Appearance
The Words of Allāma al-Balāghī Regarding God’s Plot
Allāma Balāghī states:
It seems that Shaykh al-Ṭūsī and Ṭabrisī considered what is common in people’s usage; however, the Qur’an uses “plot” (makr) in the sense of a hidden action taken regarding someone who is unaware; and sometimes the word plot is attributed to God without involving verbal correspondence (mushākala), as in “Do they feel secure from God’s plot? No one feels secure from God’s plot except the people who are losers” (7:99)(522) and in “God is the best of plotters” (8:30),(523) where the word plotter is applied to both God and others using the same term. In some supplications, it appears as: “O God, plot for me and do not plot against me.”(524)
Of course, there is a possibility of implicit verbal correspondence regarding the verse “Do they feel secure from God’s devising”, but as Balāghī has noted, this is not conclusive.
In the story of Jesus (a.s.), two types of plots were involved:
a. The plot of the Children of Israel to kill Jesus (a.s.), which they conspired to do with the help of the king of that time; but their plot did not succeed.
b. The plot of God, “the best of plotters,” which was salvific and eliminated their intellectual, doctrinal, and systematic conspiracy through making it appear as though Jesus was slain (tashbīh).
If God had taken Jesus (a.s.) to heaven without making it appear that he had been slain, his family and followers would have been accused of hiding him, and murder and scandal concerning women would have spread, and the conspirators among the Children of Israel, who were searching for him on the order of the ruler of the time, would have engaged in sedition and bloodshed. And if God had openly taken Jesus the Messiah (a.s.) to heaven in the presence of people, the result would have been doctrinal sedition, because some would have considered him God or the son of God, and their superstitious belief would have been strengthened. However, with the matter becoming unclear to people, they thought that Jesus (a.s.) had been killed, and this was a subtle plot.(525)
This statement is generally correct and in harmony with the verses of the Qur’an; however, there are two points:
If taking Jesus the Messiah (a.s.) to heaven openly would have intensified their superstitious beliefs, then the ascension of Jesus (a.s.) should not have been attributed to the Qur’an, lest the superstitious proponents of the Trinity or Jesus being the son of God find a pretext, especially since superstition is no less prevalent now than in the past.
If God being “the best of plotters” meant that He took Jesus (a.s.) to heaven in such a way that people would not understand and the superstition of him being the son of God would not be confirmed, then the Qur’an would not reveal this matter now either.