Al-Israa (The Night Journey)

45. “And when you recite the Qur’an, We place between you, and those who do not believe in the Hereafter, a hidden barrier.”

Occasion of the Revelation

This noble verse has been descended with regard to a group of pagans who used to do harm to the Prophet (S) while he used to read the Qur’an at night within a corner of the House of Ka‘bah. They used to throw stone at him and they also used to obstruct or stand in the way of him to invite people to embrace Islam.

The Lord, through His grace, made it impossible for them to hurt him. Perhaps, it was owing to the awe and fear which He inspired in them from the Prophet (S).

Pursuing our discussion of the previous holy verses, this question may be raised for some as to how it is that the pagans avoid accepting the reality of the issue of monotheism despite its self-explanatory nature which is widely accepted by all beings of the world and testified by them.

Why is it that they hear the eloquently expressed and explicit verses of the Qur’an and do not wake up?

The Lord proclaims to the Prophet:

“And when you recite the Qur’an, We place between you, and those who do not believe in the Hereafter, a hidden barrier.”

This ‘veil’ or ‘barrier’ was that same obstinacy, tenacity, egotism, arrogance and ignorance which used to hinder them from having access to the Qur’anic facts, putting them at a dead end in their mental and rational quest for knowledge, and would not permit them to grasp or acquire an understanding of such obvious facts as monotheism, resurrection, and the authenticity of the call of the Prophet (S) and the like.

It is for this reason that we declare that if somebody intends to follow the straight path of the truth, remaining secure from deviations and seductions, he must, first of all, seek to reform and reconstruct his own self.