Chapter A’raf – Part 15
Part 15
7:32 “Who is there to forbid the adornment and nourishment that God has provided for His worshippers?” Say, they are given to those who believe during the life of this world, but they will be exclusively to be theirs alone on Resurrection Day.” We clearly spell out these messages to people who understand.”
Worshippers need nourishment in order to feed their actions of worship (the spiritual side). The body also needs nourishment to perform its duties. Example: you are enjoying a lovely relationship with friends, and you are enjoying food and status. The Quran speaks to the human side (which includes the body), i.e., we need the material side as adornments to practice our humanity. If someone uses their senses to satisfy their bodily needs, then they are not worshiping the way they ought to. From this transient fleeting reality of the world, i.e., the body is concerned, this material side serves the human side and the human intellect can decipher the need of the spirit from it. The Quran is a guide to our human needs, not to benefit from the material side to satisfy bodily needs alone, but use that aspect to decipher their reality.
– The Quran always speaks to the human side.
To be a believer in the Creator is the starting point of the human journey. Belief is the first step to benefit from the nourishment that is provided. Just as in order to benefit from a book, you must know how to read and write it, only then can you benefit from it. Similarly, to benefit from your existence, you must know the purpose of your existence.
Another side to look into the above verse: if you are not hungry, then how will the food be good for you? Hunger for worship is needed. Worship means to be honest to yourself. You can understand the meaning of the universe. You must be hungry to learn, otherwise the universe and your existence does not appeal to your humanity.
If we do not take care of our human needs, then in the hereafter, not only the human feelings are being tortured, but also the body is being tortured.
We must always ask: Do I feel that I am in the presence of God? If someone does not question anything, the message of the Quran/God does not speak to them.
7:33 “Say, My Lord has forbidden shameful deeds, openly or in secret, sinning and unjustified aggression, and ascribing divinity to others besides Him, for which He has sent down no authority (evidence), and saying things about Him that you do not know.
If you go beyond the limit of your human senses, then it is not appropriate to human nature. Anything that goes beyond the limitations of our human senses are described in this verse as “shameful deeds.”
How can I evaluate my human existence? I have reasoning but if I do not use it or I may be using it in order to justify my egocentric concerns, then I am wasting my human existence.
The straight path is not crooked but connects you to God without any obstacle to reach God. Example: God created the cow, and the cow is producing the milk. Hence, the cow may become an obstacle towards the straight path, if I assume that the cow is created by God but now it is producing the milk. Here, we are transgressing the rights of creatures (fawahish). We should not have all these apparent obstacles to reach God. The unbelievers may not transgress the rights of other human beings, but the rest of creation.
Everything needs to be created by its Creator. We should see things as being created by their Creator, the Creator should be seen right there in the moment of their existence.
If someone spoils their primordial nature, then they go beyond the limits of their human senses.
If I use myself only in my outward behavior, rather than unnoticing the acts of creation in all its aspects, then I am spoiling my human nature, and destroying my “fitrah” (human nature). Here, I am looking at creation not to understand the meaning in its existence, but to justify my materialist viewpoints.
Famous Imam Ali’s saying: Please show me the world as it is, rather than how I want to see it. This is how we should try to understand the reality of existence without falling into a crooked path, “shameful deeds” (“fawahish” in the original word of the above verse.)
Tags: A'raf Series, Al-Araf, Meaning of Existence, Message, Prophetic Message, Reality, Truth