In this long passage we have a glimpse of the history of the procession of faith, with the prophets as its leaders and their actions marking its way. We have a detailed account of what is to be expected along this road. It is the history of faith and how it addresses itself to humanity as it travels along its long journey on this planet. It makes its address every time human beings stray away from the straight path, laid down by God, in order to follow other paths, tempted by the fulfilment of carnal desires. It is indeed Satan who seeks to satisfy his grudge against mankind, fulfil his threats and lead human beings by the collar, through these desires, to hell. In the opposite camp, the noble procession of prophets and messengers hold out guidance for humanity, give it light and present it with the prospect of endless happiness in heaven, warning it against the schemes of its old, accursed enemy, Satan.

It is an awesome scene portraying the age-old struggle that encompasses the whole of life and continues along the whole length of the journey. Human history is so complex because man has a dual nature and a highly sophisticated constitution.

He is made of two totally different elements, brought together by God’s will: the clay of which he is made and the breath of the divine spirit which made of this clay a human being. This unique being moves along, with his unique nature, and deals with highly complicated and mutually interactive elements, as well as different worlds. He deals with the Divine Being, His will, irresistible might, boundless grace and forthcoming mercy. He also deals with the Supreme Society, the angels, and with Satan and his tribe. Furthermore, he deals with this world and its operative laws, as well as the living things on this earth; and with other human beings. In all his dealings, he relies on this same human nature, served also by his talents and abilities that may pull in one or opposite directions.

It is in this complicated multitude of links and relations that human history is formed, influenced by man’s strengths and weakness, the guidance he receives, the righteousness he tries to maintain, his contacts with this world and with the world beyond, and his dealings with the material and the spiritual in this universe, and ultimately with God’s will. It is from all these dealings that his history is formed, and in the light of this extreme complexity that his history should be explained.

Those who try to explain human history in either economic, political, biological, spiritual, psychological or rational terms look only at one aspect of the interactive elements that influence man, or the distinctly separate worlds with which he deals.

Only the Islamic explanation of human history takes such a broad view which encompasses all this complexity and looks at human history in such a perspective.

Here we have some real scenes of this greatly complex history. In the first scene of creation, at which we have already looked, all the worlds and the elements, apparent and hidden, which man will have to deal with were present right in the first moment.

We have seen the essential abilities given to man, and his honour in the Supreme Society, when the angels were ordered to prostrate themselves to him and God Himself announced his birth. We have also seen his weakness and how it has been exploited by his enemy. We have seen his fall to earth and how he has to deal with its elements and the laws of nature as they operate in it.

We then saw that as man fell to earth, he was a believer in his Lord, appealing for forgiveness, and giving the pledge of his vicegerency on earth, which committed him to follow the guidance that he would receive from his Lord and not to follow Satan or his own caprice. In order to help him fulfil that pledge, the first experience was granted to him. Time passed and man had to swim in the sea of the universe, with waves taking him this way and that. All the complicated elements both within him and in the universe continued to have an impact on his life. Here we see him having been led to a state of ignorance, or jāhiliyyah. It is true that man may forget or he overcome by his weakness. That gives power to his enemy, Satan, and hence man must be rescued.

When man fell to earth, he repented and sought forgiveness for his sin, pledging to follow guidance and always to believe in God’s oneness, but here we find him having strayed far away, associating partners with God. He has been thrown far off course, but he has still the guidance which could bring him back. He has the divine message. Indeed God’s mercy has dictated that man is never left without guidance.

Here in this sūrah we see the procession of faith, with its standard bearers, God’s noble messengers, Noah, Hūd, Şāliĥ, Lot, Shu`ayb, Moses and Muhammad peace be upon them all. We see how these noble messengers try, by God’s guidance, to rescue mankind from the precipice into which Satan attempts to sink them. Scenes of the struggle between guidance and error, truth and falsehood, the noble messengers and the evil ones from among the jinn and humans are portrayed here. We also see at every stage how the unbelievers are destroyed and how the believers are rescued.

It is not always that stories are related in the Qur’ān according to chronological order, but here in this sūrah they are, because the sūrah gives a glimpse of the line followed by humanity ever since its first creation. It also portrays how those in the procession of faith try to rescue man every time he strays far away from the right path. As we look at this panoramic scene we can detect certain broad lines which deserve to be discussed briefly before we look at the passage in detail.

1. Human beings often stray from the path of guidance from where they started in order to sink into a state of ignorance, or jāhiliyyah, that is characterized by associating partners with God. This happens as a result of the interplay of the complex elements that exist in man’s own constitution and the elements which he has to deal with. When this state of affairs is reached, God sends a messenger to human beings explaining to them the very same truth they had had before sinking into jāhiliyyah. Some of them write their own destruction, while others are able to spare themselves by returning to the truth of faith.

These are the ones who accept that they have a single God and submit willingly and totally to Him alone. It is they who listen to their messenger as he says to them: “My people, worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him.” (Verses 59, 65, 73, 85) This is indeed the essence of the divine faith throughout human history. Every messenger preached this same message to his people who had succumbed to Satan’s design and associated partners with God, although these partners may differ in different jāhiliyyah societies. It is this basic truism that is at the core of the battle between truth and falsehood. It is people’s attitudes to this basic fact that puts them in the camp of those who are destroyed, or those who are saved by God. The Qur’ān relates how all these messengers expressed this essential fact in their various languages, using the same wording throughout: “My people, worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him.” This serves to emphasize the unity of the divine faith throughout history, even in its verbal expression. The wording itself is so precise in expressing the essence of faith, and its repeated usage portrays in a very tangible way the unity of this faith. This is in itself significant.

This emphasis the Qur’ān places on the unity of the divine faith serves to show the great divide between the Qur’ānic method and the approach of comparative religion. We can see very clearly that there has never been any gradual approach to the basic concept of faith, or development of that concept, which all messengers have preached as they received it from God. Those who speak of the development or progress of human faith and include the divine message in this gradual development make a claim that is at variance with what God states. As we see clearly in the Qur’ān, divine faith has always stressed the same basic concept which the Qur’ān relates in the same wording:

“My people, worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him.” This God, to whom all messengers refer, is “the Lord of all the worlds” who will gather all human beings for the reckoning on a great day. No messenger sent by God has ever preached a belief in a Lord of a particular tribe, nation or race, and no messenger preached a belief in a duality or multiplicity of Godhead. No messenger urged his people to worship totems, stars, spirits or idols. No religion sanctioned by God omitted to speak of a life to come, as claimed by so-called ‘religious experts’ who study the different forms of ignorance and claim that such ignorant beliefs were the religions known to humanity in those particular periods of time.

The procession of faith, led by the noble messengers God has sent to mankind, is clearly demonstrated in the sūrah. This is preceded by the greater procession of faith in the whole universe: “Your Lord is God who has created the heavens and the earth in six aeons, and is established on the throne. He covers the day with the night in swift pursuit. The sun, the moon and the stars are made subservient to His command. Surely all creation and all authority belong to Him. Blessed is God, the Lord of the worlds.” (Verse 54)

All messengers sent by God advocated submission to the Supreme Being who created the heavens and the earth, and established Himself on the throne, and who set the night to pursue the day, and set the sun, moon and stars in motion making them subservient to His will. It is He who has created all and possesses authority over all. Indeed, His messengers call on all mankind to submit to God, the Lord of all the worlds, striving to save mankind from Satan’s schemes who endeavours to divert humanity away from God and to a state of ignorance. That state has endless forms, but all these forms have in common the characteristic of associating partners with God, claiming that they share Lordship with Him.

The Qur’ānic method often links the submission of the universe to God and the call on people to be in harmony with the universe and to submit to God as the rest of the universe has done and by whose will the universe is set in motion. This universal fact is bound to violently shake man’s heart, urging him from within to join in this willing submission, in order not to be the only odd note in the whole universal system.

The noble messengers do not call on mankind to do anything odd. Indeed, they call on mankind to believe in the truth implanted in the universe and forming the basis of its existence. It is the same truth implanted in human nature. When people are swayed by their carnal desires they enable Satan to take them away from the original truth, and it is then that Satan becomes certain that they have blinded their eyes and closed their minds to the truth.

This is a fundamental fact that clearly manifests itself when we listen to historical accounts as they are given in proper order in this sūrah.

We sent Noah to his people, and he said: “My people, worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. I fear lest suffering befall you on an awesome day.” The great ones among his people replied: “We certainly see that you are in obvious error. “Said he: “My people, I am not in error, but I am a Messenger from the Lord of all the worlds. I am delivering to you my Lord’s messages and giving you sincere counsel, for I know [through revelation] from God what you do not know. Do you think it strange that a reminder from your Lord should come to you through a man from among yourselves, so that he might warn you, and that you may keep away from evil and be graced with His mercy?” But they accused him of lying, so We saved him together with all those who stood by him, in the ark, and caused those who rejected Our revelations to drown. Surely they were blind people. (Verses 59-64)

This first historical account gives us a brief history of Noah. It does not include the details given elsewhere in the Qur’ān where these are required by the main theme under discussion in Sūrahs, Had and Noah. The main purpose of giving it here is to describe the main features which we have already discussed, the nature of faith, how to deliver God’s message, how people receive it and the messenger’s reaction to the response he gets, and finally the infliction of the punishment against which they were warned. Hence, only those aspects of the story which outline these points are mentioned here, following the general method of Qur’ānic historical accounts.

This passage opens with the statement, “We sent Noah to his people.” (Verse 59) This follows the pattern adopted by God, which meant that a messenger was chosen from among his own people, speaking their own language in order to win over those whose nature remained undistorted and to facilitate discussion and communication.

Those whose nature is already distorted wonder at this pattern and feel it beneath them to respond to human beings, demanding that the message be delivered to them by angels. This is no more than an excuse, because they would not have responded positively to divine guidance, whatever its means of delivery.

As Noah was sent to his people, he stressed the central point of all divine messages: “He said: ‘My people, worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him.’” (Verse 59) This is the solid unchangeable basis of divine faith, the mainstay of human life that guarantees the unity of direction and goal. It ensures that human beings are free from enslavement by their desires or by other human beings. It helps those who accept it to rise above all that they desire and to resist all temptation and threats.

The divine faith is a code for living based on the fundamental principle that all authority in human life belongs to God alone. This is the essential meaning of worshipping God alone and that God is the only deity acknowledged by human beings. When we speak of authority we include the belief that He is the Lord of both the universe and mankind who has originated them and conducts their affairs by His will and power. At the same level, we include belief in God’s Lordship over man’s day-to-day practical life and that man should conform to God’s will and abide by His law, in the same way as worship is offered to Him alone. All this is one integral whole. Otherwise, we come very close to associating partners with God, worshipping others alongside Him, or instead of Him.

History moves along and the sūrah moves on to another stage. We are now face to face with the people of `Ād, to whom the Prophet Had was sent.

And to `Ād [We sent] their brother Hūd. He said: “My people, worship God alone, you have no deity other than Him. Will you not, then, be God-fearing.’” Said the great ones among his people who disbelieved: “We clearly see that you are weakminded, and, truly, we think that you are a liar.” Said [Hūd]: “Weak-minded I am not, my people’, he said: “I am a Messenger from the Lord of all the worlds. I am delivering to you my Lord’s messages and giving you sincere and honest counsel. Do you think it strange that a reminder from your Lord should come to you through a man from among yourselves, so that he might warn you? Do but remember that He has made you successors of Noah’s people, and given you a larger stature than other people. Remember, then, God’s favours so that you may attain success.” They answered: `Have you come to tell us to worship God alone, and give up what our forefathers used to worship? Bring about, then, whatever you are threatening us with, if you are a man of truth.” Said [Hūd]: “You are already beset by loathsome evil and by your Lord’s condemnation. Are you arguing with me about some names you and your forefathers have invented, and for which God has given no warrant? Wait, then, if you will. I too am waiting.” So, by Our grace, We saved him together with all those who stood by him, and We wiped out the last remnant of those who denied Our revelations and would not believe. (Verses 65-72)

It is the same message, the same dialogue and the same end. God’s law applies to all people in all generations. The people of `Ād were descendants of Noah and those who survived with him in the ark. Some reports put their number at only thirteen.

There is no doubt that the descendants of those believers, saved in the ark, followed the faith preached by the Prophet Noah (peace be upon him) which is based on complete submission to God. They definitely worshipped God alone, acknowledging no deity other than Him and believing that He is the Lord of all the worlds. That was what Noah told them. Then with the passage of time, their descendants travelled and settled in different parts of the world. Satan continued to try to lead them away from divine guidance, and exploited their desires, particularly for wealth and enjoyment.

Thus they abandoned God’s law. Those people of `Ād found it strange that the Prophet sent to them should call on them to worship God alone.

“And to `Ād [We sent] their brother Hūd. He said: ‘My people, worship God alone, you have no deity other than Him. Will you not, then, be God-fearing.’” (Verse 65) This is exactly what Noah said to his people earlier, and they refused to accept it and suffered their well-known destiny. God has given power to the people of `Ād, but the sūrah does not mention here where they lived, although we learn from another sūrah that they were settled at al-Aĥqāf, which is a reference to the high sand dunes close to the Yemen border between Yamāmah and Ĥadramawt. They followed the same pattern as Noah’s people, rejected the warnings, and refused to reflect on what happened to those who went along before them. Therefore, Mild adds in his address to them this sentence: “Will you not, then, be God-fearing.” (Verse 65) This implies a strong criticism of their attitude as they show no fear of God and no worry about a terrible destiny.

And to Thamūd [We sent) their brother Şāliĥ. He said: ‘My people, worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Clear evidence of the truth has come to you from your Lord. This she-camel belonging to God is a token for you, so leave her alone to pasture on God’s earth and do her no harm, lest grievous punishment befall you.

Remember that He has made you the successors of `Ād and settled you firmly in the land. You build for yourselves palaces on its plains and carve out houses on the mountains. Remember, then, God’s favours and do not go about spreading corruption in the land.” The great ones among his people who gloried in their arrogance towards all who were deemed weak, said to the believers among them: “Do you really know that Şāliĥ is a Messenger sent by his Lord?” They answered: “We do believe in the message he has been sent with.” The arrogant ones said: “For our part, we reject what you believe in.” They cruelly slaughtered the she-camel, and insolently defied the commandment of their Lord, and said: “Şālīĥ, bring about the (punishment) with which you have threatened us, if you are truly one of (Gods) messengers.” Thereupon an earthquake overtook them and the morning found them lying lifeless on the ground in their very homes. He turned away from them, and said: `My people, I delivered to you my Lord’s message and counselled you sincerely, but you do not like those who give sincere counsel.” (Verses 73-79)

This is yet another episode in the history of mankind. Yet another sinking into ignorance and a confrontation between the truth and falsehood that ends in another destruction of the unbelievers.

“And to Thamūd [We sent) their brother Şāliĥ. He said: My people, worship God alone:

you have no deity other than Him.’” (Verse 73) It is the same single statement with which the creation of man started and to which humanity will certainly return. It is also the same method of belief, direction, confrontation and delivery of the message.

Here we also have an addition referring to the miracle which was given with the Prophet Şāliĥ’s message when his people demanded it in order to believe in him:

“Clear evidence of the truth has come to you from your Lord. This she-camel belonging to God is a token for you.” (Verse 73)

As the sūrah gives a quick presentation of the history of faith, the results of believing in it and the consequences of its rejection, it does not go into the details of the people’s request for a miracle. It simply refers to its existence as soon as it has outlined the essence of the message given by the Prophet Şāliĥ. Nor does this sūrah give us any details about the she-camel other than describing it as “a clear evidence of the truth ... from your Lord ... a she-camel belonging to God ... a token from Him.” From all this we realize that she was a very special she- camel, or that she was brought up for them in an extraordinary way to make of her a clear proof, and to make its belonging to God particularly significant, confirming Şāliĥ’s prophethood. We refrain from adding anything about the she-camel which is not mentioned in this most accurate of sources. Indeed, what is mentioned here is more than sufficient.

As history moves on we come to the time of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), but the sūrah does not refer here to Abraham’s history, because it only wants to discuss the fate of those nations who rejected the divine message. This is in line with the fourth verse in the sūrah which says: “How many a community have We destroyed, with Our punishment falling upon them by night, or at midday while they were resting.” (Verse 4) These stories of earlier communities give some details of what this statement sums up. Abraham’s people were not destroyed because the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) did not request his Lord to destroy them. Instead, he abandoned them and the deities they worshipped instead of God. We have here a brief account of the story of the people of Lot, who was Abraham’s nephew and contemporary, because the story involves giving warnings, rejection by unbelievers, and destruction. It thus fits in with what the sūrah is all about.

And Lot said to his people: “Will you persist in the indecencies none in all the world had ever committed before you? With lust you approach men instead of women.

Indeed, you are given to excesses. His people’s only answer was: “Drive them out of your land; for they are indeed people who would keep chaste.” We saved him together with his household, except his wife: she was one of those who stayed behind. We let loose a heavy rain upon them. Behold what happened in the end to those criminal people. (Verses 80-84)

The story of Lot’s people tells us about one special aspect of perverted human nature and tackles an issue different from that of Godhead and God’s oneness which was the central point in the earlier stories. However, it is not far removed from it.

Believing in God, the only Lord in the universe, is bound to lead the believer to accept God’s law and conform to the rules of nature He has set in operation. It has been God’s will to create human beings in two sexes, male and female, who perfectly complement each other. Survival of this species is effected through reproduction that results from intimate contact between male and female. Hence, it is part of their nature to be physically and psychologically attracted to each other and to make the contact that leads to reproduction. The pleasure they receive from it is profound, and the desire to have that pleasure is deeply rooted. Both desire and pleasure provide the motive for them to seek that contact despite the difficulties they are sure to encounter later with pregnancy, childbirth, breast-feeding, maintenance, and the upbringing and education of children. It also ensures that the male and female remain united in a family where the offspring are reared, because they require fostering over a much longer period than animal offspring. Moreover, it fulfils God’s will for human life to continue.

This is the way God has ordained things. To understand it and conform to it is directly related to believing in God and His wisdom in planning and creation.

Therefore, to deliberately deviate from this norm is closely related to deviation from faith and from the code of living God has laid down.

The next account of communities rejecting the divine faith in those ancient days is the last given in this sūrah. It speaks about the people of Madyan and their Prophet, Shu`ayb.

And to Madyan [We sent] their brother Shu`ayb. He said: “My people, worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Clear evidence of the truth has come to you from your Lord. Give full measure and weight [in your dealings], and do not deprive people of what rightfully belongs to them. Do not spread corruption on earth after it has been so well ordered. That is best for you, if you are true believers. Do not squat on every road, threatening and turning away from God’s path anyone who believes in Him, and trying to make it appear crooked. Remember when you were few and how He caused you to rapidly increase in number. Behold what happened in the end to those who spread corruption. If there be some among you who believe in the message with which I am sent, and others who do not believe, then be patient until God shall judge between us. He is the best of all judges.” Said the great ones among his people, who gloried in their arrogance: “We shall indeed expel you, Shu`ayb, and your fellow believers from our land unless you return to our fold. “ He said: “Even though we are unwilling? We should be guilty of fabricating lies against God, if we were to return to your ways after God has saved us from them.

It is not conceivable that we should return to them, unless God, our Lord, so wills.

Our Lord has full knowledge of everything. In God we place our trust. Our Lord, lay open the truth between us and our people; for You are the best to lay open the truth.

“The great ones who disbelieved among his people said: “If you follow Shu`ayb, you shall indeed be losers.” Thereupon an earthquake overtook them and the morning found them lying lifeless on the ground in their homes, as if those that rejected Shu`ayb had never prospered there. Those that rejected Shu`ayb were indeed the losers.

He turned away from them and said: “My people, I delivered to you my Lord’s messages and counselled you sincerely. How, then, could I grieve for people who persist in unbelief” (Verses 85-93)

Compared to the other accounts given in this sūrah, we note that this one is rather longer because, in addition to the question of faith, it includes a reference to business transactions. Nevertheless, the account follows the same pattern of concentration on the main issues.

“And to Madyan [We sent] their brother Shu`ayb. He said: ‘My people, worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him.’” (Verse 85) It is the same, consistent basis of the divine faith that admits no change or modification. But then we have some details about the message of the new Prophet, starting with a statement: “Clear evidence of the truth has come to you from your Lord.” (Verse 85)

The sūrah does not mention the type of that clear proof or its nature, as it did in the account given of the history of the Prophet Şāliĥ. Nor can we ascertain its nature from the other accounts of this history given in other sūrahs. We are simply told that clear proof was given to the Prophet Shu`ayb, confirming his statement that he had been sent by God. Clear evidence of the truth has been shown to them as the basis of the commandments given to them by their prophet. These required them to give full and just measure and weight, refrain from spreading corruption on earth and from threatening people as they go about their business, and to stop their efforts to persuade believers to change their faith: “Give full measure and weight [in your dealings], and do not deprive people of what rightfully belongs to them. Do not spread corruption on earth after it has been so well ordered. That is best for you, if you are true believers. Do not squat on every road, threatening and turning away from God’s path anyone who believes in Him, and trying to make it appear crooked. Remember when you were few and how He caused you to rapidly increase in number. Behold what happened in the end to those who spread corruption.” (Verses 85-86)

Threats and warnings cannot shake or intimidate a strong faith. Shu`ayb made his stand taking a position from which he could not budge an inch. That was the position of peaceful coexistence which would allow every individual to adopt the faith of his or her choice and submit to the authority which he or she acknowledged, awaiting God’s judgement between the two groups. No advocate of a divine faith can make even the smallest compromise beyond this point, great as the pressures to which he is exposed may be. Otherwise, he would betray the truth he advocates.

When the arrogant chiefs of his people responded to his offer by threats of expulsion from their land unless he toed their line, Shu`ayb stood up for the truth, declaring that he would not go back to the false faith after God had rescued him from it. He turned to his Lord and protector, appealing to Him for support against the advocates of evil: “He said: ‘Even though we are unwilling? We should be guilty of fabricating lies against God, if we were to return to your ways after God has saved us from them. It is not conceivable that we should return to them, unless God, our Lord, so wills. Our Lord has full knowledge of everything. In God we place our trust. Our Lord, lay open the truth between us and our people; for You are the best to lay open the truth. “(Verses 88-89)

These few words epitomize the nature of faith and its effect on the believers as well as the nature of jāhiliyyah and its hateful effects. We also see clearly how the divine truth makes the Prophet’s heart come alive: “He said. ‘Even though we are unwilling?’” (Verse 88) His attitude is one of total denunciation of their despotic threats: “We shall indeed expel you, Shu`ayb, and your fellow believers from our land unless you return to our fold.” (Verse 88) He asks them whether they are prepared to go all the way and force him and his fellow believers to return to their faith after God has saved them from it: “We should be guilty of fabricating lies against God, if we were to return to your ways after God has saved us from them.” (Verse 89)

A person given guidance by God but who reverts to false beliefs which do not require people to submit themselves totally to God and to obey Him alone makes false testimony against God and His faith. The sum of that testimony is that he could not find anything good in divine faith, so he abandoned it to readopt the creed of the tyrants. Or at least his testimony means that the tyrants’ creed also has the right to exist and exercise power, and can exist side by side with divine faith. Thus, he returns to it and recognizes it after he has believed in God. Such a testimony is far more serious than that of a person who has not experienced God’s guidance and declared his submission to God. It acknowledges as legitimate the tyrants who usurp God’s authority over human life.

Shu`ayb also denounces the tyrants’ threats to force him and his followers back into erroneous faith: “It is not conceivable that we should return to them.” (Verse 89) It is simply impossible. Shu`ayb makes this statement in the face of threats backed by the might of the tyrants. Indeed, tyranny adopts the same attitude towards every Muslim community, wherever it exists, once it declares its rejection of tyranny and submits at the same time to God alone, associating no partners with Him.

Maulana Mawdūdī says in his scholarly work The Moral Foundation of the Islamic Movement:

Even a person with superficial insight into human life cannot fail to realize that the whole question of human well-being depends entirely on who exercises control over human affairs. A train runs only to the destination determined by its driver. All passengers can travel only to the same destination, whether they like it or not. In the same way, the train of human civilization travels to where those who exercise power dictate. It is only too apparent that humanity as a whole cannot refuse the plan imposed by those who are in obvious control of all power throughout the world. It is those who conduct human affairs, and up to whom the masses look for the achievement of their goals and ambitions. Such people have the means of shaping ideas and theories, formulating them in an appealing fashion. They can influence personal habits, control social systems and mould moral values. If such leaders are good believers who fear God and who hope to receive reward from Him on the Day of Judgement, then the whole system of life will inevitably be set on the course of goodness and proper guidance. Evil people will be easily reformed and will realize that the path charted by faith is the proper one. Every good value becomes well established and begins to yield its fruit. The least benefit of social influence is that evil will be contained if not vanquished. On the other hand, if leadership is assumed by people who have deviated from the path laid down by God and His Messenger, and followed instead their own desires, exceeded their limits and led an undisciplined life, then the whole system of life will be based on tyranny, excesses and indecencies. Corruption will creep into concepts, theories, education, morality, politics, culture, civilization, as well as business transactions, law and justice. Evil will spread unchecked...

It is clearly apparent that the first thing divine faith requires of its followers is that they serve God alone, submitting to Him totally, so that they acknowledge no authority other than His and feel themselves to be free of all subjugation. It also requires that they recognize no law in their lives other than that laid down by God Himself and communicated to us and explained by God’s Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him). Islam also requires people to ensure the eradication of all corruption and elimination of all evil practices that incur God’s displeasure. Nothing of these noble goals can be achieved while the leadership over human beings and the control over their affairs continue to be in the hands of unbelievers. In such a situation those who follow the divine faith are forced to accept the authority of those unbelievers and submit to their tyranny, staying in their own little sanctuaries where they glorify God, isolating themselves from people’s lives, benefiting by any pardon or reprieve or guarantee the tyrants may feel pleased to grant them. This shows clearly the importance of good government and how it is instrumental in the implementation of divine law.

As Islam calls upon people to retrieve all authority usurped by human beings in order to return it all to God, it simply calls on them to rescue their humanity and save themselves from submission to fellow creatures. When they make a positive response, they actually save their souls and their property from the designs of tyrants, that serve their desires. In so doing, Islam requires its followers to bear the full burden of fighting tyranny, under its own banner, giving all the sacrifices such a fight may require. But at the same time, it spares them having to give sacrifices that are much more costly and humiliating. It protects their dignity and ensures their own safety at the same time. Hence, the Prophet Shu`ayb [peace be upon him] makes his statement loud and clear: “We should be guilty of fabricating lies against God, if we were to return to your ways after God has saved us from them. It is not conceivable that we should return to them.” (Verse 89)

Thus Shu`ayb stands up to the arrogant chiefs of his people, making his attitude absolutely clear and with his head raised high. Yet at the same time, he hangs his head down before his Lord, declaring his submission to Him alone, recognizing that His knowledge encompasses everything in the universe. As he refers to his Lord, he makes no final statement concerning what may happen. He simply declares that he has surrendered himself completely to God: “It is not conceivable that we should return to them, unless God, our Lord, so wills. Our Lord has full knowledge of everything.” (Verse 89)

This is an indication of complete submission to God by Shu`ayb and the believers who followed him. He makes clear that he can, at his own behest, refuse what tyrants require him to do of returning to their faith. He declares that he and his followers have no desire for such a return which sounds in principle totally unacceptable. But he, nevertheless, makes no categorical statement concerning what God may do with him or his followers. God’s will is free and absolute. Neither he, nor those who have believed with him, have any knowledge of what God may decide to do with them, while their Lord has full knowledge of everything. Hence, they submit to God’s will and knowledge. This is the mark of good manners which believers are keen to demonstrate in their dealings with God.

At this point, Shu`ayb leaves his people and their threats aside, declaring that he relies totally, and with absolute confidence, on God who is certain to judge between him and his people in accordance with the truth: “In God we place our trust. Our Lord, lay open the truth between us and our people; for You are the best to lay open the truth.” (Verse 89)

These few words portray a fascinating scene when the truth of Godhead is clearly seen and properly felt by His friend and Prophet. The Prophet knows the source of all power and the secure refuge that can be found there, and he realizes that it is his Lord who can judge in truth between faith and tyranny. He places his trust completely in his Lord before he goes into the battle that is imposed on him and his followers. He realizes that he cannot win that battle unless his Lord grants him victory.