Salaam and welcome to another interesting edition of our weekly programme on a fluent and easy-to-understand explanation of the divine ayahs of the holy Qu’ran titled “Path towards Enlightenment”.

We start from where we left you last Friday and here are ayahs 89 and 90 of Surah Naml:

مَن جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ خَيْرٌ مِّنْهَا وَهُم مِّن فَزَعٍ يَوْمَئِذٍ آمِنُونَ

وَمَن جَاءَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ فَكُبَّتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ فِي النَّارِ هَلْ تُجْزَوْنَ إِلَّا مَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

“Whoever brings virtue shall receive [a reward] better than it; and they shall be secure from terror on that day.”

“And whoever brings vice —they shall be cast on their faces into the Fire [and told:] ‘Shall you be requited except with what you used to do?”

If you remember, last week we spoke of the blowing of the trumpet of doom by the angel Israfeel which would signal the end of life, followed by the second sounding of this deafening trumpet which would usher in the Resurrection Day, and all mankind, even those whose bones have become dust, would be raised back to life for the final judgement.

The ayahs that we recited to you now refer to the reward and punishment to be meted out that fateful day, when the virtuous will be sent to paradise while the vicious will be cast into the fires of hell – depending on the deeds done in the transient life of the material world. As is clear from the wordings of these ayahs, the virtuous believers who while alive had repented of whatever faults they had committed, will be safe and secure from the terrible developments of the Day of Resurrection when mankind will be in a terrified state and exposed to the terror of their own foul deeds, for God had granted them ample respite to discern truth from falsehood through proper use of the power of intellect that He had given them. As a matter of fact, in our life we encounter only a part of the results of our works, whether good or bad, because the transient world lacks the time and capacity for complete reward and complete punishment, which have been deferred by God to the Resurrection Day whose duration would be 50,000 years, and on which everybody will be shown the full result of their deeds. God is Just, and whatever treatment the All-Compassionate metes out to His disobedient creatures, is based on justice and mercy, which means hell is the consequence of the magnitude of one’s sins, ranging from polytheism to atheism.  

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Good deeds ought to be preserved through sincerity of intention and refrainment from committing sins that destroy the good acts.
2. The rewards reserved by God for the virtuous are far more than the worth of the good deed done, while Divine Punishment, after much forgiveness, is lesser, if not equal, to the magnitude of sins that were committed.

Now we listen to ayahs 91 and 92 of Surah Naml:

إِنَّمَا أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أَعْبُدَ رَبَّ هَـٰذِهِ الْبَلْدَةِ الَّذِي حَرَّمَهَا وَلَهُ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ ۖ وَأُمِرْتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

وَأَنْ أَتْلُوَ الْقُرْآنَ ۖ فَمَنِ اهْتَدَىٰ فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِي لِنَفْسِهِ ۖ وَمَن ضَلَّ فَقُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُنذِرِينَ

“Indeed I have been commanded to worship the Lord of this city Who has made it inviolable and to whom all things belong, and I have been commanded to be among those who submit [to Allah]”

“And to recite the Qurʾān;’ So whoever is guided is guided only for his own sake, and as for him who goes astray, say: ‘I am just one of the warners.” 

These ayahs reflect the argumentation of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) with the pagan Arabs, who are being informed of God’s commandment of keeping Mecca safe as an inviolable place of monotheism through recitation of the holy Qur’an, refraining from idol-worship and being practicing Muslims, which means those who submit to none other but the One and Only Creator Who is far Glorious to be encompassed by the eyes of His creatures. In other words, the Prophet tells them that whoever accepts guidance has done it for the sake of salvation of his own soul, and as for those who do not give up idol-worship and are clearly on the wrong path, they should understand that as a Warner of the consequences awaiting them for their evil acts, I have fulfilled my mission. To be more precise the belief or disbelief of a person neither benefits the Prophet nor harms him, since he is an emissary of God for the guidance of the human society by setting personal example of the Majesty of the Lord Most High, through prayers, supplications and other acts of worship. 

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Prophets diligently obey the commands of God and convey them to mankind which means whatever they do or say are not from themselves.
2. The duty of Prophets, Imams, saints and religious leaders, is to enlighten minds with divine injunctions, and it is up to the people to heed them and be saved, or ignore them and bear the consequences of rejection of truth.

Now we listen to ayah 93 of Surah Naml:

وَقُلِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ سَيُرِيكُمْ آيَاتِهِ فَتَعْرِفُونَهَا ۚ وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ

“And say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah. Soon He will show you His signs, and you will recognize them.’ And your Lord is not oblivious of what you do.”

This ayah ends Surah Naml by summing up the Glory of God by saying that all praise belongs to the Almighty Creator, Who will soon reveal more of His signs to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) whose sincere endeavours for Islam and the welfare of the human race, are all evident. It teaches us the proper cognition of divine signs, which are everywhere around us, while the holy Qur’an, as the Eternal Miracle, is the source of unending blessings for humanity, for which we should be thankful to God, and should feel grateful to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) for his efforts in having guided us to the right path.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. We should always praise God and be thankful to Him for His blessings, which include the holy Qur’an and Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), as well as the Infallible Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt.
2. What we have seen of God’s signs in the world around will become more evident with the progress in science, but it needs faith to develop proper cognizance of them.

Next week, God Willing, we will start Surah Qasas.

FK/AS/SS