Page 76 - Communication and Argument in the Qur'an

74 COMMUNICATION AND ARGUMENT IN THE QUR’AN

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b believe you, when [only] the vilest people follow you?”
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(Surat ash-Shu‘ara’: 111).
Allah tells us about these people in another verse:
When they are told: “Believe in the way that the people
believe,” they exclaim: “What! Are we to believe in the
way that fools believe?” No indeed! They are the fools,
but they do not know it. (Surat al-Baqara: 13)
Their emotional and excessive reaction, which they
openly display by insulting the intelligence of those believ-
ers who invite them to practice religious morality, shows
how really base they are. Nuh (as) tells about the reaction
of such people:
(Nuh said: “My Lord,) indeed, every time I called them
to Your forgiveness, they put their fingers in their ears,
wrapped themselves up in their clothes, and were
overweeningly arrogant.” (Surah Nuh: 7)
We can see that unbelievers have various reactions to
what they are told; however, none of their reactions are
respectful or mature. As we shall now see, these reactions
are sometimes beyond the pale of acceptable behavior.
2. Threats and violence
The most negative reactions come from those referred
to in the Qur’an as the “ruling circle of society lapsed into
unbelief.” These prominent people, who exercise econom-
ic and political power, realize that the religion being
preached threatens their vested interests and continued
dominance.