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 with ayah 26 of Surah Saad:

 “O David! Indeed We have made you a vicegerent on the earth. So judge between people with justice, and do not follow desire, or it will lead you astray from the way of Allah. Indeed those who stray from the way of Allah —there is a severe punishment for them because of their forgetting the Day of Reckoning.”

Last week we said Prophet David, who was also king, gave a hasty judgement when two brothers scaled the wall of his palace and bypassing the guards surprised him in his prayer chamber. At first feeling a bit apprehensive, David calmed down and listening to the account of only one brother, without asking the other one for explanation, gave the verdict to the best of his judgement. Though the two brothers left fully satisfied with what he ruled, David realized his negligence and beseeched God Almighty for forgiveness, which was accepted in the Divine Court.

The ayah that we recited to you now means to say that David, whom God made a Prophet and representative on the earth, ought to strictly abide by the letter and spirit of the divine mission entrusted to him which requires him to be extra careful in his words and deeds, in order to judge correctly between the people without following personal desire and preferences, for; even a single mistake could prove disastrous and result in going astray from the path of God. And those who go astray will be severely punished.

Here it should be noted that religion is not separate from politics, and those vested with Divine Authority, shoulder grave responsibility in carrying out state and spiritual affairs for guidance of the society and establishment of justice.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. Religion is not separate from politics and among the duties of the prophets is proper administration of the society on the basis of truth and justice.
2. The criteria of laws and judicial rules should be God-oriented and not based on personal preferences and desires.
3. Those in charge of dealing with affairs of the people should have full self- control and should always be cognizant of God’s presence.

Now we listen to or read ayahs 27 and 28 of Surah Saad:

“We did not create the sky and the earth and whatever is between them in vain. That is a conjecture of the faithless. So woe to the faithless for the Fire!”

“Shall We treat those who have faith and do righteous deeds like those who cause corruption on the earth? Shall We treat the Godwary like the vicious?”

These ayahs mean to say that God created the world on the basis of righteousness, and not in vain or without any purpose, as those devoid of faith say. These faithless persons who think of themselves as smart and clever will realize their folly when they are cast into the eternal fire on the Day of Judgement.

The next ayah points to the great difference between those who have faith in God with firm conviction in whatever He has commanded, and those who have become devoid of faith in their pursuit of carnal desires and sins. It is but natural for God to bless and reward the faithful who perform righteous deeds, and to punish those who cause corruption on earth, since like the system of creation the system of reward and punishment is also based on justice. Therefore, God does not consider the virtuous and the vicious as equal.

It is evident that those who believe God is their Creator and have faith in the day of resurrection, their behavior on the earth is quite different with those who deny God and the day of resurrection. The first group work for reforming themselves and the society while the second group spreads corruption on the earth. The first group move within the framework of the principles that God has determined for mankind, while the second group is immersed in materialism and sins. In short, the two cannot be treated equally and on the basis of justice will be given their due compensation, whether the bliss of paradise or the fire of hell.  

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. The universe and the entire system of creation is based on justice and has an objective, which means it is not haphazard, and neither in vain nor without any purpose or aim, as the Godless claim.
2. Likewise, the system governing the life of human beings and all their affairs is based on the principle of justice, which means without pursuit of social equilibrium, chaos would prevail everywhere.
3. The virtuous and the vicious are not equal and will get their due rewards, in accordance to their deeds.
4. Disobedience to divine commands causes spread of corruption on the earth.

AS/ME