The Majestic Quran

43. Az-Zukhruf The Golden Ornaments This chapter was revealed in the middle Makkan period, at the height of the tension. The darkest days of the Prophet’s r struggle. It opens by demonstrating the unconditionally loving and forgiving nature of God: “Shall We turn away from you and deprive you of this Reminder because you are people who’ve gone beyond limits?” (5) No matter how heartless and unwilling people are to God’s Message and His messenger, He continues to provide guidance. The contradictory beliefs of the disbelievers are exposed: on one hand they believed in God as the Creator, but on the other they worshipped idols. “If you ask them who created the Heavens and the Earth they will certainly say they were created by the Almighty, the Knower” (9). Another one of their contradictory beliefs was the idea that the angels were God’s daughters. They felt shamed if they had daughters, but they happily assigned angels as God’s daughters. They criticised the Prophet Muhammad r because he was poor and therefore unfit to lead. The Quran rejects their criticism; “if it were not for the prospect of everyone becoming a disbeliever, He would have given the disbelievers so much wealth that the roofs, the staircases and the furnishing of their homes would be made of gold and silver” (33–35). The chapter also teaches the wisdom behind differences in individuals’ capabilities and skills: “Do they distribute your Lord’s kindness? We distribute among them their livelihoods in this worldly life, and We raise some among others in ranks so that some