Welcome to our weekly programme "Path towards Enlightenment" in which we present you a fluent and easy-to-understand explanation of the ayahs of the holy Qur’an. We start from where we left you last Friday and here is ayah 29 of Surah Zumar:

"Allah draws an example: a man jointly owned by several contending masters, and a man belonging entirely to one man: are the two equal in comparison? All praise belongs to Allah! But most of them do not know."

If you might recall, last week we had explained to you ayah 27 of Surah Zumar, where God says: "Certainly we have drawn for mankind in this Qurʾān every [kind of] example, so that they may take admonition."

The ayah that we recited to you now is in the form of an allegory to depict the wide difference between monotheists and polytheists.

Monotheists are entirely devoted to the worship of the One and Only God and completely obedience to His Commandments, which have no contradiction, whereas polytheists are preoccupied at all times on how to satisfy their different deities, and in what manner, since these imaginary gods of theirs, contradict each other, and at times are supposed to deceive and fight each other, resulting in the bewilderment of the idolaters.

Thus the Holy Qur’an illustrates the fates of polytheists and monotheists by employment of the similitude as per which a slave belongs to several masters each of whom order him to do something and the point is that the orders are contradictory. Such a slave is perplexed as to which order is to be acted upon. To add insult to injury, each and every master asks the other to meet the slave’s demands and the latter is perplexed, miserable, and destitute.

In contrast, a monotheist, is like the slave of a single master, whose orders are specifically clear and he obediently acts accordingly, without the lease doubt, perplexity, or contradiction. Rather a monotheist takes his steps calmly and confidently, since he is under the guardianship of one single master who supports him anywhere and anytime.

It means the two, that is, the monotheist and the polytheist cannot be considered equal. The polytheists lack peace of mind, tranquility of heart, and a clear path to tread.

The ayah ends with praise of God Almighty, Whose Boundless Mercy and Protection the believers seek through obedience to Him on the straight and unwavering path, while the polytheists persist in their state of ignorance if they are unwilling or unable to summon the courage to use their God-given intellect to choose the right way.

It is interesting to note that while in prison in Egypt, Prophet Joseph used this same rational discussion to awaken the minds of the inmates and turn them into staunch monotheists.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. A monotheist only thinks about the pleasure of God Almighty, but the polytheist has to seek the satisfaction of several of his deities, and it is not possible to satisfy all of them because the wishes and characteristics attributed to them are very different.
2. We should use the intellect in a reasonable and rational manner to sift truth from falsehood, instead of blindly adhering to the ways of the ancestors.

Now we listen to or read ayahs 30 and 31 of Surah Zumar:

"You will indeed die, and they [too] will die indeed."

"Then on the Day of Resurrection you will indeed contend before your Lord."

The end of all mankind, whether believer and disbeliever, is death and no human on earth has eternal life. Even the Prophets of God are not excluded from this general law. For instance, if the enemies of the Prophet of Islam wished that he should die, they should know that they too will die. Ayah 34 of Surah Anbiya says:

"We did not give immortality to any human before you. If you are fated to die, will they live on forever?"

Death, however, is not the end, and is only a gateway to afterlife and the Day of Resurrection, on which all will be raised for the final judgement. It means that on that day, the monotheists and polytheists would face each other, and their conversation shows that if the believers thank God for having guided them to the path of righteousness and salvation, the polytheists, the atheists, and all other disbelievers will rue the day and after much dispute amongst themselves, acknowledge the falsehood into which trapped themselves by refusing heed the manifest signs of guidance towards the One and Only Creator.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Death is God's definitive law for all human beings, including Prophets, Imams, and Saints, since no one except the Almighty Creator is immortal.
2. On Judgment Day, different groups speak against each other and seek to accuse others by attempting to absolve themselves of their manifest guilt, but on that day, judgment is done by Allah, the All-Wise and All-Just, Who after showing His profound Mercy is fair even to the sinners and disbelievers.

Now we listen to or read ayah 32 of Surah Zumar:

"So who is a greater wrongdoer than him who attributes a falsehood to Allah, and denies the truth when it reaches him? Is not the [final] abode of the faithless in hell?"

This ayah refers to those persons who denied the manifest truth and refused to accept the words of God revealed through Prophets.

Unbelievers who deny the existence of God, or those polytheists who, due to their weird beliefs, give false attributes to God, both deny the truth and consider it lie. Naturally, the evil acts and wrongdoing of these people in the world leads them to hell.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. More than economic and social oppression is oppression of thoughts and culture in society, the most vivid example being denying the manifest truth revealed by God, and attributing falsehood to Him.
2. Obstinacy and bias are the factors that cause a person to deny truth and suffer the consequences.

AS/ME