soften people’s hearts and help them restrain their wild desires.

People can then remember their feelings of weakness as they remember God’s grace when He alleviates their distress.

“Say: Who is it that saves you from the dark dangers of land and sea, when you call out to Him humbly and in secret: ‘If He will but save us from this peril, we will most certainly be grateful?’“ (Verse 63) Such an experience is well known to everyone who has gone through a period of distress or witnessed and observed what people in distress feel.

There are indeed many types of darkness involving perils of different types on land and at sea. It is not necessary that the night should spread its mantle for darkness to prevail: losing one’s way and danger are two types of darkness and what awaits people on land and at sea is screened from them by darkness. Wherever people find themselves in the midst of darkness they realize that they must turn only to God, praying to Him in earnest or appealing to Him in private. At such a moment, human nature sheds its burden and comes face to face with the truth implanted deep inside it, that is the truth of God’s oneness. Therefore, it turns to God alone, addressing Him without any partners, because it recognizes then the absurdity of idolatry and polytheism and the non-existence of any partners with God. At such a moment, those who are in distress are quick to make solemn pledges: “If He will but save us from this peril, we will most certainly be grateful.” (Verse 63)

God commands His Messenger to remind them of the truth: “Say: God alone saves you from these and from every distress.” (Verse 64) There is no one to respond to them other than He, and no one else to remove their distress. But the Prophet is also commanded to remind them of their singularly queer attitude: “Still, you associate partners with Him.” (Verse 64)

The sūrah reminds them of God’s power which could smite them after they have been saved. It is not like a momentary distress which is not replaced once it is over.

They are reminded of God’s unlimited ability to bring about suffering that they cannot endure: “Say: It is He alone who has the power to let loose upon you suffering from above you and from beneath your feet, or to divide you into disputing groups, causing the one to suffer at the hands of the other. See how We make plain Our revelations so that they may understand.” (Verse 65)

To visualize suffering coming from above or from beneath in overwhelming force has a much more powerful effect on the human mind than to visualize it coming from the right or the left. Anyone may imagine that he can resist the latter type coming sideways, but the type of suffering which is brought down from above or which overwhelms people from beneath must be irresistible. In its inspiring style, the sūrah adds this forceful effect as it states in plain terms that God is able to overwhelm people with suffering from any direction and in any method He chooses. It then adds another type of suffering which is slow and long lasting. This type does not destroy them all in a flash, but lingers with them so that they experience it day after day and night after night: “[He has the power] to divide you into disputing groups, causing the one to suffer at the hands of the other.” (Verse 65)

This is an image of long-lasting suffering which they bring upon themselves and make each other experience. God allows them to split into hostile groups which can hardly be distinguished, one from the other. There is no clarity of separating lines.

These groups are in a state of constant hostility, argument and dispute. Therefore, they bring suffering upon one another.

In many periods of its history, humanity has experienced this type of suffering, whenever it deviated from the divine method, allowing people, in their weakness and ignorance, to conduct human life in accordance with their desires. Thus we find people groping in the dark as they devise their own systems, laws and values for human life. This is followed by one group trying to impose these systems, laws and values on others. The result is that one group may resist and those who have power try to crush their resistance. The desires, ambitions and concepts held by different groups would thus be involved in a bitter conflict, with one group made to suffer the tyranny of another. Thus, mutual hatred becomes widespread. When you analyze this state of affairs, you are bound to conclude that it is caused by the fact that humanity does not apply the same standard given them by their Supreme Lord to whom all human beings must submit. While people may not find it easy to recognise the authority of others, none of them feels himself humiliated when he submits to God alone.

The most terrible situation in human life is that in which some human beings claim for themselves the rights of Godhead and try to impose these in practice on the rest of mankind. This is the sort of confused situation which splits people into hostile groups: on the surface, they may appear to be one community, but in reality some of them are subservient to others. One group wields power, using it in a tyrannical way because they are not restrained by God’s law. The others are embittered and nurse their grudges. Both groups are made to suffer the might and tyranny of each other.

They do not form a single nation although they may not be easily distinguished, one from the other. When we look at mankind today, we realize that the whole world is engulfed by this slow, long-lasting suffering.

This leads us to consider the attitude of the advocates of Islam. They must form a community which moves swiftly to distinguish itself from the state of jāhiliyyah surrounding it from all directions. Jāhiliyyah refers to every situation, regime, community and society which does not implement God’s law or which does not recognize that Godhead and sovereignty belong to God alone. The advocates of Islam must abandon any jāhiliyyah society, fully aware that they are completely distinguished as a community from those in their society who prefer to maintain ways and implement laws, systems and values different from those bestowed from on high.

Only if the advocates of Islam distinguish themselves in this way can they spare themselves the suffering with which God threatens those who reject His call: “[He has the power] to divide you into disputing groups, causing the one to suffer at the hands of the other.” (Verse 65) This mental distinction of the advocates of Islam applies by necessity to faith, feelings and code of living. It must continue until Islam is established in a geographical area and is an authority that extends protection to all advocates of Islam. Those advocates of the divine faith must feel themselves to be the Muslim community, and that all others who refuse to accept their method belong to the world of jāhiliyyah.

They should make their attitude clear to all people, telling them that their dispute with them is over faith and their code of living. They then pray to God to judge between them and their people in accordance with the truth. Unless the advocates of Islam make this distinction, the threat made here by God applies to them. They remain a group in a society which is not clearly distinguished from others. They are then made to endure the slow, long-lasting suffering.

Such total distinction may require the advocates of Islam to make sacrifices and endure hardships. But these will never be anywhere near what happens to them if their attitude is not distinguished from the rest of the community, and if they are lost in the un-Islamic society surrounding them.

When we review the history of the call to the divine faith pioneered by God’s messengers, we are certain that God will not grant victory to his messengers and their followers until the advocates of the divine faith have distinguished themselves from the rest of their people over the basic issue of submission to God alone. They must also implement the code of living He has chosen for His servants. Such a split over faith and a practical constitution is always the starting point.

We must realize that the divine method has only a single way to follow. It cannot choose today a path other than that followed by God’s messengers (peace be upon them all) throughout history: “See how We make plain Our revelations so that they may understand.” (Verse 65) We pray to God to include us among those who understand as He expounds to them His revelations.