Page 29 - Loyalty Described in the Qur'an

The Misinterpretation of Loyalty
cording to their distorted values. For this reason, as Allah reveals in
verse 31 of Surat az-Zukhruf, they say, 'Why was this Qur'an not
sent down to one of the great men of the two cities?', and were sur-
prised that so great a mission should be imparted to the messengers

sent to them. For that alone, they rejected Allah's prophets, and
tried to impede their mission by preventing them from bringing
people to the right way. In the Qur'an, Allah gives examples of this
kind of behavior:
Their Prophet said to them, "Allah has appointed Talut to
be your king." They said, "How can he have kingship over

us when we have much more right to kingship than he
does? He has not even got much wealth!" He said, "Allah
has chosen him over you and favored him greatly in knowl-
edge and physical strength. Allah gives kingship to anyone
He wills. Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing." (Surat
al-Baqara, 247)
They desire to see in the prophets a trait of superiority, corre-
sponding to their own false expectations. But these same expecta-
tions prevent them from understanding the true superiority to be
found in prophets, that is, superiority "in knowledge and physical

strength," that Allah has granted them. They do not grasp the
virtue and superiority of the prophets sent to them, and, therefore,
persistently turn their backs to their call. In the verse quoted
below, Allah tells us that this is the only reason for their not believ-
ing in the prophets:
Nothing prevents people from having faith when guidance

comes to them but the fact that they say, "Has Allah sent a
human being as messenger?" (Surat al-Isra', 94)

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