In the Shade of the Qur'an by Sayyid Qutb

This final part of the surah elaborates on the comments given at the end of the previous part. It again directs the Prophet and the believers to remain patient in adversity, until God wills to bring about what He has promised the believers and what He has warned the unbelievers against. This may take place during the Prophets lifetime or may be delayed until a later time. The question here is that of faith, the believers and the rejecters who dispute its truth. The arbiter in all this is God. It is He who determines the course of His message as He pleases.

In this part the surah outlines some additional aspects of this point.

The Divine message has a long history. It did not start with the Prophet Muhammad and the Islamic message embodied in the Qur’an. Before him there were many messengers, some of whom God mentioned to the Prophet and some He did not. They all faced rejection and arrogance. They were all required to demonstrate miracles. Everyone of them dearly wished that God would give him a miracle which would force the rejecters to submit to the truth. However, showing such a sign or a miracle is a matter that God determines at His own time.

The message is His and He conducts its affairs.

Nevertheless, there are numerous signs in the universe, which can be seen by all at all times. Of these, the surah mentions here cattle and ships, and refers in general to other signs which no one can deny.

The surah concludes with a strong reminder of the destruction of earlier communities all of whom displayed similar arrogance. Their power and civilization were of little use to them when God’s law was applied: “But accepting the faith after they had seen Our might was not going to benefit them at all. This has always been God's way ofdealing with His creatures. There and then the unbelievers will be lost.” (Verse 85) On this powerful note the surah concludes. It is a surah that focuses its attention on the battle between truth and falsehood, faith and unfaith, tyranny and justice.

We sent other messengers before your time; some We have given you an account of while others We have not. No messenger could bring a sign except by God's leave. When God's will becomes manifest, judgement will be passed between them in all justice, and lost will be, then and there, all who have followed falsehood. (Verse 78)

This whole question of the message has had many precedents, some of which are told by God to His messenger in this book, the Qur’an.

Others, He chose not to tell him about. The accounts that have been given clearly show the long, clearly marked way that advocacy of the Divine message should take. They also outline the rules that cannot be altered, since God has set them into operation. Furthermore, these accounts of past messengers make clear the nature of the message, the role of the messengers and the limits they have to observe.

The present verse strongly emphasizes a fact that needs to be fully understood: “No messenger could bring a sign except by God's leave.” (Verse 78) Every believer, even though he may be a messenger of God, would love to see the Divine message victorious. They dearly wish that those who stubbornly reject it will soon succumb to its truth.

Therefore, they would love to see a miracle that would break the stubbornness of hardened unbelievers. However, God wants His chosen servants to remain absolutely patient in the face of all adversity. He, therefore, makes it clear to them that they have no say in the matter; their task is completed when they have delivered their message. Miracles occur at the time of His choice. Thus, they should be reassured, satisfied with whatever is accomplished through them, leaving the final outcome to God, who determines it as He pleases.

God also wants people to understand the nature of Godhead and the nature of prophethood. He wants them to realize that God’s messengers are mortals like them: He has chosen them and assigned them their missions. Not only can they not exceed that mission, they would not try to do so. Moreover, people should know that miracles are delayed out of God’s mercy. It is God’s will that should people continue to reject His faith after they have been given a miracle, He will destroy them soon after that. Thus, they are given time and a period of grace: “ When God's will becomes manifest, judgement will be passed between them in all justice, and lost will be, then and there, all who have followed falsehood.” (Verse 78) There will be no time left for any further action, nor for repentance or mending of ways.

Those who demand miracles are directed to reflect on God’s signs that are present everywhere in the world around them. Because of the long familiarity of these, they are often forgotten. Reflection on them, however, is sufficient to give them all the evidence they want. They testify to the fact that God is the Creator of everything in the universe.

No one can claim that these have been created by anyone other than God; nor can there be any claim that they existed without being created by God who has planned everything:

It is God who provides livestock for you, some for riding and some for your food. You have other benefits in them too. You can reach on them any destination you wish. On them, as on ships, you are carried.

And He shows you His signs: which of God's signs can you still deny?

(Verses 79—81)

The creation of livestock is a miracle in the first place, just like the creation of man. To shape and fashion them and to give them life are all miracles which human beings do not even claim. Another miracle is making such livestock subservient to man, when some of them are larger and stronger than man. Yet, w It is God who provides livestock for you, some for riding and some for your food." (Verse 79) To say that such livestock merely exist and we need not concern ourselves with how or why they do is unacceptable. To claim that they are not a clear miracle in relation to man and his ability, or that they do not point to the Creator who originated them and gave them their characteristics, as He did with man, is to make arbitrary claims that run against logic and reason.

The surah reminds them of the favours God has granted them through these creatures: “some for riding and some for your food. You have other benefits in them too. You can reach on them any destination you wish. On them, as on ships, you are carried." (Verses 79-80) The things that they used to desire and accomplish through traveling on such mounts were great at the time; this before the invention of modern means of travel and transport. There are still certain things that continue to be done by using such livestock. Even today, certain mountainous areas can only be reached by using animals, despite the fact that cars, trains, planes and other vehicles are available to us. Access to them is through narrow passages that can only be traversed by animals.

“On them, as on ships, you are carried." (Verse 80) This is also a sign from God; indeed, a great blessing from Him. The fact that ships sail on the sea is based on a number of natural laws and balances that are of the essence of the universes design. They involve the earth, sky, dry land, sea and river, as well as the nature of the elements and components of the universe. These are essential whether a boat uses sail, steam, combustion engine, nuclear power, or some other power God has placed on our planet and the use of which He has facilitated for man. Hence, ships are mentioned here as an aspect of Gods signs on the one hand and the blessings He bestows on man on the other.

God’s signs throughout the universe are countless. They cannot be denied by any serious minded person: “And He shows you His signs:

which of God's signs can you still deny?' (Verse 81) Yes, indeed! Some people do deny and dispute God’s revelations and signs, using false arguments to try to undermine the truth. Such people, however, are motivated only by ulterior motives, arrogance, twisted concepts or some purpose other than establishing the truth. A tyrant like Pharaoh, who feared for his throne because he knew that the truth of God’s oneness would disprove the legends on which his kingship was based, disputed God’s signs and His message. Some people believe in certain creeds that are incompatible with the principle of God’s oneness such as communism. Communists wanted people to confine themselves to the earth, concentrating all their cares on their bellies and sexual desires.

They wanted people to worship nothing other than the creed or the leader. Others suffered under the yoke of the clergy, as happened during the Middle Ages in Europe when the Church held excessive powers, and people wanted to get rid of such tyranny. Therefore, they rejected God in whose name the Church exercized its tyranny.

There are other motives that make people dispute the truth of faith.

However, human nature finds such disputes repugnant and acknowledges the truth testified by everything in the universe.

The surah concludes on a very powerful note:

Have they not travelled through the land and seen what was the end of those who lived before them? They were more numerous than them, and greater in power and in the impact they left on earth.

Yet what they achieved was of no avail to them. When God's messengers came to them with all evidence of the truth, they revelled in what knowledge they had; and so they were overwhelmed by the very thing which they mocked. And then when they saw Our might, they said: 'We believe in God alone, and we renounce those we used to associate as partners with Him. But accepting the faith after they had seen Our might was not going to benefit them at all. This has always been God's way of dealing with His creatures. There and then the unbelievers will be lost. (Verses 82-85)

Many communities were destroyed during human history. What happened to some of these communities can be seen in their ruins; others are recorded in history, written or transmitted by word of mouth. The Qur’an often directs our attention to these histories because they are indicative of human life and its course of history. They also have a powerful effect on our minds and hearts. The Qur’an addresses human nature by what God, who revealed the Qur’an, knows of human nature: what influences it and what opens its receptors. Some of these receptors need only a light tap, while others require strong hammering because of the thick veils that have covered them over time.

At this point the surah questions them, encouraging them to travel across the land with open eyes, alert feelings and an objective approach.

They should look at what took place on earth before their time, and consider whether they too might be exposed to the same: "Have they not travelled through the land and seen what was the end of those who lived before them? (Verse 82) Before specifying what end they met, the surah describes the conditions of those past communities so that the addressees can consider how it could affect them and also enable them to draw the right lessons: “ They were more numerous than them, and greater in power and in the impact they left on earth? 82) Thus, they enjoyed power and civilization. Some of these belonged to generations that preceded the Arabs, the history of some is given to the Prophet, while others were known to the Arabs who passed by their ruins: "Yet what they achieved was of no avail to them? (Verse 82)

Neither material power nor numerical strength was of any avail to them. Indeed their advancement was the cause of their tragedy: “ When God's messengers came to them with all evidence of the truth, they revelled in what knowledge they had? (Verse 83) Without faith, knowledge becomes a test that may cause blindness and excess. Such superficial knowledge can lead to conceit and arrogance. Given such knowledge, a person may think that he can control immense powers and immeasurable resources and this leads him to transgress beyond his limits. He tends to forget the great many things he does not know. These are present in the universe, but he has no power over them. Indeed, he is not fully aware of them. He only knows their ends that are close to him. Yet he boasts falsely, emphasizing his knowledge and overlooking his ignorance. If he would only compare what he knows to what he does not, and what he is able to do to with what he cannot even begin to understand, he would certainly moderate his excitement about his knowledge.

Those people, however, revelled in what little knowledge they had and ridiculed whoever reminded them of what is beyond their knowledge: “And so they were overwhelmed by the very thing which they mocked” (Verse 83) Therefore, when they see Gods might, they begin to realize the truth of their arrogance and acknowledge what they used to deny. They declare their belief in God’s oneness and disown those deities which they alleged to be Gods partners. All this, however, comes when it is too late: “And then when they saw Our might, they said: 'We believe in God alone, and we renounce those we used to associate as partners with Him. But accepting the faith after they had seen Our might was not going to benefit them at all.” (Verses 84-85) It is a rule God has established that repentance after demonstrating Gods might is not acceptable, because it is motivated by fear, not by faith. “This has always been God's way of dealing with His creatures.” (Verse 85)

Gods way remains operative at all times. It never changes, deviates or fails: “There and then the unbelievers will be lost” (Verse 85)

This is a very powerful conclusion to the surah, with Gods might overwhelming the rejecters when they are raising their voices with appeals motivated by fear. Thus, the end fits well with overall ambience and main subject matter of the surah.

The surah tackles those issues of faith that feature prominently in Makkan revelations, such as Gods oneness, resurrection and revelation.

These, however, are not the main themes of the surah. Its main theme is the battle between truth and falsehood, faith and unfaith, tyranny and justice. Indeed, the development of this battle gives the surah its distinctive features.