Surah Al-Isra (The Night Journey ) 17 : 73

Overview (Verses 73 - 77)
 
This final passage of the sūrah centres around its main theme, the personality of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the attitude of his community to him after he was given his message. It also speaks about the Qur’ān and its distinctive characteristics. It begins with a reference to the attempts by the unbelievers to turn the Prophet away from some of the revelations God sent down to him. It mentions their effort to banish him from Makkah and the protection he was given by God so that he would not yield to their temptation or respond to their provocation. God guaranteed his protection because He had already decided that the people of Makkah would not be annihilated like earlier communities who rejected His messengers. He chose instead to give them respite and allowed them to have their term in this world. Had they ousted the Prophet from their community and banished him from their city, severe punishment would have been inflicted on them, in accordance with God’s law that inflicts immediate punishment on any community that ousts the messenger sent to them.
 
The Prophet is commanded to stick to his way, offering his prayers to God alone, reciting the Qur’ān revealed to him and supplicating that God may help him to be true and sincere in all situations and events, and give him clear support. He is also commanded to declare that the truth has come to be established and that falsehood is certain to be vanquished. It is this support granted by God that serves as his best equipment. It protects him against all designs and ensures his ultimate victory.
 
This is followed by a clear statement on the effect of the Qur’ān: it is a cure and an aspect of grace for those who believe in it, and a means of punishment and suffering for those who deny it. They suffer on its account in this life and they suffer punishment in the life to come because of denying its truth.
 
Within the context of grace and punishment, the sūrah describes man’s reaction to both. When he is enjoying God’s blessings and grace, man is arrogant, turning away from God’s guidance. When he is afflicted with suffering, he is in utter despair. This is followed with an implicit threat, requiring every human being to work in accordance with their own nature until they receive their fair reward in the life to come.
 
The sūrah also makes it clear that human knowledge is scanty. This comes in connection with the question the unbelievers put about the spirit, all knowledge of which God has chosen to keep to Himself. It is not for any human being to get to know it. Sure knowledge is that which God has given to His Messenger as part of His grace. If God so wills, He is able to withdraw that grace and no one will ever be able to bring it back to mankind. However, He bestows His grace on His Messenger as He is Merciful, Compassionate.
 
The sūrah mentions that the Qur’ān, which is a miraculous book, the like of which cannot be produced by human beings or jinn, even though they may mobilize all their resources in a single effort, was not sufficient for the unbelievers in Makkah as evidence of God’s message. Although God included in it a whole variety of evidence to the truth of its message and made this suitable for human reason and hearts, with all their different leanings, still the unbelievers saw it as inadequate. They naïvely demanded material evidence of a miraculous nature, such as springs gushing from the earth, or a richly decorated home for the Prophet. Their arrogance went even further, demanding things that are beyond the ability of human beings, such as that God’s Messenger should rise up into the sky in front of their eyes and bring them a book to read, or that he should cause some matter to fall from the sky and destroy them. They even demanded that God should come to them in person, accompanied by a delegation of angels!
 
At this point the sūrah portrays a scene showing the fate that awaits them in the life to come. This is certain to be their lot as a result of their arrogance and denial of the truth of the Day of Judgement when people will be resurrected after they have become bones and dust.
 
The sūrah ridicules their arrogant demands. Had they been the guardians of God’s grace, they would have succumbed to the miserly characteristics of human beings. They would have been in fear lest God’s grace should be exhausted, when God’s treasures of mercy are indeed inexhaustible. Yet they stop at nothing in their demands.
 
In connection with their demands for material miracles, the sūrah reminds them of the miracles which were given to Moses, yet Pharaoh and his people denied those which God gave them. As a result, God destroyed them according to His law of destroying those who persist in their denial of the truth after clear evidence has been given to them.
 
The Qur’ān remains as the true miracle that shines for all time. It was revealed in parts and portions, in accordance with the needs of the community it was educating and equipping for its great task. Those who believe in the truth among earlier communities recognize the truth contained in the Qur’ān and submit to it. They believe in it and submit to its authority.
 
The sūrah concludes with a directive to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to worship none but God, and to glorify and praise Him alone. Thus the sūrah ends as it began, calling on believers to glorify God, the only deity in the universe.
 
Vain Endeavours
 
They endeavour to tempt you away from that which We have revealed to you, hoping that you would invent something else in Our name, in which case they would have made you their trusted friend. Indeed, had We not given you strength, you might have inclined to them a little. And in that case We would have made you taste a double punishment in life and a double punishment after death, and you would have none to support you against Us. And they endeavour to scare you off the land with a view to driving you away. But, then, after you have gone, they will not remain there except for a short while. Such was the way with all Our messengers whom We sent before you. No change you shall find in Our ways. (Verses 73-77)
 
The sūrah refers to the unbelievers’ attempts to dissuade the Prophet from fulfilling the task entrusted to him. Firstly, they tried to make him turn his back on what God revealed to him so as to invent some other matter and attribute it falsely to God. They did this even though he was known for his honesty and truthfulness. They also offered to worship God in return for a compromise that ensured that the Prophet would stop denouncing their deities as false. Some of them tried to persuade him to make their land as sacred as the Ka`bah which God had sanctified. Their nobility also tried to get him to allocate a special meeting place, to which no poor person would be admitted.
 
Reference to these attempts is made in general terms so that it leads to a reminder of the grace God bestowed on His Messenger as He strengthened him in his faith and protected him from the unbelievers’ temptations. Without God’s support, he might have responded to them, and they would have made of him an intimate friend. But then he would have left himself open to God’s severe punishment. Indeed his would be a double punishment in this life and in the life to come, without any to support him against God.
 
Such efforts are always made by people in power in dealing with the advocates of God’s message. They always tempt them into deviation even if just a little, from the clear and solid line of the message, seeking to persuade them to accept compromise in return for seeming substantial gain. Some may fall for such temptation, because they do not realize the seriousness of the matter. After all, they are not being asked to abandon their call altogether, only to make some minor amendments in order to arrive at a compromise. Satan always endeavours to persuade the advocates of God’s message in this way, arguing that it is better for the achievement of their goals to make such compromises so that the rulers are won over to the faith.
 
However, a small deviation at the beginning leads to a total turning away at the end. An advocate of God’s message who agrees to abandon even a small part of it at the outset cannot maintain his ground and refuse to abandon more. Indeed his willingness to retreat further is greater with every backward step he takes, losing more and more ground.
 
The point at issue here is the principle of faith, and belief in the whole message. A person who gives up even a minute part of it cannot be a true believer in the message itself. To a true believer, every aspect of the message, and every small detail is true like the rest. We cannot judge between its parts, dividing them into essential and optional. There is nothing in God’s message that can be left out or suspended. It is a complete and whole entity, which loses all its characteristics when any of its parts are lost, in the same way as a chemical compound loses all its qualities when any of its components is missing.
 
People in power always try to ensnare advocates of the divine message. Should the latter give up a small part, they lose their dignity and high standing. Their adversaries also realize that more bargaining and a higher price will induce them to give up the whole message.
 
Indeed seeking a compromise, by making even small concessions, to win over people in power represents a spiritual defeat for advocates of the divine message. This is so because they now rely on rulers and people in power for support when they should rely on God alone. When defeat creeps into people’s minds, it can never turn into victory.
 
Bearing this in mind, we can appreciate the fact that God directs His Messenger to the fact that He has granted him a great favour by strengthening his resolve to stick to what He has revealed to him and protected him from the unbelievers’ temptations. God also favoured him with protection against inclining to the unbelievers even in a small way. For had he so inclined, God would have inflicted on him a double punishment both in this life and in the life to come, and would have left him without help and support.
 
When the unbelievers of the Quraysh found it impossible to persuade the Prophet to compromise, they tried to turn him out of their land, i.e. Makkah. But God directed him to leave of his own accord and migrate to Madinah. God always knew that He would not exterminate the Quraysh. Yet had they driven the Prophet out of their city by force, that would have been their fate: “And they endeavour to scare you off the land with a view to driving you away. But, then, after you have gone, they will not remain there except for a short while.” (Verse 76) This is the way God has set to operate in this life: “Such was the way with all Our messengers whom We sent before you. No change shall you find in Our ways.” (Verse 77)
 
God has made this way a law which does not fail. Driving a messenger of God out of his land is a great offence which incurs severe punishment. God operates certain laws in this universe, which are not altered for individual cases. This universe is not subject to coincidences that influence its existence; it is subject to constant laws. Since God, in His infinite wisdom, chose not to exterminate the Quraysh, as He did with earlier communities, He did not give His Messenger, the Prophet Muĥammad, miraculous proofs, and did not allow that he be driven away. Instead, He inspired him to leave voluntarily. God’s laws remained in operation, without alteration or modification.