Translation
We [God] blessed him [Abraham] with Isaac and Jacob; We guided each as We did guide Noah before and from his descendants—David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron. This is how We recognize those who do good to others. So was Zacharias, John, Jesus, and Elias—all of them righteous. We also made Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah, and Lot to excel among people. We did select and guide from among their forefathers, their descendants, and contemporaries to the Straight Path.
This is God’s guidance with which He guides whom He wills among His servants; so, if any of them has associated partners with God, then all their activities will have been in vain. These are the [chosen] people whom We gifted with the book, sound judgment, and prophethood. Now if there are some who deny [the truth], [know that] We have entrusted such truth to a group of people who will remain faithful—these are the people whom God has guided; it behooves you to follow their guidance. Say: “I seek no reward from you; this guidance is just a reminder to all people.” 342
They fail to understand and acknowledge God the way He should be acknowledged, when they say: “God has revealed nothing to a mortal.” Ask: “Who revealed to Moses the book, which is a Light and a Guide for men; yet you consider it a bundle of paper to claim it but ignore and conceal much of it; it teaches you things that neither you nor your previous generations knew.” Say: “It is God [who sent the book to Moses]. Let them be consumed in their meaningless conversations [if they so choose]!”
This [Qur’an] is a blessed book that We have revealed; it confirms all that came before it, and with it you may inform and inspire people of this Mother of Towns (Makkah) and all around it. Those who have firm conviction in the Hereafter do believe in this book, and they are ever vigilant over their services to God. [On the other hand], who is more perverse than the one who constructs lies against God or says: “I have been given revelations while no such revelations have been granted, or I can reveal the likes of which God has revealed.” If you could only comprehend the consequences of such a perverse stance when such persons will face agonies of death and the Angel of Death will approach them (and say): “Separate yourself from your soul; This day you will suffer the consequences—disgrace and humiliation—for speaking against God without any truth and for arrogantly denying His messages.” 343
Interpretation
342 The unity of God’s message and guidance is evidenced by the fact that all known prophets as mentioned in the Qur’an, the Bible, the Torah, and in these verses were on the same Straight Path that Abraham, Noah, and Adam had walked. We also understand from other verses and from the sayings of the Prophet Mohammad that God sent prophets to all known communities over the course of human history, starting with Adam himself and ending with the Prophet Mohammad, with 124,000-plus messengers in between. The presence of other religious books in Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, and so on, and the convergence of their message around the unity of Godhead and social consciousness further testifies this central truth about God and about the pluralism that God has allowed to emerge among people of faith.
343 Throughout human history we see people who accept the centrality of God’s presence and the spiritual and social consciousness that emanates from such faith. In parallel we also see people who not only reject such truths but also go to extreme lengths to oppose such truth. The widespread oppression of the Pharaoh against Israelites, putting Jesus Christ on the cross, and the atrocities of Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition are further examples of not only denials of this pluralism of faith expression but of wanton disregard for social consciousness and respect for God’s message. It is sufficient for God to say that we need to reflect on the eventuality where each one of us will face death and come back to the same God Who created us in the first place. While some people may have transient opportunities to deny and disregard God’s message and even oppress those who disagree with them, they should reflect on the certainty that God will bring them back to Him and make them accountable for such actions. Sometimes such a face-to-face meeting with reality will take place even on this earth before their death. People such as Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler have witnessed such outcomes in our contemporary history, as we all know.
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REFLECTION
Belief in the unity of faith, the criticality of social consciousness, and the conviction in life after death should be sufficient to keep us away from denial of God’s message and to engage in activism to create a better world for every generation.
ACTION
Apart from those who have no such faith or conviction, the key question for those of us who claim to have faith, irrespective of our religious affiliations, is how to enable this faith to enrich our lives with deep social consciousness and generate a constant drive to better the lives of all human beings on this planet of ours.