One of the reasons that God choose to send His final Messenger to the Arab Nation was the sheer nobility of their outlook. That they valued both freedom and nobility of character above everything else.
Then part of the mission of the Messenger (saw) was to educate them not in what they valued, but in regards to how best to attain to that which they valued.
That is why in S YaSin they are enticed, to put into practice the Message, with a “noble reward”.
And it is for this reason that the Most Gracious explained to His Messenger (saw), that they did not reject him but rather “they reject Me”.
This is telling on two levels.
On the first level it tells us about the Most Gracious and what He values. For we know that the Quraysh recognised Allah as the same God of Abraham (as) whom they all venerated. But what they rejected was God’s call to the moral obligation to look after those less well of.
And that God equates that moral obligation with belief in Him, shows us the truth of who He is.
The Quraysh could not accept that and wished to keep their deities of intercession as a means of bolstering their tribalism, as a means of separating one man from another man on the basis of both wealth, power and lineage.
On the second level when we think deeply about it, it gives us a baseline for the nobility of our very own souls.
For if Quraysh during their opposition to the nascent call to Islam could not bring themselves to lie, and fabricate lies, then how can we allow such a thing to stain our very own characters.
Recall that the Most Gracious called those who rejected the Messenger (saw) reciting pure scripture “the worst of creatures” in S Bayyinah.
Abu Lahad, the then Chief of Bani Hashim (the clan of our Messenger (saw)), even though he hated his nephew could not bring himself to dishonour his Chieftaincy by openly acting against him. He had to be persuaded and only succumbed when it was suggested that each of the clans would be represented in the murder of the Messenger, and so he could not rightly be expected to revenge against the whole of the clans of Quraysh.
Before even this the Chiefs of Quraysh had met to deliberate what to do in regards to Muhammed (saw) and his pure and simple call to return to the Oneness of God, and the moral obligation that that entails.
And the best that they could agree upon was to call him a sorcerer, the basis for this being that he set father against son, wife against husband, and brother against brother. And even they recognised that the basis of this was paper thin, but decided to put it forth so that men would fear to listen to the mesmerising speech of the Quran.
However as declared so many times in the Quran, the truth of things will inevitably divide the people, but what better division could there be if not that.
That division is therefore a natural phenomena, even that is when we guard against it with our constant emphasis on unity.
“be not divided” means here for us to strive for unity, even that is when divisions inevitably appear. But unity of what if not based upon truth.
Quraysh could not bring themselves to fabricate lies, and put abroad calumnies.
Their innate nobility of their souls made such a thing odious to them.
And they were the worst of creatures.
Then what judgment lies in wait for those who so easily create rumours to dishonour, or cast doubts on, others?
And those who support those who do such things?
Indeed the worst of lies are those mixed with a semblance of truth to make them seem fair pleasing.
And these are the ones that are the better to destroy, cause disunity and disharmony. But the basis for this division is here not truth, but falsity.
So we see here the conundrum that truth like falsehood can cause division.
Then our need is to determine where the truth lies, and where falsehood lies.
Because the division caused by truth is a far better division to be subject to than those that are caused by falsehoods.
That is why when someone tells you a thing and it is at odds with that which you already know to be true, then you should be wary of accepting it.
And if you do then know that your honour is in jeopardy.
So we should each be careful to maintain our honours, by not falling under the sway of those people that put abroad rumours, even when they laugh and smile as if it were an amusement.
For they have no honour, and their like is as if they were worse than those of Quraysh who rejected the Messenger.
For Islam came to ennoble your soul.
So no matter how good a person appears to be, if by following him it causes you to dishonour your innate nobility, then know that he be a liar, and be free of him for the sake of your soul.
And let not the odious odour of who he is stain the very fabric of your garments.
*1 ( S Muddathir v4-6).
Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation.
Not lectures and talks, nor this above.
END
NOTES
*1 if the Most Gracious likens our spouses to our garments in His Speech, then in a like manner those that we choose to associate with are our outer garments.
What they say, and do, will inevitably stain our characters.
Contemplate Muddathir revealed with the command to the public call.
And each verse in the stanza has meaning within the context of that call.
