When the Truth was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in the form of the Qur’ān, and he was presenting it verbatim to the people far and wide, it was the Jews – the People of the Book – who left no stone unturned in creating doubtsaboutQur’ānic commandments and undermining the fact that they were revealed by God. They never lost sight of it. Therefore, when the Qur’ān forbade the Muslims from eating and drinking certain items of food and drink, the Jews created considerable controversy around those Qur’ānic pronouncements. They evenargued about those forbidden things that were also forbidden for them in theirown Scriptures.
The Qur’ān (2:174) strongly condemns this suppression of the Truth or what they know to be God’s revelations, knowingly and willingly: “Those who suppress any part of the Scriptures God has revealed, and barter it away for a paltry price, eat nothing but fire in their bellies. God will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. A grievous suffering awaits them.” The expression “eat nothing but fire in their bellies” brings out the enormity of their crime of suppressing the Truth. The result of deliberately disputing God’s revealed truth is a life of constant turmoil, confusion and conflict with human nature. It is a life of permanent conflict and discord. Hence this stern divine pronouncement for these sinners.
The verses that follow, 2: 175-176, wonder at their endurance of the Divine Chastisement: “It is they who barter guidance for error and forgiveness for suffering. How great is their endurance of the Fire! That is because God has revealed the Book with the truth. Those who are at variance with the Book are most deeply in the wrong.” Here they are being portrayed eating fire. In fact, their gain for suppressing
the Truth is nothing but fire in their bellies.
These verses directed at people of earlier Scriptures, Jews and Christians, were revealed in a particular context of what to eat and what not to. But they can be applied to such people of all times and climes. Thus, all those who deliberatelyand systematically indulge in suppressing the truth, or manipulating it forworldly gains of any kind, stand condemned by God, and are destined toincur Divine Chastisement in the hereafter.
The believers hope for the Mercy and Grace of God both here and in the hereafter. But the Qur’ānic pronouncement for those who suppress the truth for seeking power or worldly gains of any kind is very stern: “God will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. A grievous suffering awaits them”. We shudder to think so and seek refuge of God from such a situation. Let’s make concerted efforts to know the Truth, realise it and convey it to those who do not know without concealing any part of it.