Chapter Falaq – Part 1

The Qur’an, Chapter “Falaq” (Daybreak)

Chapter Falaq (Daybreak) is the 20^th chronologically revealed chapter of the Quran

This is one of the very early revealed chapters of the Quran estimated to be sometime around the second year of the prophetic mission.  We are expecting to see how the foundations of religion are established. The word “religion” nowadays has changed and turned into an institutionalized and social factor rather than “a belief system”.  Instead of interpreting the existence of humans and the universe, religion became more of a means of socialization.

Rituals are not mentioned in any early revelations rather how we see the world, what is the nature of this universe and try to understand and see the meaning in one’s existence, mostly related to human psychology.  What is the meaning of this existence and how is it related to me?

• What is going on within the mind and feelings (heart) of human beings?

113:1 “Say: I take refuge with the Lord of Daybreak”

“Say” refers to reflect, contemplate on it and then come to a conclusion.  Your conclusion must be paraphrased with the proceeding verse.  In other words, my Creator is telling me: “do you agree what I tell you and then use it to explain your existence?”

BIGGEST QUESTION: What is “taking refuge” for us mean?  Do you feel that in certain occasions from time to time you need to take refuge with something?

If only there was a niche and secure place so that I can feel relaxed, there I would seek refuge.

Until I critically analyze the verse (i.e. “yes there must be Divine Speech”), then it becomes God’s word.  Ask yourself: “Can this be God’s word?”  Define God for yourself.

• Critical reading is a first step in reading any text—First of all I have to be very critical of my own biases. After making sure that I have freed myself from my biases, then, if I am convinced about a conclusion I say: “this is my conclusion!”; AND THAT IS BELIEF.
• My understanding must make sense to me within my conclusion. If I have never concluded anything, then I have not started the belief process, in which case I have no right to “say” anything!

Do you feel needy?

If I am satisfied in my existence and do not need any help from anyone else then I would not feel the need to take refuge.
If I feel that I need to take refuge in something, then what is it? 

Comment: Well, I am always in need of help.

What do you need help about?

Comment:  I need help to get rid of my worries.

Can I guarantee that I will be free from all worries tomorrow or in the future?

Comment:  Not really.  I will always have insecurities in my existence.

What is the real cause of insecurities?

Comment: the unknown of tomorrow, I do not know that tomorrow will work out in my favor.

What is your favor?

Comment: An outcome that I would like.

What would you like?

Comment: ­ I need a rewarding career.

When you get it, will you be satisfied?  For how long? 

• Getting or not getting what you want is not the issue.
• Something being unknown, uncertain is not the root of the problem.

Comment: Even if you know tomorrow will be there it will still cause you worry because you are unable to control the situation.

Even if you know about the situation tomorrow then why do you bother about it since it is not under your control?  If there is no problem then there is no need for a solution – why do we bother then?

Comment: I would not know what is best for me?

Not knowing what is best for me is another topic.

Comment: Still, your curiosity arouses you to know.

What is the function of human curiosity?  Will we find a solution from it when we are curious about it?

Whatever we are as we are is not decided by me.  Example:  Here I am as a man and I want the ability to reason and to speak, so here I am.  Is it not obvious that they are given to us?  They are all given.  What part of us are acquired by us?  Ability to speak?

What is acquired?

Comment: I want to learn. Learning is required.

Does this feeling exist as a result of your choice or is it given to you?  It is given.  What is not given to us?

Using curiosity in one way or another way is given, and I use my freewill to make it function.  Ability to speak IS GIVEN TO ME.  What I do is utilize my ability to speak in this way (talking to a friend) or another way (via writing).  By choosing I am utilizing the ability to speak in one way or another.  Whatever I am aware that I have i.e. my tongue, mouth, thoughts, feelings, potentialities…, the ability of self-awareness is also given.  Another example is the ability to learn chemistry and the choice to learn which is also given to me.  I learn chemistry, develop my potentialities and this development is already in existence.

• Everything is given to me. I cannot have anything by myself.

Knowing or not knowing is not the point.  Our entire existence with all its elements is given to me.  I am not creating the knowledge of chemistry but discovering what is already in existence.  The nature of freewill is to will freely.  Whoever gave it to me, gave me the freedom within the limits of this universe to utilize it.

• I am only choosing from what is already given. By using freewill, we are unraveling what is already in existence.  My existence with its potentialities in its entire part is given to me. I may choose not to develop/unravel those potentialities.

Our ultimate concern must be our existence rather than careers, financial security, companionships… Why do you want not to be needy? We do not want to beg people for money, clothing, shelter; those things are concerns in our existence. However, what would those things mean to me if I don’t take into account my concern for my existence? If I don’t see the need for existence, would it matter what job I have, what my financial situation is? Those things will mean nothing if I cannot secure my existence. .

How can I secure my existence?  To secure my existence must be my ultimate concern, the others are subdivisions for it (e.g. I do not want to die because I do not want to lose my life because without existence my life would mean nothing to me It is due to existence that I am concerned with my job, getting a grant, etc. 

I am in trouble usually because of the insecurity in my existence.  Can I make my existence, secure?  No.  Only after being secured in my existence, can I make anything else secure.  Existence is all the qualities that I want to be secured.  Can anything secure its existence?  Can a President of a country secure his/her life?  No, everyone dies.  Shouldn’t our main concern be to obtain security in our existence, and it includes everything?  If my existence is secured, then everything is secured.  How can I obtain security for my existence?  We are being cheap for our humanity by making petty requests.

Comment: If existence is given to us, then I cannot secure it.

Yes, my existence is given.  I did not create my existence.  It is given to me. Since it is given to me, of course, I cannot secure it by myself, but only the One Who gave it to me can secure it.

Comment:  Everything is given to me including the concern to secure existence.  Existence and the desire to secure it is not mine to own and I cannot control it either.

We are given freewill to use freely.  I am made with consciousness.  Neglecting the concern for existence and ignoring it is not human.  Arrogance is not human.

Regardless of my attitude, I need to take refuge with something. I need a shelter or something to lean on since I cannot guarantee anything as far as their existence is concerned.  Consciousness is with me and consciousness says that I need security for my existence, that is how I am made. That is my reality.  I cannot go against my reality.  I am aware that existence does not belong to me.  Human beings are made self-aware of this reality.

The One who has given me existence makes me realize that I belong to the One who has given me existence. I am created with self-awareness, so my Creator wanted me to be aware of my need for security for my life.  It lets me know that I need this in order to search for a place that I can take refuge in.  I do not need to take refuge with something else.  Unfortunately, our reality is such that we just want help or look for temporary solutions for temporary concerns.  Rather, I need a permanent solution which means that I need to secure my existence.

Notorious Atheist: I am going to die, forget about the existential crisis.

Is that security or cheating yourself with your inability to keep consistent with this existential concern?

Don’t we all want Eternal Happiness?  ASK YOURSELF SERIOUSLY: Everything I desire, I want it to be satisfied eternally.

• So, with this death notion, am I going to turn to dust, or my body has already been going into the drainage?
• What is my thinking ability? What are my desires? What are my senses?  My mind and feelings cannot go into dust anymore because they are not matter.  Only the body as matter will go into becoming dust.
• If someone pops out your eyes, have you lost your desire to see?

Death cannot do anything to all my human qualities which are not matter, and only body goes to the earth.  My human side cannot go to earth because it is not of the kind of earth, it has a completely different nature.  Your eyes popped but your desire to see is there.  Definition of human being consists of more than body, emotions, feelings….  My body is different from my human qualities.

I want Eternal Happiness, where did I get this feeling?

• Human expectations need favorable treatment forever. Can the grave be the end of all the human expectations?

How do you explain the existence of the universe?  Does anything exist within itself?

The need for security for my existence will be recognized when I connect with the Source of Existence (SOE) of my human expectations, so I can take security with It. Otherwise I will take security with an insurance company, job, family background…all of them are nothing but dependent, transient beings.

Who is this “Lord” mentioned in the above verse?

• Source of Existence.
• There is an order in existence. If we think that SOE is matter, then can I take refuge in matter?    If I reason such, then I conclude that the universe exists within itself i.e. SOE of the universe is the universe (self-contradiction).
• SOE of universe cannot be the universe because I am questioning the SOE of the universe together with the order in the universe (or laws).

Comment: Why do we assume that the order of the universe came from the universe?

• We are questioning what is discovered in the universe and how do we interpret such discoveries. In other words, what are we referring the order in existence to?

Comment: Are my human feelings made, if they are made, then, the follow up question will be “by what”?

Take the analogy of a book and its sentences.  You get meaning from reading the sentence.  Is the sentence producing the meaning?  No.  Similarly, is your brain, lung or heart producing the feelings?  No.  The universe/sentence transmits a meaning.  Without meaning, there is no universe/sentence.  Meaning is already there in the universe/sentence.  I just need to read the meaning and refer it not to the matter (paper in the example of a book, or particles in the example of the universe, (logical reasoning) but something beyond matter.

Comment: What is the Source of security for my Existence?

Security can only be obtained by referring everything to the Source of my Existence, whoever gave me existence gave me or made me with the sense to secure my existence.

Rabb (Lord)– the One who gave me the sense of need for my existence to be secure.  This need of security is given to me by the One who gave me existence, nothing else can secure my existence.

Do you want Eternal Security for tomorrow?  Do you want to be free from worries?  Where did you get this need for attaining Eternal Happiness?

• This sense is in you. You are using your freewill to bring it up. This sense of seeking/needing security and happiness is in you.  The One who creates this need cannot be you.

Need for seeing is my human side.  Material side is the universe where all the tools such as eyes operate in. The physical eye, the universe, feelings and desires are all given to me.

I want a life free of worries. 

• Have you ever thought where you get your existence from? Also, the sense of feeling and needing security?
• Have you ever thought about how you came into existence?
• Investigate and question.

Comment:  “I am a person of religion”

This statement is nothing but cheating yourself.

• You must be convinced why you decided to follow a certain religious tradition. Otherwise why do you follow if it does not make sense to you? Root cause of the problem is following the culture without questioning its values.

The Speaker in the Quran must be consistent with what It says to me and the sense It gave me.  These two should not contradict each other. As a result of my questioning and investigation, I should be able to conclude: “I agree with You and my sense says that this sense is set by One who is my Creator.”  Keep your reality, do not contradict yourself.

The Speaker in the Quran encourages us to come to the conclusion in the same way as It presents. First we read it and we take what It says as a claim. For example, It says: “I gave you this or that ability.” Only  after my experiencing the universe I may confirm what It presents to me.

Get rid of lazy or self-contradicting conclusion!!

• Belief/Iman is nothing but not contradicting yourself. Be careful when you say something as it should not contradict YOUR REALITY.  There may be some elements of laziness or imitation or cultural influence when one contradicts their reality as to who they are.  We are given the ability to think and at the same time to choose not utilizing the ability to think.
• I cannot waste my human abilities!!
• Use abilities to the best of your level!!!

 

Tags: Al-Falaq, Belief, Daybreak, Falaq Series, Freewill, Insecurities, Lord, Needy, Refuge, Secure Exsitence, Source of Existence, space-time