The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 130
PREFACE ESSENCE OF ISLAM 129 much pleased. However, the Noble Quran is full of references which show that Allah, His eminence be glorified, does not love those who are zālim [unjust] and that those who forsake justice can never be the recipients of divine grace. Thus, based on this argument, it becomes patently clear that the group of zālims spoken of in the verse cited above does not refer to those who are rebellious and disobedient to God, or those who are polytheists, disbelievers, or who abandon the path of justice and righteousness and choose to oppose God; for, such peo- ple-according to the Noble Quran-are under the curse and wrath of God, and it clearly says that God befriends neither the unjust nor iniquitous people who abandon the ways of equity and justice. Then how can those people be considered recipients of grace and how can they be described as His chosen, elect, and eminent servants? category Thus, on the basis of these certain and decisive arguments, we have to accept that the word zālim is not used here in any derogatory sense. On the contrary, it has been employed in a laudable and praiseworthy sense to describe the people who merit being granted a share from the of [sabiqum bil-khairāt—those who excel in good- ness] and who are, as it were, the younger brothers of this excellent grade [of people]. There can be no other meaning here of zālim except those who, for the sake of God Almighty, compel and force their own selves [to perform good works] and who are engaged, day and night, in curtailing their passions through hard strivings. The lexicons, too, explain that the word zalim, apart from its other uses, is also used to denote 'reduction, as, for example, Allah, glorified be His eminence, says at another place in the Noble Quran: وَلَمْ تَظْلِمُ مِنْهُ شَيْئًا Meaning that: Nothing was reduced therefrom. To curb or kill one's passions in order to gain the pleasure of God Almighty is undoubt- edly a kind of zulm in this sense. Moreover, we cannot judge the Noble 1. Surah al-Kahf, 18:34 [Publisher]