These People of the Book reached the degree of wickedness, where they did not hesitate to interpolate the Divine Revelation to satisfy their desires and to attain wealth, adding to the Book what Allaah^-SWT had not revealed while concealing or obliterating what He actually had. A person so overwhelmed by his desires that he fabricates lies about Allah^-SWT, how can he be expected to spare Allah^-SWT's Prophets^-AS and Messengers^{A S}and be fair to them? To expect this from him is foolishness. The gravest of sins is to fabricate lies against Allah^-SWT; to say things, which Allaah^-SWT has never revealed. An example of the same is the selling of religious verdict. A person who for the sake of wealth can pass a judgment over ruling fairness and truth can commit any sort of crime. But remember such wrongdoers can never end up in goodness, as the outcome of sin is the darkening of hearts and vitiation of faith. In fact, it would be a scene when on the Day of Judgment, in the presence of everyone, Allaah^-SWT will ask the polytheists where the deities they had taken as gods were. According to Commentators, the People of Book being discussed here are those who had distorted Allaah^-SWT Revelations to attain wealth or power or satiation of vain desires. In other words, they worshipped not Allaah^-SWT but the very motive for which they fabricated lies in the name of truth.

The Hidden Polytheism

In this form of polytheism in which people apparently do Sajdah before Allah^-SWT, but seek lo attain some temporal gain. Those so-called Muslims who have adopted so many customs and rituals in the name of Islam must learn a lesson from this Ayah. In the Indo-Pak subcontinent, many rituals originating purely from Hinduism are being spread in the name of Islam among ignorant Muslims. But in the Court of Allaah^-SWT neither deception nor any excuse will work, though they will swear that they were not polytheists. Whereas they had actually attached the Divine Attributes to different entities in the world; to some for having children, to others for attaining wealth and yet to others for alleviation of hardships or for worldly facilitation. This they believed to be a fair distribution of the. Divine Attributes, just as the Christians indulge in polytheism and yet claim to be the People of the Book. On the Final Day when the matter is clarified that neither any Prophet"^-AS    nor any Wali nor a pious person ever claimed divinity, nor did they preach it, rather it was all the invention of their followers* souls, the latter will have no answer. After much deliberation they will swear upon Allaah^-SWT that they were not polytheists. Allaah^-SWT announces: "Look they are denying their own conduct when everything is clear to them."

They could have understood these facts in their lifetimes if only they had believed in the Holy Prophet'^-SW and had faith in his^-SW teachings. But unfortunately they had been blinded by their vain desires. The polytheists of his time listened to him^-SW and indeed listened very carefully. It is human nature to admire beauty. Particularly when Allaah^-SWT ’s Words are the most exquisite, the one who speaks those words is the most elegant, the voice that carries them is the most captivating, and the meanings they convey are absolutely remarkable, the listener has no choice but to surrender heart and soul to such charm. But the impact on these listeners hearts is altogether opposite. This is because the vitality of the heart is faith in Allaah^-SWT and its strength lies in His^-SWT obedience. Unfortunately they are devoid of both, nor do they wish to acquire them being satisfied with their self created gods. As a punishment for this crime Allaah^-SWT has placed veils over their hearts, the veils of darkness and callousness and has deafened their ears, so that no words of guidance reach their minds. It was quite possible that had they logically decided to repent, their hearts might have been corrected too. But now their hearts have been stripped of capacity to accept the truth.

Now even if they witness a thousand miracles they will not reform themselves. It is because they do not absorb goodness anymore and they only come to the Holy Prophet^-SW to argue with him. Because of their denial, neither the beauty of Quranic Ayat nor the sweetness of the speaker impresses them. They assert that these Ayat are nothing but ancient tales, and there is nothing remarkable about stories of bygone people. Again they lie. As Quranic theme is not history. It only discusses historical events as evidence or admonition. It is indeed a logical explanation of beliefs in Unity of Allah^-SWT, the Prophethood, the Hereafter, and of Divine Commandments. But the non-believers cannot perceive its value and try to prevent others from listening to it. They themselves turn away from the Holy Prophet^-SW ‘s teachings. Hardly can they matter to anyone as whoever walks away from his teachings plunges into havoc without even realizing the outcome of his conduct.

Maligned Hearts Prevail even if Second Life is Given

O" Prophet^-SW! You^-SW will see when these infidels will be arraigned before Hell after the final decision. They will wistfully say: "If only Allaah^-SWT would send us back to the world, we would never deny His^-SWT Words and prove as true believers' But this is far from truth. They had concealed their inner feelings from the world in their lifetimes which have now been manifested and they have been exposed. Everyone has seen their distorted and maligned hearts. Even if they are permitted to return to the world they will again live in sin and disobedience. Whatever they say is a pack of lies. This is the Day of Reckoning and not the time for action to reform themselves. If they return to life with such souls they will again indulge in sin, as the chance to purify and reform the hearts is only given in the world.

The foundation of this inner purification of hearts is faith, and its attainment depends on Zikr-e-Qalbi, which is both the nourishment and the medicine for the Qalb. These blessings are attained through Tawajjuh acquired from the Qalb of a Shaikh through a reflective process, which originates from the Holy Prophet^-SW The correct beliefs are a minimum pre-requisite to attain these blessings, without which even if a person stages a return from the Hereafter, he will again covet the worldly life and embark upon enjoying it without caring about accountability and the Hereafter. Allaah^-SWT already knew their inner feelings and now they have exposed themselves to everyone. It also makes clear what people with such hearts will do. Once they get a second chance to live. They will only believe once they are presented for accountability and questioned about the angels, the Hereafter, the Paradise and the Hell, the Unity of Allah^-SWT, the Prophethood of the Messengers^-AS and the Divine Scriptures. Will they be able to prove any of these to be untrue? They will then confess: "O’ Rabb^-SWT ! These are true" so their destination is Hell, as foretold by Him^-SWT that whoever dies as a non-believer shall dwell in hell forever. So now enter Hell, for you were a folk affected with disbelief.