Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 82
82 handful of gravel and threw it at the enemy. This proved a signal for a dust storm which discomfited the enemy and contributed to his defeat. Of this, God says to the Prophet, And thou threwest not when thou didst throw, but it was Allah Who threw. 99 Similarly at the time of entering Islam, new believers used to take the oath of allegiance to the Prophet. Referring to this God says in the Quran: Verily those who swear allegiance to thee indeed swear allegiance to Allah. 100 The Prophet does service for God. The term "God" of the prophecy, therefore, applies to the Prophet rather than to anybody else. So does the expression "mighty. " For it was he who was able to subjugate all his enemies in his lifetime and to smash all opposition. The fourth name in the prophecy is everlasting Father. This also applies to the Prophet and to no one else. It was he who claimed unambiguously a lasting character for his teaching. For he foretold the second coming of Christ, but the second coming of Christ was to be in the person of one of the Prophet’s own followers, not one whose coming could violate his spiritual dominion. Referring to this God says in the Quran: And We have not sent thee save as a bringer together of all mankind—a bearer of glad tidings and a warner; but most men know not. And they say, "When will this promise be fulfilled, if you speak the truth?" Say, "For you is an appointed day from which you cannot remain behind a single moment nor can you get ahead of it. 101 The expression "all mankind" here points to the universal and everlasting character of the Message of Islam. It is to be addressed to all nations in all ages. Disbelievers taunt the Prophet about the day promised here and ask when it will be; that is, when will the universal and everlasting character of Islam be demonstrated to the world? God says in reply that the day will come as appointed. The day is referred to also in 32:6, thus: He would plan the divine ordinance from the heaven unto the earth, then shall it go up to Him in a day the duration of which is a thousand years according to what you reckon. The thing planned is Islam. In course of time its influence will begin to decline. In a thousand years it will have ascended back to heaven. The special divine support which it enjoyed in the beginning will disappear and its fortunes will be at the mercy of the natural forces of the world. From the Quran as well as the Hadith it appears that the expansion of Islam was to go on for the first three hundred years, after which was to set in the period of its decline. The decline was to go on for one thousand years. Reading together the two passages—34:29-31 and 32:6—it becomes quite clear that for a long time people would remain unconvinced of the universal and everlasting character of the Message of Islam; but after 1300 years facts and conditions would emerge which would leave the world in no doubt about it. The passages read together