Sayyid Qutb

Arab News

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent

But they say like the people of old times used to say. They say: “What! After we have died and become dust and bones, shall we to be raised to life? This we have been promised before, we and our forefathers! This is nothing but fables of the ancients.”

Say: “To whom belongs the earth and all that lives therein? (Tell me) if you know.”

They will reply: “To God.” Say: “Will you not, then, reflect?”

Say: “Who is the Lord of the seven heavens, and the Lord of the Supreme Throne?”

They will reply: “(They all belong) to God.” Say: “Will you not, then, fear Him?”

Say: “In whose hand rests the sovereignty of all things, protecting all, while against Him there is no protection? (Tell me) if you know.”

They will reply: “(They all belong) to God.” Say: “How, then, can you be so deluded?” (The Believers, Al-Mu’minoon, 23: 81-89)

This passage begins with a discussion of the unbelievers’ claims concerning the resurrection and reckoning in the life to come. This discussion follows a long list of signs and pointers confirming God’s oneness and His being the only Creator who causes life and death. “But they say like the people of old times used to say. They say: ‘What! After we have died and become dust and bones, shall we to be raised to life? This we have been promised before, we and our forefathers! This is nothing but fables of the ancients.’”

Their claims sound most singular after the surah has enumerated many of the signs that testify to God’s elaborate planning and His definite purpose of creation. It is He who has granted man his hearing, eyesight and mind, so that man would be responsible for his deeds. He would thus earn a generous reward for his good actions or incur punishment for his bad ones. True reckoning and reward occur in full in the life to come. What we see in this life is that reward, whether good or bad, may not take place on earth. They are left until they become due in the life to come.

God grants life and causes death. Hence, the resurrection is by no means difficult. Life is breathed into beings at every moment, and it is only God who knows where it originates.

The point with these unbelievers is not that they fall short of appreciating God’s wisdom and His ability to resurrect life. They also ridicule the promises of resurrection and reward, saying that the same promise was given to their forefathers, but nothing of the sort has occurred yet. “This we have been promised before, we and our forefathers! This is nothing but fables of the ancients.” Resurrection will certainly occur at the time and place God has set for it in His elaborate plan. It will neither be brought forward nor put back at the request of any human generation, or in response to the ridicule of any group of people who are unable to see the truth with their own eyes.

The Arab idolaters of old were muddled up in their faith. They did not deny God, nor did they deny that He was the Creator of the heavens and earth and was always in full control of everything in the universe. But they, nevertheless, assigned to Him partners and claimed that they worshiped those partners so that they could bring them closer to God. They also claimed that He had daughters. Exalted is God above all that they claimed. Hence the surah puts to them the facts that they acknowledge in order to set the record straight and bring them back to the true faith based on God’s absolute oneness. This is the logical conclusion of the premises they acknowledge. They would have arrived at this conclusion had they not deviated from their uncorrupted nature.

Say: “To whom belongs the earth and all that lives therein? (Tell me) if you know.” They will reply: “To God.” Say: “Will you not, then, reflect?” Say: “Who is the Lord of the seven heavens, and the Lord of the Supreme Throne?” They will reply: “(They all belong) to God.” Say: “Will you not, then, fear Him?” Say: “In whose hand rests the sovereignty of all things, protecting all, while against Him there is no protection? (Tell me) if you know.” They will reply: “(They all belong) to God.” Say: “How, then, can you be so deluded?”

This argument shows the extent of confusion that is based on no sound argument or reasoning.

It tells us to what extent the beliefs of those idolaters had degenerated by the time when Islam was revealed. The first question asks about the ownership of this earthly world: “Say: To whom belongs the earth and all that lives therein? (Tell me) if you know.” They acknowledge that they all belong to God, but they overlook this true fact when they address their worship to deities other than Him. Hence the question Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is told to put to them: “Say: Will you not, then, reflect?”

“Say: Who is the Lord of the seven heavens, and the Lord of the Supreme Throne?” This question is about absolute Lordship that controls the whole universe and God’s Supreme Throne. The term “seven heavens” may refer to seven celestial bodies, or solar systems, or seven clusters of stars, or seven galaxies, or any seven astronomical entities. When God’s Throne is mentioned, it implies a reference to His might and control of the universe and all existence. Hence when they are asked about the Lordship over all these, they give the right answer, saying that they all belong to God. Yet they do not show any fear of the Lord of the Supreme Throne who controls all seven heavens and what lies beyond them. They associate with Him idols that cannot lift themselves when they are thrown on the ground. Hence, the question: “Say: Will you not, then, fear Him?”

“Say: In whose hand rests the sovereignty of all things, protecting all, while against Him there is no protection? (Tell me) if you know.”

This question is about power and dominion, asking them about the One who has power over all things, and who gives protection to any of His creatures so that no one can harm it in any way. At the same time, no one can give protection to anyone or anything against God. If God wants to inflict any harm or punishment on any of His creatures, nothing can spare that creature such punishment. Again they acknowledge that such power belongs to God alone. Hence the question asking them the cause of their delusion that leaves them like bewitched people: “Say: How, then, can you be so deluded?”

Arab News Islam 30 May 2003