In the Shade of the Qur'an

Sura # 83
                                The Stinters
                               al Mutaffifoon

               In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Woe to the stinters who, when others measure for them, exact in full,
but who, when they measure or weigh for others, defraud them Do such
men not think that they will be raised to life on a great day, the day
when all mankind shall stand before the Lord of all creation? No
indeed; the record of the transgressors is in Sijjeen Would that you
knew what Sijjeen is! It is a sealed book. Woe on that day to the
disbelievers who deny the Day of Judgement. None denies it but the
guilty aggressors, the evil-doers, who, when Our revelations are
recited to them, cry "Fables of the ancients!" No indeed; their own
deeds have cast a layer of rust over their hearts. No indeed; on that
day they shall be shut out from their Lord they shall roast in Hell,
and a voice will say to them "This is (the reality) which you denied!"
But the record of the righteous is in Illiyun. Would that you knew what
Illiyun is! It is a sealed book, witnessed only by those who are closest
to Allah. The righteous shall surely dwell in bliss. Reclining upon soft
couches they will look around them In their faces you shall mark the
glow of joy. They shall be given to drink of a pure-drink, securely
seded, with a seal of musk, for this let the strivers emulously strive.
It is a drink mixed with the waters of Tassneem a fountain at which the
favoured will drink. The evil-doers scoff at the faithful and wink at
one another as they pass by them. When they go back to their folk they
speak of them with jests, and when they see them they say: "These are
erring men!" Yet they have not been assigned the mission of being their
guardians. So on that day the faithful will mock the disbelievers, as
they recline upon their couches and look around them. Shall not the
disbelievers be rewarded according to their deeds.

                         In the Shade of the Quran

The surah describes the conditions the Islamic call was facing in Makka.
Its other objective is to awaken the hearts of men and draw their
attention to the new event which would cause the life of the Arabs, and
mankind in general, to take a new turn The event in question is the
arrival of Heaven's message to earth. The general state of affairs in
Arabian society is portrayed at the outset, as the surah threatens the
stinters with a woe which will befall them on the great day, "the day
when all mankind shall stand before the Lord of all creation". The
reason for such a threat is revealed at the end, when the surah gives
a sketch of the manners of the evildoers, their attitude towards the
believers, their scoffing at them, winking to one another as they pass
by and their assertion that the believers "are erring men".

The surah may be divided into four parts The first opens with a
declaration of war against the stinters:

    Woe to the stinters who, when others measure for them, exact infull,
    but who, when they measure or weigh for others, defraud them. Do
    such men not think that they will be raised to life on a great day,
    the day when all mankind shall stand before the Lord of all
    creation?

The second part warns the transgressors and denounces them in strong
terms. It threatens them with woe and ruin and establishes their guilt
and aggression It explains the reasons for their blindness and describes
the punishment on the Day of Judgement

    No indeed; the record of the transgressors is in Sijjeen. Would that
    you knew what Sijjeen is! It is a sealed book. Woe on that day to the
    disbelievers who deny the Day of Judgement. None denies it out the
    guilty aggressors, the evil-doers, who, when Our revelations are
    recited to them, cry: 'Fables of the ancients! ' No indeed; their
    own deeds have cast a layer of rust over their hearts. No indeed;
    on that day they shall be shut out from their hearts. No indeed; on
    that day they shall be shut out from their Lord. They shall roast in
    Hell, and a voice will say to them: 'this is (the reality) which
    you denied.'

The third part gives an account of the righteous It describes their
high rank, the bliss they will enjoy, the delight showing in their faces,
and the pure drink they will have while they recline on their soft
couches, and look all around them. It is a delightful image of happiness

    But the record of the righteous is in Illiyun. Would that you knew
    what Illiyun is! It is a sealed book, witnessed only by those who
    are closest to Allah. The righteous shall surely dwell in bliss.
    Reclining upon soft couches they will look around them. In their
    faces you shall mark the glow of joy. They shall be given to drink
    of a pure drink, securely sealed, with a seal of musk - for this let
    the strivers emulously strive. It is a drink mixed with the waters
    of Tassneem, a fountain al which the favoured will drink.

The last part of the surah describes what the transgressors mete out to
the righteous in this world of conceit and hollow vanity: harsh treatment,
ridicule and bad manners. Juxtaposed are descriptions of the ultimate
situation of each group, the transgressors and the righteous, in the
world of truth and immortality:

    The evil-doers scoff at the faithful, and wink at one another as they
    pass by them. When they go back to their folk they speak of them with
    jests, and when they see them they say: ' These are erring men! ' Yet
    they have not been assigned the mission of being their guardians. So
    on that day the faithful will mock the disbelievers, as they recline
    upon their couches and look around them. Shall not the disbelievers
    be rewarded according to their deeds?'

The surah depicts a social environment, and is also an account of the
Islamic way of dealing with the world as it exists and with the human
mind. This is what we shall attempt to explain as we consider the surah
in detail.

    Woe to the stinters who, when others measure for them, exact in full,
    but who, when they measure or weigh for others, defraud them. Do such
    men not think that they will be raised to life on a great day, the
    day when all mankind shall stand before the Lord of all creation?

The surah opens with Allah's declaration of war against the stinters "Woe
to the stinters". The Arabic term used for "woe" implies destruction and
ruin. The implication is the same whether we consider this verse as a
statement of a future eventuality or a curse, for a curse made by Allah
has the same effect as that of a statement of what is going to happen.
The next two verses explain the meaning of the "stinters" or defrauders
as intended in the surah. They are those "who when others measure for
them, exact in full, but who, when they measure or weigh for others,
defraud them." They are those who want their merchandise complete and
intact when they buy, but they do not give the right amount when they
sell. The following three verses wonder at the defrauders, who behave
as if they will not have to account for what they gain in this life.

    Do such men not think that they will be raised to life on a great
    day, the day when all mankind shall stand before the Lord of all
    creation?

The fact that the behaviour of the defrauders is tackled in this manner
in a Makkan revelation is very interesting. Makkan surahs generally
concentrate on the fundamentals, such as the assertion of the unity of
Allah, the supremacy of His will and His dominion over the universe and
over mankind, and the assertion of the truth of revelation and
prophethood, the truth of the Day of Judgement, the reckoning and the
reward. The Makkan revelations also endeavour to form and develop the
moral sense and relate it to the fundamentals of faith. The tackling
of a specific issue of morality, such as the stinting of weights and
measures, or business dealings in general, is a later concern; it is
characteristic of Medinan revelations, which regulate the life of the
community in an Islamic state. The fact that this Makkan surah makes
the issue of stinting its focal point therefore deserves to be considered
carefully.

The first point to note is that in Makka the nobility were very rich,
were unscrupulous and exercised complete monopoly of trade in their
business concerns. They organised the export and import trade using
caravans which traveled to Yemen in winter and to Syria in summer.
They had their seasonal trade fairs such as the Okaz Fair which was
held in the pilgrimage season. The fairs were for business dealings
as well as literary activities.

The text suggests that the defrauders against whom war was declared
belonged to the nobility and wielded much power and influence which
enabled them to force others to succumb to their wishes. The Arabic
expression connotes that for some unspecified reason they were able
to impose their will and exact in full. The meaning implied is not
that they exacted their full due; for this would not justify the
declaration of war against them. What is meant is that they obtained
by sheer force what they had no right to demand. But when it was their
turn to weigh or measure for others, they exercised their power by
giving them less than their due.

Indeed this warning, coming so early in the Makkan period, gives an
idea of the nature of the religion of Islam. It points out that Islam
embraces all sides of life and aims to establish a firm moral code
which accords with the basic principles of the Divine teachings. At
the time when this surah was revealed the Muslim community was still
weak. The followers of Islam had not yet won power in order to organise
society and the life of the community according to Islamic principles.
Yet Islam demonstrated its opposition to those acts of flagrant injustice
and unethical dealings. It declared war against the stinters and
threatened them with woe and destruction at the time when they were the
powerful rulers of Makka. It declared its uncompromising stand against
the injustice suffered by the masses whom it has never sought to lull
into a state of lethargy and apathy. This gives us an insight into the
real motives behind the stubborn opposition to Islam by the masters of
Makka. They were undoubtedly keenly aware that what Muhammad (peace be
on him) was calling for was not merely a matter of personal conviction
which demanded no more than a verbal assertion of the unity of Allah
and the prophethood of Muhammad, and a form of prayers addressed to
Allah and not to idols. They realised that the new faith would establish
a way of life which would cause the very basis of their positions and
interests to crumble. They were fully aware that the new religion, by
its very nature, did not admit any partnership or compromise with any
worldly concepts, alien to its Divine basis, and that it posed a mighty
threat to all the base earthly values of Ignorance. This is why they
launched their offensive, which continued in full force both before and
after the Muslim emigration. It was an offensive launched to defend their
way of life in its entirety, not only a set of concepts which have no
effect beyond individual acceptance and personal conviction.

Those who attempt in any age or land to prevent it from organising and
ruling human life also realise these essential facts. They know very well
that the pure and straightforward Islamic way of life endangers their
unjust order, interests, hollow structure and deviant practices. Indeed
the tyrannical stinters (whatever form their stinting takes and wherever
it is, in money and finance, or in the area of rights and duties) are
those who fear most the ascendancy of Islam and the implementation of
its just methods.

The representatives of the two Medinan tribes, Aws and Khazraj, who
pledged their support and loyalty to the Prophet were also aware of
all this. Ibn Ishaaq, the Prophet's biographer, wrote:

    Assim ibn Umar ibn Qataadah told me that when the Medinan Muslims
    came to give their pledge to the Prophet, Al-Abbas ibn Ubaadah Al
    Ansari, who belonged to the clan of Salim ibn Awf, addressed them
    and said: "You Khazraj! Do you know what your pledge to this man
    really means?" They answered 'Yes, we do'. His rejoinder was, 'You
    are pledging to fight the rest of mankind, white and black alike!
    So it would be better to leave him alone now if you think you would
    give him up to his enemies in the event of your sustaining material
    losses or losing your leaders. If you do such a thing you will bring
    upon yourselves great humiliation both in this life and in the life
    hereafter. But if you feel that you will honour your pledges despite
    any sacrifice in money or men, then go ahead, because this will be
    best for you here and in the hereafter!' They said, 'We offer our
    loyalty and support and declare our readiness to sustain any
    sacrifice, material or personal!' Turning to the Prophet, they
    asked him, 'What will be our reward if we honour our pledges?' He
    said, 'Heaven'. They said, 'Give us your hand'. He did and they gave
    him their pledges of support.

These supporters, like the Makkan tyrants, were keenly aware of the
nature of Islam. They realised that it stands for absolute justice and
fairness in the social order it seeks to create. It accepts no tyranny,
oppression, conceit, injustice or exploitation. Hence it faces the
combined forces of all forms of despotism, arrogance and exploitation.

    Do such men not think that they will be raised to life on a great
    day, the day when all mankind shall stand before the Lord of all
    creation?

Their attitude is singularly strange. The mere idea of being raised to
life again on that great day, when all mankind shall stand as ordinary
individuals in front of the Lord of the Universe, awaiting His just
judgement, without support from any quarter, should be enough to make
them change course. But they persist, as if the thought of being raised
to life after death has never crossed their minds.

They are called "stinters" in the first part of the surah; in the second
they are described as "transgressors". The surah proceeds to describe the
standing of this group with Allah, their situation in this life, and what
awaits them on the great day.

    No indeed; the record of the transgressors is in Sijjeen. Would that
    you knew what Sijjeen is! It is a sealed book. Woe on that day to the
    disbelievers who deny the Day of Judgement. None denies it but the
    guilty aggressors, the evil-doers, who, when Our revelations are
    recited to them, cry: 'Fables of the ancients!' No indeed! their own
    deeds have cast a layer of rust over their hearts. No indeed; on that
    day they shall be shut out from their Lord. They shall roast in Hell,
    and a voice will say to them: 'This is (the reality) which you
    denied!'

They think they will not be raised to life after death, so the Qur'an
rebukes them and affirms that a record of their actions is kept. The
location of that record is specified as an additional confirmation of
the fact, albeit a location unknown to man. They are threatened with
woe and ruin on that day when their sealed book shall be reviewed:

    No indeed; the record of the transgressors is in Sijjeen. Would that
    you knew what Sijjeen is! It is a sealed book. Woe on that day to the
    disbelievers.

The transgressors, as the Arabic term here connotes, are those who indulge
excessively in sin. Their book is the record of their deeds. We do not
know the nature of this book and we are not required to know. The whole
matter belongs, in point of fact, to the realm of which we know nothing
except what we are told by Allah, the Lord of that realm. This statement,
that there is a record in Sijjeen of the transgressors' deeds, is followed
by the familiar Qur'anic form of expression associated with connotation
of greatness, "Would that you knew what Sijjeen is!" Thus, the addressee
is made to feel that the whole matter is too great for his complete
understanding.

The surah then gives further description of the transgressors' record:
"It is a sealed book". There is no possibility of addition or omission
until it is thrown open on that great day. When this takes place, "woe
on that day to the disbelievers. " Then we are given information about
the subject of disbelief, and the true character of the disbelievers

    who deny the Day of Judgement. None denies it but the guilty
    aggressors, the evil-doers, who, when Our revelations are recited
    to them, cry: 'Fables of the ancients!'

So, aggression and bad deeds lead the perpetrator to deny the Day of
Judgement and to take a rude and ill-mannered attitude towards the
Qur'an, describing it as "Fables of the ancients!" This description
by the disbelievers is, of course, based on the fact that the Qur'an
contains some historical accounts of former nations. These accounts
are related as a lesson for later generations as they demonstrate with
much clarity the working of the Divine rules to which all nations and
generations are subject. They are strongly rebuked and reprobated for
their rudeness and disbelief. These connotations, carried by the Arabic
term "Kalla" (translated here as "No indeed"), are coupled with an
assertion that their allegations are unfounded. We are then given
an insight into the motives of their insolence and disbelief and the
reasons for their inability to see the obvious truth or respond to it
"their own deeds have cast a layer of rust over their hearts". Indeed
the hearts of those who indulge in sin become dull, as if they are
veiled with a thick curtain which keeps them in total darkness, unable
to see the light. Thus they gradually lose their sensitivity and become
lifeless. It has been transmitted by Ibn Jareer, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nassai
and Ibn Majah that the Prophet said:

    When a man commits a sin, it throws a black spot over his heart. If
    he repents, his heart is polished; but if he persists in his practice,
    the stains increase.

at-Tirmidhi described this tradition of the Prophet as authentic. an
Nassai's version differs in wording but not in import. His version may
be translated as follows:

    When a man commits a sin, a black spot is formed on his heart. If
    he desists, prays for forgiveness and repents, his heart will be
    polished; but if he persists, the spot grows bigger until it has
    covered his whole heart.

This is what Allah refers to when he says: "No indeed, their own deeds
have cast a layer of rust over their hearts." Explaining this verse,
Imam Al-Hassan Al-Basri said: "It is a case of one sin on top of another
until the heart is blinded and dies."

Thus we have learnt the situation of the transgressing disbelievers, as
well as their motives for transgression and disbelief. Then we are told
what will happen to them on that great day, a destiny which befits their
evil deeds and denial of the truth:

    No indeed! on that day they shall be shut out from their Lord. They
    shall roast in Hell, and a voice will say to them: 'This is (the
    reality) which you denied!

Because their sins have cast a thick veil over their hearts, they are
unable in this life to feel the presence of Allah, and it is only
appropriate that they will not be allowed to see His glorious face.
They will be deprived of this great happiness, which is bestowed only
on those whose hearts and souls are so clean and transparent that they
deserve to be with their Lord, without any form of separation or
isolation.

Such people are described in surah 75 'The Resurrection':

    On that day there shall be joyous faces, looking towards their
    Lord. (75:23)

This separation from their Lord is the greatest and most agonising
punishment and deprivation. It is a miserable end of a man whose very
humanity is derived from only one source, namely his contact with
Allah, his benevolent Lord. When man is torn away from this source
of nobleness he loses all his qualities as a human being and sinks
to a level which makes him deserve to be thrown in Hell. "They shall
roast in Hell." On top of that, there is something much worse and
much more agonising, namely, rebuke. "And a voice will say to them,"
This is (the reality) which you denied!"

Then follows an account of the other group, the righteous. This is given
in the customary Qur'anic manner of providing two elaborately contrasting
images, so that a detailed comparison may be drawn:

    But the record of the righteous is in Illiyun. Would that you knew
    what Illiyun is! It is a sealed book, witnessed only by those who
    are closest to Allah. The righteous shall surely dwell in bliss.
    Reclining upon soft couches they will look around them. In their
    faces you shall mark the glow of joy. They shall be given to drink
    of a pure drink, securely sealed, with a seal of musk, for this let
    the strivers emulously strive. It is a drink mixed with the waters
    of Tassneem, a fountain at which the favoured will drink.

This section of the surah starts with the Arabic term 'kalla' which
connotes strong reproach and a firm command to the transgressors to
desist from their denial of the truth. It then proceeds to speak about
the righteous. Since the record of the transgressors is in Sijjeen,
that of the righteous is in Illiyun. The term "righteous" refers to
the obedient who do good. They are the exact opposite of the
transgressors, who indulge in every excess. The name "Illiyun" connotes
elevation and sublimity, which suggests that "Sijjeen " is associated
with baseness and ignominy. The name is followed by the form of
exclamation often used in the Qur'an to cast shades of mystery and
grandeur: "Would that you knew what Illiyun is!"

The surah then states that the record of the righteous is "a sealed
book, witnessed only by those who are closest to Allah." We have already
stated what is meant by "a sealed book". We are told here that the angels
closest to Allah do see this book and witness it. This statement gives
the feeling that the record of the righteous is associated with nobility,
purity and sublimity. The angels closest to Allah look at it and enjoy
its description of noble deeds and glorious characteristics. The whole
image is provided as an evidence of the honour the righteous receive.

There follows an account of the situation in which the righteous find
themselves. We are told of the bliss they enjoy on that great day: "The
righteous shall surely dwell in bliss". This contrasts with Hell, in
which the transgressors dwell. "Reclining upon soft couches they will
look around them". This means that they are given a place of honour. They
look wherever they wish. They do not have to look down, out of humility;
and they suffer nothing which distracts their attention. In their bliss,
the righteous live in mental and physical comfort. Their faces are radiant
with unmistakable joy;

    In their faces you shall mark the glow of joy. They shall be given
    to drink of a pure drink, securely sealed, with a seal of musk.

Their drink is absolutely pure without any unwanted additions or
particles of dust. Describing it as "securely sealed" with musk
indicates, perhaps, that it is ready made in secured containers
to be opened when a drink is needed. All this adds to the impression
of the meticulous care being taken. The fact that the seal is of musk
adds an element of elegance and luxury. The whole picture, however,
is understood only within the limits of human experience in this
world. In the Hereafter people will have different concepts, tastes
and standards which will be free from all the bonds of this limited
world. The description is carried further in the following two verses:

    It is a drink mixed with the waters of Tassneem, a fountain at which
    the favoured will drink.

So, this pure, securely sealed drink is opened and mixed with a measure
of the water of a fountain called Tassneem and described as the one
from which the favoured drink. Before this last part of the description
is given we have a highly significant instruction: "For this let the
strivers emulously strive".

Those stinters who defraud their fellow men pay no regard to the Day of
Judgement, and, worse still, deny that such a Day of Reckoning will come.
Hardened by their sins and excesses, they strive endlessly for the petty
riches of this world. Each of them tries to outdo the others and gain as
much as possible. Hence, he indulges in all types of injustice and vice
for the sake of ephemeral luxuries which should never be an object of
competition. It is the other type of luxury and honour which deserves
emulous striving: "For this let the strivers emulously strive ".

Those who strive for an object of this world, no matter how superb, grand
or honourable it is, are in reality striving for something hollow, cheap
and temporary. This world, in its totality, is not worth in Allah's view,
one mosquito's wing. It is the hereafter which carries real weight with
Him. So, it should be the goal for strenuous competition and zealous
striving. It is remarkable that striving for the hereafter elevates the
souls of all the strivers, while competition for worldly objects sinks
their souls to low depths. As man works continuously to achieve the
happiness of the hereafter, his work makes this world a happy and pure
one for everybody. On the other hand, efforts made for the achievement
of worldly ends turn this world into a filthy marsh, where animals devour
one another and insects bite the flesh of the righteous. Striving for the
hereafter does not turn the earth into a barren desert, as some
transgressors imagine. Islam considers this world a farm, and the hereafter
its fruits. It defines the role of the true believer as the building of
this world while following the path of piety and righteousness. Islam
stipulates that man must look on his task as an act of worship which
fulfills the purpose of his existence as defined by Allah:

         "I created mankind and the jinn so that they worship me."

The statement,

               "For this let the strivers emulously strive",

inspires man to look far beyond this finite, little world, as he sets out
to fulfill his mission as Allah's vicegerent on earth. Thus as they work
on purifying the filthy marsh of this world their souls are elevated to
new heights.

Man's life on earth is limited while his future life is of limitless
duration. The luxuries of this world are also limited while the happiness
of Paradise is much too great for us to conceive. The elements of happiness
in this life are well known to everyone, but in the next world they are
on a level befitting a life which is everlasting.

What comparison can then hold between the two spheres of competition or
the two goals, even when we apply the human method of balancing losses
against profits? It is, indeed, one race and a single competition: "For
this let the strivers emulously strive".

The beatitude enjoyed by the righteous is discussed at length in order to
give a detailed account of the hardships, humiliation and insolence they
are made to suffer by the transgressors. The final comment of the surah
taunts the disbelievers as they behold the righteous enjoying their
heavenly bliss:

    The evil-doers used to deride the faithful, and wink at one another
    as they pass by them. When they go back to their own folk they would
    speak of them with jests, and when they see them they would say:
    'These are certainly erring men! ' Yet they have not been assigned
    the mission of being their guardians. So on that day the faithful
    will mock the disbelievers as they recline upon their couches and
    look around them. Shall not the disbelievers be rewarded according
    to their deeds.

The images portrayed by the Qur'an of the evil-doers' derision of the
faithful, their rudeness and insolence, and their description of the
faithful, as "erring men" are taken directly from the real life of Makka
at the time. But the same actions happen over and over again in all ages
and places. Many people in our own age have witnessed similar actions,
as though this surah was revealed to describe what these contemporary
people have seen with their own eyes.' This proves that the attitude of
the transgressors and the evil-doers to the believers hardly ever changes
from one country to another or from one period of time to another.

"The evil-doers used to deride the faithful." Notice here the use of the
term "used to"! The surah takes us away from this world to the hereafter
to see the righteous in their bliss while we hear what used to happen to
them in this world. The believers were made to suffer ridicule and
derision by the transgressors, either because they were poor or weak or
because their self-respect would not allow them to return the abuse of
the base evil-doers. What a contrast of attitudes: the evil doers
persecute the believers and laugh at them shamelessly while the believers
stick to their attitude of dignified perseverance and self respect.

"And wink at one another as they pass by them ". They wink at one another
or make certain actions intended as mockery and derision. Such behaviour
betrays their baseness and bad manners. They try to make the believers
feel embarrassed and helpless. "When they back to their folk they would
speak of them with jests". When they have nourished their little, evil
minds with such mockery and injurious actions aimed at the believers
they would go back to their folk to "speak of them with jests". They feel
satisfied with what they have done. Although they have sunk to the lowest
depths in their behaviour, they cannot imagine how contentible they are.

"And when they see them they would say: 'These are certainly erring
men!'" This is even more singular! Nothing is more absurd than that
those transgressors should speak about the right ways and the erring
ways, or that they should say that the believers are erring.
Transgression knows no limits. The transgressors never feel ashamed of
what they do or say. Their description of the believers as "erring men"
is a clear manifestation of this fact. The Qur'an does not try to defend
the believers or refute this evil accusation leveled at them, because
it is not worth refuting. It laughs loudly, however, at those who involve
themselves impudently in something which does not concern them, "Yet they
have not been assigned the mission of being their guardians!"

No one has asked them to look after the believers, or to watch over them,
or to assess their situation. So why do they give their unsolicited
opinion?

This sarcasm concludes the narration of what the transgressors do in this
life. The surah relates it as if it is something of the past, and gives
an image of the present, i.e. in the hereafter, when the believers
rejoice in their heavenly bliss: "So, on that day the Faithful will mock
the disbelievers, as they recline upon their couches and look around
them". On that day the disbelievers are shut out from their Lord,
suffering this isolation combined with the torture of Hell when they are
told: "This is (the reality) which you denied!" At the other end the
believers recline on their couches, in total beatitude, partaking of
their pure drink which is secured with a seal of musk and mixed with
the waters of Tassneem. As the surah gives the two images, it shows
how the tables are turned; for then it is the believers who laugh at the
disbelievers.

The surah concludes with another loud, ironic question: "Shall not the
disbelievers be rewarded according to their deeds? " Their "reward" is
not a good one, as the term used here connotes in ordinary usage. We
have just been given an image of their doom, which is described here
sarcastically, as their "reward ".

The scene of the evil-doers' ridicule of the believers merits further
discussion. It is portrayed in considerable detail, in the same way as
the earlier scene of the righteous in their heavenly bliss. The detailed
description is highly artistic. It also has a marked psychological effect
which is soothing. The Muslim minority in Makka was facing a sustained,
demoralising onslaught by the polytheists, but Allah did not leave the
Muslims on their own: He comforted them and urged them to persevere.

They feel comforted by the very fact that their sufferings as a result
of the harsh treatment they receive from the polytheists are outlined
by Allah in detail. He sees what the believers suffer and does not ignore
what He sees, although He may let the disbelievers do as they wish, only
for a while. He also sees how the transgressors laugh unrepentantly at
the sufferings of the faithful. Since He describes all this in the
Qur'an then He must take it into account. This, in itself, is enough
consolation for the believers.

There are also those ironic remarks about the evil-doers. They may go
unnoticed by the disbelievers because their indulgence in their sinful
practices have made them insensitive. The highly sensitive hearts of the
believers, however, are touched and comforted by them. It must be noted
that the only consolation offered by Allah to the believers who were
subjected to harsh treatment and painful ridicule was Heaven for the
believers and Hell for the disbelievers. This, again, was the only
promise the Prophet (peace be on him) made to the believers when they
pledged their wealth and their lives for the cause of Islam. Victory in
this life was never mentioned in the Makkan chapters of the Qur'an as a
consolation or as an incentive to persevere. The Qur'an was cultivating
the hearts of the believers, and preparing them to fulfil the task with
which they have been entrusted.

It was necessary that these hearts should attain a high standard of
strength and self-denial so that they would give everything and suffer
all hardships without looking for anything in this life. They seek only
the Hereafter and to win the pleasure of Allah. They should be prepared
to go through the whole journey of life suffering all sorts of hardships
and deprivations without the promise of any reward in this life, not
even victory for the cause of Islam .

Such a group of people must be first established. When this happens and
Allah knows that they are sincere and determined in what they have pledged
themselves to do, then He will give them victory in this life. Victory
will not be theirs as a personal reward. They will be given power as
trustees appointed for the implementation of the Islamic way of life.
They will be worthy trustees because they were neither promised nor did
they look for any worldly gain. They pledged themselves truly for Allah
at a time when they were unaware of any benefit that may befall them
except that they would win Allah's pleasure.

All the Qur'anic verses which speak of victory were revealed later in
Medina when this was no longer an issue. Victory was given because Allah
willed that successive human generations should have an actual, definite
and practical example of the Islamic way of life. It was not a reward for
sacrifices made or hardships suffered.