In the name of God, the Lord of Grace, the Ever Merciful
They deem it strange that one from among them has come to warn them. The unbelievers say: “This is a sorcerer telling lies. Does he make all the gods into one God? This is indeed most strange!” Their leaders go about saying: “Walk away, and hold steadfastly to your deities: this is the only thing to do. Never did we hear of a claim like this in any faith of latter days! It is all an invention. Was the message given to him alone out of all of us?” (SAD: 38: 4-8)
The unbelievers were amazed at the Prophet (peace be upon him) as he called on them to worship God alone, which is the most truthful statement anyone can make: “Does he make all the gods into one God? This is indeed most strange!” Their leaders go about saying: “Walk away, and hold steadfastly to your deities: this is the only thing to do. Never did we hear of a claim like this in any faith of latter days! It is all an invention.”
The Qur’an describes their great surprise at this basic truth: “Does he make all the gods into one God?” The question is asked in such a way that makes it sound as if no one could have ever thought it possible. “This is indeed most strange!” In Arabic, the surah uses the word ujab, which is an unusual derivative of ajeeb, meaning strange, to emphasize the peculiarity of the claim. The surah also describes the method they employed to neutralize the effects of the divine message among their people seeking to ensure that they would stick to their traditional beliefs. They implied that the new message contained something highly suspicious, and that in their high positions, they knew this and were intent on countering it: “Their leaders go about saying: ‘Walk away, and hold steadfastly to your deities: this is an intended design.” (Verse 6) This is not a question of religion and faith, although there is something different about it. Hence, ordinary people should attend to their business, maintain their traditions and let the leaders uncover this new plot, because it is only they who can establish what is concealed behind outward appearances. Basically, then, they sought to reassure people that they would look after their interests.
This is a well-known device that those in power use to divert peoples’ interest in public affairs or their searching for the truth. To allow the public to search for the truth by themselves would represent a serious threat to authority, as ultimately it leads to the exposure of false leadership.
The Quraysh elders also tried to deceive people by pointing to the faiths of the people of earlier revelations who had allowed superstitions to creep into their faith, diverting it from the pure concept of God’s oneness: “Never did we hear of a claim like this in any faith of latter days! It is all an invention.” By that time, the concept of trinity had spread among the Christians while the legend of Ezra being God’s son had infiltrated Judaism. Hence the elders specifically referred to these saying: “Never did we hear of a claim like this in any faith of latter days!” They claimed to have never before heard anyone advocate God’s absolute oneness as did Muhammad (peace be upon him). Hence, it could only be fabrication.
Islam has always sought to purge the monotheistic faith from all traces of legend, alien elements and the deviation that affected earlier religions, because monotheism is the fundamental truth that forms the basis of all existence. Indeed, the whole universe confirms this truth, providing evidence in support of it. Moreover, unless human life is based on monotheism it cannot be sound either in its fundamentals or its details. As we consider the resistance of the Quraysh, as well as earlier communities of unbelievers, to the monotheistic principle, it is fitting that we should briefly outline its importance.
The unity of the general laws that operate in this universe which we behold is clear, testifying to the fact that the will that set these laws in operation must by necessity be a single will. Wherever we look around us in this universe we find this fact staring us in the face. Everything in the universe is in constant and regular movement. The atom, which is the basic unit of everything in the universe, animate or inanimate, is in motion, as it consists of electrons that move around the nucleus composed of protons just as the planets move in orbit around the sun in our own solar system, and like the galaxy composed of numerous solar systems and celestial mass rotate. All planets, the sun, and the larger galaxy move in one anticlockwise direction, from west to east. The elements which make up the earth, other planets and the stars are the same, and they are all made of atoms composed of electrons, protons and neutrons. Indeed, these are the bricks that make up all these planets and stars.
While all matter is made of three bricks, scientists believe that all powers: light, heat, x-rays, wireless waves, gamma rays and all types of radiation are in fact different forms of electromagnetic power. They all travel at the same speed, but the difference between them is the difference in wavelength. Matter, then, is made of three bricks, and power is in essence waves. In his special relativity theory, Einstein equates matter with energy. Experiments endorsed his claims. In recent times, an experiment endorsed it in the loudest sound ever heard in this world, produced by nuclear fission in an atom bomb.
Such is the unity in the make up of the universe, as man has come to learn through physical experiment. We also know how this unity is reflected in the law of continuous motion common to all things in a coherent and balanced way so that no object interferes or collides with another. The clearest example is the countless number of planets, stars and galaxies floating in space. “Each floats in its own orbit.” (36: 40) They all testify to the truth that they are set in their respective positions in space and given their movements, dimensions and coordinates by One who is fully aware of their nature, determining all this in His overall design of this wonderful universe.
This brief word here about the overall unity of the universe is sufficient for it testifies that human life can only be set right on this basis. When this fact is clearly understood, people formulate a sound concept of the universe around them, their position in it, their interrelation with other beings, as also their relation with the One God and with everything else in the universe. This is exceedingly important in shaping people’s emotions and understanding of all that life entails.