God’s Guidance for Humans

By Akhtar A. Alvi P.E.

God revealed the Quran in Arabic, but now anyone can read it with Akhtar A. Alvi’s English translation, which has been published, ISBN #978-81-947356-3-2. It is available at:
• Amazon.com
• Amazon.in
• 24by7Publishing.com
• Flipkart
Akhtar A. Alvi shares God’s guidance for humans to live their lives no matter what their circumstances. Whether you find yourself stressed, poor, sick, starving, or fighting with others, the Quran, as presented in this book, has answers.
As he translated and analyzed the Quran, the author has focused on topics such as:
• what God has said the humans must do to earn an eternal life in paradise;
• why humans must toil and struggle to earn a living and avoid begging;
• what it means to have full conviction in God; and
• why believers must view themselves as part of a brotherhood.
God created humans as weak and sent them for a test on earth: to live their lives by following His guidance, by choice. His guidance is to believe in the unseen unique God; to do good deeds, and to urge each other to truth and patience.
Discover God’s word, what He said to the prophets, and how to please Him in Akhtar A. Alvi’s translation and analysis of the Quran and in this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jun 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665705899

Akhtar A. Alvi P.E.

Akhtar A. Alvi, P.E., is a business management consultant. He is a retired civil and environmental engineer and a U.S. citizen of Pakistani origin. He earned a Bachelor of Science and two Master of Science degrees in civil engineering and taught civil engineering at the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan, and Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He also developed irrigation and hydropower projects for the government of Nigeria and managed engineering and environmental projects for oil and gas companies in the United States and for the U.S. government.

Book preview

ADOPTION

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Adoption means legally taking another’s child and bringing it up as one’s own.

About adoption, God has said in the Quran:

God has not given two hearts to a human. He considers neither the wives you divorce your mothers, nor your adopted sons your sons. These are just your utterances. But, God tells you the truth, and guides you to the right path. (33:4)

Call your adopted sons by their fathers’ names. That is more just in God’s sight. But, if you do not know their fathers, consider them your religious brothers and friends. There is no blame upon you for your unintentional mistakes, but not for your intentional ones. God is forgiving and merciful. (33:5)

When a matter has been decided by God and His Messenger, it is not fitting for a believing man or woman to have any option about their decision. Anyone who disobeys God and His Messenger is indeed clearly on a wrong path. (33:36)

[O Muhammad], remember when you said to the person (Zaid, Prophet’s adopted son) whom you and I had favored: Keep your wife [Prophet’s cousin Zaynab] and fear God. You hid in your heart what God wanted to disclose. You feared people, while God has more right that you fear Him. So when Zaid divorced her, We married her to you so that the believers would have no reason not to marry the wives of their adopted sons when they have divorced them. God’s orders must be carried out. (33:37)

There is no blame on the Prophet for what God has ordered him to do. That has been God’s way with previous Prophets. God’s commands are predetermined. (33:38)

Muhammad is not the father of any man among you. He is God’s Messenger and the seal of the Prophets. God knows all things. (33:40)

Adoption is a choice. Biological children born in wedlock are blood relations. If the adopted children were considered equal to the biological children, they would be entitled to inheritance. The biological children would resent their adopted siblings. The family and societal harmony would be disturbed.

Prophet Muhammad adopted Zayd as his son. He is the third person to accept Islam, after Prophet Muhammad’s wife, Khadija, and his cousin Ali. Khadija had given Zayd, a slave, as a wedding present to her husband, Muhammad. Prophet Muhammad freed him and adopted him as his son. But God has affirmed through the above verses that an adopted son is not the same as the biological son

Prophet Muhammad proposed to his cousin Zaynab that she marry Zayd. At first, she refused because she was of higher social status from the Quraysh. The difference in their social status was the reason why Prophet Muhammad proposed the marriage. The Prophet was aware that it is a person’s standing in God’s eyes that is important, rather than her or his status in people’s eyes. Their marriage would demonstrate that it was not who their ancestors were but their standing in God’s sight that mattered.

Zaynab acquiesced and married Zayd, when Prophet Muhammad announced a new verse of the Quran. However, there was conflict between the couple. Zayd divorced Zaynab. But God married Zaynab to Prophet Muhammad, as revealed in the verse 33:37.

In summary:

87633.png God has prohibited adopted children to be equal to the biological children. They should be called by their fathers’ names. If their fathers were not known, they should be considered religious brothers and friends.

87633.png God married Prophet Muhammad’s adopted son Zayd’s divorced wife, Zaynab, to Prophet Muhammad. It was Prophet Muhammad who had asked his cousin Zaynab to marry Zayd. The objective was to break the status symbol of marriage that Zaynab was of higher status, and Zayd was a freed slave. God’s marrying Prophet Muhammad to his adopted son, Zayd’s, divorced wife established that an adopted son is not equal to a biological son.

AGRICULTURE

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Agriculture is farming and cultivation of soil for growing crops and rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products for humans. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities.

God has given every human a body, like a car. A car needs gas to run. Similarly, a human body needs lungs to breath air, a mouth to eat food and drink water, and a stomach to digest food to give nourishment to the body. For sustaining humans, God created clean air, water, soil, and sun. These are the essential elements to produce variety of crops and animals for sustaining humans.

About agriculture, God has said in the Quran:

Let the mankind look at the food it eats; how We pour down rain in abundance, then split the earth apart, to grow grain, grapes and vegetables, olive and palm-trees, lush gardens, fruit trees and pasture, to be used by you and your livestock. (80:24–32)

In proof of that for the thoughtful people, there are signs in God’s creation of the heavens and the earth, alternation of the night and the day, sailing of the sea ships for benefiting mankind, sending of the rain from the clouds that gives life to the lifeless earth, spreading of all kinds of animals on the earth, changing of the winds, and moving of the clouds between the sky and the earth. (2:164)

There are adjoining plots in the land with grapevines, crops, and palm-trees, grown as single or multiple stems. They are watered with the same water, but We give each a different taste. Indeed, in that are signs for people of understanding. (13:4)

Do you not see that God sends down rain from the sky and makes it flow as springs and streams on the earth? Thereby, He produces crops of varying types. They dry, you see them turn yellow, and He crumbles them into chaff. Surely, in that is a reminder for those who understand. (39:21)

Also in the Quran, God has illustrated the importance of agriculture by Prophet Yousef’s interpretation of a dream of the Egyptian king. He saved thousands of lives by stocking up food for the coming years.

He [an ex-jail companion of Prophet Joseph] said to Joseph: O man of truth, interpret for me the meaning of the seven lean cows eating seven fat cows, and seven green ears of corn and seven others dry, so I could explain it to the king. (12:46)

Joseph said: You will plant for seven consecutive years, but leave corn in its ears, except a little which you can eat. (12:47)

Then, there will come seven difficult years which will consume all what you had saved for them, except a little. (12:48)

Then, a year of abundant rain will come, in which people will press olives and grapes. (12:49)

God has a sophisticated but rational and simple system for sustaining humans. Because of the sun, water evaporates from the oceans, rivers, streams, lakes, earth’s surface, and greenery. It forms clouds. Winds carry clouds to make rain that falls on the dry earth, giving it life to grow trees, vegetables, fruits, and grass for sustaining humans and their animals.

Human ingenuity of plant breeding and agrochemicals, like fertilizer and pesticides, have increased yields but have caused widespread ecological and environmental damage. Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry have increased meat output but have raised concerns about animal welfare and environmental damage. Environmental issues include global warming; air, water, and soil pollution; aquifer water depletion; deforestation; antibiotic resistance; and growth hormones in industrial meat production. Genetically modified organisms are widely used, although some are banned in certain countries.

Agriculture is a large industry of farmers, merchants, and consumers, creating jobs.

Water from the clouds has different effects on crops. Similarly, the revelations of God (in the Quran) are like spiritual water. It has a different effect on humans. For example, Abu Bakr, the first caliph, and Umar, the second caliph, were ordinary citizens of Mecca, but by accepting the spirituality of true revelations, they became the pinnacles of piety and truthfulness for other human beings that followed them.

ANGER AND ANGER

MANAGEMENT

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Anger is a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility because of something wrong or bad done to oneself or someone else. Anger management is the process of

87633.png learning to recognize signs that one is getting angry;

87633.png taking action to calm down; and

87633.png dealing with the situation in a productive way.

Anger is a normal, healthy emotion when one knows how to express it appropriately. Anger management is about learning how to do this.

Anger

About anger, God has said in the Quran:

No one will carry another’s burden. If a heavily laden soul will call another to carry some of its burden, even a close relative will not do it. (O Muhammad), you can only warn those who fear their Lord without seeing Him and have established prayer. Whoever purifies oneself only purifies for one’s own benefit. All things shall return to God. (35:18)

[O Muhammad], We have revealed the Book [the Quran] to you in truth, for instructing mankind. The person who receives guidance benefits himself; and the one who goes off the right path hurts oneself. You are not responsible for their affairs. (39:41)

Whoever does good or bad deeds is for oneself. You all will return to your Lord. (45:15)

God has put them (disbelievers) under humiliation wherever they may be, unless they make an agreement of protection with God and the mankind. They have drawn God’s anger and put themselves under destitution, because they disbelieved in God’s verses, killed the Prophets unjustly, disobeyed, and exceeded the limits. (3:112)

[Believers], do not insult the idols, lest the disbelievers ignorantly insult God in their anger. We have made pleasing to every community their deeds. In the end, they will return to their Lord, and then He will tell them about what they used to do. (6:108)

He [Houd] said: Your Lord’s punishment and anger have already come upon you. Do you dispute with me about the names which you and your fathers have invented (like gods of wind, rain, wealth, and health, etc.) without God’s authority? Then wait as I am waiting. (7:71)

Those [Israelites] who worshipped the calf will get God’s anger and humiliation in this life. Thus, We punish those who invent lies. (7:152)

When Moses’ anger subsided, he took up the tablets. In their writing was guidance and mercy for those who fear their Lord. (7:154)

On the day of the battle, whoever will turn his back to the disbelievers, unless it is for tactical reasons or to join another company of his own, will incur God’s anger and live in hell, which is an evil destination. (8:16)

God will remove anger from the believers’ hearts. He shows mercy to whom He pleases. God is all-knowing and all-wise. (9:15)

All will come before God for judgment. The weak will say to those who were arrogant: We were your followers; can you save us from God’s punishment? They will reply: If God had guided us, we would have guided you. Neither anger nor patience will help us now. There is nowhere to escape. (14:21)

[God is] saying [to Israelites]: Eat the good things We have provided you [Israelites] and do not transgress, lest My anger should fall upon you. And upon whom My anger falls has certainly perished. (20:81)

Remember [Prophet] Jonah, who departed in anger [from his people] thinking that We would not cause him any distress. [But when We did], he cried out in the midst of his afflictions:¹ There is no god but You; glory to You; I was Indeed wrong. (21:87)

Pharaoh misled his people, and they obeyed him. They were disobedient to God. When they angered Us, We punished them and drowned them all. We made them a precedent and an example for those who succeeded them. (43:54–56)

What will they do when the angels will take their souls at death, and hit them on their faces and backs? That will be because they follow what angers God, and they hate what pleases God. Therefore, God will make their deeds fruitless. (47:27–28)

In the above verses, God has explained when anger is justified. God sent down the criteria of right and wrong. Those who disbelieve God’s revelations, kill the prophets unjustly, disobey, and exceed the limits will be severely punished. For example:

87633.png God punished Prophet Houd’s people for not listening to him and worshipping gods, like the gods of wind, rain, wealth, health, and so on. God got angry and punished them.

87633.png Pharaoh and his people angered God. God drowned them to make them an example for those who succeeded them.

87633.png God loves the believers who give charity in prosperity or adversity, restrain anger, and forgive people.

87633.png Believers should not insult the idols, lest the disbelievers ignorantly insult God in their anger.

87633.png On the day of the battle, whoever turns his back to the disbelievers will incur God’s anger and live in hell.

Anger is a genuine human feeling and reaction against injustice and uncontrollable circumstances. Even God’s prophets have become angry. For example:

87633.png Prophet Jonah departed in anger from his people, thinking that God would not cause him any distress. But a fish swallowed him. In the darkness of the fish’s belly, Jonah prayed to God, and God helped him to survive.

87633.png Prophet Moses became angry with his brother Aaron and his people for worshipping a calf in his absence. When they all repented, God forgave them.

Anger Management

About anger management, God has said in the Quran:

Obey God and the Messenger [Prophet Muhammad] that you may be granted mercy. (3:132)

Hasten to earn forgiveness from your Lord and a paradise, as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous. (3:133)

They [believers] give charity in prosperity or adversity, restrain anger, and forgive people. God loves those who do good deeds. (3:134)

If they do an evil or wrong themselves, they remember God and ask forgiveness for their sins. Who can forgive the sins except God? They do not knowingly persist in what they have done. (3:135)

Their reward will be God’s forgiveness, and gardens watered by running streams. They will live there forever, an excellent reward for the righteous. (3:136)

In the above verses, restrain anger implies that they suppress their anger and manage their anger. It includes granting forgiveness to the party who caused anger and doing an additional act of kindness as a favor.

Anger has many causes:

87633.png stress

87633.png rejection

87633.png worry

87633.png loss

87633.png feeling threatened

Anger is a natural feeling. Everyone gets angry. But if it is not properly managed, it becomes harmful and may cause problems:

87633.png Physical health problems, such as headaches, sleeplessness, high blood pressure, indigestion, and heart problems.

87633.png Psychological problems, such as low self-esteem, poor decision making.

87633.png Problems at work with coworkers, supervisors, employees, or customers that may cause a negative impression, which could result in job loss.

87633.png Communication problems. When one is angry, the good feelings for others are clouded. One fails to express them properly, and one is misunderstood.

87633.png Damaging property and other valuables.

87633.png Trouble with the law. You may even attack others physically and end up committing a violent criminal act.

87633.png Problems with relationships. The anger, if not controlled, may lead to breaking up close relationships; for example, husband and wife may divorce, parents may lose the respect and obedience of their children, children may suffer from inferiority complexes, siblings may stop talking or visiting each other, and friends may start avoiding an angry person.

Anger management is not an easy task. One may not avoid anger completely, but one can keep it from getting out of hand. One has to learn that letting go of anger is good. Otherwise, one might become obsessed with angry thoughts or feelings of revenge.

For anger management, the following steps are helpful:

87633.png At the earliest stage, detect your anger.

87633.png Identify what triggers your anger.

87633.png Learn how to suppress/manage your anger; how to calm down.

87633.png Find out alternative healthy ways to express your anger.

87633.png Learn to take responsibility for your own feelings and actions.

87633.png Give others the benefit of the doubt. Replace negative thoughts with positive ones. For example, instead of thinking that someone embarrassed you on purpose, you should say: It’s OK. He probably didn’t mean anything by it. Maybe he was just having a bad day.

87633.png Try to understand clearly the factor that is making you angry. Calmly and clearly explain to yourself and others what the problem is. Do not yell, use insults, or make threats.

87633.png Take a timeout. When you feel your anger warning signs are developing, you should stop what you are doing or come out of the situation that is making you feel angry. Tell the person who is making you feel angry that you need to take a timeout. This may help you to calm down.

87633.png Try to relax. Take several slow, deep breaths; take a walk.

87633.png As Prophet Muhammad used to advise, drink water, sit down, or lie down.

87633.png The Prophet has been quoted: It is not permissible for a man to forsake his Muslim brother for more than three days, each of them turning away from the other when they meet. The better of them is the one who gives the greeting of salaam first.

ARGUMENT AND

REASONING

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An argument is a reason given to persuade others that an action or idea is right or wrong. Reasoning, however, is

87633.png a statement offered in explanation or justification;

87633.png the capacity to make sense of things, apply logic, and adapt or justify practices, institutions, and beliefs;

87633.png a thought of why someone does something (a cause is something that makes something happen; reason explains something, but cause might not—it might just be due to something else without an explanation); and

87633.png normally emotionless.

The skills needed to think rationally and critically are varied and include observation, analysis, interpretation, reflection, evaluation, inference, explanation, problem-solving, and decision-making.

About argument and reasoning, God has said in the Quran:

[Prophet Abraham’s] people argued with him. He said: Do you argue with me about God, who has guided me? I do not fear your idols; they cannot harm me without my Lord’s will. My Lord has knowledge of all things. Will you not be warned? Why should I fear your false gods when God has not allowed you to worship them? Which of us has more right to salvation? Answer me if you have knowledge. Those who believe and do not mix their belief with injustice will have salvation and are rightly guided. That was the argument We gave Abraham against his people. We raise in rank whom We will. Your Lord is the all-wise and all-knowing. (6:80–83)

We have given various arguments in the Quran, but most people refuse to believe. (17:89)

We [God] have given every kind of argument in the Quran. But, if you would show any sign to the disbelievers, they would certainly say: You are preaching lies. (30:58)

We [God] have given mankind all kinds of arguments in the Quran so that they might pay attention. (39:27)

The disbelievers ask: Why was the Quran not revealed to him [Prophet Muhammad] all at once? We have revealed it to you in parts to strengthen your heart. Whenever they came to you with an argument, We revealed you the truth and explained it properly. (25:32–33)

We [God] let people know about the cavemen’s secret so that people might know that God’s promise was true, and that the hour of judgment was sure to come. The people argued about what to do with their remains. Some said: Let us construct a monument over them; their Lord knows best who they were. Those who won the argument said: Let us build a house of worship over them. (18:21)

Thus [Prophet Muhammad,] invite them to God’s religion and stay on the right course steadfastly as you are commanded. Do not follow their [disbelievers’] desires, but say: I believe in the Scriptures God has revealed. I am commanded to do justice between you. God is your and our Lord. We have our deeds and you have your deeds. There is no argument between us. God will gather us together, and we shall return to Him. Those who argue about God after accepting obedience to Him, their arguments are useless with their Lord. His wrath will fall upon them and they shall be severely punished. (42:15–16)

When Our [God’s] clear revelations are recited to them [disbelievers], their only argument is: Bring back our forefathers, if what you say is true. (45:25)

[O Muhammad], keep on warning them [the disbelievers]. By the grace of your Lord, you are neither a soothsayer nor a madman. Do they say: He [Muhammad] is a poet; we are waiting for a misfortune to befall him? Tell them: Wait; I am waiting too. Does their [disbelievers’] reasoning make them say this, or are they wicked people? (52:29–32)

They [hypocrites] will not fight with you in the open as a group except in fortified cities or from behind the walls. Their infighting is severe. You think they are together, but their hearts are divided. That is because they lack reasoning. (59:14)

Disbelievers’ arguments with Prophet Abraham, Prophet Muhammad, and other prophets have been about belief in the unseen God, the Resurrection, and the Day of Judgment. God has revealed His books, including the Quran, on a need-to-know basis by giving various arguments with His signs. As He has created humankind from soil, so He can resurrect them too. He operates the universe, day and night, perfectly. If there was to be no accountability for the actions in worldly life, then life would be like the law of the jungle, to be ruled by the rich and powerful. God sent humankind on earth with guidance for a test to look after each other, through charity, justice, kindness, and righteousness, by using their brains, being patient, and worshipping Him.

Disbelievers did not believe in God’s revelations to Prophet Muhammad. They called him a poet. That could not be true because Prophet Muhammad was an illiterate person, but God blessed him by choosing him as His messenger. Similarly, God has said that the hypocrites had infighting in them, that their hearts were divided, and that they lacked reasoning to fight with Prophet Muhammad in the open.

ARROGANCE AND

BOASTFULNESS

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Arrogance is

87633.png expressing excessive self-pride,

87633.png thinking that one is better or more important than other people and behaving in a way that is rude and overly confident, and

87633.png an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions.

An arrogant person exaggerates his or her own importance or abilities in an overbearing manner.

Boastfulness is having an overinflated sense of pride. A boastful person constantly talks about his or her own accomplishments.

About arrogance and boastfulness, God has said in the Quran:

Then We [God] said to the angels: Bow down to Adam; they did except Satan.² He refused and showed arrogance. (2:34)

Do not treat people with contempt and do not walk on earth proudly. God does not like the arrogant and the boastful. (31:18)

Do not walk on earth arrogantly. You can neither split the earth, nor attain a mountain like stature. (17:37)

God surely knows what they conceal and reveal. He does not like the arrogant. (16:23)

I shall turn them away from My signs who behave arrogantly on the earth in defiance of right. Even if they see all the signs, they will not believe in them; and if they see the way of the right conduct, they will not adopt it. But if they see the way of error, they will adopt it. That is because they have rejected Our signs, and failed to take warning from them. (7:146)

Behaving arrogantly and boastfully is wrong. It is looking down on others. It creates animosity and make others feel bad. It is distasteful. In God’s eyes, pious and truthful people are superior to people who are arrogant and boastful.

God loves piety, humility, and lowliness. To live a happy life, no one should be arrogant or boastful.

AUTHORITY

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Authority is a legal and formal right or power to make decisions and to give orders and commands for others to follow. About authority, God has said in the Quran:

God, the merciful, is sitting on throne of authority. (20:5)

Such were the people [prophets] whom We gave the Scriptures, authority, and Prophethood. If their descendants deny them, We will entrust them to a people who believe in them. (6:89)

Believers, obey God, the Messenger, and those in authority among you. If you disagree about anything, refer it to God and the Messenger, provided you believe in God and the Last Day [of Judgment]. That in the end is better and more suitable. (4:59)

[O Muhammad], say to them [humans]: My Lord has forbidden immoralities, whether committed openly or privately, sins, wrongful oppression, joining partners with God for which He has given no authority, and saying things about God of which you have no knowledge. (7:33)

God gave the enemy’s spoils³ to His Messenger, for which you did not spur your horses and camels. God gives His Messenger authority over whom He wills. He has power over all things (59:6).

It is He [God] who gave you [humans] authority on the earth. He has given some of you a higher rank than others so that He may test you through what He has given you. Indeed, your Lord is swift in punishment, but He is the forgiving and merciful. (6:165)

It is God Who has placed you on the earth with authority and provided you with livelihood, but you are least grateful. (7:10)

They are those [God-fearing] who, if We give them authority in the land, establish prayer, give zakat [mandatory charity], and direct others to do what is right and forbid what is wrong. God decides all matters. (22:41)

God shall cast terror into the disbelievers’ hearts, because they associate partners with God, for which He had sent no authority. Their home will be hell, a miserable home for the wrongdoers. (3:151)

You will find another kind of hypocrites who desire security from you and their people. Every time they are called back to disbelief, they yield to it. If they do not withdraw from you, and neither offer you peace nor stop their hostilities against you, seize them and kill them wherever you find them. In their case, We have given you clear authority. (4:91)

Would you [the hypocrites] then, if given the authority, do mischief in the land, and sever ties of kinship? (47:22)

Your forefathers and you have invented the idols’ names, but God has given them no authority to the idols. The disbelievers follow their own assumptions and desires of their souls, even though their Lord’s guidance has come to them. (53:23)

They [disbelievers] worship others beside God for which He has not sent down authority and about which they have no knowledge. There will not be anyone to help the wrongdoers. (22:71)

Then, We sent Moses and his brother Aaron with Our signs and a clear authority. (23:45)

In the story of Moses there is a sign too. We sent him to Pharaoh with clear authority. (51:38)

Their [the Israelites’] Prophet said to them: God has appointed Saul as your king. But they replied: How can he be king while we deserve it more than him; and he is not even rich? He said: God has chosen him over you and has gifted him abundantly in knowledge and body strength. God gives His authority to whoever He wills. God is all-inclusive and all-knowing. (2:247)

He [Prophet Houd] said: Your Lord’s punishment and anger have already come upon you. Do you dispute with me about the names which you and your fathers have invented [like gods of wind, rain, wealth, health, etc.] without God’s authority? Then wait as I am waiting. (7:71)

They [disbelievers] say: God has fathered a son. Glory is to Him, He is self-sufficient. Everything in the heavens and on the earth belongs to Him. You have no authority to say this. How dare you say things about God without any knowledge? (10:68)

When God’s judgment has been passed, Satan will say: It was God Who promised you [the wrongdoers] truth; I promised you too, but failed you. I had no authority over you except to call you, and you followed me. Do not blame me, but blame yourselves. Neither I can help you, nor can you help me. I never said that I was equal to God. The wrongdoers shall be severely punished. (14:22)

You [Satan] will have no authority over My servants, except those sinners who will follow you. (15:42)

Satan’s authority is only over those who befriend him and who associate other gods with God. (16:100)

They [disbelievers] will say [to their leaders]: You used to tell us with confidence. They will reply: No, you yourselves had no faith. We had no authority over you. You were rebellious. Our Lord has justly sentenced us and we will taste the punishment. We misled you, because we ourselves were off the right path. (37:28–29)

In the above verses, God has explained:

87633.png God alone has the absolute authority. He delegates His authority to whoever He wills. He gave authority to His prophets to advise humans to believe in God, not to worship the idols, and do mischief in the land. For example, God sent Moses and his brother Aaron to Pharaoh with clear authority to advise him not to kill Israelites’ sons and not to behave as if he was a god. Ultimately, God punished him and his army by drowning them in the sea when they were following Moses and his followers to kill them.

87633.png God gives authority and higher rank to some humans over others to test them to establish prayer, give zakat (mandatory charity), and to direct others to do what is right and to forbid what is wrong. Keeping peace in the land is God’s desired goal.

87633.png The Lord has forbidden immoralities—whether committed openly or privately—sins, and wrongful oppression. For example, with regard to the hypocrites, God told the believers: If they neither offer you peace nor stop their hostilities against you, seize them and kill them wherever you find them.

87633.png Satan misleads humans without God’s authority. On the Day of Judgment, disbelievers will blame Satan and their leaders for misleading them. But it will be too late. God has given guidance and a brain to every human to think independently and to follow God’s guidance. For example, Christians wrongly believe in the Trinity as if God had fathered a son, Jesus. Joining as partners with God is blasphemous.

BACKBITING

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Backbiting, backstabbing, or tale-bearing is slandering someone in their absence.

Backbiting may be a release after a confrontation. By insulting the opposing person, the backbiter diminishes that person to restore his own self-esteem. A bond may also be established with a confidant if he or she is receptive to a hostile comment. Such gossip is common in modern society as people seek to divert blame. But the backbiting is a form of delinquent behavior due to an inferiority complex.

In Islam, backbiting is considered a major sin. God has said in the Quran:

Believers, avoid excessive suspicion. In some cases suspicion is sinful. Neither spy nor backbite one another. Would anyone of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You will hate it [so hate backbiting]. Fear God. He is the forgiving and merciful. (49:12)

Do not pay attention to who swears often, is slanderer, gossiper, preventer of good, transgressor, sinful, ignoble and bastard. (68:10–13)

Doomed is every slanderer and backbiter, who amasses wealth and hoards it, thinking that his wealth will make him immortal. (104:1–3)

Backbiting is spiteful talk about someone who is not present, with the intention of making fun of or mocking him or her. It is saying something in the absence of someone that he or she does not like to be said about her or him.

God has equated backbiting and gossiping to eating the flesh of one’s dead brother, one of the most disgusting things one can imagine.

The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, once said: When I was taken up into the heavens [the Miraaj], I passed by some people who had nails of copper with which they were scratching their faces and chests. I asked Angel Gabriel: Who are these people? He said: These are the ones who used to eat the flesh of the people and slander their honor.

Prophet Muhammad was once asked: What if the backbiter was telling truth in someone’s absence by mentioning his fault? The Prophet replied that it was backbiting; otherwise, if he was making a false accusation that would be defamation, a criminal act.

BATTLES AND WAR

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A battle is a combat between two or more armed forces. A war usually consists of multiple battles. War is an armed conflict between different nations, states, or groups. It generally involves the use of weapons, a military organization, and soldiers.

Ideological change is the common cause of conflict and the root of most wars, but there is rarely only one cause of dispute.

People prefer peace, but when their or their people’s lives are threatened, they choose to stand and fight.

About battles and war, God has said in the Quran:

Battles with Disbelievers

Why should you not fight in God’s cause for the helpless men, women, and children, whose cry is: Our Lord, rescue us from this town [Mecca, Saudi Arabia] whose people are oppressors; and send us a protector and a helper! (4:75)

In God’s cause, fight those [disbelievers] who fight you, but do not attack them first. God does not love the aggressors. Kill them [disbelievers] wherever you find them. Drive them out from where they drove you out. Persecution is worse than killing. Do not fight them at the sacred mosque [in Mecca, Saudi Arabia] until they attack you there; but if they attack you, kill them. Such is the payment for the disbelievers. (2:190–91)

[O believers], fight the disbelievers till there is no more oppression, and faith in God is established. If they stop oppression, God sees all that they do. If they pay no attention, then know that God is your protector. He is the best protector and the helper. (8:39–40)

It is possible that God may make friendship between your enemies and you. God has power over all things. He is the forgiving and the merciful. God does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who did not fight with you because of religion and did not drive you out of your homes. God loves those who are just. God forbids you to befriend those who fought against you because of religion, have driven you out of your homes, and have helped others to drive you out. Those who befriend them are wrongdoers. (60:7–9)

Permission to fight has been given to those who are being attacked and wronged. God has power to give them victory. (22:39)

They are those who have been expelled from their homes for no cause except they said: Our Lord is God. If God would not have protected some by means of others, the monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which God’s name is glorified, would have been destroyed. God will certainly help those who help Him. God is powerful and mighty. (22:40)

There was a sign for you in the two armies that met in combat.⁴ One was fighting in God’s cause and the other was of the disbelievers. The believers saw the disbelievers twice their number. But God supports with victory to whom He wills. There is a lesson in it for those with sight. (3:13)

If you have received a blow [at the Battle of Uhud], the disbelievers have also received a similar blow [at the Battle of Badr]. We give such variation in fortunes to mankind by turns, so that We may know the true believers and choose the witnesses of righteousness. God does not love the wrongdoers. (3:140)

God had certainly fulfilled His promise to you when initially, with His permission, you were killing the enemy [at the Battle of Uhud] until you faltered, argued about your duty, and disobeyed the Prophet’s order after He had shown you that which you love, the booty. Some of you desire this world, and others desire the Hereafter. God let you be defeated [in the Battle of Uhad] to test you. He has already forgiven you. God is gracious to the believers. (3:152)

It is not fit for a Prophet that he should take prisoners unless he has fought and triumphed in the land. You, the believers, desire the worldly gain,⁵ but God desires for you the gain in the Hereafter. God is mighty and wise. (8:67)

God has given you victory on many battlefields. In the battle of Hunain,⁶ you rejoiced at your great numbers, but it availed you nothing; and the earth, vast as it is, seemed to close in on you and you turned your backs and fled. (9:25)

It was not proper for the people of Medina and the surrounding desert-Arabs to remain behind after the departure of God’s Messenger for battle, and to prefer themselves over him. If they bear thirst or fatigue or hunger in God’s cause, or tread on any ground enraging disbelievers, or hurt an enemy, then it is not possible that such of their deeds are not written down as righteous actions for them. God will not allow the loss of reward for the good-doers. (9:120)

They are those [God-fearing] who, if We give them authority in the land, establish prayer, give zakat [mandatory charity], and direct others to do what is right and forbid what is wrong. God decides all matters. (22:41)

God loves those who fight in His cause standing in battle formation, as if they were a solid structure. (61:4)

Turning your faces toward the east or the west is not righteousness. Righteousness is to

87633.png believe in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Holy Book [the Quran], and the prophets;

87633.png give wealth, in spite of the love of it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, travelers, and those who ask for help;

87633.png free slaves;

87633.png establish prayer;

87633.png give zakat (mandatory charity);

87633.png fulfill promises; and

87633.png be patient in poverty, hardship, and during battle.

These are the true believers and righteous. (2:177)

In the above verses, God has clarified fighting with the disbelievers:

87633.png Fight in God’s cause, but do not attack them first. God does not love the aggressors. But if the disbelievers attack you, kill them wherever you find them.

87633.png Fight until there is no more oppression, and worship is acknowledged as for God. But if they stop, then there should be no hostility except against oppressors.

Persecution is worse than killing and bloodshed. With killing, the misery of life ends, but with persecution, it continues day after day. God has advised humans to migrate to avoid persecution. God has said that it is possible that He may make friendship between your enemies and you. That is what happened when some Muslims left Mecca for the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia to save themselves from persecution. The Meccans went there to convince the king to return the Muslims. But when the king heard the Islamic message, he refused to return the Muslims and offered that they could live there safely.

Fighting is as old as humankind. In contemporary times, some countries have developed nuclear armaments to destroy each other. Humanity should not forget the First and the Second World Wars, when millions of people died. The United States’ dropping of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, did stop the Second World War, but its devastation on the area and the people living there is an ignoble chapter in the history of humankind. People’s skin was burned, as were their faces and bodies.

Fighting is inhumane and is a failure of human ingenuity to live in peace. God has advised that unless someone is attacked, she or he should not fight. God has allowed fighting only against oppression and persecution.

Disbelievers do believe there is a God, but they do not want to follow His guidance sent through His messengers and the revelations. They question how a human messenger could be better than their forefathers and them. Why did an angel come to the messengers and not to them? They have fought with God’s messengers and even have killed some. The disbelievers of Mecca tried to kill Prophet Mohammad and fought battle after battle with him and his followers.

Muslims won the first battle at Badr, despite being overwhelmed by one to three, but they lost the second one at Uhud. They lost because some Muslim fighters disobeyed Prophet Muhammad and left their positions to start collecting the war spoils. God also exposed hypocrites who did not join in the battle on the pretext of defending their families. Battles were a way of life for Muslims, but God finally helped them to overcome the disbelievers of Mecca and surrounding nations. God used battles to build believers’ character.

War with Disbelievers

When you meet the disbelievers in battle, strike off their heads until you have overpowered them, and tie the prisoners firmly. Then, free them as a favor or let them pay ransom when the war ends. That is what you should do. If God wanted, He could have punished them Himself, but He wanted to test you by one another. Those who are killed in God’s cause, He will not allow their deeds to be wasted. (47:4)

The punishment of those who wage war against God and His Messenger, and spread mischief in the land is that they should be killed or crucified or their hands and feet cut off from opposite sides, or exiled from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and there will be a heavy punishment for them in the Hereafter. (5:33)

The desert-Arabs who stayed behind [from war] will say to you [O Muhammad]: We were looking after our property and families. Request God to forgive us. What they say is not in their hearts. Tell them: Who has power to intervene with God, if His will is to punish or forgive you? God is well aware of your deeds. (48:11)

There will be no offense for the blind, the lame, and the sick not to go to war. Whoever obeys Gods and His Messenger will be admitted to gardens [paradise] watered by streams. But whoever runs away will be punished severely. (48:17)

Believers, when you go to war in God’s cause, distinguish between friend and foe. If someone greets you with a salutation of peace, do not say to him: You are not a believer. If you seek worldly gain, God has abundant rewards. You too were like that, but Gad favored you; therefore, distinguish carefully. God is aware of what you do. (4:94)

The Jews say: God’s hands are tied. No, tied are their hands and cursed are they for what they say. His hands are free and He spends as He wills. What your Lord has revealed to you has surely increased rebellion and disbelief in many of them. We have put animosity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection. Every time they ignite the fire of war against you, God extinguishes it. They spread mischief on the earth, but God does not like the mischief makers. (5:64)

If you [the disbelievers]:

87633.png Sought the decision [between you and the Muslims], the decision (of defeat) has come to you.

87633.png Stop hostilities, it will be best for you.

87633.png Return to war against the faithful, We shall return to assist them. Your forces may be large in number, but will avail you nothing because God is with the believers. (8:19)

Those who remained behind [from the Tabuk expedition] rejoiced that God’s Messenger left them behind, because they disliked to strive in God’s cause with their wealth and lives. They