THE WORD OF GOD

How can they benefit from admonition, seeing that a messenger had already come to them explaining things clearly? Then they turned away from him and said, ‘He is a madman, taught by others!’ Were We to ease the torment for a while, you would still revert to denial of the truth. On the Day We inflict the direst scourge upon all sinners, We will certainly exact retribution. (44: 9-16) The subject about which these addressees of the Quran were in doubt was not the existence of God but the oneness of God. While accepting the existence of God in a traditional manner, they continued to practise the religion of their forefathers and their leaders. The Quran proved the beliefs of their forefathers to be baseless, but they were not ready to accept this position. On the one hand, they found themselves without supporting arguments while, on the other, they found it impossible to banish from their minds the image of the greatness of their forefathers and leaders. This dual dilemma had pushed them into the realm of doubt. The preacher of God appeared to them too small a person for them to accept, or to act on his advice to abandon their so-called great men. Those who do not accept the Truth through persuasion expose themselves to the danger of having to accept it under threat of punishment. They may accept it in the latter instance, but at that time their acceptance will be of no avail. We tried the people of Pharaoh before them: a noble messenger was sent to them, saying, ‘Hand over God’s servants to me. I am a trustworthy messenger for you. Do not set yourselves above God: I bring you clear authority. I have sought refuge with my Lord and your Lord lest you stone me [to death]. If you do not believe in me, at least keep away from me.’ (44: 17-21) The call for Truth is, in fact, a manifestation of God’s power in the shape of reasoning. In this way, God announces Himself through human beings, while He Himself remains unseen. The divine call, therefore, becomes a trial for its addressees. The truth seekers acknowledge it and bow down before it, while those who are enamoured of appearances consider it unimportant and ignore it. But after rejecting the call to accept the Truth, man cannot avoid facing the consequences. During the lifetime of the Prophet, these ruinous consequences became apparent in this world itself, just as had happened in the case of the Pharaoh of Egypt. Where there was no immediate evidence of such divine retribution, the deniers had to face the consequences of their actions after death. o