In the Shade of the Qur'an by Sayyid Qutb

This last passage of the sūrah includes several rounds that go far and wide, inspiring our hearts and minds. One round looks at humanity and how one generation succeeds another. Another takes us across the heavens and earth in search of any trace of those whom the unbelievers allege to he God’s partners. Then we go across the heavens and earth again to contemplate God’s power as He holds the celestial bodies and the earth keeping them on their respective courses. The unbelievers are then made to face their broken promises and oaths. They swore that should they have a messenger to warn them, they would do better than past communities, but when a messenger came to them, this only increased their deviation from the truth. A look at the fates of earlier unbelieving communities follows. This is to demonstrate to those who denied the message of Islam that they should know that God’s laws are constantly in operation. Although they were aware of what happened to earlier unbelievers, they still did not take on board that the same fate could just as easily befall them. The sūrah concludes with a warning that should strike fear in people’s hearts. It tells them that if God were to punish people immediately for what they incur, no one would remain on the face of the earth. It behoves us then, to acknowledge God’s grace in allowing us time to reflect and consider our position.

It is He who made you inherit the earth. Hence, anyone who denies the truth will bear the consequences of his unbelief. In denying Him the unbelievers will have nothing but an increase of their loathsomeness in God’s sight; and in denying Him the unbelievers will only add to their loss. (Verse 39)

One generation of humanity inherits another; one state disappears to allow another to rise in its place; one flame is extinguished and one is lit: it is all the same continuous, progressive movement. If we contemplate this endless round, lessons clearly present themselves. Indeed, we feel that soon we ourselves will belong to the past and that future generations will look at the traces we leave behind in the same way as we read about those who passed before us. We then realize that age determination belongs to the One who allows the heirs to inherit those that have served their term. Thus everything goes its way and disappears. It is God alone who is everlasting, unaffected by the passage of time.

The person who knows that he stays for a while and goes, like a tourist on holiday, leaving those who succeed him to look at what he has done, should endeavour to make his short stay worthwhile. He should leave behind what earns for him good remembrance and do what benefits him in his ultimate destination for all return to the One who holds everyone accountable for whatever they say and do. Such too is how mankind moves from one generation to another: “It is He who made you inherit the earth.” (Verse 39)

Then follows a reminder of individual responsibility. None will be made to bear any part of another person’s burden; none will protect another in any way. This verse also refers to their persistent denial of the truth and its ultimate results: “Hence, anyone who denies the truth will bear the consequences of his unbelief In denying Him the unbelievers will have nothing but an increase of their loathsomeness in God’s sight; and in denying Him the unbelievers will only add to their loss.” (Verse 39) The Arabic word, maqt, which is translated here as ‘loathsomeness’, indicates the highest degree of hate. If a person incurs God’s hate, his loss exceeds all that we can imagine.

The second round takes us across the heavens and the earth to look for evidence of those whom they allege to be God’s partners. However, neither the heavens nor the earth bare any trace of them:

Say: ‘Have you considered those beings whom you claim to be partners with God and whom you call upon beside Him? Show me what it is that they have created on earth! Or do they have a share in the heavens?’ Have We ever vouchsafed them a book on which they could rely as evidence? No. What the unbelievers promise one another is nothing but delusion. (Verse 40)

The argument is strong and the evidence is clear. This is the earth, stretched before us in all directions. Which part of it, and which creature on it, can anyone claim to have been created by other than God? Should anyone dare to make such a claim, everything on earth will rebut it loud and clear. Indeed, everything tells the same thing: all have been created by God Almighty. Everything bears the mark of the inimitable work of the Maker.

“Or do they have a share in the heavens?” (Verse 40) This is even more evident. No one claims that such alleged deities have any part in the creation or ownership of the heavens. Not a single one makes such a claim, not even for the jinn or the angels. All that they can claim is that they sought the jinn’s help to bring them news from on high. All they hope for is that the angels will intercede with God on their behalf. Yet at no time did they claim that their alleged deities had a portion of the heavens.

“Have We ever vouchsafed them a book on which they could rely as evidence?” (Verse 40)

Their alleged partners cannot even reach this stage of having a book given them by God and of which they are certain to be true. The question, however, admits another possibility whereby it is addressed to the idolaters themselves. Their persistence with false claims that God has partners may suggest that their faith is based on solid proof in the form of a book given to them by God. Again this is untrue, and they cannot claim it. If we take the question in this second sense, it implies that faith can only be based on a book given by God: this is the only reliable source. Again, they can make no such claim.

The Prophet, on the other hand, has a book given him by God which he presents to them. Why, then, are they turning away from it when it is the only source of true faith?

“No. What the unbelievers promise one another is nothing but delusion.” (Verse 40) The wrongdoers are quick to promise each other that their methods are the correct ones and that they will eventually prevail. They are indeed deluded. Moreover, they live in worthless delusion.

The third round reveals the limitless nature of God’s power as He is the One who holds the heavens and the earth and sustains them in place. No one else has any say or role in all this:

It is God alone who holds the celestial bodies and the earth, lest they deviate [from their courses]. If they should ever deviate, no one else could uphold them after Him.

He is indeed Ever-Forbearing, Much-Forgiving. (Verse 41)

A glance at the heavens and the earth, and the celestial bodies moving in their orbits, without error or deviation, maintaining their speeds without the slightest increase or decrease, should open our minds to the mighty hand that holds them all in position. Should these celestial bodies or the heavens or the earth deviate from their courses and scatter no one would ever be able to hold them back. This is indeed the time frequently mentioned in the Qur’ān as signalling the end of the world: a point when the system holding all celestial bodies in position is broken, and destruction ensues. It is the time God has appointed for reckoning and reward for whatever takes place in this present life. This signals a transfer to the next world which is totally different from the world we currently live in.

Hence the statement that God holds the universe in place ends with the comment:

“He is indeed Ever-Forbearing, Much-Forgiving.” (Verse 41) He forbears allowing people time. He does not put an end to their world or hold them to account before the term He has appointed. He gives them chances to repent, begin the good work and prepare for their future lives. Nor does He make people account for everything they do. On the contrary, He forgives much of their wrongdoing when they show any inclination to do well. This statement, then, should make people seize the opportunity provided before it is too late.

The next round speaks about the Arab idolaters and the pledges they made to God, which they then breached, spreading corruption on earth. They are warned that God’s laws will always operate, never fail:

They swear by God with their most solemn oaths that if a warner should ever come to them, they would follow his guidance better than some other community, but when a warner did come to them, they turned away with increased aversion, behaving arrogantly in the land and plotting evil. Yet such evil scheming will engulf none but its authors. Can they expect anything but the way of those unbelievers of old times?

No change will you ever find in God’s ways; no deviation will you ever find there.

(Verses 42-43)

The Arabs had Jewish neighbours in the Arabian Peninsula and they realized how far the Jews had deviated from the right path. They had heard much of their history and how they had killed their prophets, turning away from the truth these prophets advocated. The Arabs used to blame the Jews, and to swear most earnestly that “if a warner should ever come to them, they would follow his guidance better than some other community.” (Verse 42) They deliberately made their oaths in this way, not mentioning the Jews although clearly referring to them.

Thus were their oaths, which the Qur’ān presents to everyone so as to make them witnesses to what the Arabs used to say in pre-Islamic days. The sūrah then reveals what they did when God gave them what they wished for, sending them a messenger to warn them: “but when a warner did come to them, they turned away with increased aversion, behaving arrogantly in the land and plotting evil.” (Verses 42-43)

Needless to say, only a foul people would swear so strongly and then behave with such arrogance and evil. The sūrah exposes them, recording their behaviour, before adding to their disgrace a warning to all who emulate such actions: “Yet such evil scheming will engulf none but its authors.” (Verse 43) Thus, their evil will harm none but themselves. It will engulf and ruin them.

This being the case, what are they waiting for? They cannot wait for anything other than the fate that engulfed those who rejected the truth in the past. They are well aware of that fate. Hence, they can await for nothing other than the operation of God’s law which will never change: “Can they expect anything but the way of those unbelievers of old times? No change will you ever find in God’s ways; no deviation will you ever find there.” (Verse 43)

Things never move haphazardly and life does not move aimlessly. There are constant laws that allow no change. The Qur’ān states this truth and wants people to learn it so that they do not look at any event in isolation, overlooking the operation of God’s law. It draws their attention to the links and relations in life and the laws of existence, making it clear that these will always remain true. This present round gives an example of how the Qur’ān draws people’s attention to this fact, after having confirmed that God’s laws remain constant:

Have they not travelled in the land and seen what happened in the end to those before them, even though they were much mightier than them? God can never be foiled by anything whatever in the heavens and the earth. He is All-Knowing, infinite in His power. (Verse 44)

When we travel with open eyes and alert minds, looking at the fates of earlier communities and how they perished after having commanded strength and power, this should give us clear inspiration and awaken our God-fearing sense. It is for this reason that the Qur’ān often directs people to travel, look around and reflect. Unless people do so, they will remain oblivious of the truth, and they will not draw lessons from the fates of past communities. Nor will they link such events to the universal laws that apply to them. Yet this is the quality that distinguishes man from animals.

By contrast, the whole of the human race is one unit vis-a-vis the unity of the system and the universal law that applies to all.

While they are made to contemplate the fates of earlier communities, whose greater power availed them of nothing, they are reminded of God’s might. It is He who sealed the fate of those communities, for nothing can withstand His power:

“God can never be foiled by anything whatever in the heavens and the earth.” (Verse 44)

This is a truism which is supported by clear explanation: “He is All-Knowing, infinite in His power.” (Verse 44) His knowledge encompasses everything in the heavens and on earth. When His power is added to His perfect and absolute knowledge, nothing escapes Him or stands up to Him. Hence, nothing in the universe can foil His purpose. There is no way that anyone can escape His power or hide from His knowledge.

The last verse in the sūrah speaks of God’s forbearance and compassion, juxtaposing these with His power and knowledge. It emphasizes that people are given a chance, not punished immediately, but that this does not affect the eventual accurate reckoning of their deeds or the fairness of the results at the end. All this is an aspect of His grace:

If God were to punish people [at once] for the wrongs they do, He would not leave a single living creature on the surface of the earth. However, He grants them respite for a term set [by Him]. When their term comes to an end, [they realize that] God has all His servants in His sight. (Verse 45)

People commit all sorts of bad actions, showing ingratitude for God’s favours, spreading evil and corruption on earth, committing all manner of injustices and excesses. Were God to mete out fair punishment to people for their actions, His punishment would have gone beyond them to include every living thing on the face of the earth. The whole planet would then be unsuitable for any type of life, not merely human life.

This highlights the terrible nature of what people perpetrate as a destructive force 243

that could end life in its entirety. However, God does not take people to task straightaway; He forbears and gives them chances: “However, He grants them respite for a term set [by Him].” (Verse 45) He grants respite to individuals until the end of their lives on earth, and gives communities respite to fulfil their responsibility in performing the task He has assigned mankind to build human life on earth, until they hand over to the next generation. He also grants respite to the human race until the end of human life in this world when the Last Hour arrives. He provides us with all these chances so that we mend our ways and improve our actions.

“When their term comes to an end...” when the time for work and earning reward is over; when it is time for reckoning and administering reward; God will not begrudge them anything of their reward. On the contrary, He will be fair to all: “God has all His servants in His sight.” (Verse 45) The fact that He has them all in His sight ensures that they will be fairly requited for whatever they have done in their lives. Nothing serious or trivial will be discounted for or against them.

Thus ends this sūrah which started with praising God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, “who assigns angels to be messengers, endowed with wings,” delivering His message, with its warnings and happy news to people on earth.