We shall question those to whom the messengers were sent, and We shall question the messengers themselves. With full knowledge, We shall recount for them all they have done, for We have never been absent. (6—7)
Surah 7
Al-A’raf
(The Heights)
THIS SURAH BEGINS with an overview of two main issues:
one relates to the Qur’an itself, and the other to those who deny or reject divine revelation as a whole. About the first issue, we read God’s words saying:
This is a Book that has been revealed to you [Muhammad] — let there be no distress in your heart because of it — so that you may warn thereby, and as an admonition to the believers. Observe what has been revealed to you from your Lord and do not take other deities besides Him. (2—3)
The “distress” in the Prophet’s heart would be a result of the nega-tive reception with which the unbelievers would greet God’s revelation and His Messenger, while the “warning” is in fact an integral aspect of the proclamation of the message. The people Muhammad was addressing were being called upon to obey the teachings of the Qur’an and abandon all other pagan religious prac-tices and traditions, regardless of their origins. These “other deities” and traditions would bring them no good whatsoever.
The surah refers to the “Book” on several occasions such as:
We have given them a Book which We have imbued with know-ledge, a guidance and a blessing to those who believe. Are they [the unbelievers] waiting but for its fulfillment? (52—53)
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Once the Book’s prophecies and warnings are fulfilled, the believers would be successful but the unbelievers would be frustrated and chastised.
We also read:
“My guardian is God who has revealed the Book, and He takes good care of the righteous”(196).
These words were said on behalf of the Prophet asserting that God would support him and protect him until he had delivered God’s message in full and conveyed His guidance to humankind. On the need to study God’s Book and comprehend its teachings and wisdom, we are instructed thus:
“When the Qur’an is recited, listen to it and observe silence so that you may be blessed” (204).
The second issue with which the surah opens, those who deny God’s revelation, is also addressed in several verses right from the beginning of the surah when it says:
“We have destroyed many a city, striking it at night or by day. Their only cry, when our punishment be fell them, was to say, ‘We have indeed transgressed’” (4-5).
The rise and fall of states, nations, and civilizations have been a prominent feature of human history all through the ages. The surah speaks at length of specific ancient Arabian tribes such as ‘Ad, Thamud, and Madyan, to whom prophets and messengers were sent, as well as the people of Noah and Lot. We gather from these accounts that God’s revelations and messengers had in the first instance been directed towards communities in southern and northern Arabia. However, when those communities reneged and opposed the messengers, God punished them severely, destroying them and their cities and towns.
This is then followed by an extensive account of the mission of Moses, who emerged with divine revelation aimed first at the Pharaohs and later on at the Hebrew Israelites of Egypt. When these also deviated, neglected God’s guidance, and refused to submit to His will, they too were punished and their power was destroyed. Subsequently, God’s revelation was again addressed to the inhabi-tants of central Arabia, where Prophet Muhammad was able to lead the Arabs in setting up a righteous and enlightened society that was
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to be come a model for humanity and the world for many centuries to come. Through this process, the Arabs inherited the responsibili-ty for divine revelation, and the Book they received, the Qur’an, has endured intact. It stands today as, and will continue to be, a beacon of virtue for all humanity and a guidance for all aspects of human life.
The Arab nation has to realize and appreciate the importance of the task it has undertaken, and understand well that it will be accountable to God for the way it handles it. The surah emphasizes:
We shall question those to whom the messengers were sent, and We shall question the messengers themselves. With full knowledge, We shall recount for them all they have done, for We have never been absent. (6—7)
God affirms right at the beginning of the surah that accountability and judgment will be comprehensive and fair:
On that Day, truth shall be the criterion. Those whose good deeds tip the scales shall be successful, but those whose deeds are of little weight shall lose their souls, because they denied our revelations. (8-9)
This is followed by a detailed account of the history of other groups and nations that dissented and quarrelled over God’s revela-tion and an assessment of the outcome of their experiences. Even-tually we are given a glimpse of a dialog that takes place in the here-after between the believers, the unbelievers, and a third group of people who occupy a place on an elevated wall (Arabic: al-A’raf, the heights,or raised decks) separating the other two groups. Those who enter Paradise are portrayed as enjoying a life of boundless love, magnanimity, and peace. Their sole preoccupation is to glorify and venerate God,thanking Him for His generosity and grace, saying:
“Praise be to God who has guided us to this. Were it not for Him
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we should have never been rightly guided” (43).
They are greatly humbled by God’s overwhelming grace, which they consider is more than they have earned or actually deserve. However, God reassures them:‘
“This is a Paradise you have earned with your labors’” (43).
Once they have settled down, they become curious about what has become of their former antagonists and oppressors. Then those in Paradise called out to those in the hell fire, saying,
“We have found what our Lord promised us to be true. Have you, too, found what your Lord promised to be true?” They said, “Yes.”
A voice will then declare to them both, saying, “God’s curse be upon the transgressors.” (44)
The transgressors will be those who deny life in the hereafter and their accountability to God for their actions here in this life. Among them will be tyrants, persecutors, and despots as well as people who distort divine truth and lead others away from God’s straight path.
The surah refers to, “those sitting on the raised decks” (Arabic: ashabal- ‘Araf), who are generally identified by Qur’anic scholars as people whose good and bad deeds have balanced each other, and who are awaiting God’s word that will decide their fate. In my opinion, however, these comprise pious people and martyrs who, all through the ages, have complemented the good work of God’s prophets and messengers and carried forward His messages, leading others and humanity as a whole to God’s straight path and to the righteous life the prophets have advocated. Their position indicates an elevated and lofty status, looking with grace and amity towards those in Paradise, and with scorn at those in the hell fire. This is also borne out by the tone and nuance of the Qur’anic expressions. They are described as self-confident individuals who are strongly critical of God’s detractors and berate the position in which they have ended. This could not be a description of people whose good deeds have simply balanced their bad ones or who are not sure of their destiny
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It is also unlikely that they will be unaware of God’s decision on their fate.
A final cry is heard from those in the hell fire, calling for help:
“Those in the hell fire cry out to those in Paradise, saying, ‘Give us some water, or some of that which God has bestowed upon you’” (50), but to no avail! How can they be saved now, since, when they were given the chance, they refused to believe in God and denied they would ever be accountable to Him? The Day of Judgment was never on their minds, nor had they prepared themselves.
It is important to point out here that the Qur’anic style makes use of.the interchange and blending of ideas, metaphors, and images within the same coherent context, to drive home the mea-nings and reach the heart and the mind at the same time. It is not made up of clearly defined or conventionally structured sentences and passages as those with which we are familiar in ordinary prose or composition. The Qur’anic style and approach reflect the diver-sified, complex, and intricate though essentially unified nature of the world around us. It is a world that is made up of millions of elements encompassing an unlimited number of manifestations, themes, and images.
There is also an intriguing interchange of reference in the surah to Adam, the father of the human race, and to humankind as a whole. Towards the beginning the surah says:
“We have created and shaped you [human kind] and then said to the angels, ‘Prostrate before Adam’” (11), whereas towards the end it says:
“He created you of a single being and from that being He created a mate to seek comfort and peace with her” (189), until it says:
Yet, when He granted them a goodly child, they setup on taking other gods besides Him. Exalted be God above their gods. Will they worship those that can create nothing, but are themselves created?(190-91)
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