Overview (Verses 5 - 16)

The reproof then takes a stronger tone. It wonders at the action in question: “But to the one who considered himself self-sufficient you were all attention. Yet the fault would not be yours if he remained uncleansed. As to him who comes to you with zeal and with a feeling of fear in his heart, him you ignore.” (Verses 5-10) The one who pretends that he can do without you and your religion, light, goodness and purity is the one who receives your attention! You go to him yourself when he turns away, and you are at pains to try to persuade him to accept the faith. “Yet the fault would not be yours if he remained uncleansed.” (Verse 7) What is it to you if he chooses to remain in filth? You are not answerable for his sins. He will not secure your victory. “As to him who comes to you with zeal,” out of his own free will, “and with a feeling of fear in his heart,” groping his way with outstretched hands, fearful of pitfalls, “him you ignore.” What a strong description of not paying due attention to the man who came to seek right guidance.

The tone becomes even stronger and the reproof then takes the form of outright censure: kalla or “no indeed”, this must never be the case.

Then follows a statement affirming that Islam is an honourable and noble call. It has no need for anybody’s support. It cares only for the one who accepts it on its merits, regardless of his position in human society! “This is an admonition. Let him who will, bear it in mind. It is written on honoured pages, exalted, purified, by the hands of noble and devout scribes.” (Verses 11-16) It is a noble and honoured message in every respect. Its pages are purified and exalted, entrusted to ‘noble and devout’ angel ambassadors who convey it to those human beings selected to convey it to their people. It is also dignified. No one who pretends that he is self-sufficient need be approached about accepting this message of Islam. It is only for those who know its value and seek to be purified by it.

So this is the divine standard by which all values and considerations should be evaluated, and all people should be judged. This is also God’s word, which is the final judgement in all situations.

But where and when was this laid down? The answer is in Makkah when the Muslims were few in number, and Islam was the weaker side in an unequal battle. The attempt to win a group of powerful and influential men was not motivated by any personal interest. Ignoring the poor blind man was not occasioned by any personal consideration. All was for the sake of the new message. But the message itself calls for the adoption and application of this very standard and these very values. For Islam can never acquire any real power or achieve any true victory except through the establishment of these values and standards.

As stated earlier, the essential principle involved is far greater and wider in scope than this single incident. It is that humanity should derive its values and standards from God, not from any worldly source. “The noblest of you in God’s sight is he who fears Him most.” (49: 13) Indeed, the one whom God considers noble is the one who deserves to be attended to and looked after, even if he is completely lacking in family relations, power and wealth, assets highly valued by worldly standards. These and all other worldly values are worthless when they part ways with faith and fear of God. This is the great issue which divine instruction in this surah seeks to settle.

A Reproach and a Principle

The Prophet was deeply touched by these divine instructions and by God’s reproof. Throughout his life, he worked tirelessly for the establishment of this great principle in Islamic society.

The first action he took was to announce these instructions and the reproof in public. This in itself is something very great. Taken from any point of view, no person other than a messenger from God would have announced in public that he had been censured so strongly for his slip. It would have been enough for any other great man to recognize his mistake and to avoid any repetition in the future. With God’s Messenger however, things acquire different proportions. No person other than God’s Messenger could have had the courage, in such circumstances as Islam was facing, to make this declaration, challenging with it the masters of the Quraysh, who were very proud of their lineage, power and wealth.

These were, at the time, the only considerations of any importance in Makkan society, where people wondered: “Why was this Qur’an not revealed to some great man from the two towns?” (43: 31) They were, of course, aware of Muhammad’s lineage, and that he was a descendant of the noblest family in Arabia. His ancestors were masters of Makkah. They nonetheless asked the question because Muhammad himself did not occupy a position of power in Makkah before his prophethood.

In such a society, at that particular time, such a great principle could never have been the product of any earthly factor, or factors. It could only have had one source: God. No power could have ensured it other than divine will. Islamic society received it directly from the Prophet. Thereafter it became well established acquiring depth and momentum, which helped it to continue its operation in the Islamic community over the centuries.

The establishment of this principle was, indeed, a rebirth of humanity. It was greater in importance than the birth of the first man. Man was able to free himself from all worldly bonds and standards, and substitute for them a set of heavenly values independent of all earthly considerations. These new values were soon understood and accepted by everybody. Soon the grave matter which had required a special directive to be issued to Muhammad, God’s Messenger, and an order to him to deliver it in detail, became the operative principle of the Islamic conscience and the basic code of Islamic society. It remained so for a very long time.

Perhaps we cannot fully appreciate the true nature of this rebirth of humanity, because we cannot conceive the practical significance of our release from the pressures of social environment, values, standards, traditions and practices. In order to appreciate the magnitude of these pressures we have only to remember that advocates of a materialistic view of history consider that the economic condition of a certain society determines its beliefs, arts, literature, laws and customs, as well as its view of life and its destiny. What a narrow and mistaken view of man’s true nature! It was with this basic principle that Islam accomplished the miracle of the rebirth of man.