89:15 “As for man, when His Lord tries him by honoring him and bestowing blessing on him, he says: “My Lord has honored me.”
89:16 “whereas, whenever He tries him by straitening his means of livelihood, he says: “My Lord has disgraced me!”
Is the same man being talked about in the two verses? If a person receives blessings and says that my Lord has honored me. Do you think when difficulties in life happens and Lord’s Grace is somehow not as much apparent as how it used to be, can this person say that my Lord has disgraced me?
- Are these two verses referring to two different people’s attitude?
Comment: As a person, I can choose one of these two attitudes at a given time.
If a person is grateful to what God bestows on him with His blessings (when you say, “My Lord has honored me”, it means that you are grateful), then he is supposed to acknowledge the Creator when the grace is limited or somehow taken away. He would not criticize because he acknowledged the Source. Don’t you think that?
- When I receive something, I am aware that it is from my Creator if I am aware that it is from my Creator, I am happy with it. Also, when I DON’T receive it, I should not say that my Lord has disgraced me. Here, I am not criticizing God.
Usually, what the first verse refers to is that people do not acknowledge that it is God’s blessings. Most of the people do not acknowledge that it is from God. We just take it for granted as if the world must be in this way when God bestows blessings to us. Only when the blessing is restrained, we remember God. That is the general attitude. Example: when sun rises, and everything is Ok, there is no hurricane and disaster, we say that is natural and it must be in this way. Some people go to extreme case that since I am made in this way, needy of something, so the One who made me must provide me with what my life requires. When it is not provided, then we rebel. When it is provided, we do not acknowledge the Source.
- Ask yourself: when there is nothing wrong happening to you and everything is fine, and you feel comfortable, how likely will you remember God? When something happens that we do not like, we remember God.
- Some people remember God to criticize, some remember God to pray and acknowledge: “Please release me from this disaster or unwanted situation.”
Depending on the people’s attitude, even people who do not believe in God (unbelievers), when something unwanted happens, they do not mind mentioning God saying where is God? From here, they conclude that since these kinds of hardship is happening to human beings, if there was God, He must be Merciful and provide everything for us. Here is the case and what they believe in or claim: “He has not provided what I needed, or He has provided something against my expectations. There is no such thing as God and creation is accident”. The reason for such belief is that when something positive happens, we do not question how it happened. When something negative (according to our expectations) happens, we question how it happened.
- We need to train ourselves when everything is Ok: “I am healthy, I am happy when my expectations are satisfied and met”. We must train ourselves to question how everything exist and remember its Creator.
When something happens that we do not like, then we can control ourselves NOT to be criticizing that situation saying that: “the Creator does not have to do in this way!”
- We understand that when He creates what we needed, that is His wisdom, He is a Wise Creator.
- If He does not create something that I need, we try to understand His wisdom there as well.
The solution to the second verse comes from the realization of the first verse. When something that we like happens, we must question how it happened. So that when it does not happen, we try to understand the wisdom in His wisdom: “Why has He not created something that I needed?”
These two verses state human conditions and does not offer any solution from the way it is presented. We should think about it and understand that the solution lies in understanding the content of the first verse. If you really and sincerely acknowledge that whatever is created is created by Omnipotent/Wise Creator and when something happens that you do not like, only then you start investigating. (why He has not given me something or why He has given me something that I do not want?) Then, we concentrate on His wisdom. In the first attitude, we acknowledged His wisdom.
- If you do not acknowledge His wisdom when everything goes right, then you cannot really investigate His wisdom when something goes wrong (according to your expectations).
Comment: Can you really try to understand His wisdom with a negative event?
First, have you tried to understand His wisdom when everything goes right? That is why when something goes wrong, you can never understand His wisdom in the creation of something that you do not like because you have not trained yourself in understanding His wisdom. That is the problem. If you believe in God, this should not be the case. If someone does not believe in God, s/he will never think how things are coming into existence. When something happens, which hurts him/her, s/he says that if there was God, He would not be that ruthless without Mercy. As a result, they deny God. Why do they deny God? If there was God, then hardships should not exist. This person does not understand the case at all because s/he has never thought of how the good things have happened, which human beings expects. Everything depends on our approach towards the content of the first verse. The second verse comes afterwards. Example: Sunny beautiful day, everything is fine and if you do not question this side of creation, then you will fail when something unexpected (or what you do not like happens) according to you, happen.
How much can we find out the wisdom of the Creator depends on how much we did find out His wisdom when everything goes well as we expected?
Comment: Is it fair to say that the wisdom of the Creator is uniform, whether we receive something good or bad? Ultimately, it is our perception.
Your language is a biased language. Do you see the wisdom of the Creator when something is created in your favor? How much have you realized the wisdom of your Creator when something is created in your favor according to your expectations? Accordingly, you will understand that when something is created that you do not like, you can understand the wisdom of the Creator. If the Creator is wise and when he favors you, He is wise. When He does not favor you according to your expectations, He is still wise. These are baseless statements. We are trying to understand how we are going to make sure that the Creator is Wise. Example: When I am ill, it is hard for me to understand that the Creator is Wise because it hurts my feelings and I cannot really have a friendly relationship with my Creator because I think He is making me suffer. In reality, there is no suffering is another subject. It is difficult to understand that suffering is imaginary (not real) because of our attitude in how we interpret things as suffering, because of our mistake in our attitude towards what is created. Again, we are expected to understand the wisdom of the Creator when something is created in your favor as you expect. Example: when food is created, and hunger is satisfied, we have to question how that is happening. Is it happening by itself? Then, on another occasion, it may happen when you are hungry and there is no food. Then you can say that the Creator of the food was Wise and Merciful. Now, why do I think that that Wise and Merciful Creator is not giving me food now? Then, you can try to understand the wisdom and it becomes possible. Example: we are here on the globe of earth comfortable, no one is feeling at unease and everything is perfectly going well. Season of production is presented to us. When earth is presented to me as a safe place to live in and if I do not concentrate on how this is happening and understand the wisdom of the Creator in this action, I will never be able to understand the wisdom when an earthquake happens. That is against human expectations i.e. how can you see Mercy in the creation of the earthquake if you have not seen Mercy in the creation of normal days that we are now experiencing?
Comment: For me to see wisdom in what I may dislike, I must see wisdom in creation of things that I like. I do not agree that it only must be this way. Sometimes, in not liking something creates the opportunity for me to be observant of what fills that gap so that I can find the wisdom in why I like something.
This understanding does not really satisfy. People who culturally follow belief (not as a result of investigation), when calamity strike them, they say God is reminding me/shaking me to turn back. As the undesired situation passes, they forget about it. It is not a conscious attitude. If you do not concentrate in the creation of the baby and get amazed in the Power, Providence, Wisdom and Mercy of the Creator, then you can make sense of when death is created and question: what is happening? That is, only then you can manage with death situation saying that the Creator is Wise, I understood from the previous experience, what is the wisdom in it? If someone just claim to be a believer and when a calamity strikes, they seem to wake up and it becomes a kind of mandatory surrender because they cannot challenge the unwanted situation. “I cannot do anything, I cannot stop death, I cannot stop hurricane, it was my mistake because I did not remember God. I should have remembered God. Please forgive me God!”, then that is a temporary solution, not a permanent solution.
Comment: I am sitting in this room and I am not questioning the comfortable temperature. The moment I experience a sudden drop in temperature, making me unease, then it is in my human nature to question what disturbs me. By putting what you like first, then you can question what you dislike seems unnatural to my creation.
We are expected to pay attention to what is created and how it is created without having to wait for an unwanted event. That is consciousness. What is created and how it is created and what is the quality of the Creator to create this? If I do not do that and if something discomforts me, I either deny the source (it is not the action of a Merciful Creator) or if I have a general believe in God then I am shaken now that God is angry with me. No! That is not the sign of anger when “He tries to straighten his means of livelihood.” If someone is subject to calamity, it does not mean that this person is being punished. Death/illness is not a punishment. Rather, if I neglect my duty, then I face the consequence. Example: It is cold, and I do not wear my sweater, then I will feel cold and understand that it is my mistake. Creation of cold is a reminder. But to have this consciousness, I must be aware of and have a conscious understanding of God who is the Creator of everything, that must be my conclusion. Everything is created by Him with Wisdom, Mercy, Absolute Power and for my benefit. Then, I will understand the wisdom behind when something I do not like is created. Example: if we understand that life is created by the Creator of the universe and it is full of endless blessings and wisdom, and when death is happening, I am likely to say what is the wisdom in it? Rather than saying God is angry with me or reminding me. People mostly use “test” or “trial”, instead of “opportunity”.
First, we must utilize the opportunity when we like things and question: “Who can create Spring”, for example? If I concentrate on it and understand that only the One is able to do that is a Powerful One, Knowledgeable One, Loving One…, then when severe winter conditions strike me, I understand that this Loving God is creating this undesired situation and so what is the wisdom in it? Rather than not being able to submit and challenging God or saying sorry I was neglectful and when the event disappears, I forget because foundations are not well-established. Our duty is when everything works nicely, we must question who is creating all this nicely.
Comment: It may be my personal conditioning that allows me to only questions something when it is undesired.
Some people love disaster and suffering. Why more than 2 billion people love the story that Jesus suffered. In Christian theology, they say you must prepare your path to crucifixion, it means that I am always here to be crucified on the way. This is a negative attitude to awaken the people. You must be ready when disaster happens and resist, as Jesus did. Even those people who are destroyed, it is not a suffering. This was not a means of suffering for them, this was not anger of God (mostly translated as “maghdoob” i.e. people who earned God’s wrath). The existence of such people became futile and God said why should I create you anymore. I sent this message and you not only did not pay attention, but you rejected it. When the Prophetic message comes and if you are not aware of the Prophetic message, it means “ignorance” and so there is no disaster/punishment. Example: you are using this machine and when it becomes misfunctioning and no hope to recover, what do you do? Get rid of it. Are you angry with the machine? No. Similarly, the destruction of these people was the same. Is it a wrath of the Owner? No. People’s attitude and understanding of it is that God smashed them down. No, you are useless now to be a human being on earth because you do not take any reminder and as a result, you do not function as a human being anymore. You become destroyed i.e. misfunction. Example: there is a tree in front of your house and you do not benefit from it (fruits, oxygen, shade), what do you do? You cut it. Are you angry with the tree? No. When death comes or the beloved people (Prophets) are subject to death, is God angry with them? No, God says that you fulfilled your duty, it is time now to go away from the scenery. In the life of the Prophet Muhammad, when completion of revelation took place, the Prophet is taken away. Human beings are subject to death, is it because we are not good enough? Is that why we are given death? You have been given opportunities (whether you used it or not) and that is utmost what you can do, now your purpose of existence has been accomplished, come back now i.e. spirit is taken away from body. That is not wrath. Some description in the Quran about death of the people who disbelieve is pain and agony. Again, it is not that God is punishing them, but their attitude makes it unbearable or an agony since they cannot see Mercy in the creation of anything. When they are lost in the pleasure of this world and it is taken away, it is very hurting for them because of their wrong attitude, not God’s wrath.
- If something is created in my life that I do not enjoy, it is because of my attitude, not because of God’s anger.
“Wherever He tries man in another way by straitening his means of livelihood”, man’s attitude is that my Lord has disgraced me. Whereas, man is just being trained by His Lord and there is no element of disgrace here, only Mercy. Because of my expectations where I am used to getting everything ready for me without realizing where it is coming from.
Comment: We should look beyond like/dislike and look for wisdom in the creation of any event.
First, when things happen that you enjoy, see wisdom in it. Example: when plant is growing in your garden, you are happy with it. After some time, when it starts dying, you question what is going on because you have been benefitting from it. Why are they dying? You become unhappy with it. If you have not educated yourself when the tree is growing, how the tree is growing and become beneficial for you, if you have not educated yourself with it and when they are dying, you will feel hurt. That is called “suffering”. Is the suffering real? No, it is your imagination. You suffer because you have not seen how tree is growing, who is making it and presenting it to you now. You have not educated yourself with Its Mercy and Wisdom. When the tree starts dying, you feel hurt because you do not want tree to go away.
Do you dislike the death of the tree? Yes, this is real, but it should not go to the extent of your suffering. I do not want it (that is how I am created) but when the tree is dying, I never criticize the Creator and I do not suffer because of my feeling (dislike death of tree). “I do not like death of tree, but the Creator is Merciful.”
Verse: “Verily, harm has afflicted me, but I know that you are the Most Merciful of the Merciful.” (Qur’an, 21:83.) It means that I am not suffering. Yes, it is hurting but this hurting does not turn into suffering and therefore complain. This becomes a means of acknowledgment.
If someone is chosen as a witness for other people to realize the grace of God, then you say that I could have been like this man, but I am given health. Example: Illness is alternative of health. This man is created as a witness for me to make me realize that my health is precious and given to me, so I must think about health and how it is created and be thankful for It. How about the person who is ill (alternative, or rather, lack of health)? S/he is appointed as a witness. This person will understand that the Creator of health is Merciful One and now It has chosen me as a witness. Only chosen people are “martyr” or witness for any reason known by the Creator, not the person. We should understand that the Creator of health is Wise and Merciful. When It creates illness, we must see Mercy and Wisdom in creation of illness because we are given illness to witness the truth, it means that we are “martyr”. That is not anger of God, rather Mercy of God, you are chosen. In both cases, we must realize that there is no suffering. We only feel suffering when we attach value to outward form of things. Example: My body is healthy in one moment but my body is ill the next moment. When you interpret existence in terms of body, not your human awareness/consciousness, then you suffer. Your body was not hurting yesterday but today it is. Now, you say that it is a negative thing. “I am suffering”, you are not suffering, your body is hurting. That is why the Quran makes so real that “yes harm afflicted me, but you are the most Merciful of the Merciful.” I understand this when I think of the creation of healthy situation. These are solutions to human problems. Any problems which causes unhappiness, this is the best way to solve it.
If I do not define myself as my body, whatever happens to my body, it is not me. Who am I then? Not the body but the one who examines what is being created and in what is being created, you see nothing but Power, Knowledge, Wisdom and Mercy. If you define yourself as body, you got to suffer and complain. Modern therapy says that suffering is in your mind. This is not enough. You must define yourself as a human being. Body is not human being. Body is the house and you are the one living in the house. If one part of the house is destroyed by the storm, do you feel hurt? You do not like it. The wall is destroyed, not me. Human spirit in the body is like a person in the house. What is me is the one who is conscious of the act of creation going on in the body: “who is creating it? In both cases, if someone wants to train himself/herself to improve his/her human side, s/he must disassociate himself/herself from his/her body. It means that body is my house, but I am not the house. Something happens to the house, I may have some responsibility and do something to repair it. Source of suffering is identification of human beings with their bodies.
- Suffering is the result of our misconception.
Christian theory is attaching importance to cause, how it happens and how it appears. Example: Jesus is the cause of his own miracles. He did it. Not that it has been created. It means that cause and effect is connected. In the Quran, cause and effect is disconnected. Both are independent creation created by the same Originator of creation. In Christianity, cause and effect is connected which is also prevalent in some of the Muslim scholars as well (known as mutazilites) i.e. attaching importance to cause and effect. Cause is the source of existence of effect as Jesus was the source of existence of miracles. When Jesus’s body was crucified according to Christian theology, they thought that Jesus does not have an independent existence from his body. When his body suffers, they thought Jesus is suffering. If someone’s spirit is taken away from the body, we do not say that this person is dead. Body is separated from spirit. As far as the condition of this worldly life is concerned, this person is not here anymore.
- Human beings never die. Only the spirit is taken away from its home.
Jesus complains that O my Lord, why did you leave me? If you believe in God, He never leaves you. It is acknowledged with you and you are not your body. Why do you say my Lord has left me alone? Practically, we do not think that deeply and finely. How are we going to solve our practical problems? You must understand that your perception of creation is you, not your bodily experience of creation is you. When you eat food, your perception of the creation of food is you, the food’s relation with your body is not you.
Comment: Is perception your thought?
Thought is a tool. You can employ it anyway you want. Example: I can make use of the glasses to help see better or I can choose not to make use of the glasses. Consciousness is you. You can use mind to make certain process so that the outcome of this process may be evaluated by your consciousness and this is you. Thought is not you. There is no body and mind dichotomy. There is no dichotomy in creation. The dichotomy is our imagination, our mistaking the creation. Example: reducing food to material substance, reducing human beings to body. For your humanity, the Mercy manifested in the food is for your humanity. The food’s material substance is for your body. If you think that food is for you as a human being and when there is no food, you complain about Mercy because there is no Mercy anymore you think, then this was the body’s treatment about not receiving Mercy, not your human side’s treatment. If there is food, body is happy. If there is no food, body suffers, not you. In both cases, you know that the Creator of the food is Absolutely Merciful One, otherwise there is no way of explaining the existence of food. How can you explain the existence of food and delicious taste? You cannot. People have a hard time with this because they define themselves as body. When the food is provided, that is good and how it should be. When food is not created, they say: “why am I subject to suffering?” You are not suffering. They cannot understand this because they define themselves as body. When the body is not experiencing what it expects to happen to be created, they say that I am deprived of Mercy. You are not deprived of Mercy. Mercy is in your understanding, perception, consciousness and awareness. Are you aware of the Source of existence of food? That is, you, a human being. If you look at the food itself, that is body.
Forget about the body and mind dichotomy. Human beings are “spirit” or in the language of the Quran “rooh”. Mind is one element in the human spirit. What makes a human being is one’s perception of creation and the realization of the Source of existence of creation, realized with consciousness. If you are conscious of whether there is fruit or not (even if you tasted the fruit only once and understood that the Creator of the fruit is Merciful and most Powerful, Wise), then that is it because you belong to the Absolute Mercy now. But your body suffers.
- We cannot deny the pain, the sense of dislike of death/illness/disaster BUT it should not take me to the conclusion where I would say that God is not Merciful to me anymore. It has been Merciful to me for 20 years and now that I am ill, It is not Merciful to me anymore. Funny interpretations come in as a result such as God is angry with me, punishing me…
These interpretations/languages are our perception. God, by definition never punishes anyone. But people are destroyed i.e. they became useless and were taken away. If your consciousness does not recognize God anymore, then you do not live as a human being anymore. You live as an animal now. You are body now when you do not have consciousness. You only pay attention to the satisfaction of your body, rather than realizing what is going on in existence. To awaken the consciousness, we can discuss these kinds of topics to attract our attention: what am I doing in this world? How do I identify myself? How do I use myself? What is going on in this world? What is the reality of existence? What should I make out of it? These must be our main questions to be investigated.
Comment: I can disassociate myself from my body i.e. my treatment of my body is not me. However, my body is used as a vehicle to perceive creation and something goes with the body, my perception acts accordingly.
Mind is the tool in the hands of consciousness. Spirit has tools (feelings, minds…) and uses them and freewill directs them. Freewill is like a steering wheel of a car. The reality of the car is not the parts of the car. According to which law is the iron or gas of the car working for example, that is reality of the car. If you take out the pieces of the car from its system, every piece of the car becomes useless. When the pieces are put in the order of the car, then they start functioning. Iron part is not the car. The laws, principles and order in which the car is functioning is the car. The pieces are only the tools. Steering wheel is the one using the freewill. Consciousness is aware of the order of the universe/car, how it works. Mind can be employed through the direction of the freewill to investigate the source of the design according to the design i.e. how the iron is employed there, as a result the car starts functioning (consciousness). The mind questions this: Can this piece act on its own or it has an Engineer who employed it there? Mind only tell the negating side (this piece cannot be placed by itself, someone must have put it), consciousness becomes aware of the design of the car. Let’s say a part of the car is broken. Consciousness is aware that this part is broken and that is why it is not working. It does not mean that there is no car, there is still car i.e. the order is there. Just replace the broken part with a new part. Practically, your life may have lots of difficulties, do not say there is no Mercy. The order of the functioning of the car exists, it never disappears.
Human being functions in an apparent complicated way but if you can make the distinction between mind, consciousness and body, then things make sense. Example: when food is put in front of you, you question how come it exists. The Creator of the food (order of the car) eternally exist. Parts may not function properly, and it has nothing to do with the order of the car that works. Even if all parts of the car are destroyed, the order still exists. That is what consciousness lets us realize. Even if universe is destroyed, absolute power, justice and wisdom…exist. These are the “haqeeqa” or reality of the world to exist. These are the principles of the world to exist. Example: laws of thermodynamics, law of gravity… Instead, the Quranic interpretation is law of Power, Knowledge, Wisdom, Beauty, Justice…these are permanent constants of existence.
- Without law of Absolute Power, Wisdom… universe cannot exist.
Materialists say constants are laws of nature and that is why we cannot solve any human problems. That is why we must suffer from the effect of this materialist philosophy. Therefore, when something happens that body likes, I am happy, example fresh air in the morning, whereas, when there is no air and I am suffocating, I am not happy. Because constant is defined in terms of my body i.e. I am identifying myself with my body.
If you think that the car consists of its parts only (not the order in which the car works accordingly) and if something happens to the parts of the car, then you say, car is suffering. Whereas, if you are conscious of the order of the car which is independent of its car, car is not suffering. Because you have freewill and the car is not put together properly (according to the law of the order of how the car works), you must replace the parts without falling into despair that car disappeared and is not functioning for me anymore. No, car is there but part needs to be replaced. You never in general lose your hope in the order of the car. Conscious scholar says that even if this universe exists only once for me, that is enough for me. For a second of experience of existence is enough for you. Why? You realized that such an order exists. When you see/experience that the car is running within an order even once, that is enough for you. If after that you never experience the car, do you lose your belief in the existence of the order of the car? No. That is why belief brings you into Eternity and gives you Eternal Happiness, although, the parts may not work.
That is how our perception of the world must be. We never think in this way. We are not introduced the world in this way. When some people speak in these terms, we think they are prayers and supplications. We do not take them into our real lives, what does it have to do with my reality as I am living in this world? How can I apply it to my awareness/consciousness? Example: I have lots of illnesses and my body is suffering from it. I must say: You are most Merciful of the Merciful. It is not because of helplessness, rather what can I do? I cannot do anything but submit to it.
Submission is expected towards the qualities of the Source of existence. The Creator is Absolutely Merciful. I have seen Spring. The One who creates Spring must be Absolutely Merciful One, creates everything at the same time. When it is time for winter, do you think that Merciful One changed Its mind? No. Only then, you can start questioning what is the Mercy in the existence of the winter? Mercy is Absolute which you established already because of your observation and conclusion of Spring. These kinds of subjects are religious subjects!!! We must solve our human problems from the root. Religion is for this. Practical side is the result of this. We need to concentrate of what my position is in this world. The way I define myself makes everything different for me. Even my worship and ritual become and turns into completely different form. Why do I do this? What does it mean for me?
- I must solve the problem from the root.
82:17 “No, indeed! You do not honor orphans,
What does this have to do with the previous subject? When machine is useless, you throw it away. If you are not fulfilling the purpose of your existence and acknowledging the Creator, then you are taken away.
My Lord has not honored me, what does it have to do with the destruction of people? If you do not take the message (verbal explanation) into account, you live this dilemma. If someone lives by attributing existence to material side only, then s/he must suffer because s/he is not taking notice of the message. Because of this attitude, you do not honor orphans in your practical life. Orphan for you is someone who does not have a Protector. So, you just disregard things. Example: the glass is an orphan before me. You are an orphan in the hands of your father. A newly born baby is an orphan in the hands of farther and mother. If they treat the baby anyway they want, the baby cannot protect himself, it is an orphan. Baby cannot take care of himself in this world. Baby is an orphan in the hands of the parents. Parents can give any kind of shape to them.
We mostly think that “when the parts work, I am honored. When the parts do not work, I am dishonored”. Without a car, what can I do? Some people think that the body of the baby is the orphan, they think that the body of the baby cannot protect itself before me, that is why it is an orphan. Father/mother is expected to protect child is symbolic. Anything that does not have a protector is orphan for you. “They do not honor orphan” because their understanding of orphan is in terms of body. That is, this person is weak, and I am powerful, now I can manipulate him because he has no protection and I can treat as I want. Example: I have an orange. I can eat it anyways. Orphan/orange cannot say that you cannot treat me in such a way or eat me like this. Orange is an orphan in your hands and you do not honor it because according to your understanding, orange is not representative of Absolute Mercy, Nourisher, Wisdom… Orange consists of its body and its body cannot resist your treatment, but Absolutely Mercy does. Do you see the conditions in practical terms now? It seems that, at first glance, there is no relationship.
- Human spirit is Eternal.