Mary (Maryam)

Commentary

(a) The Arabs, who were the primary addressees of the Quran, accepted the theory of life after death. All the words in the Quran relating to the life hereafter were already present in their vocabulary. But their acceptance was purely formal, as such it had no impact on their lives. In practice, they led their lives in a way that implied, ‘The life of this world is the only life. Who is going to resurrect us after our death and who is going to call us to account?’ This indifference or denial, persists because man does not give serious consideration to this matter. If he did so, he would find that his initial, first birth is in itself an argument in support of his re-birth. Here, the word ‘Satan’ stands for leaders who, with the help of deceitful words, mislead the common man. In this sense, they do the same work as Satan does. In the present world, these leaders are highly visible in their positions of greatness, and the people are therefore unable to ignore them. But, in the life hereafter, they will lose this ‘greatness’ and will be pushed into the pit of ignominy along with their followers.