What
The Qur'an Teaches: Why Hate Oneself - Signs And
Revelation
Islamic Perspectives - Muslim JournalsArab News
& Information - By Adil Salahi
In the name of God,
the Lord of Grace, the Ever Merciful The unbelievers
will be addressed: “Indeed, greater than your present
loathing of yourselves is God’s loathing of you when
you were called to the faith and you rejected it.”
They will say: “Our Lord! Twice have You caused us to
die, just as twice You have brought us to life! Now
that we have recognized our sins, is there any way
out?” [They will be told]: “This is all because when
God alone was invoked, you denied this truth; whereas,
when partners were associated with Him, you believed
in them! All judgment rests with God, the Exalted, the
Supreme One.” He it is who shows you His signs and
sends down sustenance from the sky for you. Yet only
those who turn to God will take heed. (The Forgiving,
Ghafir; 40: 10-13)
The verses just before this passage drew an image of
certain angels, the carriers of God’s throne and those
surrounding it. It shows them in supplication, address
their prayer to God appealing for His grace to be
bestowed on believers, their brethren in faith. Now
the surah gives a contrasting image of the unbelievers
who find themselves in a totally different capacity.
Everyone is looking for support, but none is to be
found. In fact all bonds with all beings and things in
the universe are severed. They are called out so that
they can listen to the rebuke coming from all
directions. The arrogance they demonstrated in this
life is turned now into humiliation. They want to
place their hopes in someone, but none is available to
encourage their hopes:
The Arabic text uses the strongest word for hate. We
see them addressed from all corners and told that
God’s loathing of them when they were called upon to
believe and still rejected the faith is far stronger
than their feelings of hate toward themselves as they
realize to what end they have brought themselves. They
realize how different their fate could have been, had
they responded to the call to faith before it was too
late. This reminder is exceptionally painful for them
in their newly difficult situation.
Now that all delusion is gone, they realize that the
only One to turn to is God Himself; and so they do:
“They will say: Our Lord! Twice have You caused us to
die, just as twice You have brought us to life! Now
that we have recognized our sins, is there any way
out?” Their words betray their misery and despair.
They call out: ‘Our Lord!’ Yet they had once denied
Him and rejected His message. You gave us life the
first time when You breathed of Your spirit into what
was dead and thus You gave it life and we became
alive. Again You have given us life after we died. We
are now turning to You because You are the only One
who can save us from the misery we are in. We
acknowledge our faults and admit our sins. Is there,
then, a way out of this misery?
Their appeal betrays the direness of their situation.
They are in bitter despair. They are made to see the
reason for their plight: “This is all because when God
alone was invoked, you denied this truth; whereas,
when partners were associated with Him, you believed
in them! All judgment rests with God, the Exalted, the
Supreme One.” This is what has brought you to your
present position of humiliation. You denied God’s
oneness and attributed partners to Him. All judgment,
then, rests with Him, the Exalted, the Supreme. Both
attributes fit well with the position of judgment. He
is Exalted above all things and Superior to all
beings.
The surah now dwells on one of God’s attributes that
fits with His exalted position. The believers are
instructed to address their prayers to Him,
associating no partners with Him and to be sincere in
their devotion to Him alone. The surah also refers to
the fact of revelation so as to give a warning about
the day when all mankind will be brought together for
judgment, reward and punishment. On that day, all
dominion and sovereignty belong to God alone.
“He it is who shows you His signs.” God’s signs are
seen in everything in the universe: in the great
bodies such as the sun and the planets, and also in
the great phenomena such as the day and night, rain,
thunder and lightning. Likewise, they are seen in
minute things such as the atom, cell, leaf or flower.
In each of these there is a miraculous sign which
appears clearly when man tries to imitate it, let
alone initiate it. Never can man fully imitate even
the simplest little thing God has created.
And He it is who “sends down sustenance from the sky
for you.” Of all the sustenance God sends down people
know best the rain, which is the origin of life on
earth and the source of food and drink. Yet there is
so much more than rain that God sends down and people
learn about this gradually. Part of it consists of the
rays that are necessary for life on earth. Such
sustenance may also include the divine messages that
have provided guidance for mankind ever since the
early stages of human life on earth. They showed man
the right way and provided sound codes for living.
“Yet only those who turn to God will take heed.” It is
the one who turns to God that remembers His grace as
well as His signs and revelations which the
unbelievers, with hardened hearts, prefer to ignore.
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