Chapter Fajr – Part 5
What is the purpose in the Quran using harsh or frightening scene or language? Example: some previous people were destroyed. What does it mean for me? Is it to scare me? If that was the case, then I would just superficially accept its message. Analogy: someone threatens to kill you if you do not accept that their idea is the best. What do you do? You do a lip service that you accept the idea which will be hypocrisy.
- When the Quran exhibits the dreadful end results of previous people and if I get scared of it, then it will never end up in my world to believe in what the Quran asks me to believe in.
- Scaring people cannot be the purpose of the Quran.
Again, what can be the purpose in the Quran demonstrating frightening events? To make people realize that they are not taking notice of the signposts in creation. We have sign posts in our being such as our feelings and emotions including our consciousness which questions its qualities. Consciousness means that I am aware of this feeling. Animals follow their instincts, you can train animals.
- Consciousness does not need to be educated. It functions automatically as long as freewill decides to let it function.
- Mind can be educated.
We can train our mind how to reason in a better way. Consciousness is aware of its own existence and the qualities that human beings have. There is a distinction between mind and consciousness. No one can say that I have not been educated so I do not know how to really reason. That is correct only as far as the education of the mind is concerned. For consciousness, there is no education as it automatically operates when activated. Human beings have qualities and these qualities urge the consciousness to question what they are for. Human beings have freewill above everything. They may pay attention to what the consciousness reminds them and tells them, or they may not pay attention to what consciousness tells them. When I choose to listen to the consciousness I know that it is speaking to me and I have chosen to listen to it. If I choose not to listen to what consciousness says, I will be aware that consciousness knows that I do not want to pay attention to it for consciousness knows what it is for, where it is coming from…and I am aware of it. As a result of not listening to consciousness, one may deny what human senses urge human beings to be aware of and confirm. If it is related to the Source of Existence, that is belief. Source of Existence is “ghaibî” (transcendental to the physical universe) to human beings i.e. not palpable, we cannot objectify It. We only know the necessary EXSITENCE OF THE Source of Existence of things. Consciousness urges me to accept that I must confirm what the consciousness brings to me. This process must be understood clearly. As far as mind is concerned or obtaining information/knowledge is concerned, we need education. If you do not learn it, it is not within your capacity of knowledge. Belief has nothing to do with knowledge and it is not subject to education. Ignorant man can have best belief (imaan) than a highly educated person. Belief is not the result of knowledge. Belief is the result of by using your freewill, confirming or ignoring what your consciousness brings to you. Consciousness always questions the Source of Exitance automatically but freewill must be utilized. Consciousness is a mysterious quality of human beings that questions even its own Source of Existence. Where did I get my consciousness?
Consciousness can comfortably conclude that its Source of Existence i.e. where did I come from and what gave me my existence? Consciousness is able to understand comfortably that its Source of Existence and the Source of Existence of anything cannot be found in this universe. That is why belief is subject to belief in “ghaib”. That is, confirming that the Source of Existence of everything cannot be found and defined within the conditions of this universe. Anything that we cannot perceive within the conditions of this universe is “ghaib”. Quran says those people who believe, they believe in ghaib. Not because we cannot define it, or we just do not know that there is something mysterious that I do not know. No! Consciousness is very much aware of its own existence and very much aware of the Source of its Existence. You do not have to have any other source to use your consciousness. Some people may get irritated with this idea and ask, don’t we have revelation for that?
Consciousness automatically works i.e. if you prefer to be conscious. Consciousness is the most important element of human side, along with free will, the boss, the source of responsibility. If we did not have any freewill, our consciousness will make us angels. We must understand what we are, how we work, which kind of mechanics we have or operate.
We cannot define anything including our freewill. Greek Philosophy is based on defining everything and that is why modern sciences is based on this principle i.e. definition of everything. They do not know that they are actually not defining, rather describing, making a false point of reference and then according to their own point of reference, they think that they are defining.
Example: Can you tell me where New York is on the globe of Earth? You cannot really locate it on the globe of the Earth. You only accept some point of references such as Atlantic Ocean and in between lands of North America. These points of references are arbitrary to you, you make it up. Otherwise without giving point of references, no one can tell me where New York is. We need points of reference. Assuming the points of reference in order to describe anything is a must. Example: Where are you sitting now? Next to so and so.
Quran never defines anything. How does God define Himself in the Quran? Gives us a point of reference. We human beings can live in this practical life (world) by assigning points of references for us and then telling about something accordingly. Example: 50 comes after 49 and before 51. Is that the definition of 50? No. Quran says: I will give you a point of reference to define God for you. I will tell you something. Example: I have a computer. You ask: Which kind of computer is it? My computer is unlike any of your computer. The way I defined my computer, that is how the Quran defines God. God does not define Itself, but says lailaha, therefore I am (illallah): I am the One who is not like any of the other things that you observe and feel, that is the definition of God. Have you ever noticed that? We do not define God, just like we cannot define any other thing. I can only define God as “It is not like mountains, stars, gravity, energy.” We are here in a completely relevant world. In a relevant world, we cannot define anything Absolute, we must know that. “I believe in God” consciously means that I believe in a Source of Existence which has no similar and like of it in the universe (ghaib).
Are you sure that such a thing exists? Yes, because the objects are in my hand and my consciousness urges me to ask the question where the objects came from. The objects came from somewhere, the like of which cannot be defined in the universe. (lailaha illallah). God is always a relational definition for us because we are in the world of multitudes and relativity. Everything is relative to each other.
Think of yourself, how unique you are. Where am I? Where do you find yourself on the top of the Earth? Every point on the circular globe of the Earth is the top. I am on the top, can you define where I am? You can only define yourself in a negation form, by using your consciousness that I am not the Source of Existence of my existence. I by myself am nothing, so I am the result of the One who gave me existence. It is so simple! There is no other way to define yourself. Only that I am created by a One who is ghaib (Absolute). This is very true and convincing. We cannot argue against it. Who is this God? As if they are waiting for a description of it.
- Can you define anything without relativity? Nothing can be defined without assuming a point of reference. “He is the One whose like of It is nothing”. (Going to the computer example: My computer is a computer and none of your computer is like mine. It is out of the context of the universe).
Belief in ghaib means belief in Absoluteness of the Creator. Never try to define God and Its attributes such as He is all-Powerful. Define what is Powerful? Description of the qualities of God presented in the Quran is not the definition of God. Every quality is mentioned but the qualities are “Ghaiby” or Absolute. That is, all qualities of God must necessarily be Absolute i.e. you cannot define Absolute. You can define object of this world only by assigning point of reference which is an arbitrary choice. Example: Latitude and Longitude is according to being in the center which can be any place or take any place as the center. We must act in this world based on our baseless or non-reality points of references. Our references have no values.
Comment: we cannot define God because of Its Absolute nature. Our ability to make use of reference points are relative at best. Example: Mercy is an adjective used to describe the Creator. We cannot describe the nature of Absolute Mercy as that is beyond anything that we experience. Are we able to understand Mercy as a concept here?
Yes, “existence of Mercy” as a concept can be understood. That is why I can comfortably confirm that Mercy exists, but it does not belong to anything in the universe. Mercy is ghaiby i.e. the Mercy that I am experiencing here (even a fraction of it), the Source of it must be Absolute because there is no Source of Mercy within the universe. The things are given Mercy by the One Who has given them existence. It is clear, there is no confusion with this and it has no biases. This confirmation and conclusion is just your own perception and having confidence in your conclusion: “Yes, it is true and that is called belief.”
Together with all my qualities, I am Its creature. “I do not want to do this, I do this…”. These are all irrelevant and have no truth in it. We cannot claim to be the source of existence of anything. Whatever we let the reflections of the qualities in ourselves, our consciousness/freewill acknowledges that it is coming from an Absolute Source, we are then believers and if we do not acknowledge it then we are either neglectful people or deniers. There is no other way. We must be careful to employ this consciousness at every level of human education because belief is not the result of education rather the result of “awakening” becoming aware of your own existence i.e. consciousness.
Belief is not a kind of knowledge. We think that a farmer cannot be a strong believer as compared to a Physicist. Farmer can be ignorant of Physics, but it does not mean that his belief should necessarily be less than the Physicist. If the Physicist uses his gained information/knowledge and by employing his consciousness become aware of the manifestation of sunlight, then he becomes surer of the Source of Existence of the sunlight and acknowledges It. You do not have to be an educated person to be a believer. Most people around the Prophet were nomads and with the enlightenment of belief they became rulers of the most developed civilization of their age suddenly. Did they get any degrees/training to do that? No. It is a matter of belief.
Belief is within us. Most people do not realize this and that is why their belief is subject to questioning by themselves because they are not convinced within themselves as there is no foundations for their beliefs. They hear something and defines themselves as I am a believer because I belong to a certain community/family. Here, the point of reference is self-appointed or self-assigned.
A signpost has a name and an arrow. In the universe, everything itself is a signpost. When we receive sun reflections, the reflection of the sunlight is the sign post pointing to the existence of the sun itself. There is no duality i.e. body and soul so that soul will function as a sign post and the body will be an independent being. Everything in the universe is functioning directly as a sign post to its own existence as being in ghaib or Absolute world. I come from an Absolute world. Everything directly without making any distinction is pointing to One Absolute Source, not two.
It may be difficult because we are the product of Greek Philosophy which defines things with dualistic approach such as physics (matter) and meta-physics. But that is not how things are. Sunlight itself is the sun. If there was no sunlight, there would be no sun, we would not be able to talk about the sun. In the universe, everything is directly coming from the Absolute. You cannot attribute the existence of something to this universe. My body is coming from the Absolute, my mind is coming from the Absolute Source. Even my feelings and emotions come in from the Absolute World. I am nothing but the manifestations of the Absolute. You are the reflections of the sunlight. So precious!
If I did not exist, is there any way to talk about God? If there are no created beings, no manifestation of Mercy, Power…, then what are we talking about “God”? We can only talk about God after becoming aware of its reflections. That is talking about God. Example: I have compassion and this compassion has a Source of Existence. It is not mine. I have knowledge and this knowledge comes from its Source of Existence. It is not mine. I have body, it is not mine. What is mine? Nothing. All are given to me.
Human beings are given the quality which is called “ana” or “nafs” or “I” or “me”. “Me” is only becoming aware of the manifested world but human ego is given to us to become aware of the point of references to the reality of the existence of the Creator. Let’s say that I feel Compassion towards someone. Ego functions in this way: “I have some power.” That is the point of reference. Rather, these qualities must have a Source of Existence (SOE) and this SOE is reflecting Its qualities through me. Hence, at the start when I say that I have some Compassion towards someone is false because compassion does not belong to me as I do not belong to myself. Now, I acknowledge the artificiality or non-reality of the claim that I have Compassion, or I have such and such feeling belonging to me. I am aware that I am given all of this.
- Human ego gives us the opportunity to establish a false point of reference.
- Use it, reach the result and come back that it was false. Does Compassion belong to me? Am I the Source of Existence of Compassion? My Source of Existence is the Source of Compassion reflected in me.
Like this, I can submit myself totally to the Creator: “I am nothing, but a creature of my Creator reflected all these qualities on me.” That is called living in the presence of God or awareness of God. It needs training!
Everything is categorized as dualist and artificially defined in Greek philosophy. Consciousness defines us as I am a creature and I believe in God. Quran defines creature as I am the believer (mu’min). It means that when you use your consciousness and conclude that there must be an Absolute Creator who gave me existence, this result is the fraction of your Creator’s quality which is “The Believer”. You cannot say that I am a better man because I believe in God. It is just God’s reflection in you. By using your freewill, you just embrace it, not deny it or cover it up. Accept the reality as it is.
Comment: How do you reconcile the negative qualities in people?
Question the Source of Existence. Anger is created, and it has a Source of Existence. You are given the freewill to use anger. When I get angry, this sense is given to me by my Creator, it is not my property, so I cannot use my freewill as I want, but as the Source of existence of the sense of anger wants.
There is no difference between practicing anger and Mercy. Let’s say that I feel a loving relationship with my friend A and I feel angry towards my friend B. The sense of love and anger belongs to the Source of my Existence. I am given the freewill to use both either in my name or as Its property. Can you use Mercy by abusing it? You can abuse Mercy by attributing it to yourself saying that I am a good man. Yes, I have power, and consciousness asks: “does Power/Mercy belong to you?” No, it belongs to someone who has given existence to my power. It is not mine. I cannot use it as I want because it is not my property. I cannot use my Mercy/Anger with appropriating it to myself. If you use both by appropriating it to yourself, it is equally wrong. You are getting angry with someone in an unjust way is the same as getting Compassionate towards someone in an unjust way. You have stolen the Creator’s property and claiming that you are the Compassionate One, not He is. Those people claim their ego to be their God which has no reality when they say that I am the Owner of my Mercy, my Anger.
Comment: Can I say that injustice is not coming from the Absolute Source?
Injustice is abusing your sense of justice by your freewill. Injustice is lack of justice, it does not have an external existence. Denier is lack of belief confirmation. Denial has no reality. Example: 2+2=4 you can confirm it and prove it; if I say 2+2=5, does this have an external reality? No. This is similar to claiming that 2+2=5 and ultimately denying that 2+2=4.
- Denial cannot be proven as it is just an option in front of human beings.
What we usually do is that we train ourselves with secular philosophy. When it comes to religion, there is no base, just acceptance. That is why our belief is shaky and our thinking goes with secular way of thinking and our belief goes with imitation. That is why we need a long-term training to get rid of this rust. Our ore is there but it is rusty. How can you get rid of rust? If an iron is rusty, the best way of cleaning is to burn it and put it into fire. Fire consumes the rust but not the iron. Do you see the wisdom in the language of the Quran? Hell is described as “fire” or “naar” to burn the rust. If you do not want to be put into fire to clean your rust, do not get rusty! If the iron or wheels of a train continuously works, does it get rusty? No. When things do not work, they start getting rusty. When we do not use our human qualities, they get rusty and they need to be cleaned. Don’t you want to clean your iron?
Comment: If I find myself in a frustrated situation where I feel that someone is acting unjust to me, then I can use this train of thought and say that I have been created in a way where I prefer justice and in this situation the person may have abused his/her freewill, but the creation of this event is just. This gives me ease because I realize the creation of that event is just.
There is a beautiful saying in the Quran, if you are killed in the just war, why bother? Those people who killed you, they abused their freewill and rusted their human qualities and they will get the punishment. Quran says that they are the killer and you are the killed. They are the murders and you are the martyrs. You should not feel frustrated because your level of existence has been elevated to a status of a “martyr” and the promise that anyone receiving injustice, God will reward him a status in His Presence as someone not worrying about anything. Human beings are created by the Creator who gives the opportunity to human beings to use their freewill in a just way or in an unjust way. That is the Creator’s responsibility and It will take care of it. That is why people who are subject to injustice, they are not killed, they are “martyred”. Quran says why bother, I gave you the best status in your eternal life. “There is no fear for the people who are subject to injustice.” (Qur’an, 2: 154.) If someone treats you unjustly, yes you will defend yourself and seek justice in this world, but at the end, s/he really harmed her/himself. Rather than being disappointed and frustrated, say that my Creator has chosen me as a martyr. That is His responsibility, not my business: “Thank you for appointing me as a “martyr” at the highest level of existence in your presence. I am proud of You.”
The friends of the Prophet were dying to be a martyr. Were they crazy? Did they wanted to be killed? If yes, then they would be suicidal. That is, kill me and I will be a martyr. Suicide is the most unforgiveable crime, but you must defend yourself for the sake of reaching God and becoming aware of God. If you are not successful, then you become a martyr if you are killed in an unjust way. That is why they did not want to be killed but become “martyr”.
“Shaheed or shuhada” is the word employed in the Quran. If you do not know the Quranic concept of any word as appropriate to the Quranic context, then you cannot benefit from the message. That is why we must study the Quran with the concepts within the context of the whole Quran. When we say “martyrs”, we must know what we are talking about. We cannot reduce “martyr” as someone being killed in the battlefield. When someone treats you in an unjust way, at that point, you are a martyr. But seeking your right in this world is your responsibility, without being frustrated, thinking that why I am chosen to be the subject of injustice. Why do you feel frustrated at all? You should be happy. Go home and pray two “rakats” that “someone beyond my freewill treated me in an unjust way. That was your creation and I know that God is going to reward me immensely”.
Frustration, depression and tension (getting angry), never! In the war when they are killing you, if you get aggressive, you become one of them, your enemies. No tension and anger, just defend yourself as you are. No egocentric interpretation of anything. That is my duty and I must be comfortable with it. Example: there is a car and it is coming towards you. Without getting angry, you withdraw from it. You exercised your freewill as submitting to the order of the creation. You made an “eebadaa” i.e. you obeyed God’s order. Isn’t that worship when you obey God’s order? It is so simple!
The way of our reasoning which is based on Greek Philosophy and all sciences are based on secular philosophy is the thing we should shy away from. You say I feel frustrated. A believer cannot be frustrated as everything is created by God. How can you be frustrated because you are treated by your Creator in a particular way? It means that you are not happy with your Creator. It means that you are not aware of what you are doing. “I feel depressed, I am always unhappy…”. These are all lack of confidence in one’s belief. Otherwise, alhamdolillahi ala kulli haal, “I praise to God who creates everything i.e. whatever I am subject to”. DON’T get ANGRY with God! Instead, we are made to express: “I am thankful to God, definitely. It will treat me with Its justice.” What a comfortable life! Hence, frustration, depression is ultimately getting angry with God. Be thankful!
Belief is certainty. Knowledge is not certain at all. Knowledge can happen only by using false point of references. Belief is the reference to the Absolute which is certain in any case and any type of creation pointing to its Absolute Source of Existence. Things do not have dual characters, rather one character. Their being is the signpost to the Necessity Existence of their Creator.
These are precious thoughts and understanding. This makes anyone comfortable: “In any event, I am comfortable”. There is a well-known story about a scholar who was a merchant and was teaching. Someone comes in and says that your goods have sunk in the sea. The scholar says “Alhamdulillah (All praise be due to God alone)” and carried on teaching. A couple of hours later, the same man came and said that those were not your goods. The scholar says: “Alhamdulillah” and carried on. That is practicing belief.: “Whatever is created is created by the same God”.
Why don’t we feel like that? Al-khairu fi makhtarahullah. “Whatever Allah has chosen, that is good”. Your ship has sunk, that is the choice of God and it is good. Your ship has not sunk is equally good from the creation of the events point of view. Although, I will try my best not to let my ship sink but if it is created, Alhamdulillah.
- My responsibility to use the freewill is different than the creation which is the result.
You must try within the order of the universe (qadar) but the result, ship sunk is God’s decision (qadar). Why is it difficult? We have not been trained. We are not introduced to religion like this.
If someone does not use his/her consciousness and does not believe in God, God is so Merciful that God never destroys these people in this world. Only after the Prophet comes and verbally explains which kind of message the universe conveys, and which kind of message human reality conveys for you to choose to heed to the message, then you are taken into account. The Prophets only speak out and remind you to use your consciousness. Let’s say that you have $100 in your pocket but you do not know it, and you are not reminded, then, you do not get destroyed. Only after the Prophet comes (third venue) and reminds you what to do with $100, then, you are destroyed if you do not heed to the message.
If you use yourself perfectly, you would not get frustrated. After you hear that “frustration” is a secular concept and has no reality at all, if you still insist on being frustrated, then you will be destroyed. Example: “I am not going to come to this man’s class, he does not allow me to be frustrated and justify my mistakes”, then you will be destroyed which means that you do not come to the class anymore. In other words, if you do not listen to the Prophet and the message he comes with, then you will be destroyed. Without the introduction to this third venue, no one feels the pain of unbelief. They either take a defensive attitude (justifying their negative views) or offensive position (attacking the Prophet and trying to shut him up), they will be destroyed. It means they start feeling the pain of unbelief, before the introduction, they did not feel the pain. That is destruction. You are told now, it is so obvious, although your conscious can be aware of it. If you are told now and you still do not listen, then this conflict causes destruction. It means you will never be happy in your life. You do not need a storm to be destroyed. Within yourself, you will not feel comfortable because you are reminded verbally as well through a third channel supporting the other two channels. That is why the Quran does not speak just to frighten us, but remind us. If you do not listen to the Prophet, you will be destroyed. Before the Prophet comes in your life, you may be comfortable in your worldly life but after the Prophet comes, you cannot be comfortable anymore. You will be face to face with the truth now. You start feeling the pain because everything is obvious and verbally presented to you. If you do not listen to the Prophet saying that he is/was a stupid guy, not for me, then you are killing the presence of the Prophet in your life. That is what murdering the Prophet means. You murder the Prophet if you throw the message he brought to your life. Now, you are the killer of the Prophet.
The people who were destroyed as depicted in the Quran is for us to apply the case to ourselves. If you do not take notice of the Prophetic message which is just a reminder/warning, then you will find yourself in torture and you will never be happy in your life. All the psychological problems are inevitable for you now. Otherwise, there are many people not believing in God but enjoying God’s Mercy in their lives, but inside they are destroyed.
Tags: Al-Fajr, Ana, Belief, Believer, Cleaning, Consciousness, Denial, Depression, Destroyed, Ego, Existence, Fajr Series, Feeling, Fire, Frustration, Ghaib, Ghaibi, I, Iron, Lord, Martyr, Me, Message, Naar, Nafs, Ore, Prophet, Prophetic Message, Psychological Problems, Question, Shaheed, Shuhadaa, Signpost, Source of Existence
