7. Surah Al-A'raaf

The next verse (176) has said: وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَرَ‌فَعْنَاهُ بِهَا وَلَـٰكِنَّهُ أَخْلَدَ إِلَى الْأَرْ‌ضِ وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ "And if We so willed, we would have elevated him thereby, but he clung to the earth, and followed his desire." The word' أَخْلَدَ (Akhlada) is a derivative of اِخلَاد which means to incline or to cling to something. The word أَرْ‌ض (ard) meaning the earth includes the globe itself and all the things present. Furniture, machines; clothes and food are in fact, the gift of this earth. By implication all the worldly possessions have been taken to include in a single word - the earth. The quintessence of this verse is that the knowledge of the verses of Allah are the real source of gaining prominence and advancement. For those who show disregard to them and give preference to worldly desires and possessions, this very knowledge becomes a source of disgrace and disaster for them. The verse under discussion has expressed this fact by way of a similitude. It said. فَمَثَلُهُ كَمَثَلِ الْكَلْبِ إِن تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْهِ يَلْهَثْ "So his example is like the example of a dog; if you attack him, he pants, and if you leave him alone he pants." The word لْهَثْ (Lahath) signifies to breath hard by ejecting one's tongue out. The process of inhaling fresh air and exhaling unclean air is vital for every living being. Allah has made this process as automatic and easy as requires no effort on the part of living creatures - dog is excepted. It is only dog that has to labour hard for the process of breathing, while other animals have to make such effort only when they are attacked or undergo some strenuous task. Bal'am b. Baura has been mentioned in this verse as being similar to dog. He had his tongue protruded and panted like a dog who pants when attacked and pants when let alone. The next sentence of the verse said: ذَّٰلِكَ مَثَلُ الْقَوْمِ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا "That is the example of those who belied our signs." According to the Companion ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ "this has a reference to the Israelites of Makkah who were always longing for someone sent to them as their leader inviting them to Allah and teaching them the ways of following the right path. When this long-awaited prophet came to them with as transparent signs of Truth as left no room -for the resistance in his way, they too, 'wriggled out' from the commandments of Torah exactly as Bal'am Ba'ura had done. The last sentence of this series said: فَاقْصُصِ الْقَصَصَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُ‌ونَ "So relate the chronicles (to them) so that they may ponder." The Holy Prophet ﷺ has been asked to relate the story of Bal'am Ba'ura to them in order that they may take lesson from it and use their understanding.

The last verse in this series 176 said, "So evil is example of those who belied our signs and they have been doing harm to themselves." The General Message of the Verses The above verses contain a number of useful points for the benefit of those who are heedful and make use of their understanding. Firstly, no one should be boastful of his knowledge and be proud for his piety. Things can change without notice just as happened with Bal'am Ba'ura. One has to be grateful to his Lord for all the knowledge and wisdom he has, and should keep praying Allah for being firm in his faith. Secondly, one should avoid situations which seem to threat his faith and knowledge. Specially so, when money, wife and children are involved because the love, of these things is the most powerful agent of misguidance. Thirdly, one should avoid the company of the misguided people and be careful in accepting gift or invitation from them. Bal'am met the evil fate through accepting the gift of the Jabbarin. Fourthly, the acts of immodesty like adultery and fornication are the source of ruin and disaster for all the people living in a society. Those who want to save themselves from distress must prevent their people from committing such crimes, otherwise it will invite Allah's wrath and punishment upon them. Fifthly, deviation from the commandments of Allah is, in itself a punishment and it opens the door to satanic influences, which work upon them quite unknowingly and lead them astray. Therefore, any one with knowledge must be conscious of this valuable treasure and seek Allah's help in protecting it from evil influences. He must care-fully keep correcting himself against error.

The main theme of the verse 178 is that guidance and misguidance both are from Allah. He is the creator of good and evil, guidance and misguidance. The guided are those whom Allah has given guidance and losers are those whom Allah lets go astray. This theme has been mentioned repeatedly by the Qur'an in many other verses to make the mankind know that Allah has created good and evil and has provided with clear instructions to distinguish one from the other, and with a kind of free will to choose one of the two paths. Those who willfully choose the right path and do good deeds get their reward from Allah while those who willfully take to the other path and do evil deeds are punished and sent to Hell. Here we note that the above verse has mentioned the people of guidance in singular person while the people who are wrong and misguided have been mentioned in plural. This indicates that the path of guidance is the one true faith which was followed by all the prophets right from Adam (علیہ السلام) to the last of all Prophets ﷺ . The basic message of all the prophets has been one and the same. That is to say, the fundamentals preached by all the prophets were all same in every age. Therefore, people of any age and denomination who believed in their prophets and followed the teachings preached by them are considered by Allah belonging to one and the same category - that is, the guided. On the contrary, the ways of misguidance have been thousands in number, hence mentioned in plural in this verse. Another point to be noted in this verse is that the people following the path of misguidance have been mentioned along with their punishment of Hell, while no mention has been made of any reward of the people following the right path. The verse mentioned them saying that they are 'the guided'. This implies that guidance, in itself, is the greatest blessing of all, which encompasses all the rewards and bounties existing in this world or in the Hereafter. The reward of guidance requires no specific mention of other rewards which are embodied therein. For example, some great king assures some individual that he is a close friend of the king and he shall be heard and trusted by him. Certainly he enjoys the highest position among the royal officials. He does not require the achievement of a formal rank or position. Similarly, when Allah has given the title of being 'the guided' to any one, he has got all the rewards of the world. The elders have therefore said that the remembrance and worship of Allah are themselves the reward of the worship, because they are the great favour of Allah. Any one engaged in the worship of Allah is receiving the greatest reward of Allah at the same time. Other blessings which wait for him in this world and in Paradise are second to it, as they are the fruit of this guidance. This also explains the meaning of another Qur'anic verse in which the believers are promised to receive from their Lord their reward. It said جَزَاءً مِّن رَّ‌بِّكَ عَطَاءً "A recompense from your Lord, a gift." Here the reward of the believers has been expressed by two different words جَزَاءً a recompense and Ata which is gift. The word جَزَاءً signifies something offered in return of some service while the word: عَطَاءً ‘Ata is a gift offered without any service or performance. This leads us to the fact that things which we take to be rewards of our performance or attainments are, in fact, the gift from our Lord. For the performance which has drawn this reward was in itself a gift from Allah Almighty who let us perform that particular service.

The next verse is an extension of the same theme. It said: وَلَقَدْ ذَرَ‌أْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرً‌ا مِّنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ ۖ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لَّا يُبْصِرُ‌ونَ بِهَا "And surely, we have created for Hell a lot of people from among Jinn and mankind. They possess heart wherewith they understand not, have eyes wherewith they see not and they have ears wherewith they hear not." That is, many Jinns and human beings have been created for Hell, because in spite of having all the means of guidance, the heart, the eyes and the ears, they do not use them to seek guidance. They could find the right path, had they used these faculties in proper way. They do not use their hearts to understand, their eyes to see things to be seen and their ears to hear things to be heard. As a substance of the verse we are given to understand that ultimate end or destiny is a divine secret, not known to anyone, but there are definite signs which help us to make a surmise. The people of Hell can be identified by their characteristic sign of not making proper use of their faculties of seeing, hearing and understanding. Allah has blessed us with these faculties for acquiring knowledge and recognition of our Lord. The people of Hell invest these abilities in worthless objectives and are evidently heedless of the real aim of man's life, that is, to earn with his capabilities eternal comfort and peace in the Hereafter through seeking guidance. A Question and its answer A question may be asked about the above Qur'anic verses. Here the Holy Qur'an has negated their qualities of hearing, seeing and understanding. On the other hand, we see that in real life they are not blind, deaf and insane. Like other human beings they do see, hear and understand things around them. How can this negation be reconciled with the actual fact? The answer requires to refresh our usual knowledge with regard to things and living beings around us. Everything created has an amount of sensibility equal to the need of its purpose of existence. The things we call inanimate are not totally devoid of sensibility or life. The stones and the earth which are not assigned with the duty of growth or movement have so little an amount of sensitivity that can hardly be detected1. 1. Human reason essentially requires the presence of some kind of perception or life in things called inanimate. It is because there must be some way of communication between the Creator and the created. The one who cannot communicate with created beings for the absence of sensibility on their part, is not worthy of being called god. Allah does communicate with all His created beings, animate or inanimate, which proves some kind of sensibility in all inanimate things. (Translator) The vegetable Kingdom comes next in this series. The purpose of their existence requires growth and nourishment. The amount of perception or life given to them is greater in degree and is equal to their requirements. Next we come to animal kingdom where we find more elaborate and complex form of life. In addition to growth and nourishment, the animals have to move on the earth from one place to another. They have to seek their food to maintain their existence. They require protecting themselves from dangers and above all, they are required to reproduce their children. The amount of life given to them is greater and more obvious than the others so far discussed. They are, however, equipped with as much powers only as were needed to assist them in feeding and protecting themselves from dangers and enemies. The last, but not the least, is human being who, in addition to, and more prominent of all the functions discussed above, has the duty of recognizing his Creator and the Lord of the universe, and seek His pleasure by following His commandments and avoid doing things disliked by Him. He is required to contemplate and give due thought to the creations and use his faculty of reason to distinguish right from wrong, abstain from evil and do good to please his Lord. Another distinction of a human being from other creatures is that he has been provided with vast opportunity to make progress in making his life more purposeful and more elevated in position. When he comes to make progress, he can attain more elevated rank than the angels. He is accountable for his acts and is promised of eternal peace and comfort for his good acts and everlasting punishment and distress for his evil deeds. He has been, therefore, trusted with the highest and the most perfect degree of life, in order that he is engaged in doing things that are proper for the aim of his life. He is not expected to waste his special faculties of understanding, hearing and seeing in the achieve-ment of material things only like animals. Keeping the above points in view, the human faculties of understanding, hearing and seeing should essentially be distinct from those of the animals. If he did not make special use of these faculties like distinguishing right from wrong, doing good and keeping away from evil, he would be rightly considered among those who have eyes but do not see, have ears but do not listen, have mind and heart but do not understand. The Hoy Qur'an has therefore termed them as صُمٌّ بُكْمٌ "deaf, dumb and blind". The verse therefore has not negated their physical ability of seeing, hearing and understanding. Rather, the Holy Qur'an has affirmed their knowledge about worldly things in the following words, يَعْلَمُونَ ظَاهِرً‌ا مِّنَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ عَنِ الْآخِرَ‌ةِ هُمْ غَافِلُونَ ﴿7﴾ "They know the outward aspect of this worldly life, but of the Hereafter they are heedless." (30:7) In another verse the Holy Qur'an, speaking the destruction of the people of ` Ad and Thamud, said: وَكَانُوا مُسْتَبْصِرِ‌ينَ "While they could see clearly." (29:38) The people of ` Ad and Thamud being allured by satanic influences involved themselves in evil deeds which led them to their destruction. That is to say they kept the use of their capabilities limited to abject worldly gains like serving their physical needs and remained heedless to their spiritual demands. No matter what great advances they make in science and technology, they may conquer space, explore moon and other planets, make the world full of their sophisticated satellites, and tame the natural forces to serve their varied needs, but all such efforts are no more than a means of serving their physical and material life. It does not go beyond, to seek spiritual peace and comfort. This achievement science and technology of man is certainly confined to serving his physical life only, which does not make him distinct from the animal in technicality. It is why the Holy Qur'an calls them deaf, dumb and blind because they heard, saw and understood things that belonged to this world only. They did not make proper use of these functions which could lead them to eternal success and peace. The last phrase of this verse said that they are like cattle investing all their effort in serving their bodily desires. Next the verse added بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ "Rather they are much more misled." that is, they are far more unwise than are the cattle, because the animals are not bound to follow the laws of the Shari'ah. They have no reward or punishment for their acts. They are required only to serve their physical needs which they are efficiently doing, contrary to human beings who are accountable for everything they do in this world, and they are going to be punished or rewarded according to their performance. If they confine their effort only to seek material gains of this world and do not make proper use of their faculties, they are certainly more imprudent and unwise as compared to animals.

This verse has a relationship with the preceding verses in the sense that the people of Hell discussed above did not use their abilities in seeking the everlasting comforts of the Hereafter, and made themselves liable to eternal punishment. The present verse has provided with remedy of their disease. That is, seeking help from Allah by calling Him with His good names and often remembering Him through them. The good names of Allah The good names are the ones that denote the attributes having the highest degree of perfection. It goes without saying that the perfection of the highest degree is not possessed by anyone but Allah. In case of a 'perfect' human being there is always a possibility of someone being higher than him in some qualities. This is what the Qur'anic phrase has said: وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ "And above every man of knowledge there is someone more knowledgeable." (12:76) The style of the verse has suggested that these 'beautiful names' are peculiarly meant for Allah. فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا "So, call Him by them", because there is none other than Allah who owns these attributes, therefore the only one worthy of being called in need is none but He. Calling is a rendering of the word which has two characteristics: Praising, purifying and remembering Allah, and calling Him for help in times of need or difficulty. It implies, that Allah alone is worthy of praise and glorification and He alone has to be called for help and relief. The verse has also suggested that the best method of calling Him is to call Him by His Beautiful Names. Preconditions of Du` a (calling Allah) The verse has provided us with two valuable information. Firstly, there is none other than Allah worthy of praise and worthy of being called for help. Secondly, Allah has provided us with specific words for calling him, proper to His glorious being, as we are not capable of choosing appropriate words for this purpose. That is, we are required to call Him by His attributes of perfections. Bukhari and Muslim have reported on the authority of the Companion Abu Hurairah ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: "There are ninety nine names of Allah. Whoever learns them by heart shall enter paradise." Tirmidhi and Hakim have enumerated these names in detail. Invocations made by reciting these names are generally granted. Allah has promised in the Holy Qur'an ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ "Call me and I will answer you" (40:60). The most definite and certain method of seeking help in one's need and getting relief from one's distress is calling Allah and praying Him for His help. This is the only way that is certain to meet success. The immediate benefit of praying to Allah is that it is, in itself, a worship. The reward of this worship is included in the sheet of one's deeds. The Holy Prophet وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ said in a Tradition: اَلدُّعَاُء مُخُ العِبَدَہِ "Invoking Allah is the quintessence of worship." The invocation is granted by Allah in many ways. Sometimes, the very thing for which the invocation has been made is granted by Allah, while some other times, when one asks for something untimely or unsuitable for him in the knowledge of Allah is exchanged with something more proper or beneficial for him. Remembering Allah by glorifying and praising Him is the food for one's Faith in Allah ('Iman) which helps in magnifying the love, respect and awareness of Allah making the hardship of this world worthless in one's eyes. Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi and Nasa'i have reported through authentic sources that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said that anyone who finds himself in some difficulty or is distressed with some grief should recite the following words: لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا اللہُ الْعَظِيمِ اَلحَلِیمُ ، لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا اللہُ رَ‌بُّ الْعَرْ‌شِ الْعَظِيمِ ، لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا اللہُ رَّ‌بُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالاَرضِ وَرَ‌بُّ الْعَرْ‌شِ الْکريم "There is no god but Allah, the Greatest, the Most forbearing, There is no god but Allah, the Lord of the great Throne. There is no god but Allah, the Lord of the Heavens, and the earth and the Lord of the Glorious Throne." Hakim in his Mustadrak has reported on the authority of the Companion Anas ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said to his daughter Sayyidah Fatimah al-Zahra ؓ "What is there to prevent you from hearing my advice of reciting the following invocation at morning and evening every day?" یِا حَیُّ یَا قَیُّومُ بِرَحمَتِکَ اَستَغِیثُ اَصلِح لِی شَأنِی کُلَّہُ وَلَا تَکِلنِی اِلٰی نَفسِی طَرفَۃَ عَین "0 The Alive, The All-Sustaining, I call for help by Your Mercy. Set right every situation that I am in, and do not leave me at the mercy of my inner-self for even a wink of an eye." The above invocation is also an effective remedy of hardships and distress. In short, we have been given two instructions in this verse namely making invocation to Allah alone for seeking help or for pleasing the Creator, secondly, calling Allah by His attributes of perfection without changing them. The next sentence said: وَذَرُ‌وا الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي أَسْمَائِهِ ۚ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ "And leave those who deviate in (the matter of) His names. They shall be recompensed for what they had been doing." The Arabic word اِلحَاد 'Ilhad' signifies to decline from the centre. In Qur'anic terminology the word 'Ilhad' is used for deviating from the correct interpretation of the Qur'anic words or distorting the meanings of the Qur'anic message. The Holy Prophet ﷺ has been asked to keep away from the people who distort or decline from the prescribed names of Allah. The Deviation from the good names There are many forms of deviating from the prescribed names of Allah. Firstly, calling Allah by such names as are not specified in the Holy Qur'an or in the Sunnah. The ` Ulama' (Scholars) of the ummah are unanimous on the point that it is not permissible to call Allah by any names or attributes of one's own choice or to praise Him by the names which have not been specified by the Qur'an and the Sunnah. For example, Allah may be called by the word: نُور Nur (light) but not by the word 'white'. Similarly Allah may be called 'Karim' (generous) but not by the word 'Sakhi': سَخِی having the same meaning. He can be called Shafi شَافِی (The one who provides cure from disease) but not طَبِیب 'Tabib' (The doctor). Though the matching words carry the same meanings they are not allowed simply because they have not been reported by the Qur'an and the Sunnah. The second way of deviating from these names of Allah is to abandon certain name or names only because one thinks them to be inappropriate in certain situations. It, obviously, amounts to lack of respect to the glorious names of Allah. Calling the people with the names of Allah The third way of deviation from these names is to use any of the good names of Allah for other people. This however, has some exceptions as explained in the following lines: There are certain names in the list of the glorious names of Allah which have been used by the Qur'an and the Sunnah for human beings. Such names can be used for beings other than Allah. For example, Rahim, Rashid, ` Ali, Karim and ` Aziz etc., while there are other names which denote to exclusive attributes of Allah. Their use for anyone other than Allah is an act of deviation from these names. For example, Rahman, Razzaq, Subhan, Khaliq, Quddus and Ghaffar etc. Using such names for anyone other than Allah is prohibited in the Islamic Shari` ah. Now, if someone calls anyone other than Allah by these names because of his false belief, that he has the attributes denoted by these names it would be an act of infidelity. However, if someone used any of these names for anyone other than Allah just heedlessly and for the lack of knowledge, it would not be an act of infidelity, but having similarities with it would be called a major sin. It is a pity that Muslims in general are having a number of wrong practices with regard to naming their children and, calling them by improper names. There is a group of people who have abandoned the practice of naming their children with Islamic names. Their modern names having, non Islamic character, mark it difficult to identify them as Muslims by their names. Specially so, when their general appearance and manners are already devoid of Islamic character. The Islamic female names like Khadijah, ` A'ishah, and Fatimah have been replaced with Najma, Pervin, Nasim, Shamim and Shahnaz etc. More doleful practice among Muslims is to heedlessly curtail the Islamic names like ` Abd al-Khaliq, ` Abd al-Rahman ` Abd al-Razzaq or ` Abd al-Quddus etc. to Khaliq, Rahman, Razzaq and Quddus when calling people of these names. The attributes Khaliq خَالِق (The Creator) Rahman رَحمَٰن (The Merciful) Razzaq رَزَّاق (The Sustainer) and Quddus قُدُّوس (The Pure) are all exclusive attributes of Allah and using these attributes for anyone other than Allah is a major sin (گُنَاہِ کَبِیرَہ). The number of times one calls any one by these attributes only commits a major sin every time and becomes liable of great punishment. This sinful practice has become quite common among Muslims for no gain. They have been committing this sinful act simply for being thoughtless to the gravity of this error. The present verse has warned against it by saying سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ "They shall soon be recompensed for what they have been doing". Many evils are committed for certain worldly gains or benefits. Any one committing such evil deed may pretend to offer an excuse that being constrained by some necessity he had committed the sin, while a great number of evil deeds are simply of no avail, and produce no worldly benefit at all. It is a sad situation that people are seen committing such evil deeds just for being careless of the commandments of Allah and being indifferent to what is prohibited or permitted by Allah. May Allah save us from such ignorance.

The previous verses offered a remedy of calling Allah by His good names to those who were neglectfully not making proper use of their faculties. Now the verse 181 speaks of those who followed the right path. The verse said, “ And among those we have created, there are people who guide with truth and do justice thereby”. That is, they are a people who guide others to the straight path and decide all their matters according to the dictates of truth (the divine law). Ibn Jarir has reported from his own sources that the Holy Prophet ﷺ recited this verse and said, The people referred to in this verse are my people who shall decide their controversies according to justice and truth and observe justice in all their dealings." ` Abd ibn Humaid has reported that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said addressing his companions, "This verse has been revealed in your favour and prior to you there has been a group of people bearing the same attributes." Then he recited this verse: وَمِن قَوْمِ مُوسَىٰ أُمَّةٌ يَهْدُونَ بِالْحَقِّ وَبِهِ يَعْدِلُونَ ﴿159﴾ "And among the community of Musa there are people who guide with truth and do justice thereby." (7:159) That is to say, there was a group of people among the Israelites who had the attributes referred to in this verse, of guiding other people to the truth and deciding their matters according to the law of the Torah. Similarly, the Muslim Ummah has the same attributes as their distinct feature. The essence of the message is firstly, to guide people to the right path in accordance with the dictates of the Shari` ah, and secondly, to decide all their controversies according to the law of Islam. The above two features offer, in fact, the guaranteed way of success, both in this world and in the Hereafter. Any group or individuals who follow the truth and justice in all their modes of life, and do not exhibit their personal prejudices while making judgments even for their enemies, are the people of truth refered to in this verse. The same has been the main characteristic of the Muslim Ummah who strictly observed the demands of truth and justice in all their dealings and overlooked their personal priorities when making judgments between people. The history has recorded unique examples of such truthful practices from the lives of the blessed Companions and their disciples. From the day the Muslims started to show disregard to these two distinctive features of their character, an evident regression started to show itself in every sphere of their life. Remorsefully though, we have to acknowledge that majority of the Muslim Ummah have fallen prey to their personal desires. All their activities, their political, social and educational set ups are motivated by downtrodden worldly gains. Their guidance to other people is mainly aimed at getting some worldly benefits. Most of their family ceremonies are not only devoid of Islamic character, but demonstrate a behaviour opposed to Shari'ah. There are some family traditions designed in the name of religious ceremonies. Any one going against or showing dislike to these innovations has to face active opposition on their part. People are no more interested in organizing themselves purely for the propagation of truth and justice. There is none to make them realize that this course of thought and action has to bring disaster to the Muslims at large. The only way to restore the dignity of the Muslim Ummah and to bring them back to the path. of progress and prosperity is to follow the way of truth and justice suggested by this verse. Conscious efforts should be made to create an awareness of these values among the Muslims.

The next verse (182) has provided answer to a common question which bothers the minds of many Muslims. If prosperity and progress can only be achieved by following the way of truth and justice why the non-Muslim nations of the world are seen more prosperous, more advanced and more powerful while they are very far from the truth? The verse answered this question in these words: "As for those who belie our signs, we shall let them be drawn gradually towards (their punishment) from where they do not know." That is to say, Allah does not punish those who reject the signs or verses of Allah immediately for their sins. He, out His wisdom and Mercy, lets them enjoy their worldly life for a while and then draws them to their ignominious end as gradually as they do not know of their being led to their ill-fate. The present prosperity and progress of the non-Muslims should, therefore, not deceive people, because their prosperity, in fact, is not something propitious for them. Rather it is a kind of respite, a temporary period of relief before the execution of their punishment, which in Qur'anic terminology is called Istidraj Istidraj is a more powerful punishment in disguise. The most essential element of Istidraj is that a person is not punished for his evil deeds immediately; the more he increases in his evil deeds, the more he is increased in prosperity and worldly possessions which prevents him from having a sense of guilty and taking warning against his crimes. Consequently, he is deprived of turning in repentance to Allah and save himself from everlasting punishment. This perverted state of mind makes one take illness as health and poison as remedy. He is let to go on with his perverted life until death overtakes him and draws him to the eternal chastisement. The Holy Qur'an has made mention of 'Istidraj' in many other verses. It said in Surah al-An'-am: فَلَمَّا نَسُوا مَا ذُكِّرُ‌وا بِهِ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَبْوَابَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا فَرِ‌حُوا بِمَا أُوتُوا أَخَذْنَاهُم بَغْتَةً فَإِذَا هُم مُّبْلِسُونَ ﴿44﴾ "So, when they forgot what they were required to remember, We opened to them the gates of everything, until, when they were rejoicing in what they were given, We seized them suddenly, and then they were confounded in despair." (6:44) Dealing with Istidraj is not limited to disbelievers only. The iniquitous among Muslims are also dealt with this kind of punishment. It was for this reason that our elders used to fear Allah when they were favoured by Him with prosperity and comforts. They feared lest their prosperity should be a sign of 'Istidraj'

The next verse (183) is also related with 'Istidraj'. It said: وَأُمْلِي لَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ كَيْدِي مَتِينٌ ﴿183﴾ "And I give them respite. Surely, My plan is firm." That is, the disbelievers are left to enjoy their worldly life just for a while. Then, they shall be caught by punishment.

The verse no. 184 has refuted the false notion of the disbelievers that the Holy Prophet , 1n was a man of unsound mind or was possessed by devil. It said: أَوَلَمْ يَتَفَكَّرُ‌وا مَا بِصَاحِبِهِم مِّن جِنَّةٍ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ‌ مُّبِينٌ "Have they not reflected that with their friend there is no madness? He is but an open warner." The verse said that a little reflection on their part shall be enough to prove that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was neither a man of unsound mind, nor was he under the influence of Jinns. His matchless wisdom and knowledge is an obvious feature of his personality. Those having claim to wisdom and knowledge are astoundingly bewildered how a man of such extraordinary insight and sagacity could be blamed of madness? Blaming him with madness, in fact, is madness itself. He is only an elucidator of realities and a warner against the punishment from Allah.

The verse 185 has invited mankind to practice two important things. Firstly, to make thoughtful observation of the creation of Allah, the heavens, the earth and the things existing between them. Secondly, to be mindful of the period of life given to an individual. It does not require to be a genius to perceive the signs of Allah's power and wisdom in everything around us. A little amount of serious thought is enough to make one see that everything, rather every particle of this world, is singing the praise of it's Creator and is, in itself, a strong proof of Allah's power and wisdom. Any one applying his intellect in conscious observation of things cannot avoid natural demand of faith in Allah, the One. Being mindful of uncertain period of one's life makes him more active in attaining his objectives, because he is not sure how much time of life he has at his disposal. It would be noticed that all crimes and evil deeds are activated by disregard to one's death. Those who are conscious of their indefinite period of life mostly avoid involving themselves in unwanted activities. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: اَکثرُوا ذکرَھَا ذِم اللَّذَّاتِ المؤت "Frequently remember the thing which eliminates the pleasures - the death." The verse 185, has therefore said: "Have they not looked into the kingdoms of the heavens and the earth, and into things Allah has created, and into the fact that their time may possibly have drawn near." The Arabic word مَلَکُوت (Malakut) signifies kingdom indicating a superlative degree, that is, the great Kingdom. The verse implies that the disbelievers have not used their common intellect in seeking the Truth which is evident in everything created by Allah, nor are they mindful of the uncertainty of life which may come to an end any moment, depriving them of all the chances of accepting the truth and repenting to Allah for their evil deeds. The last sentence of the verse warned them saying: "In what other word, then, shall they believe after it?" That is Allah has provided them with transparent signs, both internal and external, of the right path and of the True Faith. Those who are neglectful of such clear signs, there is nothing in the world to guide them to the right path.

The preceding verses spoke of the obstinate ignorance of the disbelievers who rejected the true Faith, despite all the clear signs given to them by Allah. This could be a source of grief to the Holy Prophet ﷺ as he was highly considerate and the greatest well-wisher of the mankind. The verse 186 provides him with a consolation saying that whomsoever Allah leaves wandering in his ignorance and lets him go on with his evil deeds can never be guided by any one and Allah leaves him at the mercy of his abject desires. That is to say, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has done his duty by conveying the message of Allah as explicitly as was possible, and that their rejection of the true faith was not for any of his faults. Among the themes of this Surah (Al-A` raf) three topics are of great importance: the unity of Allah (Tauhid), the Prophethood (Risalah) and the life in the Hereafter (آخرَت). These three principles are, in fact, the mainstay of the whole edifice of Islam. Exposition of the first two principles, the Tauhid and the Risalah have been provided in the foregoing verses.

The verse 187 speaks of the third principle, that is, the life in the Hereafter (آخرَت). The revelation of this verse is related with the following incident reported by Ibn Jarir and ` Abd ibn Humaid on the authority of Qatadah. The Quraish of Makkah once asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ by way of mockery as to when the Hour of doom was to occur of which he used to warn them so often. The verse was revealed in response to this question. The Arabic word Sa` ah سَاعَۃ signifies a short period without specific number of minutes or hours, while in our calendar it is a single unit out of twenty four units of the day and night. In Qur'anic terminology, however, it is used for the day when all the created beings will cease to exist, as well as for the day when all the creation shall be revived and presented before the Lord of all the creations. مُرسٰی Mursa signifies to stop or to stay, لَا يُجَلِّيهَا ' is a derivative of تَجلِیہ which means to disclose or open. Baghtatan بَغتۃ means suddenly while the word 'Hafiyyun' حَفِیُّ is used for a scholar or a knowledgeable person according to Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn ` Abbas ؓ The word is generally used for a person who invests his effort and employs all his resources to ascertain some-thing. The quintessence of the verse, therefore, is that the Quraish of Makkah should be answered that the exact time of the Doom is not known, and shall never be made known to anyone. It is a divine secret which shall disclose itself by it's sudden occurrence, as has been decided by the Qur'anic phrase "It shall not come upon you but suddenly". Al-Bukhari and the Muslim have reported on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said with regard to sudden occurrence of the 'Qiyamah' (The Doomsday) that it has been made a close secret. The wisdom behind it is obviously to make people live their lives peacefully which would have not been possible in case the definite time of death was known to them. Besides, those who do not believe in Doomsday would have made mockery of it by knowing the remotely long period of its occurrence. The divine wisdom chose to keep it undefined in order to keep people vaguely in fear of its dreadful events which, in fact, is an effective measure against crime and corrupt practices. By implication, the above verses make us alive to the fact that once we have come to believe that the day of Qiyamah has inevitably to come and all the created beings shall necessarily be presented before the Lord of all the creation and be called to account for all their minor or major deeds, and shall be rewarded or punished according to their performance in this world, the knowledge of time and period of the death becomes immaterial. It will not be wise to waste precious time of one's life in futile discussions like the time of occurrence of the Doomsday. On the contrary, human reason and wisdom demands that every moment of uncertain period of life is spent carefully in preparing oneself for the great Day of Judgment. This answer to the Quraish of Makkah made it clear that their question regarding the time of the Doomsday was a product of their ignorance. The next phrase of this verse speaks of another misconception of the disbelievers of Makkah. It said: يَسْأَلُونَكَ كَأَنَّكَ حَفِيٌّ عَنْهَا "They ask you as if you were aware of it." They thought that the Holy Prophet had, somehow, secured the knowledge of the exact time of the occurrence of the Doomsday and that he was not disclosing it for some purpose. They insisted him to disclose it to them. The Holy Prophet ﷺ was asked to answer them in these words: قُلْ إِنَّمَا عِلْمُهَا عِندَ اللَّـهِ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ‌ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ "Say, it's knowledge is only with Allah, but most of the people do not know." That is, it is not necessary for a prophet to know the definite time of the Doomsday or certain other matters that are kept secret by Allah. The lack of knowledge in such matters on the part of a prophet cannot, therefore, be taken as a proof against his prophethood. (The knowledge of a prophet can never be equal to the All-encompassing knowledge of Allah.) The Holy Prophet ﷺ ، however, was given knowledge of certain specific signs indicating that the Doomsday was in proximity. He has informed the Muslim Ummah of all these signs in explicit terms in his Traditions. In one of such Traditions he said that his appearance and the Day of Qiyamah were as close to each other as two fingers of a hand. (Tirmidhi) As for the reports giving the total age of this world as seven thousand years, they are the reports borrowed from some Israelite literature in certain Islamic books. They are neither authentic nor do they have any basis in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Similarly, geo-physical data of modern knowledge giving the age of this world as millions of years do not confront or contradict any of the Qur'anic verse or any authentic Tradition of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . On the contrary, the Holy Prophet ﷺ addressing the Muslim Ummah said in a Tradition: "When compared to the early people, you are like a white thread of hair on the body of a black ox." This gives us an idea of the enormous age of this world as thought by the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Hafiz Ibn Hazm of Spain has, therefore, concluded that the exact age of this world cannot be assessed by any one1. (Marghni) 1. By inference it seems physically impossible to have an exact assessment of the age of this universe, because it would give the exact time of the end of this universe which has been precluded by the above verse saying that the knowledge of the occurrence of the Doomsday is not known to any one but Allah. (Translator)