Volume 10 Surah 12 - 15 - Enjoy Islam

Ibrahīm (Abraham) | ONE MESSAGE FOR ALL MANKIND
being blown about on a stormy day adds action to the concept that the unbelievers’
works will come to nothing. People cannot hold on to any part of their actions, or
make use of them. This image gives a far more profound effect than any expression
of the same meaning of total loss in intellectual terms.
This scene expresses a basic truth about what the unbelievers do. Actions that
have no basis in faith, and are not controlled by that bond relating every action to its
motive, and relating that motive to God remain loose, lacking a solid entity. They are
like ashes or flying particles. It is not the action itself that carries paramount value,
but rather the motivation behind it. Action is a mechanical movement, but its motive
is what differentiates man from machine.
The comment which follows is also very apt: “This [disbelief] is indeed going very far
astray.” (Verse 18) Just like the ashes blown far away by fierce winds, so too have
they gone far astray.
The following verses then speak of the fate of the unbelievers of olden times in
order to demonstrate the fate of the unbelieving Arabs of the Quraysh. These verses
threaten them with God’s ability to replace them with a new creation: “Do you not see
that God has created the heavens and the earth in accordance with the truth. If He so wills, He
can do away with you and bring into being a new creation. This is no difficult thing for God.”
(Verses 19-20)
This switch from a discussion about faith and disbelief, and the dispute between
God’s messengers and the unbelievers in un-Islamic societies, to a picture of the
heavens and the earth is very natural in the Qur’ān. It is also natural in human
feelings and perceptions. This is a further indication of the divine source of the
Qur’ān. There is a secret but intelligible discourse between man and the universe.
Human nature responds instinctively to this secret communication once it tunes in to
it and receives its signals.
Those who do not pick up on these signals and indicators must examine their
receptive faculties. For these must be faulty. Eyes may turn blind, and ears may
become deaf, and a person may be dumb. Those who cannot receive the signals of
the universe have defective faculties. Hence they are unsuited to positions of
leadership. This includes all those who accept a materialistic philosophy which
produces what is falsely called ‘scientific doctrines’. Science cannot function with
faulty faculties and a defective means of contact with the universe. Such people are
described in the Qur’ān as blind. It is not possible for human life to prosper under a
system, doctrine or philosophy promoted by someone who is blind.
The fact that the heavens and the earth have been created with the truth gives the
impression of limitless ability and solid stability. The truth is solid and stable even in
the sound the word ‘truth’ makes. This contrasts completely with the ashes blown
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