The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 148
the end of that Sūrah it was stated that Divine punishment would overtake disbelievers at its appointed time, i. e. when the truth of Islam would have been brought home to them and they would have persisted in rejecting it and persecuting the Holy Prophet and his followers. The Prophet was enjoined to bear the opposition and persecution of disbelievers patiently and with fortitude. In continuation of this subject the present Sūrah opens with a warning to disbelievers that the time of their punishment has already arrived and that they will now have to render an account of their actions, but they still continue to wander in the wilderness of heedlessness and disbelief. Thus the subject that disbelievers will suffer punishment for rejection of truth, to which reference was made towards the end of the preceding Surah, has been carried forward in the present Surah. This is the immediate connection of this Surah with Ṭā Hā. But it is the subject matter as a whole which, in fact, constitutes the real connecting link between the present Surah and some of its predecessors. In Sūrah Maryam some false Christian doctrines were repudiated and rebutted, viz. that Jesus possessed Divine attributes, that he had abrogated the Law and had declared it to be a curse and that salvation depended not on good works but upon Atonement. These false beliefs had led Christians astray. In Surah Ṭā Hā a detailed account of Moses was given in order to refute these false doctrines. The Christians were told that Christianity was but a link in the Mosaic Dispensation, and Moses' circumstances constituted a flat repudiation of their doctrines. His whole pride lay in the fact that he was a Law-giving Prophet. If the Law was a curse, then, according to Christian belief, Moses, instead of having been made an object of respect and pride, should have been condemned and denounced. After this, Surah Ṭā Hā gave a brief account of the lapse suffered by Adam and thus traced the Christian theory of the original sin to its very root and then repudiated and rebutted it. It was made clear in that Surah that sin formed no part of the heritage of man and that he is punished only for his own trespasses and offences which he should try to get rid of. Next, it was stated that if it was not possible for man to get rid of sin, then the very purpose of Divine punishment is defeated and God's Prophets and His Messengers, instead of holding out warnings, should have given him the comforting message that being a mere creature of circumstances and possessing no volition or discretion he will not be called to account for his actions. The same subject has been enlarged and expanded in the present Surah and the lesson is driven home that the enemies, not of one Prophet, but those of all Messengers of God, from Adam to Jesus and from Jesus up to the Holy Prophet Muḥammad, were punished for their wicked deeds and the righteous rewarded for their good actions. If man had inherited sin and if he could not 2062