Welcome to another episode of our weekly series titled “Path towards Enlightenment” which is an endeavour to make you and us familiar with an easy and fluent explanation of God’s Final Scripture to all mankind, the holy Qur’an, which was revealed to the Last and Greatest of all Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

We start from where we left you last week, and here we present the explanation of Ayah 20 of Surah Zukhruf:

وَقَالُوا لَوْ شَاءَ الرَّحْمَـٰنُ مَا عَبَدْنَاهُم ۗ مَّا لَهُم بِذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ ۖ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ

“They (the polytheists) say, ‘Had the All-Beneficent wished, we would not have worshipped them (idols). (Tell them in reply) They do not have any knowledge of that, and they do nothing but surmise.”

If you remember, last Friday we said in our explanation of the previous Ayahs of this Surah that both males and females are the creatures of God and necessary for survival of the human race, since each of them have his/her own exclusive characteristics in helping shape family and bring up good children. We also said angels are not children of God as the pagans claim, but the creatures of God without having any gender and have been created without possessing any emotions in order to discharge the duties entrusted to them.

The Ayah we recited to you means to say that wrongdoers and disbelievers make attempts at justification of their wayward acts on the pretext that their worshipping of idols is Divine Will. Through such illogical claims they try to exonerate themselves of sins that had God the Exalted wished they would not have worshipped idols. Thus, this Ayah is a reply to their absurd claims that only indicate their ignorance and irrationality. In other words, they are liars, since the One and Only Creator of the entire universe never endorses polytheism or the worship of imaginary deities and the idols crafted by the idolaters, which means the polytheists are immersed in ignorance and resort to conjectures.

From this Ayah we learn:

1. It is wrong and a cardinal sin to attribute one’s wrong beliefs and carnal desires to God Almighty by saying that had He wished He would have stopped us.
2. A claim that lacks reason and logic is nothing but a lie and conjecture of the ignorant mind.

Let us now listen to Ayahs 21 and 22 of Surah Zukhruf:

أَمْ آتَيْنَاهُمْ كِتَابًا مِّن قَبْلِهِ فَهُم بِهِ مُسْتَمْسِكُونَ

بَلْ قَالُوا إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءَنَا عَلَىٰ أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِم مُّهْتَدُونَ

“(Say) did We give them a Book before this, so that they are holding fast to it?”

“Rather they (the polytheists) say, ‘We found our fathers following a creed, and we are indeed guided in their footsteps.’”

Ayah 21 by posing the question that ‘were the idol-worshippers given a heavenly book to make such absurd claims on the basis of its contents’, exposes that polytheism and superstition have neither intellectual nor spiritual bases?  It is obvious that no Prophet ever preached polytheism, and as is evident by the next Ayah, the polytheists out of ignorance are only following the misguided footsteps of their ignorant forefathers. In other words, they blindly imitate their ancestors on the assumption that whatever belief their predecessors held was right.

From these Ayahs we learn:

1. Religious beliefs require firm and manifest proofs of Divine Revelation, and should not be mere conjectures.
2. Blind imitation of the misconceived acts of the predecessors by claiming them to be cultural values that should be preserved, is harmful and detrimental to the progress of a community or a country.
3. If imitation of the practices of the past is essential, it ought to be based on scholarly and expert study with sound proof of the rationality of such a tradition which should not contradict the laws of God

Here we present you Ayah 23 of Surah Zukhruf:

وَكَذَٰلِكَ مَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ فِي قَرْيَةٍ مِّن نَّذِيرٍ إِلَّا قَالَ مُتْرَفُوهَا إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءَنَا عَلَىٰ أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِم مُّقْتَدُونَ

“And so it has been that We did not send any warner to a town before you (O’ Prophet), without its affluent ones saying, ‘We found our fathers following a creed and we are indeed following in their footsteps.’

In the previous Ayahs we discussed the falsity of the beliefs of the pagans in following the irrational ways of their forefathers in worshipping idols, rather than tread the path of guidance as shown by the prophets sent by God Almighty. Ayah 23 means to say that those living in luxury think about opulence and worldly possessions only, on the assumption that any change of behaviour, however rational, might disturb the status quo established by their forefathers, whose polytheistic ways assured status, power, and wealth for them at the expense of the oppressed masses.

In this Ayah, God Almighty thus informs the Prophet of Islam that all the prophets before him had warned the people of dire consequences if they do not give up their false beliefs and turn to the straight and unwavering path of monotheism, but the ringleaders of the polytheists, afraid of losing their privileges at the awakening of the masses, confronted and persecuted the divine messengers by defending the deviated creed of their forefathers.

This Ayah teaches us the following points:

1. God has given human beings the intellect to sift truth from falsehood, which means it is wrong to blindly defend the deviated ways of the past.
2. It is the duty of the Prophets, saints, and religious reformers to warn the arrogant and ignorant elements of the consequences of their evil ways.
3. Power and wealth, if not controlled, will lead to rebellion against God.

Now let us enlighten our souls with Ayahs 24 and 25 of the same Surah:

قَالَ أَوَلَوْ جِئْتُكُم بِأَهْدَىٰ مِمَّا وَجَدتُّمْ عَلَيْهِ آبَاءَكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا إِنَّا بِمَا أُرْسِلْتُم بِهِ كَافِرُونَ

فَانتَقَمْنَا مِنْهُمْ ۖ فَانظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ

“He (the Prophet) would say, ‘What! Even if I bring you a better guidance than what you found your fathers following?’ They would say, ‘We indeed disbelieve in what you are sent with.’”

“Thereupon We took vengeance on them; so observe how was the fate of the deniers.”

In answer to those reluctant to give up the false beliefs of their forefathers, the Prophets would say: Do you continue your denial of truth, even when we have presented you with a better creed than that of your forefathers? Don’t you want to achieve bliss?

Among the methods of presentation of facts and realities is to compare and contrast the teachings of different schools. Thus, the Prophets made use of reason and intellect, while their opponents stuck to tribalism and blind imitation, by refusing to heed the divine call.

As a result, Ayah 25, after the previous Ayahs had duly warned the polytheists of the consequences of their false beliefs, speaks of Divine wrath. Since the polytheists priding on the wrong beliefs of their forefathers not only continued to deny the manifest truth and the path of bliss as shown by the Prophets, it now became incumbent upon the All-Merciful Lord to punish them, since these polytheists were spreading corruption on the earth. Thus, we should study the ruins and history of the past to learn how powerful and wealthy civilizations were destroyed by God for their disobedience and sins.

 From these Ayahs we learn that:

1. Among the ways of promoting Islam is to compare its dynamic teachings with those of other religions on the basis of logic and rationality.
2. Denial of facts and realities results in obstinacy and eventually deprives the intransigent of the power to discern between right and wrong.
3. Divine wrath strikes after long periods of relief and manifest signs for the disbelievers and sinners to mend their erroneous beliefs and ways.

RM/AS/SS