Translation
God allowed enemies against every prophet—the devils among men and Jinn, some of them inspiring others with gilded speeches and arguments, only to deceive. If your Sustainer had willed, they would not have done that. Therefore, remain aloof from them and from their falsehoods. (This is how God) inclines the hearts of those who doubt the Hereafter toward such gilded enticements so that they may earn what is due (from such evil inclinations). (Say:) How can I seek a judge other than God when He is the One Who has revealed this book, explaining and differentiating? Those who received the Book (such as the Bible and the Torah before) know that this book is revealed from your Sustainer with Truth; therefore, be not of those who doubt.
The Word of God has been fulfilled with truth and as promised. There is none who can change what God intends. He is the Hearer, the Knower. If you were to follow many of those who inhabit the earth, they would lead you away from Guidance coming from God. They follow nothing but their own conjectures and manufactured lies. Your Sustainer God surely knows who moves away from His Guidance and who stays on it. 348
Eat of the meat on which God’s grace has been acknowledged as a means to demonstrate your belief in His message. What reason you may have not to eat of which God’s grace has been acknowledged? He has already made it known to you what is forbidden and its exceptions if you are compelled to it. Certainly, many people deviate from guidance by their ignorance and errant views. Your Sustainer God knows those who transgress as such. Stay away from any sin—in public or in secret. Those who commit sins will face the consequences. Do not eat of which God’s grace has not been acknowledged—this a practice of transgression. Certainly, the Devil within people instigates them to contend on these matters with you. If you incline to them, they will bring you to the practices of polytheism. 349
Interpretation
348 History is full of examples of human conditions where a prophet or a leader of the community who wishes to do good and lead people toward a higher plateau of human existence faces stiff challenges from those who are threatened by human aspirations to establish higher morals, justice, and equality and to remove injustice and financial tyranny. In our recent memory we have seen the struggle of our founding fathers against the British king to establish democratic rule in America, the struggle of Nelson Mandela in South Africa against apartheid, the atrocities against African Americans, and the movement to establish civil rights by Martin Luther King. Each of them faced resistance and enemies not only from the ruling class but also from citizens who were opposed to such movements of human empowerment. The resistance and oppression faced by Moses and his followers; the followers of Jesus, including Jesus himself; and the followers of the Prophet Mohammad are all well-known and well document in history. The hegemony of communism, colonialism, and monarchies against average people and human suffering provides many examples of human conditions that God allowed to evolve as a result of our own lack of commitment to human dignity and the universal equality of each and every human being. This is also how God finds the truly committed souls to His causes while at the same time identifying and establishing those who are opposed to such causes.
349 The devil (evil inclinations) in each one of us and the Devil himself are the source of so much contention among people of different faiths, different races, and different ethnicities on issues of peaceful coexistence, gender equality, wealth distribution, and so on. The Qur’an provides foundational guidance, in consonance with our inner core consciousness, on such matters. As people of faith, we need to be grounded in such basic tenets of human life and human society, without which we will sway toward charisma, false ideologies, and the transient understanding of our society and human nature, all of which lead to human discord, gender inequality, income disparities, and lack of true governance by people as God’s representatives on this earth.
***
REFLECTION
Evil and human discord are ever present throughout history. Such a condition forces us to make choices, choices that will define us or ruin us individually or collectively as the human race. Our ability to discern that which is good and that which is evil; our ability to guide our lives that resonates with our human values and inner consciousness, which are also detailed in the revelations from God such as the Qur’an; and our ability to act accordingly even in the face of stiff opposition and enormous difficulties are the real hallmarks of a true human being. This is what God wishes to uncover in each one of us no matter where we are and what context defines our lives at the moment.
ACTION
Having a good understanding of our purpose and our calling and shaping our lives accordingly is an age-old challenge that each generation has to face and prove again and again before we go before God and justify the gift of life that He had given us.
__________________________
Key Arabic Terms
107: kitaba mufassalan (book full of explanation, details to make distinct)