Essence of the Holy Qur’an — Page 48
Essence of the Holy Qur’ ā n 48 is, who has sent him. In order to show that the Holy Prophet’s cause will prevail, the S u rah cites the cases of some former Prophets—Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon, Idr i s, and others, who in the teeth of bitter, persistent and organized opposition succeeded in their missions. All these chosen servants of God like Jesus were models of noble and righteous conduct and like him they suffered great hardships and privations in the way of God. Then why of all of them Jesus alone should be regarded as son of God and not they? After the account of these Prophets, special mention is made of Jesus and his mother whose circumstances were in no way different from theirs. Even the unusual manner of Jesus’s birth entitles him to no particular spiritual status. The birth of Ya h y a had also taken place in very exceptional circumstances. If Jesus was born without the agency of a father, Ya h y a ’s birth took place when his father had reached an extreme old age and his mother had become barren and was quite unfit to give birth to a child. Similarly, Jesus’s suffering in the cause of Truth was nothing novel. Though he was hung on the Cross he was taken down alive, but Ya h y a suffered actual death for the sake of God. Then why should Jesus’s death alone atone for the sins of man and not that of Ya h y a ? Towards the end the S u rah points to the phenomenal rise and great material might and dazzling prosperity, progress and power of Gog and Magog—Christian nations of the West. When these nations, the S u rah proceeds to say, will spread all over the world and will occupy every position of power and eminence, and when other nations of the world will bow down to them in submission and pay homage to them, then will the promise about their ultimate destruction be fulfilled. Divine punishment will come down upon them so sudden and swift that they will be taken completely by surprise. All their handiworks, the source and cause of their pride, and all their pomp, glory and grandeur will be destroyed and reduced to ashes and dust.