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 Quran. We start from where we left you last Friday and here is ayah 38 of Surah Saba:

 “As for those who contend with Our signs, seeking to thwart [their purpose], they will be brought to the punishment.”

Last week while explaining ayah 37 of Surah Saba we said 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.

The ayah that we recited to you now refers to those who try to oppose the signs of Allah, and if possible negate them. It says not only such people have no faith, but they also do not let others seek out the path of truth on the assumption that their power and wealth will enable them to escape from the all-embracing Power of Allah. The fact, however, is different, and they will be brought towards the painful chastisement on the Day of Judgment for their disbelief and unrepentant sins.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. The possessor of power and wealth, who connive to undermine the truth, will be destroyed themselves, since none can prevail over Divine Will.
2. The enemies of Islam have always tried to ridicule the holy Qur'an and the teachings of the Prophet amongst the people, but have miserably failed, because it is God Himself Who is Protector of the Truth.
3. It is the duty of all Muslims, especially religious scholars, to take measures to frustrate the designs of the enemies of Islam and humanity, through comprehensive plans.

Now we listen to ayah 39 of Surah Saba:

Say (O Prophet), ‘Indeed my Lord expands the provision for whomever of His servants that He wishes and tightens it, and He will repay whatever you may spend, and He is the best of providers.’

In continuation of the previous ayahs which spells doom for the faithful who pride upon their possessions, including wealth and offspring, this ayah says: God expands or tightens sustenance for whomever He deems proper on the basis of wisdom and expediency, so one should not become proud and arrogant on increase of income, or become disappointed with its decrease.  

As for the believers, God the All-Wise sometimes increases the sustenance – where it is good for the believer – and He sometimes straitens and limits the sustenance in the place where it requires. However, the abundance and decline of sustenance, is part of divine trial and tribulation to test the degree of faith. God is Best of all sustainers because He knows what to bestow and how much of provision He may endow that it would not be the cause of mischief and corruption, and He knows everything. Whatever He wills He can grant to whomever He wishes, because He is powerful to do everything. At the same time, the Almighty does not demand any recompense for whatever He bestows, because He is Self-Sufficient in Essence. He grants the things even without asking them from Him, because He is aware of all things, and He is Wise. And none, but He, is the giver of sustenance, since whatever a person has is from Him, and whatever a person gives to another one the person is the means of transferring the sustenance, not the giver of sustenance.

As for the last part of the ayah which says God repays whatever the believers may spend, it means whatever is spent in the cause of God is in fact, a rich profitable bargain, because our Loving Creator undertakes its recompense; and we know that when a gracious one undertakes the recompense of something, he pays it back several folds, and sometimes hundred folds.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. The difference amongst the sustenance of various people, is similar to the difference in their talents and abilities, and in addition, to what God has granted according to Divine Wisdom.
2. The abundance or scarcity of sustenance is part of divine tests and tribulations to determine the degree of faith.
3. It is God Alone Who provides sustenance to mankind and to all other creatures, and as for those who spend in His path, he has guaranteed recompense such spending manifold.

Now we listen to ayahs 40 and 41 of Surah Saba:

“On the day He will muster them all together, then He will say to the angels, ‘Was it you that these used to worship?”

“They will say, ‘Immaculate are You! You are our Intimate, not they! Rather they used to worship the jinn; most of them had faith in them.”

Among the misconstrued ideas of the polytheists was belief in the intercession of angels in the Divine Court and thus they conjectured the worship of angels and in their weird imagination assigned a hierarchical order to them.

On the Day of Resurrection, besides reprimanding the polytheists, God will ask the objects of their worship, including the angels, whether they had called them to polytheism, in order to prove that the objects or the angels, whom the polytheists used to worship, would condemn them. So, in this ayah, the holy Qur’an implies that in the Hereafter God gathers all, including the worshippers and the objects of worship.

On that day, the angels will defend themselves against the falsehood and allegations of the idol-worshipers, by pointing out that these polytheists actually used to worship the devils and genies. In their eyes, the satanic elements, appeared beautiful alluring as objects of idolatry. In other words, the polytheists worshipped the Satan and whatever objects.

These ayahs are refutation of the claims of the pagans and the others who claim to follow the angelical course while actually following the satanic forces of the lower spheres. This includes the modern ways of attempts on recalling the spirits of the dead.  

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. The idolaters claimed to worship heavenly figures or angels on the assumption these imaginary objects will intercede with God Almighty on their behalf, while the fact of the matter is that they were misled by Satan and used to worship genies, spirits and manmade objects.
2. We ought to be careful of our beliefs and should build our faith on the basis of what God has revealed to His messengers, especially the Last and Greatest of them, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).
3.  On Judgment Day the objects the polytheists worshipped will not only be of no help to them, but will speak against the polytheists themselves.

AS/ME