An Enlightening Commentary into the Light of the Holy Qur'an vol. 8

Section 3: God of all is only One

Surah An-Nahl – Verse 22

إِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَالَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالاَخِرَةِ قُلُوبُهُم مُنكِرَةٌ وَهُم مُسْتَكْبِرُونَ

22. “Your God is One God. Hence, those who do not believe in the Hereafter, their hearts are repulsive, and they are arrogant.”

Your Lord is One God, unique and no one else is able to be the creator of the blessings. Therefore, stick to the rules of His worship.

The verse says:

“Your God is One God…”

Those who disbelieve in the Hereafter, their hearts deny the truth and they refrain from accepting admonitions and advices. Such ones are those who are arrogant and refrain from submission to the truth. They go on disobeying it without having any grounds for what they do.

The holy verse continues saying:

“…Hence, those who do not believe in the Hereafter, their hearts are repulsive, and they are arrogant.”

Explanations

The previous verses dealt with the ability of Allah and the inability of all others relating to the act of creation and lack of their awareness about the future. This verse stresses the fact that your real Lord is Allah, One God.

The Arabic term /kibr/ signifies ‘megalomania’ or regarding of one’s own self as greater than what one is. The word /takabbur/ means putting into practice or implementation of the attributes of being megalomaniac.

The Arabic word /’istikb ar/ also denotes that one is not great in itself but wants to create and prove his grandeur and splendor by whatever means which are usually at his disposal.

Some Islamic quotations indicate that Imam Husayn (as) once was passing by a group of impoverished needy people who were having their meals. They invited him to join them.

The Imam (as) accepted their invitation and sat down next to them, engaging in eating, then he said:

“Allah does not love the arrogant.”[^1]

Surah An-Nahl – Verse 23

لاَ جَرَمَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ إِنَّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُسْتَكْبِرِينَ

23. “Undoubtedly Allah does know that which they conceal and that which they reveal. Verily He does not love the arrogant.”

The Arabic word /jarama/ means ‘picking of and cutting fruits from the trees’. The term /l ajarama/ signifies that the issue in question is not to be ‘cut’, ‘taken away’ or such that one can be skeptic about. Conversely, it is something certain and decisive.

This verse serves two functions: It threatens the pagans warning them all as to the awareness of Allah of their performances, and, at the same time, it carries the good news unto the believers about the fact that Allah is aware of the situation of their enemies and can punish them as well.

This noble verse also stresses once again on Allah’s knowledge of the invisible and His intuition of what is open and hidden, saying that Allah is definitely aware of what they make manifest as well as what they hide away. This sentence is in fact a threat against the pagans and the foes of the Truth about which Allah is never unaware.

The verse says:

“Undoubtedly Allah does know that which they conceal and that which they reveal…”

They are arrogant and Allah does not love the arrogant, for arrogance, when facing the Truth, is considered as the first sign of one’s alienation from Allah.

The verse says:

“…Verily He does not love the arrogant.”

Surah An-Nahl – Verse 24

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُم مَّاذَآ أَنزَلَ رَبُّكُمْ قَالُوا أَسَاطِيرُ الاَوَّلِينَ

24. “And when they are asked: ‘What has your Lord sent down?’ They say: ‘The legends of the ancients’.”

The Arabic term /’as atir/ is the plural form of /’ustūrah/ which signifies the stories and superstitious fables which have been turned into written forms.

Or, it may be the plural form of /’ast ar/ which means lines that have been copied in duplicated forms from the previous books. This word has been quoted nine times in the Qur’an from the pagan’s tongue in all cases of which they have been accompanied by the word /’awwalin/ meaning the ‘first one’s’. That is, they would say:

“These words are nothing new; they are contrarily, those expressed or rather fabricated by the predecessors.”

In the previous verse, the discussion concentrated on those who were arrogant. The usual logic of these disbelievers is reflected in this verse which implies that when they are asked as to what their Lord has revealed, they answer that these are not the Divine revelations; they are the same false stories of the predecessors.

The verse says:

“And when they are asked: ‘What has your Lord sent down?’ They say: ‘The legends of the ancients’.”

It is interesting to note that the arrogant today usually mischievously appeal to this way of escaping the truth in order to mislead others. In some books concerning sociology, they have turned to even putting their deceptive ideas into a scientific framework and claim that ‘religion’ is the product of man’s ignorance and religious interpretations are confined to ‘fables’ only.

However, they do not organize any campaigns against the superstitious and fabricated religions. Their opposition is only concentrated around true religions which seek to awaken people’s minds, breaking up of the policies of colonialism and of obstructing the way of the expansionists and colonialists.

In conclusion, the sending of the prophets (as) and of the Celestial Books are among the Lordly acts for the education and guidance of the people.

But, the habit of the arrogant people is to despise and humiliate whether be it sometimes the school, at other times the leader, or the entire nation.

Surah An-Nahl – Verse 25

لِيَحْمِلُوا أَوْزَارَهُمْ كَامِلَةً يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَمِنْ أَوْزَارِ الَّذِينَ يُضِلُّونَهُم بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ أَلاَ سَآءَ مَا يَزِرُونَ

25. “That they must bear their burdens entirely on the Day of Resurrection and (also) some of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without knowledge. Beware! Evil is it what they bear!”

This verse deals with the pioneers of paganism who, in this life, lead the people astray with their falsified propaganda. Therefore, in the Hereafter they must shoulder the burden of their own sins as well as those whom they have seduced and caused to deviate from the straight path.

As some Islamic quotations indicate: He who founds a deviating path, must share the punishment of all those who are deviants in it; and he who leads others in the right direction will also share in the rewards accorded to those who are seeking the truth without being at a disadvantage as far as his own share is concerned; and beware that the former are shouldering the worst kind of responsibilities.

The holy verse says:

“That they must bear their burdens entirely on the Day of Resurrection and (also) some of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without knowledge. Beware! Evil is it what they bear!”

The reason why this case happens is that their word will sometimes seduce thousands of people. How difficult it is that one adds to his own punishment by suffering not only for his own sins but also sharing in the sins of thousands of others.

Moreover, when their misleading words stay and serve as sources of the seduction of future generations, they will also have to suffer for their sins which are extra to those of their own.

Incidentally, the cause of most deviations is ignorance, and the enemy utilizes that ignorance to achieve his own goals. Nevertheless, ignorance cannot serve as an excuse and does not acquit one from the punishment for his guilt.

[^1]: Nūr-uth-Thaqalayn, the commentary, vol. 3, p. 47