Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | CAUSING LIFE AND DEATHthat is unique to God Almighty, with no one else able to claim a share of it forhimself. The statement implies, too, that God rules and legislates over all. It is clearthat in his reply Abraham, a noble Prophet, was not seeking to establish God’s powerin the mere acts of originating life and taking it away. Both are prerogatives of Godalone.Abraham’s interlocutor saw his sovereign position over his subjects and his abilityto kill them or let them live as evidence of his having more than temporal authorityover them. His reply, “I, too, give life and cause death,” (Verse 258) implies havingabsolute power and authority over the affairs and destiny of his people, who areobliged to submit to his rule.Abraham did not wish to pursue the argument about the meaning of originatinglife and causing death, with someone who twists facts.He simply took the argument to a different sphere, citing another familiar eventand challenging the obdurate king to alter a natural phenomenon, the movement ofthe sun, to make him realize that godhead could not be assumed merely by havingabsolute power over a group of people in a small corner on earth. God, by definition,controls all the affairs of the whole universe, and He is the source of legislation formankind.Abraham said: “God causes the sun to rise in the east; cause it, then, to rise in the west”(Verse 258) Another familiar daily occurrence is portrayed as a visible proof of God’sexistence and power, even for those who are not familiar with the principles ofastronomy or laws of physics. This statement comes as a direct challenge to man’sbasic nature by expressing a fact that cannot be disputed. God’s Revelations oftenaddress human nature at various stages of human intellectual, cultural and socialdevelopment to lead man from wherever he is to a higher state of consciousness.“Thus the unbeliever was dumbfounded.” (Verse 258)The challenge was real, clear, and unambiguous, and the stubborn king wouldhave been better advised to give in, but his pride had the better of him and preventedhim from submitting to the truth. He could do no more than be astounded andstupefied, thereby forfeiting the opportunity to believe and win God’s guidance. “Theunbeliever was dumbfounded. God does not guide the wrongdoers.” (Verse 258) Thisencounter, which God cited for His Messenger and his community of followers,remains today an example for obstinacy and ignorance, and a lesson from which theylearn how to confront those who deny the truth.The passage presents two simple but profound truths: one taken from withinman’s being, that God “gives life and causes death”, and the other from the naturalworld around, that “God causes the sun to rise in the east”, and not in the west. Theseare familiar occurrences, available for all to see and contemplate, requiring little357