Surah Hud (Hud) 11 : 52

Explanatory Note

Hūd indeed gave his people the same promise and the same warning as Muĥammad did thousands of years later.
To seek God’s forgiveness and to repent of one’s sins opens a new page and sets for people a new way to follow, where good intentions are translated into good actions. Their reward, then, will be abundant. They will have the rain they need for their farms and animals. They will prosper and have great harvests as a result of the abundant rain. Their strength, for which they were renowned, would certainly increase. The only thing which may withhold all this is their own attitude if they choose to turn away from God and accuse His messenger of fabrication.

Reflecting on Hūd’s promise we note that it relates to rain and strength. How can these depend on seeking God’s forgiveness and repenting of one’s sins, when they are directly influenced by the natural laws which operate in the universe?

As far as the increase in strength is concerned, the explanation is easy. When people purify their hearts and commit themselves to good action, they inevitably add to their strength. They enjoy better health because they eat in moderation and their diet is free from harmful things. Their consciences are relaxed, free of tension; they have confidence in God and His mercy. Their social life is also healthier because they implement God’s law which ensures man’s freedom and dignity. They maintain their equality in front of God. Besides, faith taps the resources of all those who contribute to man’s task of building the earth, without the deviation of false gods.
False deities need from their promoters and worshippers, at times, an acknowledgement that they have or exercise some of God’s attributes, such as ability, knowledge, might or mercy. Only then do people submit to them. The lordship claimed by false deities needs to be coupled with godhead so that it can control people. All this requires sustained effort. It also requires that believers who submit themselves to God alone exert great effort to establish the truth and counter the effects of the promotion of such false deities.

People who do not implement God’s laws in their lives may be powerful, but their power is only temporary. It will eventually collapse, according to God’s laws, because it is not based on solid foundations. Such power is derived from only one side of natural law, such as hard work, discipline and a high standard of production. But these do not last. The fact that the social order and the spiritual side of life are not well founded will bring about their collapse.

Rain, on the other hand, seems to occur according to natural phenomena. This does not however preclude that rain may be beneficial in a certain time and place while it is harmful and destructive in others. God may decide to give life through rain to a certain people, or make rain the undoing of others. He may, if He chooses, fulfil His promises as well as His warnings through the manipulation of natural phenomena. After all, He is the Creator of these phenomena, and the Creator of both cause and effect. His will remains free and absolute. He accomplishes His purpose in whatever way He chooses.