The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 270
Messengers suffered defeat and came to grief. Then we are told that in course of time came Moses, the greatest Prophet of Israel, with Aaron his brother as his deputy, and they both gave the same teaching and were also successful in their mission. This is a phenomenon which has occurred again and again in the lives of God's great Messengers. From this it is quite clear that Unity of God is the basic doctrine of all religions which all Divine Messengers taught and upon which they laid the greatest stress. The Surah further says that towards the end of the Mosaic Dispensation came Jesus, son of Mary. He also taught and laid very great stress on the Unity of God but his followers invented the false doctrine of his sonship. Such a foolish doctrine, however, cannot be accepted as true against the combined testimony and teachings of all Divine Prophets, including Jesus himself. Next, the Holy Prophet Muḥammad is enjoined to observe ordinances and commandments of the Shari'ah like all other Prophets in the matter of food and in all other acts and to adapt and mould himself to God's perfect Shari'ah, because those who give up the right path are led away from Him. The Surah then proceeds to say that there have always existed differences among the followers of all religions but these differences are the result of lack of true knowledge and of heedlessness which takes hold of men after their Prophets leave the world. But such is not the case with true believers. They fear their Lord and believe in His signs and have firm faith in His Unity and do good deeds to the best of their power, and yet consider themselves not to have fully discharged their duties and responsibilities. They strive to vie with one another in doing good deeds. Man, however, is expected to act only to the best of his powers because "Allah does not burden any soul beyond its capacity. " Then it is stated that though the Law of God is quite practical and practicable, the disbelievers refuse to act upon it and in their perversity and the pride of their power and wealth continue to indulge in luxury and vain pursuits till God's punishment overtakes them and they weep and wail, but then it is too late and their wailing and weeping is of no avail. They defy and reject Divine Messengers and call them madmen. But they are so foolish as not to understand this simple thing that if the Prophets had been madmen, they should not have succeeded in their missions but should have come to an ignominious end. On the contrary, all what they say and claim comes to pass. The fact is that in their heart of hearts disbelievers do not regard the Prophets as maniacs and madmen, on the contrary they entertain a creeping fear lest what the Prophets say may be fulfilled and they may be brought to book for their rejection of the Divine Message. The Surah further says that God would have forgiven the transgressions of disbelievers but they have gone so far in mischief and iniquity that God's forgiveness would not be of any use to them but would 2184