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 69 of Surah Ahzab:

 “O you who have faith! Do not be like those who tormented Moses, whereat Allah absolved him of what they alleged, and he was distinguished in Allah’s sight.”

If your remember, while explaining ayah 57 of Surah Ahzab, over a month ago, we came across stern warning of God Almighty of the terrible punishment awaiting the hypocrites and those torment Prophet Mohammad (blessing of God upon him and his progeny). This means that the disbelievers and the enemies of truth, entangled in the snares of the Satan, not just deny the Prophets and their messages of salvation, but also torment and slander them. Thus, in the ayah that we recited to you now refers to the devilish plots of the ungrateful Israelites against Prophet Moses, and warns Muslims against misbehaving with the Prophet of Islam in like manner. Towards its end, the ayah says that God the All-Aware made Moses distinguished and honoured by absolving him of the various accusations of the Israelites. The ayah also means to warn Muslims, who used to interact with the Jews of Medina, against being influenced by their deceit and spreading baseless words about the Prophets of God, Who safeguards the chastity, honour and ranks of His Messengers.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. One of the ploys of the enemies is to weaken religious leaders through spreading rumors, accusing them and questioning their physical and psychological health.
2. Faith in God requires faith in the infallibility and purity of Prophets and the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, by avoiding any accusations on them.
3. God defends the honour of those who strive in His path, including true believers and their religious leaders, whose purpose is to safeguard the society.

Now we listen to and read ayahs 70 and 71 of Surah Ahzab:

“O you who have faith! Be wary of Allah, and speak upright words.”

“He shall rectify your conduct for you and He shall forgive you your sins. Whoever obeys Allah and His Prophet has certainly achieved a great success.”

In continuation of the previous ayah which forbids Muslims from using abusive words or hurting the Prophet, this ayah means to says one should be careful and avoid saying anything which has not been proven to be true. It means to say, speak upright words and tell the truth by doing something real, rather than allowing rumours and false news to spread.

It is evident that if all the believers were to abide by the principles of religion by being fair and speaking the truth, instead of misjudgment about others on the basis of rumours, speculations and unfounded suspicion, the society will be sound and healthy.

In the next ayah, God the All-Merciful promises forgiveness to those who repent, reform themselves, and rectify their conduct, by compensating for the misdeeds of the past. The ayah ends with the words that whoever obeys Allah and the Prophet has indeed achieved a great success.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Faith requires virtue and virtue requires true and righteous words.
2. Saying beautiful words is not enough, but these words should be well-documented and have a firm basis, coupled with practical actions.
3. If we observe piety to the best of our ability, God the All-Merciful forgives our faults and slips, and guides us on the right path.

Now we listen to and read ayahs 72 and 73 of Surah Ahzab:

“Indeed We presented the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to bear it, and were apprehensive of it; but man undertook it. Indeed he is most unfair and senseless.”

“Allah will surely punish the hypocrites, men and women, and the polytheists, men and women, and Allah will turn clemently to the faithful, men and women, and Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful.”

These ayahs which are the final ayahs of Surah Ahzab refer to the very important issue of Divine Trust which the mountains, the earth and the skies, politely declined to accept, not out of arrogance and disobedience like Satan the outcast, but because of their apprehensiveness in shouldering such a grave responsibility which they could not have been able to properly discharge. On the other hand, the human being, because of his essence of being the best and finest creation of God, accepted it, although most of mankind are not fair and do not use their God-given senses to differentiate truth from falsehood. God Almighty bestowed human beings with the intellect along with the power of speech, qualities that other forms of creation do not have. These God-given faculties, if properly used, enable mankind to progress towards perfection, both in material terms and spiritually, without sacrificing the other, while the other forms of creatures, whether animate or inanimate, are in the same state as they were created, without any purposeful striving towards perfection. Thus, these bounties of God ought to be used in a beneficial way for strengthening of faith and the good of the society, instead of being misused to the detriment of the misuser, who is obviously unfair and senseless.

According to some narrations, the Divine Trust mentioned here refers to the wilayah or God-given authority of the Prophet of Islam and the Imams of his Infallible Household, beginning with the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). Those who refuse to acknowledge their prime position as the salvagers of humanity, are not just unfair and senseless but hypocrites, disbelievers and apostates.

As God Almighty says in ayah 73, the last ayah of Surah Ahzab, He will surely punish these hypocrites and polytheists, whether men or women for betraying the Divine Trust, while those who believe in God, repent and reform themselves, whether men or women, will indeed be forgiven and showered with mercy for their fulfillment of responsibilities.   

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Human beings as the Trustees of God in the world of creation, because of the gifts of the intellect and speech, should properly use divine bounties, rather than misusing them.
2. From the viewpoint of Islam, oppression is not just the oppression of others, but the oppression of the self as well, if a person is unfair and senseless.
3. Whoever betrays God’s trust will be exposed to divine wrath.
4. Man and woman are equal, whether in faith and perfection, or disbelief and decadence, without there being any discrimination of the basis of gender.

AS/ME