THE WORD OF GOD
From The Scriptures
THE Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between 610 and 632 A.D. It is a book that brings glad tidings to mankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level.
Translated from Arabic and commentary
by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
The true servants of the Gracious One are those who walk upon the earth with humility and when they are addressed by the ignorant ones, their response is, ‘Peace’; and those who spend the night prostrating themselves, and standing before their Lord, who say, ‘Our Lord, ward off from us the punishment of Hell, for its punishment is a dreadful torment to suffer. Indeed, it is an evil abode and evil dwelling-place.’’( 25: 63-66)
They are those who are neither extravagant nor niggardly, but keep a balance between the two; (25: 67)
A man’s way of walking symbolises his whole personality. Those in whose hearts belief in God has taken firm root, become the embodiment of humility and modesty. The fear of God takes away any sense of superiority they may have. This sense of servitude to God permeates all aspects of their lives.
But this is not all. The realisation of God makes them (the believers) true advocates of His cause. In discharging this responsibility, they often face strong opposition from their addressees. The promulgation of the truth by the believers becomes unbearable to those who deny the truth and they take aggressive action against the preachers. But the fear of God prevents the believers from retaliating; they simply avoid conflict and pray for their opponents to be guided.
The realization of God results not only in their calling upon God during the daytime but also in their nights being filled with the remembrance of God.
Similarly, realisation of God makes them extremely prudent. They earn with a sense of responsibility and spend with a sense of responsibility. It is their sense of accountability to God which makes them moderate and cautious in the matter of income and expenditure. A tradition of the Prophet says, ‘Wisdom lies in man adopting the path of moderation.’
Those who never invoke any other deity besides God, nor take a life which God has made sacred, except with the right to do so, nor commit adultery. Anyone who does that shall face punishment: he shall have his suffering doubled on the Day of Resurrection and he will abide forever in disgrace, except for those who repent and believe and do good deeds. God will change the evil deeds of such people into good ones: He is most forgiving and most merciful. He who repents and does good deeds has truly turned to God. (25: 68-71)
Three sins have been mentioned in this verse — polytheism, the killing of a person without justification, and adultery. These three forms of wrongdoing are great sins against God and His subjects. The sign of real faith in God is that a man abstains from them. Those who have indulged in these sins can save themselves from retribution by repentance, but for those who die without repenting and reforming, there will be severe punishment before God at God’s behest, which they will in no way be able to avoid.
Real virtue in the eyes of God is a man’s becoming God-fearing. Any virtue which makes a man fearless of God is, in fact, a sin, while that sin which makes a man God-fearing is in fact, in terms of its result, a virtue.
If a man happens to commit a sin but later on, seeing the error of his ways rushes towards Him in repentance (tawbah) and seeks His pardon, then God will mercifully add this sin to the list of his virtues, because that had made him turn towards Him.
And those who do not bear false witness, and when they pass by frivolity, they pass by with dignity; who do not turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the signs of their Lord when they are reminded of them; who say, ‘Lord, grant us joy in our wives and children and make us a model for the righteous.’ (25: 72-74)
In the present world, Satan has been at pains to glamorise wrongdoing and has taught the worshipper of untruth to present his case in the most appealing way. People, deceived by appearances, are therefore drawn towards evil. But if the outer covering of deceit could be removed, the wickedness thus uncovered would appear so ugly that people would be sure to keep their distance from it. From this point of view, every bad thing in which a man indulges is a falsehood. In the present world, the test of a man is that he should recognise falsehood. He should be able to tear down the outer curtain and see things in the light of reality.
When a man is given advice which goes against his whims and fancies, he immediately becomes annoyed. In the eyes of God, such a person is blind and deaf, because he has not used his eyes to see reality and has not used his ears to hear the voice of Truth. If he has not welcomed the advice, it is because he is like a man deprived of the powers of hearing and seeing. In the eyes of God, a man capable of seeing and hearing is one who avoids pointless things when he sees them, but if true advice comes his way, immediately accepts it.
Every man with a family is the leader (imam) of his family. If his family members are God-fearing, he is the imam of God-fearing people. But if his family members are forgetful of God, he is at the head of those who are oblivious of God.
These are the ones who will be rewarded with lofty mansions in Paradise, for their steadfastness. They will be received therein with greetings of welcome and salutations of peace. There they shall abide forever: blessed dwelling and a blessed resting place. Say, ‘What would my Lord care for you, if you do not call on Him. Because you have indeed rejected the truth and His punishment is bound to overtake you. (25: 75-77)
Those who had humbled themselves in this world for the sake of Truth, will be lodged in the loftiest dwellings of paradise. They lived with humility in this world so, in the Hereafter, God will reward them with high status. This was expressed by Jesus Christ as follows: ‘Blessed are those who are poor in this world. It is they who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’
Paradise is the place on high where all desires will be completely fulfilled; the qualities which take a human being to paradise may be developed by one who is prepared to exercise patience. For, in exercising patience, he will be able to fully curb his desires in this world. This is the price one has to pay for entering Paradise. One who is not prepared to pay the requisite price of patience in this world will be doomed to live forever in hell.
