Sūratu’l-Baqarah [The Cow] : (2:251)

وَلَوْلَا دَفْعُ اللّٰهِ النَّاسَ بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ لَفَسَدَتِ الْأَرْضُ وَلٰكِنَّ اللّٰهَ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى الْعَالَم۪ينَ

“Were it not that God repelled people, some by means of others, the earth would surely be corrupted; but God is gracious for all the worlds.”(Al-Baqarah 2:251)

This verse calls to our attention many issues:

It signifies that like the ecological balance and the balance in the animal kingdom, there is a certain balance in the world of human beings.

▪As a result, God Almighty calls all human beings to the straight path on their behalf so that this balance may be established and remain preserved.

▪He also creates an internal energy in our hearts to struggle with destructive and corruptive factors to protect the order and balance in our world.

For this establishment of the balance and its preservation will only be possible through the hand of humankind as the means to it. Otherwise, the earth may turn to become uninhabitable, as it is stated in the related verse.

It is always possible for human beings to become transgressors and destructive unless they take on religious (moral, intellectual and spiritual) education for the improvement and refinement of some impulses and tendencies in their nature.

▪The need for honest, righteous, truth-loving and reliable people against all the possible aggressors and destructive mischief-makers is obvious. Due to the lack of such people who have improved their senses through Islamic faith and practices, violence, despotism, captivity, and tyranny have never disappeared from the earth, and the power-balance, international safety, and security are left in the hands of despotic, tyrannical, and destructive powers. This means that humanity is defeated by corruption and chaos.

In an atmosphere where corruption and wrongdoing dominate, one can neither talk about living humanely, science and art, religion and faith nor can one mention about security and reliability.

▪Everybody digs a pit for one another, and the powerful justify their actions and even demand from the oppressed wages for their power. Their words become law, and they try to build a world out of their distorted philosophy and selfish thoughts.

Thus, in order that such negative things may not appear and human destructive tendencies and impulses are trained and controlled, God Almighty has created the faithful against the unjust and faithless, the righteous and honest against the wrongful, the just against the aggressive, and the advocates of order, justice, and true humanity against the tyrannical.

He has done this so that there may be balance and equilibrium in the life of humanity like the balance in the cosmos and so that the world may be preserved against a marsh where uncontrolled power, unrestrained human impulses, and greed rule.

If the earth is under the rule of corruption and wrongdoing, it is incumbent upon the wise, faithful, and righteous to recover it. If the earth is not yet so corrupted, but if the possibility of corruption is still there, then the seditious and corruptive elements should be kept under control.