Arba'in — Page 155
Number Four 155 Sometimes, they spread the news that he is conceited, arro- gant and debauched; verbally abuses people and slanders his opponents; he is miserly, interested only in making money; a great liar, a great dajj a l, faithless, and a killer. All these titles are given to the Prophets and God’s Appointed Ones by those who are evil- minded and whose hearts are spiritually blind. These very same kinds of objections had been raised against Hadrat M u s a [Moses], peace be upon him, primarily by malicious people who allege that he persuaded his people to borrow costly gold and silver articles, jewellery, and expensive clothes from the Egyptians, while telling them in sheer deception that they are borrowing these items tem- porarily and would return them after a few days on returning from worship while there was deception in their hearts. In the end, they broke their promise, told lies, usurped the wealth of others, and fled towards Canaan. All these allegations are of such a nature that if an intellectual response is given, many foolish, mean-spirited people will not be satisfied. Therefore, the traditional response of God Almighty to such critics is that He helps those sent by God in a marvellous way and repeatedly shows heavenly Signs, so much so that learned people have to acknowledge their mistakes. They understand that if such a man was a liar and impious, why would he have had so much [divine] support? It is not conceivable that God would love a false prophet as He loves His true Friends. It is indeed to this that Allah the Exalted points in this verse: َرِفْغَيِّل َكَل ُهّٰللا اَم َمَّدَقَت ْنِم َكِبْۢنَذ َو اَم َرَّخَاَت اَّنِا اَنْحَتَف َكَل اًحْتَف اًنْيِبُّم۰۰