WILAYAH NEWS VOICE OF THE GLOBAL AWAKENING
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Divine (Unseen) Intervention to Correct Social Deviation
When we examine the verses of the Noble Qur’an, we find indications of intervention by the Hand of the Unseen to prevent movements of societal deviation from dominating human reality, and of unseen intervention in many instances to correct the course of human society.
Among the events the Qur’an mentions in relation to correcting societal trajectories are the stories of the people of Noah, the people of Lot, the people of Hud, and the people of Salih—communities that God Almighty destroyed because they had become a cause of absolute corruption and showed no readiness for reform. This stands in contrast to the people of Jonah, whom God pardoned after they sincerely repented to Him. The Qur’an also speaks of the parting of the sea for the people of Moses (peace be upon him) to save them, and the drowning of Pharaoh and his army—where the divine retribution did not encompass all Egyptians, but was limited to the apex of power, its military forces, and those who followed Pharaoh when he called upon his people to exterminate the Children of Israel. This pertains to direct divine intervention in addressing deviation.
As for indirect intervention, God—exalted is His name—has made clear that, by His will and dominion, He moves human society toward curbing deviant movements, even if that society does not ultimately eliminate such deviation. He, exalted is He, says:
“And such days We alternate among the people so that God may know those who believe and may take from among you martyrs; and God does not love the wrongdoers.”
And He says:
“Those who have been expelled from their homes without right—only because they say, ‘Our Lord is God.’ And were it not that God repels some people by means of others, monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques wherein God’s name is much mentioned would surely have been destroyed. And God will surely aid those who aid Him. Indeed, God is Strong, Mighty.”
And He, exalted is He, says:
“If only the people of the towns had believed and been mindful (of God), We would have opened for them blessings from the heavens and the earth; but they denied, so We seized them for what they used to earn.”
And He says:
“Indeed, they are devising a plot, and I too am devising a plan. So give respite to the disbelievers—leave them for a little while.”
And He says:
“And they plotted, and God plotted; and God is the best of plotters.”
This is with respect to social movement.
The Unseen and the Individual’s Future
With regard to the individual dimension, one of the clearest proofs of the role of divine decree in shaping a human being’s material future is found in Surah Yusuf (peace be upon him). It speaks of what God Almighty decreed for Joseph’s future, when He showed him in a dream that eleven stars, and the sun and the moon, were prostrating to him. Joseph then told his father of the vision, and Jacob (peace be upon him) informed him of the great future awaiting him, and that this future would be a continuation of the path of the Prophet Abraham and Isaac (peace be upon them), and a step toward completing God’s favor upon the House of Jacob.
When we look broadly at Joseph’s story, we find that Surah Yusuf highlights three matters: that every human being is created to be tested, to be a means by which others are tested, and that through him God brings about what He wills. Joseph (peace be upon him) became a test for his brothers, and they failed the trial; he became a test for the wife of al-‘Aziz, and she failed the trial; and he became a test for the ‘Aziz of Egypt, who failed the trial by imprisoning him unjustly. He was also a test for his fellow prisoners, for the people of Egypt, for human society, and for the idol-worshippers—and Joseph, too, was tested by all of them. Yet he pardoned his brothers, and the wife of al-‘Aziz, and the women of the city’s notables; he saved human society from perishing by famine; and he called to the worship of God with wisdom and good counsel. Among what God realized through Joseph (peace be upon him) was the spread of monotheism throughout Egypt and the migration of the House of Jacob (peace be upon him) from the Syrian desert to Egypt, so that they might learn urban life and the affairs of administration—becoming the nucleus of a monotheistic state under Joshua son of Nun (peace be upon him) after the wandering, and after the deaths of Moses and Aaron (peace be upon them).
A similar meaning is found in the wife of al-‘Aziz, through whom God brought about a sign of Joseph’s (peace be upon him) truthfulness—after He restored her youth following old age—and in the king’s cupbearer, who informed the king that he knew someone who could interpret his dream, thus becoming a means for Joseph’s release from prison and for him to fulfill his role in saving society from famine. Joseph’s closeness to the king of Egypt also had an important role in the future of the call to monotheism and the rejection of idol worship.
