One Cannot Simultaneously Gratify the Lord God and the Vast Majority of Human Beings
Published in April 12, 2018
Translated by: Ahmed Fathy
Introduction:
1- These two opposite items cannot be combined in one person: to attain the approval of the Lord God and to incur His wrath. Of course, God's approval means to dwell in Paradise forever, and His wrath means to suffer Hell-torment for eternity. There is no in-between or medial position between Hell and Paradise in the Hereafter: "Is someone who pursues God's approval the same as someone who incurs God's wrath and his refuge is Hell - the miserable destination? " (3:162); "That is because they pursued what incurs the wrath of God, and they disliked His approval, so He nullified their works." (47:28).
2- The two questions now are as follows: how are we going to follow the approval of the Lord to gain God's favor, mercy, and approval? How are we going to avoid His wrath?
Firstly: within religious call and preaching:
1- The Quran mentions the fact that the vast majority of human beings (i.e., in all eras) is the misguided ones and they never understand or take heed of faith and the Afterlife. Another Quranic fact is that most people within the minority of human beings which believes in God are polytheists who worship partners/deities alongside with their worshiping the Lord God. A third Quranic fact is that even Muhammad would have been misguided and distracted away from God's Path if he had obeyed such misguided ones who are the disbelievers and the polytheists. Therefore, to gratify the vast majority of human beings means to displease and incur the wrath of the Lord God; likewise, to gratify the Lord God means to displease and infuriate the vast majority of human beings. One must choose one of both stances, as one cannot combine both of them; one cannot please God and the vast majority of human beings at the same time.
2-There is no in-between or medial position in this case; one would either gratify God orthe vast majority of human beings. This is exemplified more prominently within the field of religious call and preaching; those preachers will either please the masses by saying to them what they like and wish to hear/read or assert to them the Quranic facts that will disturb and displease them; e.g., the preachers of the Quranic Truth must debunk and undermine the myths of deifying things/items/mausoleums and mortals/creatures made 'holy' by polytheists; hence, to describe such earthly religions and such deities/gods objectively is deemed by their polytheistic worshipers as verbal abuse and insults. If the clergymen of such earthly religions are very powerful and dominant within a given society, they persecute and harm the peaceful preachers of the Quranic Truth who call for the introduction of religious reform.
3- Those whose hearts are sick with polytheistic notions would typically give pieces of advice to the preachers of the Quranic Truth to use linguistic hedges of politeness and indirectness in their speech and discourse and to lessen the tone of frankness/directness within their writings and sermons so that they would not shock others or hurt their feelings; another frequent piece of advice addressed to the preachers of the Quranic Truth is to be gradual in asserting the Truth so that they would win more people to their side and their call and proselytization would be successful. These pieces of advice were addressed to Muhammad by the Qorayish disbelievers; they told him to compromise, as if he were the author of the Quran; God has refuted them by saying the following to Muhammad: "So do not obey the deniers. They would like you to compromise, so they would compromise. And do not obey any vile swearer. Backbiter, spreader of slander. Preventer of good, transgressor, sinner." (68:8-12). The leaders of disbelief in Qorayish knew that there is no room for compromises in the Quran and that Muhammad never preached anything besides the Quran; he never preached anything on his own or from his own mind. Yet, the same disbelievers attempted to negatively influence Muhammad, with their scheming that could eliminate mountains (see 14:46), so that he would invent from his own mind things that would please them; they would have succeeded in this evil scheme if it had not been for God's intervention: "They almost lured you away from what We have revealed to you, so that you would invent something else in Our name. In that case, they would have taken you for a friend. Had We not given you stability, you might have inclined towards them a little. Then We would have made you taste double in life, and double at death; then you would have found for yourself no helper against Us." (17:73-75). Eventually, the disbelievers of Qorayish demanded from Muhammad to change the Quran or to bring other verses as per their whims, because they disbelieved in the Quran and assumed that Muhammad is its author: "And when Our clear verses are recited to them, those who do not hope to meet Us say, "Bring a Quran other than this, or change it." Say, "It is not for me to change it of my own accord. I only follow what is revealed to me. I fear, if I disobeyed my Lord, the torment of a terrible Day." Say, "Had God willed, I would not have recited it to you, and He would not have made it known to you. I have lived among you for a lifetime before it. Do you not understand?" Who does greater wrong than someone who fabricates lies about God, or denies His Verses? The criminals will never prosper." (10:15-17)
4- After the death of Muhammad, the haters of the Quran during the Abbasid Era have fabricated countless hadiths/narratives ascribed falsely to God, His religion, and Muhammad; such falsehoods and lies are known as Sunna hadiths attributed falsely to God and to Muhammad. These are the devilish or Satanist revelations that aim to replace and supplant the Celestial Message of the Quran and to make people discard and reject the Quranic sharia legislations. Thus, the Muhammadans adhere to the myth that their books of hadiths and fiqh notions replace any Quranic verses; another part of this scheme by haters of the Quran is their distorting, twisting, and warping the meanings of the Quranic verses in their books of the so-called interpretation or exegesis. Accordingly, what was wished for a long time by the Qorayish disbelievers, as per 10:15, has been achieved later on during the Abbasid Era; such books of lies and notions of falsehoods are still dominant until now within the earthly, man-made, fabricated religions of the Muhammadans. When peaceful Muslim preachers of the Quranic Truth call and urge people to return to the Quran as the criterion and the only source of Islam, the evil clergymen of the earthly religions incarcerate and persecute them and declare them as 'infidels', 'heretics', and 'apostates' who deserve to be killed. This is why those whose hearts are sick with polytheism offer the preachers of the Quranic Truth such bad pieces of advice about gradual process of preaching and making compromises. They do not know that the preachers of the Quranic Truth seek only to gratify their Lord God to attain His approval and His grace; they never fear the blame of others when they utter the whole Truth; this verse applies to these preachers of the Quranic Truth: "...God will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him, kind towards the believers, stern with the disbelievers. They strive in the way of God, and do not fear the blame of the critic. That is the grace of God; He bestows it upon whomever He wills..." (5:54).
Secondly: there are companions/contemporaries of Muhammad with whom God is pleased and He approves of them:
We know from the Quran that during Muhammad's lifetime, some of his companions/contemporaries sought to gratify their Lord God in order to attain His approval; the Quran mentions their qualities and descriptions but not their names. We provide some examples in the points below.
1- This is about impecunious immigrants in Yathreb who sacrificed their houses and assets in Mecca as they sought to please and gratify their Lord God and to attain His approval: "To the poor immigrants who were driven out of their homes and their possessions, as they sought the favor of God and His approval, and came to the aid of God and His Messenger. These are the truthful ones." (59:8).
2- Some immigrants in Yathreb befriended and allied themselves to the Qorayish attackers and aggressors; in contrast, the true believers among the immigrants allied themselves only to God and His Messenger (i.e., the Quran), and God has promised to make them enter into Paradise: "You will not find a people who believe in God and the Last Day, loving those who oppose God and His Messenger, even if they were their parents, or their children, or their siblings, or their close relatives. These - He has inscribed faith in their hearts, and has supported them with a spirit from Him. And He will admit them into Gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will dwell forever. God is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him. These are the allies of God. Indeed, it is God's allies who are the successful." (58:22).
3- God in the Quran promises to grant His approval to those injured and wounded believers who refused the defeat during the battle of Uhud and insisted on chasing the military troops of the Qorayish aggressors: "Those who responded to God and the Messenger, despite the persecution they had suffered. For the virtuous and the pious among them is a great reward. Those to whom the people have said, "The people have mobilized against you, so fear them." But this only increased them in faith, and they said, "God is Enough for us; He is the Excellent Protector." So they came back with grace from God, and approval, and no harm having touched them. They pursued what pleases God. God possesses immense grace." (3:172-174).
4- Within the last verses revealed shortly before the death of Muhammad, God brings glad tidings of approval and Paradise to the believing immigrants who strove with their souls and their money for God's sake by serving His cause: "Those who believe, and immigrate, and strive in God's Path with their possessions and their persons, are of a higher rank with God. These are the winners. Their Lord announces to them good news of mercy from Him, and approval, and gardens wherein they will have lasting bliss. Abiding therein forever. With God is a great reward." (9:20-22).
Thirdly: there are companions/contemporaries of Muhammad who are hypocrites who hated God's approval and God's wrath has befallen them:
1- There are many Quranic verses that describe the schemes, conspiracies, reluctance, and disbelief of hypocrites inside Yathreb; God in the following verses mentions that they incurred His wrath because they hated His approval: "Those are they whom God has cursed. He made them deaf, and blinded their sight. Will they not ponder the Quran? Or are there locks upon their hearts? Those who reverted after the guidance became clear to them - Satan has enticed them, and has given them vain wishes. That is because they said to those who hated what God has revealed, "We will obey you in certain matters." But God knows their secret thoughts. How about when the angels take them at death, beating their faces and their backs? That is because they pursued what displeases God, and they disliked His approval, so He nullified their works." (47:23-28).
2- These verses are about those who were too reluctant to participate in the self-defense jihad military endeavors in Yathreb: "They will swear to you by God, when you return to them, that you may leave them alone. So leave them alone. They are a disgrace, and their destiny is Hell; a reward for what they used to earn. They will swear to you that you may approve of them. But even if you approve of them, God does not approve of the sinners." (9:95-96).
Fourthly: God's approval is available for all human beings who are willing to embrace it:
1- God says the following about those pious ones in all eras who perform many good deeds in terms of quality and quantity and they are pleased with their Lord God, and He is pleased with them, as they will enter into Paradise: "The Forerunners - the first of the immigrants and the supporters, and those who followed them within the path of righteousness. God is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him. He has prepared for them Gardens beneath which rivers flow, where they will abide forever. That is the supreme triumph." (9:100)
2- Some people are deceived by the temporary possessions and glory of this transient world and forget about the real future in the Hereafter; some other people seek only to gratify their Lord God and live within monotheism and piety as they seek the pleasures of the Eternal Paradise: "Adorned for the people is the love of desires, such as women, and children, and piles upon piles of gold and silver, and branded horses, and livestock, and fields. These are the conveniences of the worldly life, but with God lies the finest resort. Say, "Shall I inform you of something better than that? For those who are righteous, with their Lord are Gardens beneath which rivers flow, where they will remain forever, and purified spouses, and approval from God." God is Observant of the servants." (3:14-15); "Know that the worldly life is only play, and distraction, and glitter, and boasting among you, and rivalry in wealth and children. It is like a rainfall that produces plants, and delights the disbelievers. But then it withers, and you see it yellowing, and then it becomes debris. While in the Hereafter there is severe agony, and forgiveness from God, and approval. The life of this world is nothing but enjoyment of vanity." (57:20).
3- Those who follow the Quranic guidance are following God's approval and God has promised to make them enter into Paradise as per His approval that they have deserved to attain: "O People of the Book! Our messenger has come to you, clarifying for you much of what you kept hidden of the Book, and overlooking much. A Light from God has come to you, and a Clear Book. od guides with it whoever follows His approval to the ways of peace, and He brings them out of darkness into light, by His permission, and He guides them in a Straight Path." (5:15-16); "God promises the believers, men and women, gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever, and fine homes in the Gardens of Eden. But approval from God is even greater. That is the supreme achievement." (9:72); "As for those who believe and lead a righteous life - these are the best of creatures. Their reward is with their Lord: Gardens of Eternity beneath which rivers flow, where they will abide forever. God is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him. That is for whoever fears His Lord." (98:7-8). God will say the following on the Last Day: "God will say, "This is a Day when the truthful ones will benefit from their truthfulness." They will have Gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will remain forever. God is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him. That is the great attainment. " (5:119).
Lastly:
All human beings have their free will as well as their freedom of action and choice; their good deeds within piety and monotheism will make them attain God's approval as they will enjoy in Paradise for eternity; their bad deeds and lack of faith will make God's wrath befall them as they will enter into Hell for eternity, with no life, no fainting, no sleep, no lessening of torment, and no death.