Welcome to your favourite weekly program "Path towards Enlightenment" in which we explain to you in a fluent and easy-to-understand manner ayahs of the Final Heavenly Scripture for the guidance of all mankind, the holy Qur’an. We start from where we left you last Friday and here are ayahs 34 and 35 of Surah Saba:

“We did not send a warner to any town without its affluent ones saying, ‘We indeed disbelieve in what you have been sent with.”

“And they say, ‘We have greater wealth and more children, and we will not be punished!”

Last week, we talked about the conversation on the Day of Resurrection between the arrogant and the abased, that is, the misleaders and those who were misled, and how the two on seeing divine punishment looming before them, will blame each other for their sins, polytheism, and denial of God Almighty during life, but to no avail. This group, because of their prosperity, think themselves to be immune from harm, and out of ignorance become heedless of the warnings of the Messengers of God, although it is to their own benefit to listen to them and rectify their wrongs.

In continuation, these ayahs mean to say how the disbelievers in every age and place, especially those who were affluent, denied the manifest truth by openly rejecting the Prophets sent by God and the scriptures of heavenly guidance.

As is evident by the wordings of the next ayah, these arrogantly ignorant elements, who take pride upon their wealth and children, but fail to realize that it is God Who has given these things to them, think that they will not be punished. These sinners who openly oppose the commandments of God, mistakenly think that God loves them and that is why He has granted them wealth, while those whom He does not love remain poor and deprived of material wealth. They have the same attitude towards any learned reformer and any studious scholar preaching the message of the Prophets, and in order to confuse the programmes of the reformers, they often conspire and commit any crime they can against them.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Wealth and power often make the faithless blind to the truth and heedless of the teachings and warnings of the Prophets of God.
2. Wealth, prosperity and abundance of children, although blessings of God, do not are signify closeness to God, but have been given to test the faith and responsibility of the rich and the powerful in the building of God-oriented society.
3. A comfortable life in the transient world does not necessarily guarantee salvation in the Hereafter, and cannot save the disbelievers and the unrepentant sinners from the terrible punishment of afterlife.

Now we listen to ayah 36 of Surah Saba:

“Say (O Prophet), ‘Indeed my Lord expands the provision for whomever He wishes and He tightens it, but most people do not know.”

Here God commands Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and progeny) to tell the disbelievers it is God Alone Who provides every creature with the needed sustenance, expanding for whomsoever He wishes and tightening for whomsoever He deems necessary, as part of divine tests to determine the degree of faith of both the prosperous and the deprived. But it seems that despite the warnings and tidings of the Prophets, most people are heedless of this truth. In other words, differences in abundance and scarcity of sustenance are based on the wisdom of God, and does not mean the affluent are blessed and the deprived are cursed. Therefore, we should never count the amplification of sustenance as a reason for happiness, and its being straitened as a reason for wretchedness.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. Abundance and scarcity of sustenance is based on Divine Wisdom and as a trial for the faith of mankind.
2. Among the duties of Prophets is to correct the mode of thinking so that false ideas are removed from the society.
3. Whatever we have of wealth, property and children, are the gifts of God, as divine trial.

Now we listen to ayah 37 of Surah Saba:

“It is not your wealth, nor your children, that will bring you close to Us in nearness, except those who have faith and act righteously. It is they for whom there will be a twofold reward for what they did, and they will be secure in lofty abodes.”

According to ayah 15 of Surah Taghabun, all divine blessings including wealth, property, and children are the means of trial. The criterion for judging one’s personal merit will not be based on any material possessions or any influence other than the spiritual excellence and the actual righteousness in the practical life. All worldly goods are nothing but a passing cloud casting shadow running away with it. The real self-development needs correct faith and righteousness in the day to day life. The reward for righteousness will be manifold.

There are many wealthy persons who have used the divine blessing in the best way and are engaged in doing good deeds and serving the needy. Such people will indeed receive divine rewards in the Hereafter. On the contrary there are many rich persons who are greedy and their properties and assets have become the source of their torment in this world and the hereafter.

In the same manner, there are many deprived people who bear hardships but do not turn to crime or sins. They will receive their reward from God in the hereafter, while those of the poor and deprived who justify their commitment of crimes and sins, because of their poverty, will certainly suffer the dire consequences of their misdeeds.

The gist of the message of this ayah is that abundance of wealth, property and children does ensure proximity to God, but it is faith and sincerity of intention, whether of the rich or the poor that entails divine rewards.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. Some persons consider property and children as a sign of prosperity, while in the sight of God, it is faith and good deeds that bring real prosperity in life and salvation in afterlife.
2. What is important is to make proper use of wealth and children for abstaining from sins and building a sound, healthy and God-oriented society.
3. Divine punishment is in proportion to the magnitude of crimes and sins committed, and that too after God’s mercy, while divine rewards are based on the grace of God and are several times the worth of good deeds.     

AS/ME