Punishment of Apostacy in Islam — Page 29
29 reward of the believers. Both pertain to God Almighty. It is not the function of the Holy Prophet to affirm that a sincere and devoted believer would be favored by God, nor to affirm that he who disbelieves and opposes and associates others with God and is disobedient and turns away from God and makes Him wroth, would be afflicted with torment. This pertains only to God and not to any human being. God Almighty says: We prophesied and We shall fulfill our prophecy at its due time. Thou art not responsible for it. Thy responsibility is only to convey the commands of God Almighty and His Message, and to discharge His trust. The Holy Prophet is the Chief of Prophets and his function is only to convey and propagate the message that has been entrusted to him. It is for God to call people to account. The commentary on this verse in Ruhul Bayan is even more explicit. It says: The Holy Prophet’s duty is only to convey the message, to discharge his trust and nothing more. He has discharged his trust, that is to say, the conveying of the Holy Quran in its entirety without the slightest change, so perfectly that there can be no addition to it or detraction from it till the Day of Judgment. It is a Book completely safeguarded. God Almighty had made a promise through the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, and made him the means of fulfilling His promise. His duty is only to convey the message and to discharge the trust and nothing more. God Almighty says that calling people to account and to chastise them for their sins on the Day of Judgment rests with Him and not with the Holy Prophet or anyone else. If anyone turns away, this should not trouble the Holy Prophet nor should he desire to hasten the chastisement of the disobedient