The first Revelation sent to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) implied
several injunctions, simple in form but highly effective and of
serious far-reaching ramifications. The angel communicated to him a
manifest Message saying:
*.
*. "O you [Muhammad (Peace be upon him) ] enveloped (in garments)!
Arise and warn! And your Lord (Allâh) magnify! And your garments
purify! And keep away from Ar-Rujz (the idols). And give not a thing
in order to have more (or consider not your deeds of Allâh's obedience
as a favour toAllâh). And be patient for the sake of your Lord (i.e.
perform your duty to Allâh)!" [74:1-7]
For convenience and ease of understanding, we are going to segment the
Message into its immediate constituents:
1. The ultimate objective of warning is to make sure that no one
breaching the pleasuresof Allâh in the whole universe isignorant of
the serious consequences that his behaviour entails, and to createa
sort of unprecedented shock within his mind and heart.
2. 'Magnifying the Lord' dictates explicitly that the only pride
allowed to nourish on the earthis exclusively Allâh's to the exclusion
of all the others'.
3. 'Cleansing the garments and shunning all aspects of abomination'
point directly to the indispensable need to render both the exterior
and interior exceptionally chaste and pure, in addition to the
prerequisite of sanctifying the soul and establishing it highly immune
against the different sorts of impurities and the various kinds of
pollutants. Onlythrough this avenue can the soul of the Prophet
(Peace be upon him) reach an ideal statusand become eligible to enjoy
the shady mercy of Allâh and His protection, security, guidance and
ever-shining light; and will consequently set the highest example to
the human community, attract the sound hearts and inspire awe and
reverence in the stray onesin such a manner that all the world, in
agreement or disagreement, will head for it and take it as the
rock-bed in all facets of their welfare.
4. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) must not regard his strife in the
way of Allâh as a deed of grace that entitles him to a great reward.
On the contrary, he has to exert himself to the utmost, dedicate his
whole efforts and be ready to offer all sacrifices in a spirit of
self-fogetfulness enveloped by an ever-present awareness of Allâh,
without the least sense ofpride in his deeds or sacrifices.
5. The last verse of the Qur'ân revealed to the Prophet (Peace be
upon him) alludes to the hostile attitude of the obduratedisbelievers,
who will jeer at him and his followers. They are expected to disparage
him and step up their malice to the point of scheming against his life
and lives of all the believers around him. In this case he hasgot to
be patient and is supposed to persevere and display the highest degree
of stamina for the sole purpose ofattaining the pleasure of Allâh.
These were the basic preliminaries that the Prophet (Peace be upon
him) had to observe, very simple injunctions in appearance, greatly
fascinating in their calm rhythm, but highly effective in practice.
They constituted the trigger that aroused a far-ranging tempest inall
the corners of the world.
The verses comprise the constituents of the new call and propagation
of the new faith. A warning logically implies that there are
malpractices with painful consequences to be sustained by the
perpetrators, and since the present life is not necessarily the only
room to bring people to account for their misdeeds or some of them,
then the warning would necessarily imply calling people to account on
another day, i.e. the Day of Resurrection, and this per se suggests
the existence of a life other than this one we are living.All the
verses of the Noble Qur'ân call people to testify explicitly to the
Oneness of Allâh, to delegate all their affairs to Allâh, the
All-High, and to subordinate the desires of the self and the desires
of Allâh's servants to the attainment of His Pleasures.
The constituents of the call to Islam could, briefly speaking, go as follows:
1. Testimony to the Oneness of Allâh.
2. Belief in the Hereafter.
3. Sanctifying one's soul and elevating it high above evils and
abominations that conduce to terrible consequences, besides this,
there is the dire need for virtues and perfect manners coupled with
habituating oneself to righteous deeds.
4. Committing one's all affairs to Allâh, the All-High.
5. All the foregoing should run as a natural corollary to unwavering
belief in Muhammad's Message, and abidance by his noble leadership and
righteous guidance.
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