By April 12, 2021 Read More →

Chapter Mursalat – Part 3

 Mursalat, part 3

Recap: Messages about my reality are delivered one after another via creation, innumerable feelings/senses, and the Prophets. 

77:7 “What you are promised will surely happen.”

These verses must be considered from the 5 aspects (as mentioned during part 1 https://ifw.ha-mim.org/chapter-mursalat-1/).  The universe witnesses that it is transient, and the universe also witnesses its Source of Existence (SOE). THE SOE demonstrates His Absolute qualities and being Infinite.  The way that the universe is brought into existence, there is a promise in its nature.  What is the promise?  “I am transient, but my Creator is Permanent and so don’t rely on me, rather rely on my Creator for I am transient”.  

The nature of transience depends on 2 aspects i.e., whatever has a beginning must have an end.  There is no exception in creation that something transient does not have a beginning.  Some people claim that the universe is eternal, however they find themselves in an unsolvable solution.  How can a transient being (the universe) be eternal?  If something is eternal, then it cannot be transient for it is self-existing.  This is human logic.  Can I say that I keep changing but I am eternal?  No. However, I can claim with no logical consistency that I am not transient.  In my transience, can I say that I am infinite?  No, this does not make sense to me and I cannot accept it as a human being because if I am infinite, then I cannot be changing continuously.  I am dependent in my change and I am not self-acting.  My existence witnesses this.  My body cannot stop its aging, it is subject to the change and its change is dependent on something else.

 

  • If I am subject to something else, then I cannot claim that my existence is self-sustaining i.e., eternal.

 

Nothing in this world is different from me.  The atoms, stars, and planets are like this.  Galaxies are changing and there is no static being here as to be constant in its existence.  Change is everywhere and no one can deny it.  We cannot claim it otherwise, this change is so obvious.  Also, the nature of change is not by itself.  That is, I am not changing by myself; I am being changed, subject to the will of something else.  In the physical world, we call it “order”.  The order cannot change by itself.

  • We must think seriously!

The order is nothing, but the things coming into existence.  There is no object + order.  The order is a human conception, we need to understand this.  The way that things are continuously happening and coming into existence in the same way, I make a pattern for it and call it “order”.  This reference to the order becomes my way of explaining the change of the things as a result of my observation of how the things are happening.  It does not mean that the order is a cup, and everything is falling into the cup.  There is no cup, it is just my perception.  Am I imagining this perception?  Is it an illusion?  No, the act of creation is happening out there, but the concept of “order” is my conclusion of my observation of the way the activities are taking place in the universe. The order demonstrates the will of something.  It means that the things are brought into existence according to a certain pattern which necessitates that it is the result of a will which sends the things into being within a certain principle.  It is His principle, His order, His way of sending the things into existence and His way of creating.  That is how creation happens.  Example: If I have my breakfast at 7:00 am, my children will say that my mother will have breakfast at 7:00 am.  This is my pattern of life.  Why do I have my breakfast at 7:00 am every day?  Nothing obliges me to have breakfast at 7:00 am.  It is my free choice.  I have decided that I will have breakfast every day at 7:00 am.  Can I change it?  Yes, because I am acting on my own decision and I am not bound to anything else.  Similarly, that is how the universe is coming into existence as a result of a will of “something else”.  The whole universe is subject to the will of “something else”.  This “something else” cannot be the same as the universe is, a created being.  This “something else” must be not a created being; therefore, it must be something constant and Absolute, not transient but self-sustaining and self-existing.  

Everything in the universe cannot have the quality of self-existing and they are in need of being brought into existence.  That is why we are all dependent on the will of the One who gives existence to this universe.  This Absolute Being or the Creator of the universe, or Source of Existence is called “God”.  This God represents the One who continually manifests His Absoluteness by continuously changing and subjugating the elements in the universe.  The qualities of this Absolute Being are manifested ubiquitously and at the same time.

The universe says that I am dependent on the will of my Creator, my Source of Existence who is Absolute.  I am part of the universe and I cannot get out of the order of the universe and will of the Creator.  The month of the Quran (Ramadan) is approaching, we fast to welcome the Quran and so we do not keep ourselves busy with anything else, but the Quran.  That is why Ramadan is described in the language of the Quran as the month of the Quran, when it was revealed.  That is, it must reveal to my heart and mind, during this month, rather than to my body.  It does not mean that I should neglect my bodily needs.  Instead of having 3 meals a day, we reduce it to 2 meals a day.  Just control yourself and educate yourself to train yourself on how to be aware of what you are doing.  Concentrating on the revelation means to bring the Quran into our personal life God willing (inshAllah).

My being is also subject to change and through change, I have a beginning because I am dependent on the will of something else.  That is why I exist.  In the Quran, God says: “Be and it is” i.e. I will, and it is.  “My will is nothing more than deciding and creating.  I do not need anything else.”  The Absolute being acts in Absolute terms and conditions, which we cannot fathom, but only conclude about.  He wills; we exist.  If He does not will, we do not exist.  

He says: “In the creation, everything has to come to an end, piece by piece.  One by one everything is coming into existence and dying.  Plants, galaxies, and human beings are dying, we are brought into existence and taken out of existence.  Death is inevitable for we do not own our existence, and nothing owns its existence.  This message continuously comes, which I receive with my consciousness and mind and I also experience the change within me, and my feelings accompany it.  Example: I am getting old and getting nearer to get out of this type of existence, although my senses say that they don’t want to.  My consciousness and reality know that I do not want death but getting out of this existence does not mean that I will not exist.  I will get out of this existence, as I was at the beginning in my mother’s womb as a cell, so how can I claim that I do not want to get out of this form of existence in this world?  I was brought into existence in this form according to the will of the Creator and He will take me out of this existence according to His will.  Do you have any choice?  No, because I cannot be self-existing and deciding by myself.  We need to humble ourselves, so we can be more aware of our position in this universe.  This way of experiencing an emotional/intellectual understanding that I am going to disappear from this kind of creation, because my Source of Existence (SOE) will do something to me needs to be reflected on.  Even before I was born and brought into this existence, I did not know anything of where I was, my overall being and state has been dependent on His will.  What will happen to me after I die, is His will.  He gave me some signs; promises in my feelings that I do not want to disappear from existence and want to have a perfect existence.  This feeling is a promise to me.  Therefore, whatever I am promised in my feelings, it will happen.  What does it mean?   

  • I know within my feelings that I am going to die.   At the same time, within myself, I know that I do not want to disappear from existence, and I know that I want an eternal pleasurable existence.  I want an enjoyable existence.  This feeling is with me and so (as we read in the verbal explanation of the creation), this promise is going to be fulfilled, because there is no reason for the Absolute Being to not keep His promise.  He is not a joke or a Creator who likes torturing His creation.  If you see that a Creator provides everything for me to enjoy my existence within the conditions of this world, then why would He want to torture me?  This Creator provides me with the education and training that I need to undergo to receive the better creation that I am seeking. 

At the same time, I should not forget that I have a sense of fear which says: “If you do not act according to your reality, then you will fail in your expectations.”  Throughout my life, whenever I obeyed the will of my Creator in the former existence, I succeeded.  And whenever, I disobeyed the will of my Creator or did the contrary thing, I was never successful, and I could not fulfill my expectations.

Throughout our life, we are experiencing this.  If I obey and am consistent with my feelings with the way the universe acts and is created, then I am successful.  On the other hand, if I do not follow the way that the universe is set by its Creator, then I fail.  My emotions and feelings constantly convey the message to me (this is right, do it or this is wrong, do not do it).  Again, when I obey my feelings, I am happy and when I disobey, then I am in a psychological pain.  It means that I get sorry for myself and angry with myself, for example, why did I hurt my friend’s heart?  I just keep breaking his heart and I feel the pain.  Why?  This is a way of training set up for me by my Creator.  

This creation has no futile results.  It is a deliberate set up for teaching me that this promise (and the promised day) within my own existence is experienced.  That is, when I hurt someone, I feel the pain afterwards because I know that I am doing something wrong, and I am not being successful, and I am just destroying myself.  I am aware of this.  This is the way of training set by my Creator and asking me to get ready for the end, death, because after getting out of this type of creation, my spirit will remain with what it feels.  Then, as the Quran tells me, the next creation will be permanent, and my situation will be permanent.  The promise is conveyed from my human side and through the Messengers, i.e., the scriptures/revelation.

The revelation is not a sign language, rather a human language where the human mind can understand the Speech.  If it is translated in a language that I understand, then I get it.  But the signs need to be first understood from a physical appearance by interpreting it into a mental comprehension.  The scriptures are verbal expressions, where I can clearly understand the message with the signs in creation.

Most people find it difficult to understand the physical language of the Quran.  The verbal language clearly declares that everything is created, and we cannot say anything against it.  The type of language in this verse has another layer of understanding.  In this verse, the scripture says: that what you are promised will surely happen.  I say: “Yes, that is correct, I confirm the message.  I am not imitating the message; I understand it and then confirm it.  That is why the Quran says that I am speaking to you with your language i.e., human language.

Comment: What is it about me wanting eternal happiness and why “wanting it” means that I will get it?

The month of Ramadan is around the corner and I am waiting to receive the message from my God, that is modesty.  The first requirement is to be “modest”.  The problems lie in the way we use the language i.e., “my wanting it”.  There is no “my wanting”, because it is not my wanting, we are given this, and it is inevitable for me not to exercise this wanting eternal happiness.  This is the wanting of my Creator.  That is the key point!  The problem is that we claim ownership over our being; we say this is my arm, mind, freedom.  “All about my and me” is the civilization, which enwraps all our feelings as belonging to me.  In reality, there is no independent “I”, rather that is how I am, and my feelings are given to me by the One who created the universe.  There is no “my wanting”, rather “His wanting”.  What we are given is the freewill to accept that it is “His wanting” or you are free to claim that this is “my wanting” and thus cheat ourselves.  We must sit and think about this seriously, and be realistic: Did I give existence to this feeling of desiring eternal existence and happiness?  Did my grandfather create this feeling in me?  He died and I find myself wanting it, again let us be modest.  

Does “my wanting” necessitate that it will happen?  If it is your wanting then, it will not happen because you and I cannot create eternity for ourselves.  We cannot claim ownership over our feelings.  They are given to us in the form of Promise and that Promise will happen.  That is what revelation says because the Promise is from my Creator, who must be an Absolute One.  Is He going to trick me?  Is there anything in the universe that cheats us?  No, everything is a demonstration of His qualities out there.  The answer lies in realizing that the language that I am using is in the wrong way.   That is why when you realize that this is not from me, then the answer is there for sure.  That is the only way I can get out of my self-contradictory existence, made up by my own misconceptions.  I must be clear that I am made.  Example: My nose is not my wanting; I am created with a nose.  My nose is made with the ability to smell.  In practical terms we use: “I smell something good/bad” and during iftar (breaking of fast), every food smells wonderful and tasty.  In practical terms, you say that I am smelling tasty food.  Rather, the Creator is sending all that to you and you become aware of it as a result of the will of the Creator.  If He did not will, you would not exist.  If he did not will, you cannot guarantee that I am going to smell and enjoy the existence of the food.  In practical terms, I say that I am enjoying the existence of the food.  I CANNOT CLAIM ANYTHING OVER THE BEING GIVEN TO ME.  Again, through the consciousness given to me, I did not create the consciousness, which is aware of my own existence.  We have to be modest while we are using the freewill which is given to us to educate ourselves with what is wrong/right so we can get into the right path.  That is, I need to prepare myself to start acting in the way that my Creator wants me to be.  That is called, “the straight path”.

Comment:  The want to live eternally is not mine and it is given to me, so I cannot say that this One who gave me this sense will not fulfill His promise in the nature of the way that He created me with.

It is His responsibility to fulfill the Promise, so why do you worry!  He says that I am going to do it and you are not going to do anything.  He is not like a created person.  Example: Your grandfather promised you to buy a house and the next day his company went bankrupt.  He tells you that he is sorry, but he will not be able to fulfill his promise anymore.  However, for the Absolute being, there is no today and tomorrow and you cannot talk about Him within the limited time space.  Therefore, we can say that this promise is given to me by an Absolute being, I am sure that He is not tricking me.  Look at the universe, the existence of it and the human being is not a joke and it is so consistent.  Our existence essentially proves that the One who made it with perfect choice, it is His decision.  In the language of the Quran, kun fayakun or “be, it is”.  “That is, I willed it and you are like this, you cannot be otherwise apart from My will and I can treat you as I want”.  Don’t you think that such a Being must keep His promise of eternal existence?  

I will definitely exist eternally, but in which form?  I will be treated according to my preparation for it here in the universe, while I am experiencing good/bad because I am free to do anything.  Now, if I decide to go to the good side, then I am happy.  This is a sign that this happiness is given to you demonstrating that if you continue to do goodness, then you will end up with a permanent happy life.  I will give it to you, that is my promise.  Now, if I choose the bad, then I will always be in a troublesome situation.  Example: If I say there is no Creator, and I happen to be given existence like this, then all human feelings start experiencing complete despair.  In other words, whatever I do, at the end everything will go into nothing so why should I bother then?  Let me temporarily enjoy my life here and every temporary time that passes, it is a loss for me.  I cannot get it back for it is gone.  This is the understanding of the materialist approach to the universe and the human being.  This essential loss/despair is called an “existential loss”.  Hence, you will be treated in despair and in the description of the Quran, this is called Hell.

Comment: we are learning about the Creator’s attribute by looking at the world and communicating with the order.  Nothing seems to be a trick here and so when we “graduate” as well, it will not be a trick but part of His order.  However, what about the things that do seem out of order.  Example: a child dying out of the blues, how do I understand the Creator in that capacity?  In other words, we do not always understand why things happen, so how do we assess things that seem out of order?

Everything is within the will of the Creator.  We do not want anyone to die and perish away.  My Creator says not to confuse death with non-existence.  If you think that death is non-existence, then you will feel the pain eternally.  Yes, you do not want death, but it does not mean that death is non-existence.  

His promise is that human beings do not like to disappear from existence; it means that “I gave this dislike to you, because I am not going to treat you with non-existence”.  If someone disappears from existence according to our sight, we must make sure to acknowledge that it is the will of the Creator, because everything is adjusted accordingly and the death of a thing that we love does not mean that it will remain non-existence.  Yes, it is out of my perception and out of my sight, and I may not be able to explain the will of the Creator, but it does not mean that death must be accepted at face value, i.e., complete non-existence.  Example: we see that 100 years old people die and we normalize it.  Why don’t we think about why we get old and die at the age of 100?  No one wants to die, even an old person does not wish for nonexistence but may say: “now I cannot communicate with my friends, please God, take me away from this form of creation and give me a body that functions perfectly”.

Comment: The famous question that arises is why would God create an insect that causes blindness/death if there is a Merciful God?

This is telling us that the Creator teaches me that I cannot sustain and guarantee the existence of anything here.  It is not me who has the say in the creation of the world, it is Him.  I must admit this that the Creator holds the reign of existence.  I will die for sure, in this way I will understand that I cannot hold on to my existence, as I will and want.  It is not according to my will, power and wanting, it is according to His wanting.  That is why everything either today or tomorrow will come to an end in its existence and screaming out to me that we are not existing according to our own will.  My eyes claim that I cannot exist according to my own self, I am dependent and subject to the will of my Creator and He can deal with my existence, as He wants.  Acknowledge your reality, be humble and modest in your existence.  Do not claim superiority over anyone.  You cannot say that this is my finger, and I can cut it as I want.  No!  It is against the nature of your feeling and God’s will, one cannot damage their body.  

The problem of evil is the most frequently used argument against compassionate God.  The Compassionate God is compassionate in creating the things in this way.  Can you imagine if we were left to ourselves to take care of our existence, who can create a cucumber, for instance, one cucumber to make me feel happy and enjoy my life?  I cannot create my life and provide myself with the provisions that I need.  Everything is provided for me and that is what I must realize and accept that my existence is taken care of by an Absolutely Powerful One and I leave my existence to Him.  I cannot claim any ownership over anything.  I have one responsibility, that is, to thank and be grateful to what I am given, either two eyes, four eyes and one eye or none, we have to be thankful and say Alhamdulillah (all praise to God).  It is a grace from my Creator to be given a tongue, for example.  Through my taste, ability to speak which are all given to me, I must realize that I cannot make these because I am made.  Hence, I cannot oblige and force my Creator to create me according to my will.  The only thing I can do is read His promise within me to beseech Him and petition to Him: “Please God, you gave me the love for eternal happiness, give me the eternal happiness for I want to be happy eternally, that is what you wanted me to want, why should you not keep your Promise”.  Example: The existence of not wanting a child to be blind is the promise of God, that this not wanting will be realized only if you refer to Me, that I can do it.  If you refer it to yourself or nature, they cannot give existence to anything, go and search for the SOE. Is there a source of Existence here apart from the Absolute being?  Can you find a thing that creates one thing in the universe?  If you do find such a thing, go ask it to create eternal happiness.  No one can find and will ever find the source of eternal happiness in this universe, that is the language of the Quran, “kalla”, i.e., never will it be possible.

The way things are coming into existence demonstrates clearly that nothing can own its existence and it shows that everything is subjugated to the will of the Creator.  No one can create and guarantee anything.  That is how we are being trained here.  If we do something wrong, then we experience pain. This pain gives the message that this is His promise, and this promise is what will be given to me.  

If you do not like something, do not say that I do not like it, rather say that my Creator does not like it, and why should He create such a pain permanently?  However, revelation explains to me one point: If you say I do not want it and keep complaining about the creation (this is horrible), then you will experience despair constantly. You have not mentioned God yet, but if you keep saying that I am in a terrible world, then you will be created in a terrible world.  That is what the revelation promises us.  Hell is waiting for the people who always experience despair in this world.   However, the people who put their trust in God and are aware of this reality that this is God’ promise (who is an almighty One), then He must keep His promise for I am sure of it.  Then we will enjoy this hope within our existence, and we will be treated in our permanent existence accordingly.

This is not wishful thinking, but my reality and I should not deny and contradict my reality. That is why, if we do not understand how this need of wanting eternal happiness is happening within the order of the universe, then of course we will take it as a random act.  It is true that we cannot understand within the order of the universe what this eternal happiness looks like, for the order of the universe is not the Creator.  We should refer all our hopes and expectations to the Owner of the order of the universe, the way the universe comes into existence.  That is the will of the Creator of the universe (COU) and this will of the Creator is giving us the opportunity to acknowledge our reality.  However, we are given the freewill which gives us two options to decide on.  One is to reject the Absoluteness and Promise of the Creator and say that this is how I want it and that is my choice. (If I keep my choice and use it as a counter argument against the acceptance of the Creator, then the COU treats me accordingly).  “For something that you did not like, that was My promise to you, but you said that this is your own possession, so try to keep your promise.  I will not give you My Mercy and treat you with My Compassion”.  Hence, at the end, I will be treated according to my own choice.  

Each verse needs to be studied deeply in detail.

Comment: Human beings are mostly optimistic with the results from following the order of the universe.  However, when something does not go according to our expectations, we know that there is something we are not understanding.  The Creator is always a Compassionate One.

When we do not understand something, it is within the limited order of the universe.  However, my capacity to comprehend Absolute goes beyond the limited understanding of the universe.

Comment: Let us say that I do not like that my child is blind, what do I do from there and how do I make sense of this?  

Comment: This is not easy, but I would think about all the other things that the Creator is providing me with, because if you torture yourself about changing something that is His will, then there is nothing you can do.  If you concentrate on all the blessings that are given to you, then you will get occupied with the beauty manifested in it and be grateful to the Creator.  That is a gift to appreciate all other beauty and realize that there is a bigger purpose to all that you have, so try not to understand why something happens to you, rather how you use that to be grateful.

If one finds that they are not sure why this is happening to them, then there should be no reason to think that they are punished for itThe existence of anything depends on the will of the Creator.  If you do not like something, then this sense of disliking blindness is also given by the Creator, and it is a promise.  This is a means to acknowledge that I cannot make myself see.  “I cannot enable myself with the power of sight.”  That is the declaration, which is very true, it is not me who can make myself a person of seeing with the power of sight.  That is a perfect human nature and what we must accept, that is our reality (either we are given the ability to see or not).  We cannot make ourselves see at all.  Again, we must admit that this is all from the Creator, that is not our choice.

“This is given to me by my Creator, and I am indebted to You because You enabled me to see”. Also, when one is blind: “O God, You made me blind but I need to see, that is the desire given to me by You and it is Your Promise and I acknowledge that it is You who is going to give me a permanent life with perfect power of sight. That is Your promise and I trust You.”  In both cases, I must realize that all desires are a promise of my Creator and I am experiencing them, so I must act accordingly.

Comment: In other words, if my power of sight is taken away from me, I will not like this.  There will be an internal struggle that I do not want things to be this way.  At some point, I will accept my reality that this is my circumstance now and I would rather that it was not this way.  I cannot change it back or create it according to how I want it.  There must be some Source of Existence moving things for me, a Planner who is planning things ahead of me.  This helps me conclude that this is my reality but not my permanent reality essentially.  There is a potential for this reality to change in the future.  Also, in the end, at some point in my life, there will be a Permanence to this for I seek that Permanence where I want to see the things that I like continuously.

No one says that God wants me not to like it because we are always busy with ourselves and claim that “I do not like it.”  The feeling of not liking is given to me.  The individualist civilization always injects into our ego that everything should be as I want.  No one questions the “I”.  What does it mean and where do you get this “I”?  No one thinks about it, as if our existence is the result of our choice.   We keep speaking the materialist specialized language without questioning what it means?  Example: why should I suffer?  What does suffering mean?  You suffer as a result of your choice.  Let’s say an old man criticizes the Creator that why did You create me now in a helpless position, why did you deprive me of my youthful facilities?  We say that he is old, and we say that old man cannot walk and see well.  We normalize things that an old man cannot see properly.  Why is it normal to not to see properly at the age of 100 years?  We do not question this!!  In reality, we are not independent existent beings and we have to accept ourselves as we are.  We are created with 2 legs and 2 arms. Why can I not say we should have 4 arms?  We understand that having 2 arms is the best form for us., In reality, everything is happening according to the will of the Creator and we realize that it is the best form of existence as we experience it.

77:8 “When the stars shall be extinguished.”

They will stop existing by the will of the Creator and not be able to give light.  This is such an obvious observation.  This is perfect because the way they are created is the promise of the Creator and its promise must be realized.  There is no way to run away from it. Stars cannot make themselves extinguish.

77:9 “and the sky is torn apart.”

The sky cannot sustain its existence by itself because it is subject to the will of someone else.  This is the promise of the Creator that the way the things are created as transient will come to an end.  

77:10 “and the mountains are scattered like dust.”

Can the mountains have a solid appearance by themselves?  It is obvious that mountains cannot exist by themselves.  My God speaks to my perception: Do you think that the mountains are strong by themselves? They cannot exist by themselves and I make them in this form, and I can change their form as I will.  This is what we should come to realize:

  1. The way that the things are created in transient form.
  2. Everything is created in a dependent nature subjugated to the will of someone else, i.e. the Creator’s will.  

These two points let us know that everything is a demonstration from the Creator, and they are not existing according to their own choice, rather according to the will of the Creator, which is proved through the facts of the nature of our reality.  As a result, we cannot say that mountains exist as they are and they can stand fully sustained because it is not the result of their choice, rather the will of a compassionate Creator.   This shows that the promise must be kept.

Next time, how am I going to utilize verse 11 of this section in my life?  We will benefit from the classical sources and update it to bring it to our practical life, how am I going to experience this?  Do we have the Messengers present in our lives?  How are we keeping the appointment with the Messengers?  “I gave you the appointment with them and they will be present in human life, is this the case?”

 




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