Surah As-Sajdah, Ayah 4

Allah is the Creator and Controller of the Universe

Allah tells us that He is the Creator of all things. He created the heavens and earth and all that is between them in six days, then He rose over the Throne -- we have already discussed this matter elsewhere.

مَا لَكُمْ مِّن دُونِهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلاَ شَفِيعٍ

(You have none, besides Him, as a protector or an intercessor) means, only He is the Sovereign Who is in control of all affairs, the Creator of all things, the Controller of all things, the One Who is able to do all things. There is no Creator besides Him, no intercessor except the one to whom He gives permission.

أَفَلاَ تَتَذَكَّرُونَ

(Will you not then remember) -- this is addressed to those who worship others apart from Him and put their trust in others besides Him -- exalted and sanctified and glorified be He above having any equal, partner, supporter, rival or peer, there is no God or Lord except Him.

يُدَبِّرُ الاٌّمْرَ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ إِلَى الاٌّرْضِ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ

(He directs the command from the heavens to the earth; then it will go up to Him,) means, His command comes down from above the heavens to the furthest boundary of the seventh earth. This is like the Ayah,

اللَّهُ الَّذِى خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَـوَتٍ وَمِنَ الاٌّرْضِ مِثْلَهُنَّ يَتَنَزَّلُ الاٌّمْرُ بَيْنَهُنَّ

(It is Allah Who has created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof. The command descends between them, ) (65:12) Deeds are raised up to the place of recording above the lowest heaven. The distance between heaven and earth is the distance of five hundred years traveling, and the thickness of the heaven is the distance of five hundred years. Mujahid, Qatadah and Ad-Dahhak said, "The distance covered by the angel when he descends or ascends is the distance of five hundred years, but he covers it in the blink of an eye." Allah says:

فِى يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ ذَٰلِكَ عَـٰلِمُ ٱلْغَيْبِ وَٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

(in one Day, the measurement of which is a thousand years of your reckoning. That is He, the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen,) meaning, He is controlling all these affairs. He sees all that His servants do, and all their deeds, major and minor, significant and insignificant, ascend to Him. He is the Almighty Who has subjugated all things to His control, and to Whom everybody submits, and He is Most Merciful to His believing servants. He is Almighty in His mercy and Most Merciful in His might. This is perfection: might combined with mercy and mercy combined with might, for He is Merciful without any hint of weakness.

Commentary

At this place, the word: نَّذِيرٍ (nadhir: warner) in: مَّا أَتَاهُم مِّن نَّذِيرٍ (to whom no warner has come.. -3)means a rasul or messenger.The sense is that no messenger had appeared amidst the Quraish of Makkah before the Holy Prophet t. This does not mean that the call of the messengers had just not reached them until that time, because it was clearly said in another verse of the Qur'an: وَإِن مِّنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلَّا خَلَا فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ (And there was no community without a warner having passed among them - 35:24). In this verse, (i.e. the verse 35:24) the word: نَّذِيرٍ (warner) appears in its general lexical sense, that is, one who calls people towards Allah, whether a messenger or prophet or one of their deputies, khali'fah or the ` alim of din. So, from this verse, it seems that the call of pure monotheism (tauhid) had reached all communities and groups. That is correct in its place and certainly the dictate of universal Divine mercy. Commentator Abu Hayyan says that the call to tauhid and 'iman has never ceased in any time or place or people. And wherever a long time passed after the appearance of a prophet, it resulted in the dearth of those having the knowledge of the legacy of prophethood. Thereupon, some new prophet or messenger was sent. This requires that the call to tauhid should have reached the Arab peoples definitely, and much earlier. But, for this it is not necessary that the call should have been brought in by some prophet or messenger in person. It is possible that it may have reached through the learned serving as deputies to the prophetic mission. Therefore, the verses of this Surah, Surah Ya Sin and others which prove that no nadhir (warner) had appeared amidst the Quraish of Arabia before the Holy Prophet ﷺ must be approached with the necessary consideration that the word: نَّذِيرٍ (nadhir) used there should mean a prophet and messenger in the technical sense denoting that no prophet and messenger had come amidst those people before the Holy Prophet ﷺ - even though, the call to tauhid and 'iman may have reached there too through other means.

On the face of it, this is an ordinary statement consisting of just a few words. But this is a very serious and portentous claim, which in the entire history of religion, nobody has had the courage to profess, except those chosen few to whom the Book of God was in actuality revealed. Other than the appointed person, anyone who mustered the audacity to utter these words, was either a trifler or a madman. The Quran is a proof in itself. Its miraculous style, its claims that have not been proved wrong even after centuries have elapsed,—all these and similar considerations prove that it is a book sent by God. And since it is a book of God, it is absolutely necessary that everybody should pay heed to its warnings and gives serious thought to them.