The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 628
mischief of the Dajjāl, by Dajjāl he meant present-day corrupt Christian nations. These verses embody a severe indictment of their belief in Jesus as Son of God and of their materialistic tendencies. Thus Christian nations are certainly the Dajjal or Antichrist of the Holy Prophet's traditions. Subject Matter The subject matter of the Surah may briefly be stated as follows: God has revealed the Quran in order to remove the errors that had crept into previous heavenly Scriptures. It warns those who ascribe a son to God that by so doing they incur God's displeasure. These people hate Islam, but their beginning is not like their end. In the beginning they were very weak and were subjected to bitter persecution. God had mercy on them and delivered them from their trials and tribulations and put them on the road to progress and prosperity. But when they grew rich and prosperous, they became involved in idolatrous practices and instead of turning to God, they turned to the world and were entirely lost in it. Muslims are warned to take a lesson from these people and to be on their guard particularly against three evils in the day of their power and glory, viz. (a) remissness in Divine worship; (b) excessive love of wealth and worldly possessions; and (c) a life of ease and luxury. The glory and power of Christian nations and degradation and poverty of Muslims are then graphically depicted in "the parable of two men", one rich and the other poor. The rich man- Christian nations would be proud of his riches while the poor man would turn to God. Pride and conceit would come to grief in the long run and circumstances beyond human control would bring about the rich man's decline and fall. The Surah proceeds to give some details of those great changes which were revealed to Moses in his vision. Moses was told in his vision that the development and progress of his Dispensation would fall far short of the great heights which another and a later Dispensation would attain. This later Dispensation would bring to perfection and completion the teaching which the Mosaic Dispensation had left incomplete and Islam would emerge triumphant from the ashes of a declining and decadent Christendom. After having dealt with the decline and fall of Christian nations and the rise of Islam, the Surah describes the conditions which would follow the triumph of Islam. We are told that a time would come when Muslims would also turn their backs upon religion and would become entirely engrossed in the pursuit of material wealth and power. To punish them for their sins God would once again grant success and prosperity to Christian nations which for a time had been restrained from advancing into southern and eastern regions. Then would come great destruction upon the world and all nations would 1836