With their narrow view of worldly pleasures and lack of awareness of the nature of the divine message, the Arabs objected to the choice of Muhammad (peace be upon him) as God’s Messenger, suggesting that a recognized leader of either of the two cities, Makkah and Taif, would have been preferable. The surah denounces their objections and reminds them of how God bestows His grace on whomever He chooses of His servants. It shows the flaw inherent in their concepts which confuse worldly values with divine ones. It also makes clear to them how their values score in God’s accurate measure: “Is it they who apportion your Lord’s grace? It is We who deal out to them their livelihood in the life of this world, and raise some in rank above others, so that some of them may take others into their service. Your Lord’s grace is better than all that they can amass.”
How singular! What business do they have in apportioning God’s grace when they cannot even determine their own provisions? Whatever comes their way of earthly provisions is determined by God, according to His wisdom and how He wants life on earth to progress: “It is We who deal out to them their livelihood in the life of this world, and raise some in rank above others, so that some of them may take others into their service.”
People’s livelihood and provisions in this present life are influenced by their individual talents, life circumstances and social relations. The way they are shared out among individuals and communities is subject to all these factors. Its sharing, however, differs from one generation and society to another, according to the systems, relations and general circumstances of each. The one essential feature which has never been absent, even under the most government-controlled system, is that people’s shares are different. It has never happened that people receive equal shares, not even under artificial social orders claiming to enshrine absolute equality.
The result is that some people are raised in rank above others; a situation that occurs in all societies and generations. The purpose for such difference is that “some of them may take others into their service.” When the wheel of life turns, some people will inevitably be made to serve others. What is meant here is not that one class or one person should behave arrogantly towards another. This is a naïve understanding that is unsuited to the divine pronouncement. The significance of the statement is longer lasting than any change or development in human society.
All mankind serve one another as the wheel of life turns with them all. The one whose provisions are stinted serves the one who is affluent, but the reverse is true as well. Those who have plenty accumulate wealth, using it for their living and employ others who will then receive their provisions by virtue of their work. Each one thus serves another, and it is the difference in their livelihoods and their provisions that enable them to use one another in the course of life. Thus, a worker is in the service of the engineer and the employer, while the engineer is in the service of the employer and the worker, and the employer, in turn, serves both engineer and worker in like manner. All contribute to man’s assignment on earth through their differences in abilities, talents, livelihoods and incomes.
I know that many advocates of government-controlled systems cite this verse in their criticism of Islam and its social and economic systems. I also think that some Muslims feel uneasy about this statement. They feel that they need to defend Islam against the charge of establishing distinction between people in their provisions so that some of them can take others into service. It is time, however, that the advocates of Islam should stand firm, feeling absolutely proud of their faith. They need not defend it against a trivial accusation that will always remain unsubstantiated. Islam states permanent facts that remain part of the nature of the universe for as long as life continues.
It is part of the nature of human life that it relies on differences between individual human beings with respect to their abilities and talents, as well as to the type of work each one can do and the degree of excellence s man or a woman can achieve. These differences are necessary to ensure the fulfilment of a wide range of roles needed to discharge man’s mission on earth. Had all human beings been copies of the same model, life on earth could not have survived. Numerous types of work would not have had corresponding abilities. They would have remained undone because there would not have been people who could do them. The One who created life and willed that it should steadily progress also created people with different talents and abilities to correspond to the different tasks that needed fulfilling. It is through such differences in roles that differences of livelihood and provisions occur. Such is the rule.
So much for people’s livelihood in this present life. Beyond it, however, is something far greater: “Your Lord’s grace is better than all that they can amass.” God bestows His grace on those whom He selects, knowing that they deserve it. There is, however, no connection whatsoever between God’s grace and what people have in this present life. Nor is there any connection between it and the values of this world. Such lots are worthless according to God’s measure. Hence, they are given to good and bad people, while God’s grace is preserved for those whom He chooses.
