Approaching the West — Page 148
A pproaching the West—148 And how many a Sign is there in the heavens and the earth, which they pass by, turning away from it. (12:106) Asking for Signs The Holy Qur’ ā n details the skeptical attitude of those who remain determined to reject the truth. They keep on asking for more signs: And those who have no knowledge say, … ‘Why does Allah not speak to us, or a Sign come to us direct?’ Likewise said those before them what was similar to their saying. Their hearts are all alike. We have certainly made the Signs plain for a people who firmly believe. We have sent thee with the Truth, as a bearer of glad tidings and a Warner. And thou wilt not be questioned concerning the inmates of Hell. (2:119-120) Nay, they say, ‘These are but confused dreams; nay, he has forged it; nay, he is but a poet. Let him then bring us a Sign just as the former Prophets were sent with Signs. ’ (21:6) The rejecters do not hesitate demanding for some weird Signs, such as asking the Prophet to dig a deep channel into the earth or to climb up a ladder unto heaven (6:37); to cause pieces of sky to fall down on them (26:188). Demanding new Signs seems to be an old habit of the disbelievers. For example, in the New Testament we read Jesus being asked to show a Sign,