79. The Prophet (peace be on him) is told that he should not be unnerved even if the evil ones among both mankind and the jinn stood united against him and opposed him with all their might. For this was not the first time that such a thing had happened. Whenever a Prophet came and tried to lead people to the Truth, all the satanic forces joined hands to defeat his mission. 'Specious talk' signifies all the trickery and manoeuvring to which the enemy resorts, all his efforts aimed at sowing doubts about Islam and undermining people's faith in it, so as to arouse them against both the Prophet (peace be on him) and his message. Taken as a whole, these are characterized as 'delusion', for the weapons used in their crusade by the opponents of the Truth have the effect of deluding others as well as themselves, no matter how beneficial and successful those weapons may appear to be.
80. Furthermore, we should always bear in mind that, according to the Qur'an,
there is a tremendous difference between 'God's will' and 'God's good pleasure'.
The failure to differentiate between the two often gives rise to serious misconceptions.
If a certain thing takes place in accord with the universal will of God, and
thus by His sanction, that does not necessarily mean that God is pleased with
it. Nothing at all takes place in the world unless God permits it to take place,
unless He makes it a part of His scheme, and unless He makes it possible for
that event to take place by creating its necessary conditions. The act of stealing
on the part of a thief, the act of homicide on the part of a murderer, the wrong
and corruption of the wrong-doer and the corrupt, the unbelief of the unbeliever
and the polytheism of the polytheist - none of these are possible without the
will of God. Likewise, the faith of the believer and the piety of the pious
are inconceivable without the will of God. In short, both these require the
will of God. But whereas the things in the first category do not please Him,
those in the second do.
Even though the will of God is oriented to ultimate good, the course of the
realization of that good is paved with conflict between the forces of light
and darkness, of good and evil, of what is sound and pure on the one hand and
what is corrupt and defiled on the other. With larger interests in view, God
has endowed man with the disposition of obedience as well as of disobedience.
He has created in man Abrahamic and Mosaic as well as Nimrodic and Pharaonic
potentialities. Both the pure, unadulterated human nature and the satanic urges
are ingrained in man's being and have been provided with the opportunity to
work themselves out by coming into conflict with each other. He has granted
those species of His creatures who are possessed of authority (viz. man and
jinn) the freedom to choose between good and evil. Whosoever chooses to act
righteously has been given the power to do so, and the same is the case with
him who chooses to be evil. People of both categories are in a position to use
material resources within the framework of the broader considerations underlying
God's- governance of His universe. God will be pleased, however, only with those
who are working for good. God likes His creatures to exercise their freedom
of choice properly and commit themselves to good of their own volition.
Unlike the angels, who carry out God's commands without resistance from any
quarter, the task entrusted to men is to strive to establish the way of life
sanctioned by God in the face of opposition and hostility from evil-doers and
rebels against Him. In the framework of His universal will, God allows even
those who have chosen the path of rebellion to strive for the realization of
their goals, even as He grants the believers every opportunity to strive along
the path of obedience and service to God. Despite this granting of freedom and
choice to all there is no doubt that God is pleased with, and guides, directs,
supports and strengthens the believers alone because their overall direction
is to His liking. Nevertheless, they should not expect that by His supernatural
intervention God will either force those who are disinclined to believe into
believing or that He will forcibly remove the satanic forces - among both men
and jinn - who are resolved to spare neither their mental and physical energy
nor their material resources to impede the triumph of the Truth. Those determined
to strive in the cause of the Truth, and of virtue and righteousness are told
that they must prove their earnest devotion by waging a fierce struggle against
the devotees of falsehood. For had God wanted to use miracles to obliterate
falsehood and usher in the reign of the Truth, He would not have required human
beings to accomplish the task. He could have simply seen to it that no evil
one remained in the world, leaving no possibility for polytheism and unbelief
to exist.