The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 27
PT. 11 YŪNUS CH. 10 فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرى عَلَى اللهِ كَذِبًا Who is then more unjust. 18 valószí than he who forges a lie against اَوْ كَذَّبَ بِأَيْتِهِ إِنَّهُ لَا يُفْلِحُ الْمُجْرِمُونَ Allah or he who treats His Signs as lies? Surely, the guilty ones shall never prosper. 1293 "6:22; 11:19; 61:8. of all lies, viz. forging lies against upon a man except either (1) through God, but you cannot produce any evidence to show when this change for the worse developed in him. On the contrary, you admit that right up to the time when he claimed to be a Prophet, he continued to live among you day and night; and you looked upon him as an exceptionally righteous and truthful man. How then can you now say that all of a sudden he has begun to forge lies against God?" no The words, before this, are intended to point to the great psychological fact that the objections of the Holy Prophet's enemies after he laid claim to prophethood should carry weight with right-thinking people, because it always happens that after a person has announced himself to be a Messenger of God, people naturally turn against him and begin to impute to him all sorts of evil things. The fact that the Emperor Heraclius asked of Abū Sufyān, when the latter was brought before him at Jerusalem, what his people thought of the Prophet before he laid claim to prophethood, also shows that he too had realized the force of this great argument. The words, Will you not then understand?, draw our attention to the established psychological truth that a sudden change does not come some physical injury, etc. (for instance when a man happens to receive a blow on the head causing loss of memory or change in manners, etc. ) or (2) through some great spiritual influence. History provides instances when a great shock or calamity has made a person give way to despair and thereby inclined him to evil or when the discovery of some great truth has created a sudden change in him for good. A study of the life history of the Holy Prophet shows that he had never been subject to either of these two influences. Before his exaltation to prophethood, he led a life of retirement, giving himself up to prayer and meditation. At the same time he had not despaired of his countrymen but, like a true well-wisher, earnestly worked for their good. In such circumstances it is an insult to human reason and to all known laws of human psychology to say that though before he claimed to be a Messenger of God the Prophet of Islam was a model of piety and righteousness, yet the very day he made that claim he became the greatest of liars. 1235 For a discussion of the "illiteracy" of the Holy Prophet see under 7:158. 1293. Commentary: This verse brings to light two