Surah al-An`am (The Cattle) 6 : 20

Overview (Verse 20)

Wilful Denial of Known Facts
 
“Those to whom We had given revelations know this as they know their own sons. But those who have squandered their own souls will never have faith.” (Verse 20) The Qur’ān mentions on several occasions that the people who received earlier revelations, i.e. the Jews and the Christians, recognize the Qur’ān and the truthfulness of the Prophet Muĥammad’s message as well as the fact that the Qur’ān was revealed to him by God. At times, the people of these earlier revelations are confronted by this fact because of their hostile attitude towards the Prophet and Islam. At other times, the Arab idolaters are told this so that they realize that the people of earlier revelations, are fully aware of the nature of revelation, recognize the Qur’ān and that the Prophet Muĥammad (peace be upon him) tells only the truth when he states that God revealed it to him in the same way as He bestowed messages from on high to earlier prophets.
 
Since this verse was most probably revealed in Makkah, its reference to the people of earlier revelations suggests that it was addressed to the idolaters, emphasizing that the people of earlier revelations recognize the Qur’ān as they recognize their own sons. It is true that the majority of them do not believe in it but this is only because they have squandered their own souls. In this, they are the same as the pagan Arabs who rejected this faith and, thereby, also squandered their souls. Both the preceding and following verses also speak of the idolaters, a fact which lends weight to the view that it is a Makkan revelation.
 
Commentators on the Qur’ān generally suggest that this verse means that the people of earlier revelations know that the Qur’ān is truly revealed by God, and that the Prophet was truly a messenger of God to whom the Qur’ān was bestowed from on high. This is undoubtedly part of the meaning of this verse. However, a glance at the history and attitude of the people of earlier revelations towards the Islamic faith indicates another aspect to the meaning of this verse which God wants the Muslim community to fully understand.

This religion of Islam moves to destroy falsehood and jāhiliyyah and repel those who usurp God’s authority. Its aim is to make mankind submit to God alone. They, however, try to reduce it to a mere academic exercise, lifeless research and futile discourse in divinity and theology. They try to find ways and means to mould Islamic concepts in forms and colours that are alien to the nature of Islam, raising in front of its people the delusion that their faith is respected. They also work tirelessly to fill the vacuum that remains when faith is drastically weakened with other concepts and concerns. All this, so as to remove the sentimental traces of faith from the hearts of Muslims.
 
The people of earlier revelations study this religion of Islam in depth, but they do not undertake such a study in search of the truth, or to be fair to its followers, as some naive Muslims think when they come across a good word about Islam by an Orientalist. They are out to discover a vulnerable point in this religion through which they hope to put an end to it. They want to block its ability to enter into people’s hearts and minds. They want to know how best to resist it and how to utilize its methods in order to substitute for it some hollow concepts. It is to achieve these goals that they study it in full, to the extent that they recognize it as they do their own children. It is our duty to know this and to realise that we should be the ones who know our own faith as we know our own children.
 
The history of fourteen centuries of Islam gives credence to the fact stated in this verse of the Qur’ān: “Those to whom We had given revelations know this as they know their own sons.” (Verse 20) This fact, however, appears most true in this period of history, when we see that an average of one book a week is written about Islam in a foreign language. All this research testifies to the thorough knowledge of the people of earlier revelations of our religion, its nature, history, strengths and the methods to resist and distort it. Needless to say, most of these authors do not state their intentions openly because they realise that an open attack on Islam has always provoked resistance. They are aware that the movements that rose up to repel armed aggression against Islam, represented in imperialism, had a religious basis. Even an intellectual attack on Islam is bound to make people rally to its defence. Hence, most of them resort to more wicked methods, praising this religion in order to win the confidence of their readers before presenting their poisonous ideas. This religion, they tell us, is great; but it has to develop its concepts and systems in order to match those of modern civilization. It must not object to recent developments in social practices, methods of government and moral standards. It should demonstrate itself in the form of personal faith leaving the theories, practices and experiences of modern civilization to regulate our practical lives. In this way, it would give its blessings to whatever false lords decree. As such, it would remain great.
 
Such authors try further to give an impression of fairness and objectivity by extolling the strengths of Islam. They, however, are simply drawing the attention of their own people to Islam’s strengths so that they know where to direct their attacks in future and how to suppress Islam altogether.
 
The secrets of the Qur’ān will continue to reveal themselves to its followers, as long as they try to understand it and contemplate its leanings. They, however, should go into the battle of faith armed with the lessons of history, aware of the full significance of the present and equipped with the light God has provided in order to show us the truth and enlighten our way.