In the name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent
He said: “My Lord, help me against their accusation of lying.”
Said (God): “Before long they shall come to rue it.”
Then the blast overtook them in all justice, and We caused them to be like dead leaves. And so — away with those wrongdoing folk! Then after them We raised new generations — no people can forestall the end of its term nor delay it.
And We sent forth Our messengers, one after another. Every time their messenger came to a community, they accused him of lying. So, We caused them to follow one another, and let them become mere tales. And so — away with the folk who would not believe.
And then We sent forth Moses and his brother Aaron, with Our signs and with clear authority, to Pharaoh and his nobles; but these behaved with arrogance, for they were keen to give themselves airs.
And so they said: “Are we to believe two mortals like ourselves, even though their people are our slaves?”
Thus, they gave the lie to them, and earned their place among the doomed.
We had indeed given Moses the Book, so that they might be guided. (The Believers, Al-Muminoon: 23: 39-48)
The surah outlines in quick succession the nature of the message delivered by all God’s messengers to their different peoples. It is the same message expressed in the same wording, stressing God’s oneness and that He has no partners. Yet people in all communities have denied this message, adopting practically the same attitude. We discussed last week the account given in the surah about an unnamed messenger and the way his people responded, expressing amazement at his assertion that all mankind will be resurrected to account for their deeds in this present life. They dismissed this idea, asserting that death is the end and nothing comes after it.
Yet unbelievers do not stop at this juncture betraying their own ignorance and their inability to reflect on the early stages of human life detailed at the opening of the surah. They go further than this and accuse God’s messenger of lying and fabricating things that he attributes to God. They do not know God except in this context when they want to make their false accusation against His messenger: “He is nothing but a man who attributes his lies to God. Never will we believe in him.”
At this point, the messenger finds no alternative but to seek God’s help like Noah did before him. He uses the same wording as Noah: “He said: My Lord, help me against their accusation of lying.”
God responded to His messenger when those people had refused to take the chance afforded to them. Nothing good could be expected from them after they had persisted with their denial of the truth.
The messenger’s appeal receives this answer: “Said “God): Before long they shall come to rue it.” But then no regret will be of any avail. There is no turning back: “Then the blast overtook them in all justice, and We caused them to be like dead leaves.” The Arabic word describing their status has more connotations as it refers to what floods may carry of dead plants and other discarded, worthless items that serve no purpose. Having discarded the qualities with which God has honored them, overlooked the purpose of their existence in this life and severed their relation with the Supreme Society, they no longer deserve any honorable treatment. Hence, they are like the scum that the flood carries. No one pays any regard to it.
To this humiliation is added the fact that they are deprived of God’s grace, and no human being pays any attention to them: “And so — away with those wrongdoing folk!” Far removed are they in the real life and from people’s memories and consciences.
The surah goes on to look at other generations and communities: “Then after them We raised new generations — no people can forestall the end of its term nor delay it.
And We sent forth Our messengers, one after another. Every time their messenger came to a community, they accused him of lying. So, We caused them to follow one another, and let them become mere tales. And so — away with the folk who would not believe.”
This gives us a very brief summary of the advocacy of the truth, and establishes the normal trend that God operates in human life, right from the time of Noah and Hood at the beginning to Moses and Jesus at the end. Every generation gets its term and departs: “No people can forestall the end of its term nor delay it.” Every community deny the truth given to them through God’s messenger sent to them: “Every time their messenger came to a community, they accused him of lying.” And each time they do that, they are punished according to God’s law: “So, We caused them to follow one another.” The lesson remains there for anyone who wishes to learn: “We let them become mere tales,” told by one generation to the next.
This brief summary is concluded by an emphatic rejection of such communities. Thus, they are cast away: “And so — away with the folk who would not believe.”
The story of Moses concerning his message and the denial he received is then told in a very brief account that fits with the general style of the surah and its purpose. “And then We sent forth Moses and his brother Aaron, with Our signs and with clear authority, to Pharaoh and his nobles; but these behaved with arrogance, for they were keen to give themselves airs. And so they said: ‘Are we to believe two mortals like ourselves, even though their people are our slaves?’ Thus, they gave the lie to them, and earned their place among the doomed. We had indeed given Moses the Book, so that they might be guided.”
Again in this account we note that the same objection is given to the fact that the messenger was merely a human being: “They said: Are we to believe two mortals like ourselves?” They add a particular consideration connected with the situation of the Israelites in Egypt: “Even though their people are our slaves?” They are subservient to us and they do our bidding. In this situation, Moses and Aaron deserve, in Pharaoh’s and his people’s view, to be looked down upon.
As for the revelations and the signs they have been given by God, and the clear authority granted to them, these count for nothing according to these people, focused as they were on earthly considerations and false values.
Arab News Islam 18 April 2003