Punishment of Apostacy in Islam — Page 19
19 said: Thou art not charged with guiding them to the right path; it is Allah who guides whomsoever He pleases (2:273). He then says that vakil connotes a guardian to whom God may have committed authority to punish creatures for their sins. So that the purport of the verse is that God Almighty had not committed to the Holy Prophet the divine authority whereby God rewards the doers of good and punishes the doers of evil. The Holy Prophet’s function is to convey to the people God’s message, His teaching and His perfect law which are comprised in the Holy Quran and have been communicated to man through him. Responsibility of Holy Prophet At another place it is said: Had Allah so willed, they would not have set up partners with Him. We have not appointed thee a keeper over them, nor art thou their guardian (6:108). This verse is preceded by: Proofs have indeed come to you from your Lord; so he who comprehends them it is for his own benefit, and he who ignores them, does so to his own loss. Tell them: I am not appointed a guardian over you (6:105). This is followed by: Follow that which has been revealed to thee from thy Lord; there is no god but He; and turn aside from those who set up partners with Allah (6:107). Part of that which had been revealed to the Holy Prophet was that his responsibility was to convey to mankind that with which he had been entrusted, and that it was not open to him to take upon himself that which belonged to God. He was to turn away from those who persisted in associating