THE WORD OF GOD — From The Scriptures

THE WORD OF GOD From The Scriptures Say, ‘Tell me if the punishment of God came upon you or the Hour overtook you, would you call upon any other than God, if you are truthful?’ Indeed, it is on Him that you would call, and He could remove that [affliction] which made you call on Him, if He will, and then you would forget [the false deities] which you associate with Him!’ 6: 40-41 History bears witness to the fact that a man starts invoking the name of God in crucial moments; even one who relied on beings other than God, or did not believe in God’s existence at all. This is nature’s testament to God’s existence and His being the absolute authority. Under extraordinary circumstances, when the outward veils are removed and when man dismisses all superficial thoughts, he does not remember anything except God. In other words, on reaching the point of helplessness, every man admits the existence of God. But the Quran demands that man should follow a course of acceptance and obedience at a time when there is no apparent compulsion to do so. All animals other than man instinctively lead realistic lives. But what pushes man towards realism and admission of the truth is the psychology of fear. In the world of animals all things are accomplished by instinct. The same role is played by fear of God (taqwa) in the world of human beings. We sent messengers before you [Prophet] to many communities and afflicted their people with suffering and hardship, so that they might humble themselves. When the affliction decreed by Us befell them, they did not humble themselves, but rather their hearts hardened, T HE Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between 610 and 632 A.D. It is a book that brings glad tidings to mankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level. Translated from Arabic and commentary by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan