Essence of the Holy Qur’an — Page 75
Saba’ 75 but if in the heyday of their glory they, like the Israelites and the Sabaeans, gave themselves up to a life of luxury and ease, they will be punished like them. Next, the S u rah deals with its main theme, viz. the progressive rise of the cause of Islam and the sad fate that is in store for idol-worshippers and their false deities. The disbelievers are challenged to call upon their deities to obstruct the progress of Islam, and to arrest the decline and downfall of their own false ideals and institutions. They are told that no power on earth could stop this from happening. In order to make them realize that their cause was destined to perish and Islam to sweep away everything before it, they are further told to study the operation of the laws of nature, which were all working in its favour. In answer to the disbelievers’ demand as to when the prophecy about the rise and progress of Islam will be fulfilled, the S u rah goes so far as to fix a definite date for it. Its signs, it says, will begin to appear about a year after the Flight of the Holy Prophet from Mecca when the Quraishites, by expelling him from his native town, will render themselves deserving of Divine punishment. After this the S u rah observes that whenever a Divine Reformer makes his appearance it is the vested interests and privileged classes that stand in his way. They feel and apprehend that the rise of the new Movement will weaken their hold on the poor people who, by accepting the new Message, will refuse to be exploited or suppressed any more. So they fight it tooth and nail and try to nip it in the bud and the suppressed and exploited classes are, by threats and intimidation, dragooned into accepting their lead and opposing the Divine Reformer. Towards its close the S u rah refers to a simple criterion by which it could be easily found out that the Holy Prophet is neither an impostor nor a maniac but a true Prophet of God. An impostor, it says, is never allowed to prosper and eventually comes to a sad end but the cause of the Prophet is progressing, and a madman cannot bring about such a wonderful revolution in the life of a whole people as the Holy Prophet has done.