The Contribution of Islam to the Solution of World Problems — Page 34
34 us a table from heaven spread with food that it may be to us a, festival, to the first of us and to the last of us, and a Sign from Thee, and provide sustenance for us, for Thou art the best of sustainers. ’ God said, ‘Surely I will send it down to you, bu t whosoever of you disbelieves afterwards – I will surely punish them with a punishment wherewith I will not punish any other of the peoples. ’ ( Ch. 5: Vs. 113 - 116 ) It is clear that according to the Qur’an, the disciples asked Jesu s (as) to pray that God should bestow material prosperity upon his followers. The first reaction of Jesu s (as) was to warn them against making such demand, but they persisted and explained why they desired to be blessed with material prosperity. Jesus (as) then prayed that God should bestow upon his followers material prosperity, ‘to the first of us and to the last of us,’ that is to say, that Christian peoples should enjoy long periods of material prosperity both during the early ages and also during later ages. God accepted the prayer of Jesus (as) , promised to bless the Christian peoples with two long periods of outstanding material prosperity which should be a sign from God. But He also warned that if the bounties bestowed by Him were not properl y used, and the people who were the recipients of these bounties did not maintain communion with God, punishment would overtake them such as had not overtaken any other people. No detailed comment is called for. History bears, witness that the Western people who, since the fourth century of the Christian era, have constituted the bulk of the Christian