Surah Yunus, Ayah 107

The Command to worship Allah Alone and rely upon Him

Allah, the Exalted, says to His Messenger, Muhammad , `Say: O mankind! If you are in doubt about the correctness of that which I have been sent with the Hanif (monotheism) religion - the religion which Allah has revealed to me -- then know that I do not worship those whom you worship besides Allah. Rather, I worship Allah alone, ascribing no partners to Him. He is the One Who causes you to die just as He gives you life. Then, unto Him is your final return. If the gods that you call upon are real, I still refuse to worship them. So call upon them and ask them to harm me, and you will see that they can bring no harm or benefit. The only One Who holds the power of harm and benefit in His Hand is Allah alone, Who has no partners.'

In the seventh verse (98), the heedless deniers of truth have been admonished for their failure to make the optimum use of the time of life allowed to them. There was still time for them to leave denial and contumacy. Otherwise, an ominous time was due to come when they will make Taubah but their Taubah will not be accepted. They will say that they believed but their belief will not be welcome. And that time will be the time when the punishment of the Hereafter will appear right before their eyes at the time of death. It was in this connection that an event relating to Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) and his people was mentioned - that has good counsels and great lessons in it.

Death testifies to the fact that man is completely powerless in this world. Death proves all those things false, on the strength of which man opts for the way of arrogance and denial of God. Death introduces man, on the one hand, to his helplessness and on the other to God’s majestic power. It shows that in this world there is nobody who has the power to grant benefits or inflict harm. If a man has a mind capable of learning lessons from events, then the event of death is enough to reform him. It makes a man a perfect worshipper of God. A time comes for every man when, helpless, he surrenders himself to death. Similarly, it is not within the power of any man, whether it concerns benefit or harm, to cause things to happen as he wants. He receives the desired benefit in any case; and remains safe from undesirable harm in any case. This state of affair shows that man is a powerless creature: he lives in a world where there is some Being who rules over him.