Welcome to our weekly program “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 61 of Surah Ankabut:

وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُم مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّـهُ ۖ فَأَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ

“If you ask them, ‘Who created the heavens and the earth, and disposed the sun and the moon?’ They will surely say, ‘Allah.’ Then where do they stray?”

The pagan Arabs of Mecca who worshipped idols and refused to believe in monotheism, had a somewhat vague concept of God the Almighty Creator, but believed that Allah Who is the Creator of the heavens, earth, sun and moon, has relegated management of affairs to several deities, including the sun, moon, stars and the idols crafted by them. They also did not believe that it is Allah Alone Who determines their fate and sustenance. They thought that the imagination of their wild and warped minds, the deities and idols, would intercede with Allah for them. It is really strange that today also many people acknowledge God as the One and Only Creator, but do not obey Him, nor do they practice in daily life what the Almighty has sent down through His Prophet clear instructions of proper worship and the necessity of abstaining from evil ways and modes of wrong behaviour. Such people think they are needless of God in their life and have the right to do whatever they want.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. In ideological discussions the emphasis should not on commonalities in order to convince the opponents, since at times, the shared belief of many of the polytheists with Muslims is their concept of One Supreme Being, God the Creator of the entire universe.

2. Distortion of truth is one of the dangers which threaten all, as is evident by the fact that many, although they acknowledge God, make the mistake of thinking that He has relegated authority to deities, idols, and saints. This is nothing but deviation from the truth, and against the teachings of the Prophet of Islam and the Infallible Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt.

Now let us listen to ayah 62 of Surah Ankabut:

اللَّـهُ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَقْدِرُ لَهُ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ

“Allah expands the provision for whomever He wishes of His servants, and tightens it for him. Indeed Allah has knowledge of all things.”

Last week we said the early Muslims of Mecca were persecuted by the pagan Arabs and subjected to social and economic sanctions for years. But despite these hardships and lack of subsistence, some of them were reluctant to leave their hometown for the safety of other lands, out of fear that life would be more difficult abroad and without any provision. This is an erroneous thinking, as is clear from this ayah, where God Almighty means to say: Do not give up your faith in fear of the problem of livelihood and sustenance, and instead be firm in your faith, since it is God Alone Who provides or deprives His creatures of their provision. In other words, if it is necessary to migrate for the sake of preserving your faith, then do leave your hometown or homeland, where there is acute danger that your will be forced to give up your faith in Islam and become apostates.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. It is incumbent for us to work and strive for livelihood, but it is the All-Wise God Alone Who determines the quantity of our provision and sustenance, whether it should be aplenty or straitened.

2. The apparent difference in enjoying sustenance and worldly blessings among people is a need of the society, as decreed by God, and beyond the power of even governments to guarantee equal provision for all. Of course, our efforts also play an important role in the procuring of our provision.

Now let us listen to ayahs 63 and 64 of Surah Ankabut:

وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُم مَّن نَّزَّلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ مِن بَعْدِ مَوْتِهَا لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّـهُ ۚ قُلِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ ۚ بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ

وَمَا هَـٰذِهِ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا لَهْوٌ وَلَعِبٌ ۚ وَإِنَّ الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ لَهِيَ الْحَيَوَانُ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ

“And if you ask them (the disbelievers): ‘Who sends down water from the sky, with which He revives the earth after its death?’ They will surely say, ‘Allah.’ Say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah!’ But most of them do not apply reason.”

“The life of this world is nothing but diversion and play, but the abode of the Hereafter is indeed Life, had they known!”

Water is the elixir of life, and without rainfall drought will prevail resulting in lack of crops and food to eat, coupled with the loss of various sectors of the economy and industry, because of the death of plants and animals. This ayah indicates the inner belief of idolaters that they even did not refuse to express it by their tongue, because they knew the Creator as Allah, and introduced Allah as the Lord and also the administrator of the whole world. Thus, when the disbelievers and the idolaters acknowledge the power of Allah despite their worshipping of idols, how come those who claim to be Muslims and monotheists are worried about their sustenance and fear to leave their hometown for the sake of God for preserving their faith? Do they not know that the real life is in the Hereafter and this world is nothing but diversion and play? It is unfortunate that while the children amuse themselves with toys, the elders also indulge in such frivolous play, since the toys of the grown-ups and those with greed for material life are cars, houses and factories. In childish plays, one becomes king and the other becomes minister, or a doctor and patient, or mother and child. When the plays come to end, it becomes clear that all these titles have been fake and imaginary. For the grown-ups also, everyone might make a title for himself and assume a rank and position in society. But when life ends, the person realizes that all these were artificial and unsustainable, and the entire life was lost in these frivolities, when the proper worship of God, piety, virtue, and obedience to the commandments of God, would have ensured bliss in afterlife. So what is the fate of kings, presidents, governors, dictators, military generals, business tycoons and accumulators of wealth and power? The play of the world has come to its end and the loss is terrible and perpetual for such persons.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. It is the proper cognizance of God that prevents a person from sins and indulging in the frivolities of life.

2. Most of people, although they acknowledge the power of God, pretend to be ignorant and do not want to think about the purpose of their own creation.

3. Negligence of the hereafter and the realities of life and the world, result in loss.

4. The real life is in the hereafter in which everyone is placed in his real place. There is no pain, suffering and oppression and no one’s right is trampled.

AS/MG