THE WORD OF GOD

regenerates it, and who gives you sustenance from heaven and earth? Then, is there a deity besides God?’ Say, ‘Bring forward your proofs, if you are telling the truth.’ (27: 62-64) The needs of man are fulfilled as a result of the perfect coordination between all the factors in the universe. We must ask who, other than Almighty God, can assemble all the favourable factors on such a large scale? Similarly, the displacement of a nation or race and another nation taking its place, the sailing of a ship, and in the modern age the flying of an aeroplane in darkness as well as in daylight by taking advantage of technological advances, the rising of water vapour from the sea and its subsequent descent in the shape of rain. The creation of things out of nothing and their resurrection, the provision of all kinds for man on a large scale—all these result solely from the instrumentality of Almighty God. This is true of all of the world’s events. Here, to cause a single event to take place, it is necessary to activate innumerable factors, and this can be done only by that Being who has control of the whole universe. In this context, how foolish it is to make anybody other than God the centre of adoration and worship! Say, ‘No one in the heavens and the earth has knowledge of the unseen except God.’ They do not know when they will be raised up again. Indeed, their knowledge of the life to come stops short of the truth: they are [often] in doubt as to its reality: in fact, they are blind to it. Those who deny the truth say, ‘When we have turned to dust like our fathers, shall we be brought back to life again? We and our fathers were promised this before; these are but old stories.’ Say, ‘Roam across the earth and observe what was the end of the sinful ones.’ (27: 65-69) The addressees of the prophets were not absolute and total deniers of the life Hereafter, but they denied that particular concept of the Hereafter, which was presented by the prophets. People were under the impression that the issue of the Hereafter was meant not for them but for others to ponder over. The prophets told them that the Hereafter was as serious a problem for them as it was for others. Yet they clung to the belief that their attachment to some saints or holy persons would redeem them in the Hereafter. The prophets told them, however, that in the Hereafter only God’s grace and not attachment to any saint or holy person would be of any avail.