The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 431
The answer to this question is embodied in the words, And if He had enforced His will He would have guided you all (v. 10), which suggest that as God has given man the freedom and choice to follow the right or the wrong course, He has also revealed to him guidance from time to time which helps him to avoid the wrong path and march to the destined goal. In addition to this logical answer, history is quoted to tell disbelievers how former Prophets were defied and rejected. Why, then, should the plea of the Almightiness of God be advanced in regard to the rejection of the Holy Prophet? Believers are then told that if they wish their kith and kin also to accept the Quran, they should see that their hearts are cleansed because without purity of heart it is impossible to find God. God does not compel anyone to accept the truth, for by compulsion the very purpose of the life after death would be defeated. Then the Surah enters into a discussion of the life after death and it is stated that even in this world nations are resurrected and given a new life and it is with their "hijrah" (migration) that their resurrection begins. Accordingly, the Holy Prophet also would have to leave his native place and migrate to Medina because it was essential for the spiritual development of his followers that they should be separated from disbelievers. From this the conclusion is drawn that if it is so necessary for the spiritual progress of believers to undergo a "hijrah" in this world, how far more is it necessary for the permanent spiritual advancement of man that he should undergo a spiritual "hijrah," which is another name for death. After this "hijrah" the Faithful and the disbelievers begin to travel on separate paths; the disbelievers go to Hell and the Faithful bask in the sunshine of Divine grace and scale the heights of atonement with God. The subject that great and wholesome results will flow from the Prophet's Migration, is continued, viz. the disbelievers will be punished and believers will enjoy uninterrupted and uniform progress. The Surah proceeds briefly to deal with the question why respite is granted to disbelievers and why they are not forced to accept the truth. This leads to a treatment of the objection that, if the Holy Prophet is a true Messenger of God, why is his teaching at variance with that of earlier Prophets. In answer to this objection it is stated that the real teaching which former Prophets gave to their people greatly differed from the current, adulterated and corrupt teachings attributed to them. In fact, a new Prophet comes only when the former teachings become corrupt and lose their title to Divine protection. By citing the example of the bee, the Sūrah draws our attention to the fact that just as, guided by Divine inspiration, the bee collects its food from fruits and flowers and converts it into delicious and wholesome honey, it is in the fitness of things that Divine revelation should be given to man for his moral regeneration and spiritual development and proceeds to say that just as 1639