Surah Ibrahim (Abraham ) 14 : 10

Explanatory Note

Since what the messengers call for is belief in God’s oneness, and His being the only Lord of mankind and the whole universe, casting doubts on this clear truth sounds extremely odd and peculiar. This truth is self-evident, easily recognised by human nature, and repeatedly confirmed by numerous signs that can be seen everywhere in the universe. Hence, the messengers are horrified at such doubting, pointing to the heavens and the earth as witnesses. Everything in the heavens and the earth testifies to the truth of God being the Creator and Originator of all. How can there be any doubt about Him? The messengers say this because the heavens and the earth are two very clear signs of God’s existence. A mere reference to them is sufficient to quickly help any straying person come back to his senses. The messengers do not add anything to this quick reference, as they know it to be sufficient. Instead, they go on to point out God’s grace to mankind, as He calls on them to believe, and gives them respite while they reflect and begin to take action to avert His punishment. The call is originally to believe in God, and that leads to the forgiveness of sins. However, the sūrah then makes the call a direct one for forgiveness so that God’s grace and blessings are brought out in sharp relief. In such a context, it is especially odd that people adopt such a negative attitude.

With this call to forgiveness, God does not demand an immediate positive response, nor does He inflict His punishment immediately when they make their first rejection. He grants them another favour by giving them a period of grace, either for a time He sets in this life or to the Day of Reckoning. During this respite they may reflect on various signs and indicators, and on the messengers’ warnings. Such respite is an act of grace, considering their negative response to His call.
 
Yet those ignorant people revert to their baseless objection. Human beings should have been proud at God’s selection of one of their number to bring them His message. Instead they object to this choice and make of it grounds for suspecting the validity of the message. They claim that what the messengers call on them to believe in is a mere wish to turn them away from what their forefathers worshipped. They do not bother to ask themselves why the messengers should wish to turn them away from that. All ignorant societies are rigid. Hence people of such societies do not reflect on the true nature of what their forefathers worshipped, and why they objected to such false deities. Nor do they think about the nature of the new call. Instead, they ask for a miracle to force them to believe.