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 39 of Surah Fatir:

 “It is He who made you vicegerents (or successors) on the earth. So whoever is faithless, his unfaith is to his own detriment. And the unfaith of the faithless does not increase them with their Lord [in anything] except disfavour, and their unfaith increases the faithless in nothing except loss.”

This ayah firstly emphasizes the mission of man on earth, as the best of creation, having the powers of the intellect and speech. The Arabic word “Khala’ef” used by the holy Qur’an in this ayah, whether it means vicegerents of Allah on the earth or whether it means that each new nation being the successor of the previous one, the gist of the divine message indicates the utmost Grace of God upon human beings for whom He has provided all facilities of life, allowing them to take advantage of all gifts of nature to make the earth subservient – but in a positive way and not destructive. Use of the intellect warrants mankind to know that it is God Alone Who is the Creator and Owner of all these blessings and we should be grateful to Him, but unfortunately many people are ungrateful of divine blessings.

Ingratitude leads to disbelief and denial of God, and its harmful consequences affect the unbelievers themselves.

Allah has given wisdom, understanding, thought, and intelligence to mankind. He has bestowed all kinds of bodily powers to us. He has filled the surface of the earth with different sorts of bounties, and He has taught human beings the way of using these facilities. Yet, how many people and nations ignore the Creator and indulge in superstitions and the worship of the objects of their warped minds and artifacts of their hands?

This sentence, however, is a warning to all human beings that they should know that their course is not eternal and everlasting. In the same way that they became successors of the former nations, after a few days these people will also pass away and some others will succeed them. Therefore they must be careful of what they do in their short lifetime. They must consider their future fate, and the kind of record they would be leaving in the history of the world.

Thus for the faithless and the ingrates there is nothing but loss in whatever they do and the end result for them is divine wrath. 

From this ayah we learn that:

1. The world has been given as trust to the human beings, which warrants us to have faith in the All-Merciful God and do good things, instead of indulging in sins, violence, and disbelief.
2. As we are the successors of our predecessors, we will be replaced by others in the future, which means we should not be arrogant towards the people and ungrateful to the Lord Most High.
3. Disbelief is the basis of committing many sins and leads to a person’s self-destruction.  

Now we listen to and read ayah 40 of Surah Fatir:

“Say (O Prophet to the polytheists), ‘Tell me about your partners [you ascribe to Allah] whom you invoke besides Allah? Show me what [part] of the earth have they created. Do they have any share in the heavens?’ Have We given them a scripture so that they stand on a manifest proof thereof? Rather the wrongdoers do not promise one another [anything] except delusion.”

This ayah, in the form of several questions, commands Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) to ask the polytheists to give reasonable answers and provide proof of their ascribing partners to the One and Only God, Who without the assistance of anyone is the Creator of the entire universe and whatever it contains.

Islam is a logical religion. It awakens conscience of people by asking questions. This ayah is another decisive answer to the polytheists. It tells them that if a person follows something, or loves it, he must have a reasonable reasoning on the basis of the intellect for it, but the polytheists have neither of these two, and have no support to proof their wrong beliefs. They are in delusion and in the state of ignorance.

Now that it has been clarified there is no reason to believe in polytheism, the question arises: was it mentioned in the heavenly scriptures sent by God to worship these imaginary things? Thus, this is nothing but a delusion that distances the disbelievers from the mercy of God and brings lasting damnation for them

From this ayah, we learn that:

1. One way of inviting others to Islam is to awaken their conscience by asking them questions.
2. Disbelief and polytheism have no logic or rational support. It is based on false thoughts that deceive man.
3. Disbelief and polytheism are a crime against humanity, and self-destructive for the pagans and disbelievers.

Now we listen to and read ayah 41 of Surah Fatir:

 “Indeed Allah sustains the heavens and the earth lest they should fall apart, and if they were to fall apart there is none who can sustain them except Him. Indeed He is All-Forbearing, All-Forgiving.”

This ayah mentions the situation of the heavens and the earth, as well as their motions and orbits, all of which are in accordance with the Will of Allah and it is He Alone Who protects them and perfectly regulates their course all the time. The words in this ayah are about the sovereignty of Allah over the heavens and the earth. In fact, next to the negation of the partnership of the artificial objects of worship in the world of existence, it proves the Unity of divinity and Lordship.

It is worth noting that without being fastened by anything, the celestial spheres have been rotating for millions of years in their places with the same orbits that have been decided for them without the least deviation, the example of which is seen in the solar system. Our globe, the earth, has been rotating on its orbit around the sun for tens of thousands of years, in perfect order, which originates from the equilibrium of the power of perfection that obeys the command of Allah. It means the phenomena of nature, including disasters and averting them, are in accordance with Divine Wisdom.

Because of His forbearance, Allah does not hasten in punishing the evil doers and disbelievers, and because of His forgiveness, He accepts their repentance, with its conditions. Thus, the ending part of the ayah refers to the situation of polytheists and that His Mercy avails them at the time of repentance and return towards the guidelines of God Almighty.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. The heavens and the earth and the entire universe is governed in an orderly manner by God without the least irregularity.
2. The universe functions as per Divine Will and plan and is predetermined, which means not accidental.
3. God is both the Creator and Administrator of the creation, and as long as He does not want, the created things do not deteriorate.
4. If not for the forgiveness of God and His mercy, the world will fall on the wrongdoers and oppressors. If God gives respite to oppressors, it is because of His Forbearance.

AS/ME