(Verses 28 - 32)

An Analogy Drawn from Human Life
 
When the human heart has seen God’s great signs, gone over such horizons and looked at such a great variety of situations, the sūrah then changes the tone of its address: He sets you this comparison, drawn from your own life. Would you have some of those whom your right hands possess as partners in whatever We may have bestowed on you as sustenance, so that you all would have equal shares in it, and you would fear them just as you might fear one another? Thus clearly do We spell out revelations for people who use their reason. (Verse 28) This comparison is drawn for people who used to associate partners with God. All the more so when such alleged partners are part of His creation, be they jinn, angels, idols, trees, etc. People themselves do not accept that their slaves have any share in their property. Indeed, they will not treat their slaves as equal to them in any sense. Thus, this situation is singular indeed. They make some of God’s creatures partners with Him when He alone is the Creator and the Provider for all. Furthermore, they refuse to accept their slaves as partners in their property when their property is given to them by God who creates it. The contradiction in their attitude is stark indeed.
 
This comparison is stated in detail, step by step: “He sets you this comparison, drawn from your own life.” You do not need to travel or make an effort to contemplate it. “Would you have some of those whom your right hands possess as partners in whatever We may have bestowed on you as sustenance, so that you all would have equal shares in it?” You do not accept that your slaves have even a small share of your provisions, let alone that they be equal to you. “And you would fear them just as you might fear one another?” You look at them in the same way as you look at partners who are free men, fearing that they might be unfair to you, or that you be unfair to them. Although none of this happens, you still suggest that it applies to God when His are the most sublime attributes in the heavens and the earth. It is a simple comparison that admits no contradiction or dispute because it is based on simple logic: “Thus clearly do We spell out revelations for people who use their reason.” (Verse 28)
 
The sūrah now exposes the basic reason behind this anomaly. Essentially, it is due to following one’s own desires without reasonable basis or proper thought: “Nay, but the wrongdoers follow their own desires, without having any knowledge. Who could guide those whom God has let go astray? They shall have none to support them.” (Verse 29) Desire has no control, since it is merely based on people’s whims, fleeting passions, fears, hopes and cravings that have no rightful basis and no proper limit. This is a case of error that lacks any correcting guidance: “Who could guide those whom God has let go astray?” They go astray because they follow their own desires. “They shall have none to support them.” (Verse 29)
 
Concluding Directive
 
Now the sūrah directs the Prophet to remain steady in following the divine faith which is consistent and based on the pure nature God has given to people. It is a single faith that cannot be pulled in different directions, like the unbelievers who were divided into groups and factions according to their desires. Set your face steadily towards the true faith, turning away from all that is false, in accordance with the natural disposition which God has installed into man. Nothing can change God’s creation. Such is the ever-true faith; but most people do not know it. Turn, all of you, to Him, and remain God-fearing. Attend regularly to prayer and do not be among those who associate partners with God, those who have broken the unity of their faith and have become sects, each group delighted with what they hold. (Verses 30-32) This directive to follow the true faith is given at the right time and the proper place, following the great round of signs drawn from the universe and the human soul. It thus addresses hearts that are ready to receive it, while those that have followed deviant beliefs find all their arguments devoid of substance. They stand alone without support. This is the powerful authority that is the Qur’ān and which no heart or mind can resist.
 
“Set your face steadily towards the true faith, turning away from all that is false,” and move straight towards it, for it protects you from the influence of divergent desires that have no right basis and which rely on no true knowledge. They are subject only to whim and passion, lacking control or evidence. When you set your face steadily towards true faith, you turn away from everything else. This is “in accordance with the natural disposition which God has installed into man.” (Verse 30) Thus the sūrah links human nature with the nature of this faith. Both are made by God, in accordance with the law of existence; both are mutually harmonious in their natures and objectives. It is God who has created man and revealed this religion so that it can regulate human life and conduct its affairs, healing man of ills and deviation. God certainly knows best what He has created. Human nature is set on a firm basis, and so is divine religion. “Nothing can change God’s creation.” When people deviate from the proper path of nature, only divine religion turns them back to it, since it is in full harmony with both human and universal nature. “Such is the ever-true faith; but most people do not know it.” Because they do not know, they follow their desires and deviate from the true path that leads to true happiness.
 
Although this directive to set his face towards the right faith is given to the Prophet, it is meant for all believers. Therefore, the sūrah continues its directives, explaining the meaning of setting one’s face towards the right faith: “Turn, all of you, to Him, and remain God- fearing. Attend regularly to prayer and do not be among those who associate partners with God, those who have broken the unity of their faith and have become sects, each group delighted with what they hold.” (Verses 31-32) This means turning to God and referring to Him in all matters. This is what it is to be God-fearing, alert to what pleases Him in all that we do, whether in public or in private. It also means attending regularly to our prayer in full devotion to God. It means, above all, believing firmly in His absolute oneness, which is the characteristic that distinguishes believers from unbelievers.
 
The sūrah describes the unbelievers as “those who have broken the unity of their faith and have become sects.” (Verse 32) Unbelief and associating partners with God may take many forms and patterns. Some unbelievers consider the jinn to be God’s partners, others associate the angels, some their forefathers, while others take kings, rulers, priests, rabbis, trees, stones, planets, stars, the fire, night and day, false values, desires, and the like as partners with God. The forms and patterns are unending, yet “each group is delighted with what they hold.” (Verse 32) Meanwhile, the true faith is one, unchanging and undivided. It leads its followers towards God alone, at whose command the skies and the earth are set firm, and to whom belong all those who are in the heavens and the earth. All devoutly submit themselves to Him.