Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | CHANGE OF DIRECTION“Remember Me, then, and I will remember you” — it is the greatest privilege anyhuman being can receive from God, whose generosity is limitless and whosebenevolence knows no bounds. The Prophet Muĥammad is reported to have quotedGod as saying: “Whoever remembers Me privately to himself I will remember him toMyself; and whoever remembers Me in the company of people I will remember himin a better company.”The Prophet also quotes God as saying: “Son of Adam! When you remember Meto yourself, I will remember you to Myself. When you remember Me in the companyof others I will remember you in a company of angels. When you draw closer to Meby a handspan, I will draw closer to you by an arm’s length; and when you drawcloser to Me by an arm’s length, I will draw closer to you by a longer distance; andwhen you walk towards Me, I will run towards you.”No words could possibly describe the effects and scope of this divine grace. Mancan only reciprocate such feelings through prayer, meditation and total submissionto God Almighty. This will eventually lead him to see and recognize no other powerin this world but that of God.The recognition of God’s power and the expression of one’s gratitude to Himcome in several stages. The least of them is to acknowledge God’s grace andblessings and refrain from disobeying Him. The highest stage is that of totaldedication of one’s thoughts, talents, energies and actions to the service of God.The words “give thanks to Me and never deny Me” also carry a warning thatnegligence of, ingratitude to, and rebellion against God would lead to denying Himaltogether, which is a most hopeless and dismal end.All the instructions and warnings conveyed in the above passage are extremelypertinent to the issue of the direction of prayer, the focus of Muslims and thedistinctive symbol of acknowledging God’s oneness. They are also pertinent to theconfrontation with the Jews of Madinah, whose ultimate objective was to mislead theMuslims in the hope that they might revert to unbelief. Thus, they would deprivethem of God’s favours and blessings, the greatest and foremost of which is that offaith.The Jews were aware that the Arabs without Islam would go back to their aimlesstribal existence, with no influence on the rest of the world or role in history. A peoplewithout sound principles or creed, or a philosophy of life, would have no reason toassume a position of leadership in the world.To be remembered by God, Muslims have to remember that Islam is more than areligion concerned only with the spiritual or personal aspects of life. It is a completeway of life with teachings, laws and practices for the organization and developmentof all human affairs. History tells us that whenever Muslims showed awareness of159