God's sunan among peoples

In his commentary on verses 94 to 100 of al-A'raf, Rida speaks of God's ways (sunan) among nations: how nations perish, when they endure, and what preserves them. ¹

Rida holds that every nation has a remnant of the righteous, who serve as God's proof against its peoples, and that when this remnant is small in a nation, corruption prevails over it and God's retribution draws near. He gives as an example what happened to some Muslims of al-Andalus, whose descendants apostatised. ^{1 2}

Rida states that the root of religion requires happiness in this world before the next, from the very beginning of human creation, and cites what was sent down to Noah and Hud. He holds that these verses are proofs against those who claim that religion is a cause of weakness and poverty. ³

Rida gives two meanings of the blessings in Al-A'raf 96: that the meaning is the blessings of revelation and faith, or rain and plants. He holds that the benefit of faith is to perfect human nature in spirit and body, and its purpose is the happiness of both abodes. ⁴

Rida holds that the punishment in these verses was caused by polytheism, superstitious practices and sins that corrupt the order of society, not because religion itself is a cause of destruction. ³