10-03-2004, 06:29 PM
An-Nisaa 117-126
The next few verses give examples of Shirk found among pagans to give an idea of what sort of things get the support of a person who turns away from the Islamic mission.
117 They invoke in His stead only goddesses; and they pray to none else than shaytaan, the rebel. 118 Allaah cursed him; and he said, “Most certainly I will:
take a definite portion of your slaves;
119 lead them astray;
excite in them vain desires,
order them so that they shall slit the ears of the cattle;
order them so that they shall alter Allaah's creation;
and whoever takes shaytaan for a patron instead of Allaah, he indeed shall suffer an evident loss.” 120 Shaytaan makes them promises, and creates in them vain desires; but shaytaan's promises are nothing but deception. 121 Those who are duped by shaytaan will have hell as their dwelling and will not find any escape from it. 122 As for those who believe and do good, We shall soon admit them into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein forever; it is a true promise of Allaah, and who is truer of word than Allaah?
The first part of the verse alludes to the role of goddesses in Shirk. Like Greeks, Romans and other idolater societies, Arabs used to invoke different goddesses for different needs. However, the most pervasive and the mother source of all Shirk has always been the obedience and servitude to shaytaan. Although hardly anyone ever kneels to worship shaytaan, Allaah has described those who follow his ways as his worshippers. Shaytaan himself describes it as stealing away a certain portion of Allaah’s slaves to be his slaves.
One of the ways shaytaan makes people follow him is by raising vain desires and false hopes in them. Depending upon what motivates them, he uses different images of “rose gardens” for different people. To start with, he makes the worldly pleasures so attractive and so significant that people develop a perception and attitude as if the bounties of this world are going to last forever and as if that is all there is to strive for to achieve a real success. Then, in the matters of this world, he engages them in superstitions and makes them believe in the effectiveness of sorcery, amulets, talismans, incantations, etc. Those who want to do something good for the hereafter, he convinces them to keep delaying or procrastinating after this or after that until they die. He makes them think, “I will be able to do it better or more effectively after I have attained such and such or done such and such.” Their attention is diverted from the right things through more false ideas such as: “We will be successful if we dedicate to the national glory”; “if we follow this or that philosophy, it will make the earth a better place for us”; “we on our own can come up with the best way of life”; “the world will be at peace if we accept everyone the way he or she is”; “we can attain guidance direct from Allaah, no book or messenger is needed to tell us what is good”; so on and so forth. Those who believe in the hereafter are kept away from doing their duties and good works by excuses like: “The entities other than Allaah that we call upon or pray to are our intercessors that help us gain bounties in this world and they will also help get the best facilities in the hereafter”; “We are Allaah’s chosen people because we are progeny of so and so, thus we will enter Jannah for sure”; “The fire of hell will not touch us, if it does, it will be just a matter of days before we will admitted to Jannah”; “Jesus died for our sins; by accepting him, we are saved.” etc. All of the above are examples of false promises and vain desires that shaytaan implants in people’s minds.
Slitting the ears of cattle was an indication that the animal was consecrated for gods or goddesses. This is an example of shaytaan getting people indulged in nonsensical things like superstitions and consecrating things, animals or people for idols, gods and goddesses instead of serving Allaah in obedience.
Altering Allaah’s creation means using Allaah’s creation for purposes other than their natural role for which Allaah had created them or trying to defeat the purpose for which they were created. For example, Allaah has created people to live in complete slave-like obedience to Him; when people refuse to submit to Allaah or submit to others than Allaah or are enslaved by people, or are subjugated in disobedience to Allaah, these are all forms of changing Allaah’s creation. Similarly, Allaah has created people so that they can get married, enjoy sex and have children. If people avoid getting married, castrate themselves, remove the capability of having children, engage in a sexual activity other than between human males and females, practice celibacy, adopt homosexuality, etc., they are changing Allaah’s creation. Allaah has equipped males and females for different roles -- giving them roles or adopting roles other than what they have naturally been equipped for will also be in the same category. Feeding meat by-products to cattle or implanting animal genes into plants are other examples of changing Allaah’s creation.
Shaytaan implants the above kinds of ideas in human beings, to move them away from the Islamic lifestyle and Islamic systems. People start practicing those misguidances from shaytaan and start promoting and imposing them on human societies. In that sense, shaytaan orders them and they obey him which is also tantamount to worshipping him besides Allaah. It also indicates that instead of relying on the guidance of Allaah, they have started relying on the misguidance of shaytaan, which is tantamount to taking him as their guide and patron instead of Allaah.
The next three verses are concluding remarks stressing the fact that Allaah SWT deals with people strictly on the basis of their practical performance, not on the basis of their lineage, their families, the titles they may have assigned to themselves or the notions, hopes and myths they may have invented on the incitement of shaytaan. In the matter of right paradigm and good performance, Ibraaheem has been cited as a role model to follow from the people of the past.
123 The end result in the hereafter shall not be determined by your vain desires nor by the vain desires of the People of the Book but by actual performance: whoever does evil, he shall be recompensed accordingly, and besides Allaah, he will find for himself neither a guardian nor a helper. 124 And whoever does good deeds -- whether male or female -- and has faith, they shall enter the garden, and they shall not be wronged even a bit. 125 Who can be better in religion than one who submits himself entirely to Allaah, excels in performance and earnestly follows the paradigm of Ibraaheem, the upright? And Allaah took Ibraaheem as a friend. 126 And whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is Allaah's; and Allaah surrounds all things.
Next: Verses 127-134
Wassalaam,
Ayub Hamid
Please Note: This series is providing the teachings of the Qur-aan, not a literal translation. Instead of literal translation, it gives interpretive meanings of the verses, along with their contextual details.
Please also remember that any translation of the Holy Qur'aan is in fact only an expression of the translator's understanding of the Word of Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala, and hence cannot be equated with the Qur'aan itself. Only the original Arabic text can be called the Holy Qur'aan.
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