Venerable and Deified Clergymen of the Muhammadans Are, in Fact, Criminals in the Sight of the Lord God – PART IV
Published in March 2, 2020
Translated by: Ahmed Fathy
Venerable and Deified Clergymen of the Muhammadans Are, in Fact, Criminals in the Sight of the Lord God – PART III
Getting to Know the Big Criminals, or Rulers and Clergymen, By Pondering on this Quranic Verse: "Thus We explain the Verses and expose the path of the criminals." (6:55)
Firstly: "The criminals will be recognized by their marks..." (55:41):
1- Of course, the Quranic verse 55:41 is about the criminals who will enter into Hell on the Resurrection Day. As per deeds and faith of the human souls, the radiant ones who will enter into Paradise are contrasted with blackened ones who will enter into Hell: "On the Day when some faces will be whitened, and some faces will be blackened. As for those whose faces are blackened: “Did you disbelieve after your belief?” Then taste the torment for having disbelieved. But as for those whose faces are whitened: they are in God’s mercy, remaining in it forever." (3:106-107).
2- The Divine, Celestial Book is the Light of guidance; we read the following about the Quran itself: "O people! A proof has come to you from your Lord, and We sent down to you a clear Light." (4:174); "...A Light from God has come to you and a clear Book." (5:15).
3- As for those who follow the Divine, Celestial Book, God's Word is for them made as their Criterion to differentiate the Truth from falsehoods; this fact is mentioned in the direct address here to all monotheists: "O you who believe! If you remain conscious of God within piety, He will give you a Criterion, and will remit from you your sins, and will forgive you. God is possessor of infinite grace." (8:29). In other words, those who obey and apply the Holy Quran as the Only Discourse in Islam will see that the Holy Quran is their Light in this world and the next one: "O you who believe! Fear God within piety, and believe in His Messenger: He will give you a double portion of His mercy, and will give you a Light by which you walk, and will forgive you. God is Forgiving and Merciful." (57:28). Those polytheists who believe in other discourses instead of, or alongside with, the Quran itself are walking in darknesses while assuming they are doing very well; our readers should ponder deeply on the following comparison: "Is he who was dead, then We gave him life, and made for him a Light by which he walks among the people, like he who is amidst darknesses, and cannot get out of them? Thus the deeds of disbelievers are made to appear good to them." (6:122).
4- The Divine, Celestial Book of the Lord God is the basis of guidance and Light; in contrast, the devilish hadiths/discourses/narratives are the bases of misguidance and darknesses in this world; the following is about ordinary disbelievers/criminals: "And faces on that Day will be covered with misery. Overwhelmed by remorse. These are the disbelievers, the criminals." (80:40-42). The following is about the big criminals who are arrogant, misguided/misguiding disbelievers (among jinn and human beings) who misguided others by ascribing lies to the Lord God and to His Religion: "On the Day of Resurrection, you will see those who attributed lies to God with their faces blackened. Is there not a place in Hell for the arrogant?" (39:60).
5- Hence, in this world, it is made clear to monotheists who believe in the Quran that the big criminals are ''venerable'' and deified clergymen/sheikhs who spread and propagate their fancy words or distracting tales/lies/hadiths in order to repel others from the Path of the Lord God: the Quran: "Among the people is he who trades in distracting tales; intending, without knowledge, to lead away from God’s Path, and to make a mockery of it. These will have a humiliating torment. And when Our Verses are read to him, he turns away in arrogance, as though he did not hear them, as though there is deafness in his ears. So inform him of a painful torment." (31:6-7). The Quranic expression (among the people) means that this applies to all eras; i.e., such big criminals who are the clergymen of Satan exist in all eras; their trade in misguiding, distracting discourses is prosperous and they enjoy fame, wealth, and stature; this is why (A) sales of Al-Bokhary book of hadiths and its likes are very high among the Muhammadans, (B) the wealth of clergymen of Satan is immense and their salaries are very high, and (C) such clergymen of Satan misuse and manipulate the media and houses of worship (e.g., mosques) to spread and propagate their misguidance.
6- Most people in all eras are misguided, errant polytheists who never ponder or understand: "And most of them do not believe in God unless within polytheism." (12:106). Hence, those famous, wealthy clergymen of Satan are big criminals who engage in the devilish trade of distracting, misguiding discourses, and sadly, they are being deified and venerated by their masses/followers who are ordinary criminals/disbelievers/polytheists. For the masses, such clergymen are 'venerable', but they are despised by the Lord God as per the following Quranic verses: "And relate to them the story of him to whom We delivered Our Verses, but he detached himself from them, so Satan went after him, and he became one of the misguiding ones. Had We willed, We could have elevated him through them; but he clung to the ground, and followed his desires. His metaphor is that of a dog: if you chase it, it pants; and if you leave it alone, it pants. Such is the metaphor of the people who deny Our Verses. So relate the stories so that they may ponder." (7:175-176). Of course, the disbelieving, polytheistic masses never ponder and they still deify and venerate these dogs or big criminals who have honorific titles such as 'Grand Imam', 'the reverend sheikh', and 'Ayatollah'.
7- Hence, the Quranic 55:41 is not confined to the Hereafter; it is about this transient world too.
Secondly: within Quranic stories of the ancient nations:
1- The Quranic stories offers useful lessons to be drawn by monotheists: "Everything We narrate to you of the history of the messengers is to strengthen your heart therewith. The Truth has come to you in this, and a lesson, and a reminder for the believers." (11:120). The lesson to be drawn from the Lord God's description of disbelievers as (criminals) is that the qualification of criminals apply to certain unjust people in all eras; we can thus recognize the big criminals in our era; those of our era and those in the past eras are similar to one another; they have arrogantly turned away when they have been warned and preached by the Lord God's Verses.
2- The description (criminals) comes in the Quranic stories in general to qualify the ancient nations destroyed by the Lord God.
2/1: "Before you, We sent messengers to their people. They came to them with clear proofs. Then We took revenge on the sinful criminals. It is incumbent on Us to help the believers." (30:47).
2/2: "Until, when the messengers have despaired, and thought that they were rejected, Our help came to them. We save whomever We will, and Our wrath is not averted from the criminal people." (12:110).
2/3: "We destroyed generations before you when they did wrong. Their messengers came to them with clear signs, but they would not believe. Thus We requite the criminal people." (10:13).
2/4: "Are they better, or the people of Tubba and those before them? We annihilated them. They were criminals." (44:37).
3- The Lord God urges monotheists to learn and draw lessons from what happened to the criminals of the ancient nations by roaming the earth and examining the remnants of their civilizations: "Say, travel through the earth and observe the fate of the criminals.”" (27:69).
4- Within the details of the Quranic stories of the ancient nations destroyed by the Lord God, we see their description as (criminals).
This is about Hud and his people of Aad: "“O my people, ask forgiveness from your Lord, and repent to Him. He will release the sky pouring down upon you, and will add strength to your strength. And do not turn away like the criminals.”" (11:52); "It will destroy everything by the command of its Lord. And when the morning came upon them, there was nothing to be seen except their dwellings. Thus We requite the criminal people." (46:25).
This is about the people of Lot: "And We rained down on them a rain; note the consequences for the criminals." (7:84); "They said, “We are sent to a criminal people.”" (51:32).
This is about Shuaib and his people of Madian: "“O my people, let not your criminal hostility towards me cause you to suffer what was suffered by the people of Noah, or the people of Hud, or the people of Saleh. The people of Lot are not far away from you.”" (11:89).
This is about Moses, Moses' Pharaoh, and Moses' Pharaoh's people: "He said, “My Lord, in as much as you have favored me, I will never be a supporter of the criminals.”" (28:17); "Then, after them, We sent Moses and Aaron with Our proofs to Pharaoh and his dignitaries. But they acted arrogantly. They were criminal people." (10:75); "So We let loose upon them the flood, and the locusts, and the lice, and the frogs, and blood - all explicit signs - but they were too arrogant. They were criminal people." (7:133); "He appealed to his Lord: “These are criminal people.”" (44:22).
The meaning of their description as (criminals) after their destruction:
1- Revenge is bound to be exacted on the unjust criminals: "Who commits a graver injustice than he, who, when reminded of his Lord’s Verses, turns away from them? We will certainly wreak vengeance upon the criminals." (32:22).
2- Warning and preaching is of vital importance to save a given society from destruction caused by the affluent, corrupt elite who are the big criminals: "If only there were, among the generations before you, people with wisdom, who spoke against corruption on earth - except for the few whom We saved. But the unjust ones pursued the luxuries they were indulged in, and thus became criminals." (11:116).
Within the Quranic stories contemporary with the lifetime of Muhammad:
1- The Quran is the basis as it indicates the Truth and refutes falsehoods; this is why the big criminals hate the Quran.
1/1: "In order to confirm the Truth and nullify falsehood, even though the criminals dislike it." (8:8).
1/2: "“And God upholds the Truth with His words, even though the criminals detest it.”" (10:82).
1/3: This is why the big criminals hate the Quran: "Who commits a graver injustice than someone who fabricates lies about God, or denies His Verses? The criminals will never prosper." (10:17).
1/4: The big criminals accused Muhammad of the crime/sin of fabricating/authoring the Quran though they are the sinners/criminals: "Or do they say, “He made it up?” Say, “If I made it up, upon me falls my crime, and I am innocent of the crimes you commit.”" (11:35).
2- They are threatened here: "If they accuse you of lying, say, “Your Lord is Possessor of infinite mercy, but His wrath cannot be averted from the criminal people.”" (6:147).
3- Their hastening the infliction of torment was their way to ridicule the Quran, and the Lord God describes them as (criminals) here: "Say, “Have you considered? If His torment overtakes you by night or by day, what part of it will the criminals seek to hasten?”" (10:50).
4- The hypocrites have followed the same path and they deserve the same description of being disbelievers and criminals: "If you ask them, they will say, “We were just joking and playing.” Say, “Were you making jokes about God, His Verses, and His Messenger?” Do not apologize. You have disbelieved after your belief. If We pardon some of you, We will torment others, because they are criminals." (9:65-66).
Lastly: the criminals on the Last Day:
1- The Lord God warns, in the Quran, those criminals who witnessed the revelation of the Quran but rejected it and also those generations of criminals who disbelieve in it in all eras later on.
1/1: This is about their rejection of, and disbelief in, the Quran: "But as for those who disbelieved: “Were My Verses not read to you? But you turned arrogant and were criminal people.”" (45:31).
1/2: Their rejection of, and disbelief in, the Quranic Discourse means that they believe in other discourses (e.g., Al-Bokhary book of hadiths) instead of, or alongside with, the Quran: "“Eat and enjoy yourselves a little; you are indeed criminals.” Woe on that Day to the deniers. And when it is said to them, “Prostrate”, they do not prostrate. Woe on that Day to the deniers. In what discourse, beyond this, will they believe?" (77:46-50).
2- In this proclamation, Lord God warns here beforehand all big criminals (i.e., rulers and clergymen) in all eras and regions and within all human communities until the end of days: "And you inhabited the homes of those who wronged themselves, and it became clear to you how We dealt with them, and We cited for you the examples. They made their schemes, but their schemes are known to God, even if their schemes can eliminate mountains. Do not ever think that God will break His promise to His messengers. God is Strong, Able to Avenge. On the Day when the earth is changed into another earth, and the heavens, and they will emerge before God, the One, the Dominant Lord. On that Day, you will see the criminals bound together in chains. Their garments made of tar, and the Fire covering their faces. That God may repay each soul according to what it has earned. God is Quick in Judgment. This is a proclamation for the humankind, that they may be warned thereby, and know that He is One God, and that people of understanding may remember." (14:45-52).
3- The previous points are some details within pondering this Quranic verse: "Thus We explain the Verses and expose the path of the criminals." (6:55).