Essence of the Holy Qur’an — Page 10
Essence of the Holy Qur’ ā n 10 Bright One), Al-Am a n (The Peace), Al-Kanz (The Treasure), Al-Mu‘ i nah (The Helper), Al-Muj a dalah (The Pleading), Al-Istighf a r (The Seeking of Forgiveness) and A t - T ayyibah (The Pure). As the falsity of Christian doctrines is sought to be established in this Chapter it rightly opens with the hint that as Christianity had become corrupt and degenerate, it could not prove a bar to the introduction of a new and better dispensation. On the contrary, Christianity itself constituted a strong testimony to the need for the introduction of a new Law. Consequently, the Divine attributes the Living, the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining have been placed in the very beginning of this S u rah to repudiate the Christian basic doctrines. The other connection between the two S u rahs, viz. that of the concluding portion of Al-Baqarah with the opening words of this S u rah is apparent from the fact that Al-Baqarah had concluded with a prayer for national regeneration and reformation of Muslims and the triumph of Islam over its enemies, and the Divine attributes—the Living, the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining have been placed in the beginning of the present S u rah to assure Muslims that God will certainly come to their aid because He being the Living, the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining, His power knows no weakening or diminution. Subject-Matter The S u rah , like the preceding one, opens with the abbreviated letters, Alif L a m M i m , (I am All a h , the All-Knowing), which are intended to draw attention to the Divine attribute of knowledge; and, mention of the attributes, the Living, the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining is meant to point out that in this S u rah the Divine attribute of knowledge has been substantiated by God’s attributes, the Living, the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining, i. e. the fact that God is Living, Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining constitutes proof of His being All- Knowing, because death and decay are the result of lack of knowledge. The S u rah proceeds to say that, as Jews and Christians have strayed away from the right path, Divine punishment will overtake them, and their being the followers of Torah and the Gospels will not save them from God’s punishment, because these Books have been abrogated and, therefore, are unable to satisfy human needs and requirements. After this it tells Muslims to banish all doubt or misgiving from their minds that, in view of the numerical superiority of Jews and Christians and the preponderance of the material means at their disposal, they would not prevail against the latter, because God had already granted them predominance over their more powerful enemies, the Quraish and other infidel tribes of Arabia. The same phenomenon will be repeated now. Moreover, national victories do not result solely from the preponderance of material means but primarily and very largely from the superiority of national morals. And final victory will come to Muslims because, though they lack material means, they are in possession of ample moral and spiritual means and because also they follow a true religion. Next, the S u rah proceeds to disabuse the minds of the enemies of Islam of