Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 280
280 joining the ranks of those fighting on the side of God and did not hesitate to sacrifice himself in the struggle. The Quran describes the stages of spiritual evolution and explains their number and details. For instance, it explains the kinds and degrees of purity, chastity, charity, truthfulness, mercy, kind treatment, etc. Thus, it enables a man to plan in accordance with his moral and spiritual development. By thus placing the immediate objective within a man’s reach it encourages him to set out on the path of progress, and by setting out before him a series of ever-higher objectives it incites him to greater effort at each stage. It thus carries man forward on the path of progress step by step and stage by stage. The Quran sheds light on man’s intellectual evolution also and explains how it is carried out and teaches that divine wisdom in judging of a man’s actions takes into account his intellectual development. He who was fortunate enough to be nurtured in a favourable environment and for whom the path of virtue was made easy may be judged by a standard different from that applied to a person whose intellectual development was inferior to the former and whose environment was not so favourable. Allowance would be made for the latter in respect of the handicaps against which he had to struggle. The Quran explains what faith is; how it may be acquired, and how it may be known. It explains the need of the Law of Shariah and its philosophy. It teaches that God’s Law is based upon wisdom and is designed to help man forward on the path of progress. God’s commandments are not devised as a burden or a penalty for His servants but each of them is designed as an aid and a prop to man in his progress and to help to improve his social environment. The Quran does not support the doctrine of the compulsory imposition of commandments and penalties. It teaches that God condemns no person without taking into full account every circumstance that might excuse or palliate his conduct. It also teaches that no man may be condemned unless he has had due warning in advance. Miracles Christian writers have asserted that, apart from the claim that it is unique in its language and its philosophy, the Quran does not prefer any claim to miracles. It is necessary to explain in a few words the attitude of the Quran towards miracles. The Quran puts forward two fundamental doctrines. First, that there are certain divine laws which are not subject to variation. For instance, the Quran teaches that a dead person never comes back to life upon this earth, and that nobody except God possesses the power of creation. The world may produce artificers, technicians and inventors but the attribute of creation manifests itself only through the work of God. As regards the first of these two matters God says in the Quran: Until, when death comes to one of them, he says entreating, "My Lord, send me back, that I may do righteous deeds in the life which I have left behind". By no