Clapping Does Not Happen
by Just One Hand

Patience and being God-fearing are guarantees that the antagonistic plan will necessarily become fruitless. God has placed the matter in our own hands.

The Quran states: “We have created pairs of all things so that you might reflect.” (51:49) This is a universal principle of nature. Here any happening takes place through interaction with other things or beings. Nothing in this world can have beneficial outcomes in total isolation.

The same principle applies equally to social life. This is expressed by the ancient saying that clapping cannot be done by just one hand. A person may keep waving his hand in the air, but he will not be able to clap. Clapping necessitates the second hand striking it. Only then can clapping be engaged in.

From the Quran we learn that in the case of being harmed by an opponent, the same holds true. The plan to harm an opponent is successful only when the opponent does something intentionally, or unintentionally, which activates the planner to do something harmful. If the other party’s hand does not become the activator, the enemy’s antagonistic “clapping” cannot take place. The Quran tells us that there are people who want to harm believers by being inimical towards them. But the Quran tells us clearly that “if you persevere and fear God, their designs will never harm you in the least: God encompasses all that they do.” (3:120)

This verse can be explained thus: the plotting of an enemy can succeed only 50%. It can be successfully carried out when the other party through some of its own mistakes can fulfil the other 50 % of the plan of the antagonist. Patience and being God-fearing are guarantees that this second half which can complete the plan will not be received by the enemy. When this happens the antagonistic plan will necessarily become fruitless. In this way, God has placed this matter in one’s own hands. In this way the enemy’s plot cannot succeed.