RENAISSANCE MARCH 2020

Qur’ ā nic Exegesis 7 Monthly Renaissance March 2020 َﻌۡﺮج ﻓﻴۡﻬَﺎ وَ ﻫﻮَ ﻟﺮَﺣﻴۡﻢ > لﻣﻦَ ﻟﺴَﻤَﺂءوَ ﻣَﺎ BۡCَ ۡجﻣﻨۡﻬَﺎوَ ﻣَﺎﻳ Fَ َﻌۡﻠَﻢﻣَﺎﻳَﻠﺞ! ﻵۡﻹَرۡضوَ ﻣَﺎﻳ > ﻟۡﻐَﻔﻮۡر﴿ ٢﴾ Whatever enters the earth and whatever comes out of it 4 and whatever descends from the sky and whatever ascends in it, 5 He knows about it 6 and He alone is forgiving and merciful. 7 (1-2) All deities and their intercession on whose basis the idolaters had no fear of Hereafter will be rendered baseless. None of them will be of any benefit to them. On that day, the idolaters will curse their deities and the deities will denounce these worshippers of theirs. Everyone will be brought before the One God. He will announce His decision and everyone will become aware that only God, Lord of the worlds, is worthy of gratitude. (Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī , Tadabbur-i Qur’ ā n , vol. 6, 290) 3. This is the proof of all the claims made earlier. He is all-wise and hence it is essential that He bring about a Day in which His perfect justice manifests itself and those who remained grateful to Him be rewarded for this behaviour. At the same time, He is all-knowing. Thus nothing will remain hidden from Him, nor is He dependent on information from someone else to decide matters. The succeeding verse explains this all-embracing knowledge of God. This statement and the earlier ones are expressed in an emphatic and explicit way. This means that when He alone is all-wise and all-knowing, who else but He can be worthy of being thanked by His creatures? 4. One example of this is the seed which is sown in the earth. 5. A very clear example of this are the angels who bring down God’s verdicts of good and evil regarding human beings. On the day, they are called to God’s presence, they narrate the report of these verdicts before Him. 6. Thus He does not need partners who help Him in governing this vast universe. Im ā m Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī writes: … The reason the all-embracing nature of God’s knowledge is explained is that a big factor that leads to polytheism is the notion of the polytheists that what transpires in every nook and corner of this unfathomable universe cannot always remain in God’s notice; it is far-fetched that He be aware of every word and deed that emanates from each and every human being; It is inconceivable that He can be continuously aware of every sorrow that befalls a person. For this reason, they divided the various affairs of this universe and allotted a deity to each. To acquire favour with God,