Quranic Reflections - Islamic School of Stanford

permission. That is Allah, your Lord; so worship Him. Will you then not be
mindful” (TMQ, 10:2).
“…Conducting the Command” recurs all through the surah emphasizing Allah’s
wisdom and great organization. Again, frivolity is never consistent with Allah’s
immense wisdom. It is illogical, therefore, that He would unjustly force people to sin
in order to meet his own plans; his predestination of them to be of the dwellers of hell.
Truth is its title
In the next ayah in which Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “To Him will
be your return altogether, the promise of Allah, truly (binding)...” (TMQ, 10:4),
“truly” or truth, is the opposite of coincidence and futility. That is why it is repeated
in this surah, whose subject-matter is belief in fate and destiny, 23 times; the highest
number of occurrences in the Qur’an. The word occurs 23 times in a Surah of 109
ayahs. In Surat Al-‘Imran, the 200-ayah-long surah, the same word occurs 13 times
only. A huge difference indeed! The repetitions are in proportion to Surat Yunus’
main focus; submission to Allah’s fate and destiny. Anybody who is suspicious of
this should speculate upon Allah’s creation and impeccable administration of the
universe.
The previous ayah goes on to clearly state that punishment is a direct result of
blasphemy, in what Allah (SWT) says and can be translated as, “To Him will be your
return altogether, the promise of Allah, truly (binding). Surely He begins the
creation; thereafter He brings it back again to recompense the ones who have
believed and done deeds of righteousness with equity. And the ones who have
disbelieved will have a drink of scalding water and a painful torment for that
they have been disbelieving.” (TMQ, 10:4).
In no way has Allah created that except with the truth
The next ayah draws our attention to Allah’s creation and management of the
universe. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “He is The (One) Who has
made the sun an illumination, and the moon a light and determined it by phases
that you may know the number of years and the reckoning. In no way has Allah
created that except with the truth. He expounds the signs for a people who know.
Surely, in the alternation (Or: the differences) of the night and the daytime and
whatever Allah has created in the heavens and the earth, are indeed signs for a
people who are pious...” (TMQ, 10:5-6). The previous ayah tempts us to
contemplate on Allah’s alteration of day and night. Only Allah (SWT) is capable of
such flawless management. The one who manages all these affairs is far from being
frivolous, and He would never force people into hellfire unreasonably.
Who poses such questions
Ayah seven specifies which types of people hold such invalid beliefs. Allah (SWT)
says what can be translated as, “Surely the ones who do not hope for the meeting
with Us and are satisfied with the present life, (Literally: the lowly life, i.e., the
life of this world) and feel composed with it, and the ones who are heedless of