This passage of the sūrah comments on the accounts that have just finished of the histories of the communities to whom the Prophets Noah, Hūd, Şāliĥ, Lot and Shu`ayb were sent. We have here an explanation of the rule God has laid down which ensures that His will is done when He punishes those who deny His messages. It is the same rule and principle which shapes human history in one very important aspect. God inflicts tribulations and hardship on those who reject His messengers so that their hearts may soften and they turn to God, acknowledging His oneness and recognizing that the only course of action open to them is to submit to His overpowering authority. If they do not respond, then He tries them with affluence and good fortune. He opens up for them all types of blessings and leaves them for a while to enjoy their prosperity. All this, however, is a means of trial.

People’s prosperity causes them to lead a life of recklessness, negligence and heedlessness, because they tend to think that fortunes change by themselves, and a life of plenty is simply bound to follow a period of hardship, without any particular purpose or design.

When they feel that what they have experienced is the same as was experienced by their forefathers, without any particular purpose in all this design, God’s punishment is certain to take them unawares. They do not understand God’s purpose when He tries them with affliction and prosperity. They cannot comprehend why people’s situations change every now and then. They have not guarded against incurring God’s anger, preferring to live like animals until they are smitten by God’s punishment. Had they believed in God and followed the right course, their situation would have changed and blessings would have opened up to them. God would have bestowed His grace on them and they would have been made to receive His blessings from everywhere, giving them reassurance and a happy future.

God then warns the new generations against a life of recklessness. He calls on them to be alert and to appreciate the lessons of past generations and how they met their doom. They themselves are also subject to God’s laws of nature, which will remain in operation, exercising their influence on human history across all periods and generations.

This short commentary concludes with an address to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), telling him that these histories are being related so that he learns how God’s law has been given effect. It tells him of the true position of those communities: “We found that most of them were untrue to their commitments; indeed We found most of them to be transgressors.” (Verse 102) He is the last Messenger, and his followers are the nation which inherits the divine message in its totality. They are the ones to benefit by past lessons.

Never have We sent a prophet to any city without trying its people with tribulations and hardship that they may supplicate with humility. We then replaced the affliction with good fortune till they throve and said, `Hardship and good fortune befell our forefathers as well.’” We then smote them, all of a sudden, while they were totally unaware. Yet had the people of those cities believed and been God-fearing, We would indeed have opened up for them blessings out of heaven and earth. But they disbelieved, so We smote them on account of what they had been doing. (Verses 94-96)

We are not told here of any particular incident, but an important aspect of the natural law God has set in operation is highlighted. We are told how fate is determined. We thus learn that there is a law which sets matters into a particular pattern, dictating events, and shaping human history on earth. We learn that the divine message itself, important as it is, can be regarded as one of the means of implementing the divine constitution, which is far greater in scope than the message.

Matters do not simply happen by themselves. Man does not stand alone, as alleged by later day atheists. Whatever takes place in the universe is part of an elaborate scheme, and has a definite purpose, serving an ultimate aim. The law of nature is devised by an absolutely free will which has shaped the constitution. It was in accordance with that law, operated by God’s free will, that those communities, whose history was related in this sūrah, met their fate.

According to the Islamic concept, man’s will and action are factors of great importance in determining the direction of his history and how it is to be interpreted.

But man’s will and action must be seen within the context of God’s free will and absolute power. Within this context, man’s will and action come into direct interaction with the entire universe. This means that there are many factors and situations which have a strong bearing on human history giving it greater scope and depth. When we understand this, then, any attempt to explain human history in purely economic, biological or geographical terms is far too narrow and petty.

“Never have We sent a prophet to any city without trying its people with tribulations and hardship that they may supplicate with humility.” (Verse 94) Far be it from God to punish His servants physically or cause them to go through adversity that affects their persons or their property for idle play. Such trials could never be motivated by hatred or the desire for revenge, as pagan legends make out. God tries with tribulations and adversity those who deny His message. By nature, such a trial reawakens human hearts and rekindles the light of goodness encouraging weak human beings to turn to God Almighty, their Creator, humbly appealing to Him to grant them forgiveness and bestow His mercy on them. By such humble supplication they declare their submission to Him, which is the ultimate aim of human existence.

God does not need that human beings should supplicate humbly to Him and declare their submission: “I have not created the jinn and human beings to any end other than that they may worship Me. No sustenance do I ever demand of them, nor do I demand that they feed Me. Truly, God Himself is the provider of all sustenance, the Lord of all might, the eternal.” (51: 56-58)

“Yet had the people of those cities believed and been God fearing, We would indeed have opened up for them blessings out of heaven and earth. But they disbelieved, so We smote them on account of what they had been doing.” (Verse 96) This is the other part of the natural law God has set in operation. Had the people of those cities believed instead of denying God’s messages, and had they been God-fearing instead of being careless, God would have opened up for them blessings from heaven and earth. They would have been given such blessings in abundance, without restriction. God’s blessings would have come to them from above and beneath. The Qur’ānic expression is so general that it imparts a sense of great abundance that is not limited to what is familiar to human beings of provisions and sustenance.

This statement and the one preceding it put in front of our eyes certain facts that relate to faith on the one hand and to human life in this world on the other. They also touch on a factor that has a great influence on human history, even though it is often overlooked and indeed denied by man-made theories and philosophies. That fact tells us that the question of having faith in God and fearing Him is not isolated from the reality of life and the course of human history. To believe in God and to fear Him qualify people to receive blessings from heaven and earth. This is a promise given by God, and God is always true to His promises.

We who believe in God accept this promise as true without having to ask first about its reasons or causes. We have no hesitation in expecting that it will come true.

We believe in God, and consequently in what lies beyond human perception; therefore, we believe in the fulfilment of God’s promises. But when we reflect on God’s promise, as indeed we are ordered to do by our faith, we soon realize its causes. A person who believes in God has an alert nature, sound natural reception, accurate understanding, a healthy human constitution and a keen interaction with the universe. All these elements tend to ensure success in real life.

Moreover, faith in God represents a strong motivation. It streamlines all aspects of the human constitution and directs them to a single goal, allowing them to derive strength from God’s power and release them to implement His will in building human life on earth and safeguarding it from all elements of corruption. Again, all this tends to ensure success in practical life.

To believe in God is to be free from being enslaved by desire or by other people.

There is no doubt that a human being who achieves his freedom through submission to God is, as a result, better able to fulfil man’s task of building human life on earth.

To fear God is to combine awareness with wisdom so that we can steer away from rashness, recklessness and conceit as we go about our business in this life. It is a quality that directs human effort sensibly and carefully so that whoever has that quality does not transgress or exceed the limits of acceptable behaviour.

The sūrah has thus established the fact that God’s law is set in operation and will never fail, as confirmed by the history of former communities. Now that feelings are high about the doom that befell those who rejected the faith and overlooked the purpose of their test, the sūrah addresses those who have so far overlooked these facts of life. It tries to awaken in them a sense of expectation, alerting them to the fact that God’s might may strike them at any time of day or night, when they are asleep, at work or having fun: “Do the people of these cities feel secure that Our might would not strike them at dead of night when they are asleep? Or do the people of these cities feel secure that Our might would not strike them in broad daylight when they are playing around? Do they feel themselves secure from God’s designs? None feels secure from God’s designs except those who are losers. Is it not plain to those who have inherited the earth in succession of former generations that, if We so willed, We can punish them for their sins and seal their hearts, leaving them bereft of hearing.” (Verses 97-100)

Having been told of God’s law that exposes people and communities to tests of adversity and affluence, and having seen the doom that befell those who rejected the divine message in former times, do the people of the present generation feel so secure that they assume that God’s might will not strike when they are totally unaware? Do they feel so immune against God’s might striking at dead of night when they are fast asleep? They should remember that a sleeping person is powerless, unable to take precautions or even repel a weak, small insect. How could he prevent a mighty strike from God, when no human being, however alert and strong can resist or prevent it?

Or do they feel secure that God’s might will not strike in broad daylight when they are engaged in their play? Enjoyable activities, or play and fun, normally preoccupy man and totally distract his attention. A person who is absorbed in his play, having fun, can hardly resist an enemy’s strike. How can he resist a strike from God when no human being, at his most alert and highest state of preparedness can avert it?

The fact is that God’s might is far too powerful to be resisted by all human beings, whether they are asleep or awake, preoccupied or alert, but the sūrah points out the moments of human weakness to shake people and attract their attention. This is the effect of expecting a strike at a moment of weakness when one is totally unaware while realizing that people cannot escape such a strike even at their moments of strength. In both situations, man is totally powerless when confronted by God’s might.

“Do they feel themselves secure from God’s designs?” (Verse 99) Can they have any immunity against what God plans for human beings when He does not reveal those plans to them so that they can guard against them? If they feel so secure, then the fact is that “none feels secure from God’s designs except those who are losers.” (Verse 99)

Utter loss is indeed the result of an attitude that continues to overlook the facts of history and prefers a sense of false security. Those who adopt such an attitude earn such a loss. How can they feel secure, when they have inherited the earth from people that have been destroyed as a result of their erring ways, and who were punished for adopting the same attitude of disregarding those basic facts? The destiny of those nations should have taught them some good lessons.

Having outlined, with highly inspiring touches, the operative rules of nature, the sūrah addresses God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) informing him of the net outcome of putting those communities to trial, pointing out certain facts about the nature of faith and disbelief, as well as the nature of human beings, as seen in those communities: “We have related to you parts of the history of those communities. Messengers from among themselves came to them with clear evidence of the truth; but they would not believe in what they had formerly rejected. Thus does God seal the hearts of the unbelievers.

We found that most of them were untrue to their commitments; indeed We found most of them to be transgressors.” (Verses 101-102)

This history is clearly stated to have been revealed by God. The Prophet could not have learnt it from any source other than revelation.

“Messengers from among themselves came to them with clear evidence of the truth.” (Verse 101) But no evidence was of benefit to them, because they continued to reject the message after having received that evidence in the same way as they rejected it before such evidence was given them. They simply would not believe in what they had already rejected. No matter how clear the evidence of the truth is, it will not lead such people to adopt the faith. What those people lacked was not plain proof of the truth, but rather open hearts and minds, and a keen desire to receive guidance. They lacked an active nature that receives and responds. When they refused to open their minds to elements of guidance, God sealed their hearts and they could no longer give any proper response: “Thus does God seal the hearts of the unbelievers.” (Verse 101)

The history of those communities reveals a predominant fact: “We found that most of them were untrue to their commitments; indeed We found most of them to be transgressors.” (Verse 102) The commitment mentioned in this verse may refer to the pledge God has received from human nature and to which reference is made later in the sūrah: “Your Lord brought forth their offspring from the loins of the children of Adam, and called them to bear witness about themselves: Am I not your Lord?’— to which they answer: ‘Yes, indeed, we do bear witness that You are.’” (Verse 172) It may also refer to the commitment to faith given by their forefathers who followed God’s messengers, but subsequent generations deviated, as happens indeed in every community.

Successive generations deviate gradually until they go out of the fold altogether and sink back into ignorance, or jāhiliyyah.

Whatever the commitment is to which the sūrah is referring here, the fact remains that most of those communities were untrue to it. They followed their own fleeting whims and shifting desires. They could not fulfil their pledges.

“Indeed we found most of them to be transgressors.” (Verse 102) They deviate from God’s faith and from their original commitment. This is the result of following one’s capricious desires and taking solemn commitments lightly. Whoever turns away from God’s guidance, lacking the determination to fulfil the commitments he has made to Him, is hound to move away from faith into corruption and transgression.