In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate Salaam and welcome to our weekly programme "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 are ayahs 22 and 23 from Surah Fatir:

“Nor are the living equal to the dead. Indeed Allah makes whomever He wishes to hear, and you cannot make those who are in the graves hear.”

“You are but a warner.”

In continuation of the previous ayahs that we explained last Friday, these ayahs liken the infidels to the dead and believers to the living and mean to say that the hearts of the unbelievers are like that of the dead who neither see nor hear. Lack of belief puts a veil on the unbeliever, preventing him/her from seeing and hearing the truth. In contrast, the eyes, the ears, the hearts and minds of the believers are receptive to the divine message, and they seek and accept the truth. But if the heart is not prepared to accept the truth, then the ear will not be prepared to hear it. Just like when you are busy at work, while the TV is on. Since you are not paying attention to the TV programme, however informative, you will not understand anything being telecast even though the voices are reaching your ears! The disbelievers also hear the right words, but they do not hear the word of truth and they do not understand it because they do not want to hear and accept it.

The rest of the ayahs directly address Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). God says: Your mission is to warn of the consequences of unbelief, and your words, although rational and logical, will not affect the addressee, unless he/she hears attentively and understands. The ayah likens the unbelievers to spiritually dead persons, and means to say that those whose senses are alive, hear and accept, while it makes no difference for the deaf and the dead.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. It is the exuberance of faith that results in growth and development of the individual and society, while disbelief results in the decay and death of the spiritual aspects of both the individual and the society.
2. It is essential to promote the truth of religion and spiritual values by inviting people to the right path, but one should not expect the intransigent unbelievers whose hearts, minds, and souls are tainted, and who are unwilling to hear and accept the truth, to be responsive.
3. The lack of belief of the unbelievers should not be a cause of despair for us, or create doubts in our rightfulness.

Now we listen to ayah 24 of Surah Fatir:

“Indeed We have sent you with the truth as a bearer of good news and as a warner; and there is not a nation but a warner has passed in it.”

This ayah refers to the main mission of the Prophets and states: the guidance of the people to truth, the tidings for the virtuous and the warnings to the wayward. In other words, the duty of the prophets is clearly show the way towards truth; encourage by mentioning the incentives for acceptance of truth in the form of rewards from God Almighty, both in worldly life and in the Hereafter; and then warn the unbelievers of the consequences of their evil deeds in order to deter them from committing crimes and sins.  

Since the audience of the Prophet included selfish, ignorant, arrogant and intransigent persons, the emphasis on warning is necessary. Towards its end the ayahs means to say that for every nation God sent prophets to guide the people and to warn the wayward, so as to rectify their behaviour and deter them from further polluting the society. Reward and Punishment are part of Divine Justice, after much forgiveness.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. Encouragement and hope, coupled with rebuke and warning, are essential for the betterment of both the individual and the society.
2. God has never left the Earth devoid of His Representative, and there has always been a divine emissary to convey the message of truth to the people.

Now we listen to ayahs 25 and 26 of Surah Fatir:

“If they belie you, those before them have impugned [likewise]: their prophets brought them manifest proofs, [holy] writs, and illuminating scriptures.”

“Then I seized the faithless. So how was My rebuttal!

Here the Prophet of Islam is being told that if the polytheists of Mecca do not accept your invitation and deny your mission, do not worry and do not be surprised, because the same was the case with the prophets of the past, who despite providing manifest proofs of their missions, through revelation and heavenly scriptures, were belied and rejected by the rebellious nations. The intransigent who refused to accept the truth in spite of seeing the miracles of the Prophets, were afflicted with divine punishment after being given plenty of respite to repent, rectify and reform. Their miserable fate is a lesson for the coming generations.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. The Prophets had clear words and invited people to God through reason and logic, not superstition.
2. Denial of the truth, after understanding it, bring divine wrath.
3. The wrath of the All-Merciful God strikes both in this world and in the Hereafter, as per divine wisdom.

FK/AS/SS