Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 260
260 HAQIQATUL-WAḤI-THE PHILOSOPHY OF DIVINE REVELATION وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا. Meaning that, your Lord has ordained that you should worship only Him and show benevolence towards parents. In this verse the idola- ters who worship idols are admonished thus: 'Idols are nothing and idols have done no favour to you; they did not create you, nor did they provide for you in your tender age. Had God permitted the worship of anyone other than Himself, He would have enjoined that you should worship parents too; for, figuratively speaking, they are also sustainers, and everyone—even beasts and grazing animals-pro- tect their offspring in their tender years. Thus, after God's sustaining Lordship, they also play their role in nurturing, and this impulse to nurture, again, is from God. After this short digression, let me turn to the main subject. God says about the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, that, had he lied against Us, We would have destroyed him. This does not mean that God has expressed His jealousy only with reference to the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in that were he an impostor, God would have destroyed him; but His jealousy is not roused in the case of others no matter how much they lie against God or concoct false revelations and ascribe them to God. Such a concept is as irrational as it is against all of God's Scriptures. The Torah still contains the sentence that whoever lies against God and makes a false claim to Prophethood shall be destroyed. Besides, Muslim scholars have long been quoting the verse 2 before the Christians and the Jews as evidence of the veracity of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. It is obvious that an argument is of no use unless it has a general application. How can this be an argument that had the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings 1. Surah Bani Isra'il, 17:24 [Publisher] 2. If he had falsely attributed [even a trivial statement to Us] (Sūrah al-Haqqah, 69:45). [Publisher]