Understanding verses from the Quran within its historical times is not the sole purpose of scriptures. It may help derive some lessons, but it does not really act as a guidance for anyone in terms of being given existence now within one’s practical life conditions. Same goes with studying deep sentence structure (grammar and root words) in the scripture. We need to always bring the case to our senses with any meaning/understanding.
53:43 ‘And He causes to laugh, and causes to weep;
Laughing and weeping is also created by the Creator of the universe. In our practical life we say: “I am crying or laughing”. But the Quran says that We are making you laugh/cry. It means that We are creating the action of laughing/crying. Also, it is the Creator of the universe that is creating the conditions which allows you to be happy and sad. It is God who let us experience His actions through presenting us things around us and creating our life conditions including our feelings. No one is the creator of their feelings.
- I am not the creator of the interactions between me and anything around me. I am not the creator of my laughing and crying. I must be aware that I am not the creator of my consciousness, but I have a mutual correspondence with things around me, that is how I am, organized, prepared and created. I have to be aware of it.
Quran (Speech of God) gives me the news that I question but cannot find the answer within the universe. That is, who is preparing this atmosphere that fits perfectly with my life/human conditions, the Speech of God makes me question and reflect on: “Am I the One who is preparing this set up for me?”
- Quran speaks to me to answer my human question that I cannot find the answer to in this universe.
What are the teachings of the Quran for?
- It is NOT to find the answer to how things are happening in this world or what is the order to attain things in this world.
- It is NOT to relate the physical order discovered in the universe with what the scripture says. Example: God created the universe in six days. We cannot trace an origin back to the implementation of the solar system. That is irrelevant.
1 and 2 are a problem pertaining to understanding the nature of scriptures!
Nature of scripture is not to teach me about the physical things happening out there, rather the Speaker says: “I am speaking to you in order to answer your questions labeled as existential questions i.e. why does the universe exist? Does it exist by itself? Is that possible? The Quran says that you cannot explain the existence of the universe and anything in it as happening by itself. There is definitely an agent (Originator/Creator) behind its happening and this agent is the Lord of the universe (rabbul alameen in the Quranic language)
The Speaker in the Quran talks about “How the universe exists in its essence and totality?” Some people take it as talking about: “How does the universe exist within itself?” As if things are affecting each other. That is, in the sequence of things, the prior thing is the cause of existence of what comes after which is called “cause and effect”. Is there cause in the universe which causes something to exist? The Quran says No. As far as the sequence of things, yes, that is how the order works but is the order the cause of the existence of the effect? No, there is no such thing. The Quran says that the whole universe (with its orders) is the result of “effect”. There is no cause in the universe, but the order is fixed i.e. the Creator does not change the order. However, what is created within the order is continuously being renewed. How miraculous, isn’t it?!
There is a complementary but contradictory effect taking place in the universe. Human beings are created in a way where they can laugh, cry, be happy and sad. Both things may happen in human life. This verse is not an explanation excluding our biological physical systems. Yes, my biological system has been arranged in such a way that I can respond to an event with a facial gesture of crying/laughing attitude. The verse is mostly related to creation and my perception of creation within a happy/sad feeling. This relationship is arranged in the universe in its entirety as contradictory but at the same time complementary (i.e. making a perfect man by complementing each other) by understanding/puzzled or being pleased/unpleased with what is created out there.
- All these interactions through creation are created for us and presented i.e. we are expected to use these opportunities to turn back to our Creator and present our needs to Him.
- Example- If I am happy, I will say: “O Creator of this event/conditions, I am happy with this and You. Please provide me with more of these kinds of creation”.
- We must utilize them in order to use them as means of communication with my Creator otherwise laughing/crying would have no meaning. Example: If John was happy his whole life with what was created and if there is no Creator (i.e. everything happened by chance/luck, naturally, which is impossible), then at the end of 110 years, when John dies, everything becomes meaningless. In other words, this existence becomes a waste/despair if one does not connect it to a purpose i.e. the Source of its Existence.
Example: Maria was happy for 75 years and those moments are all gone but she is still happy now. What benefits does this happiness bring to her life if she disappears? Nothing. Happiness keeps coming and going. One can be happy their whole life and dies in a happy situation, what is left? Nothing.
- Without a purpose to one’s existence, human beings assume death to be a disappearance from existence.
Even if Maria remembers that she was happy last year, it is gone, and it is not with her anymore because she is not enjoying it anymore. It is in her memory, but this memory gives pain. Why? Because it is gone, and we cannot get it back. If I do not believe in the purpose of creation which is arranged by a Conscious Being called “God”, then all happy moments of 75 years are gone. Example: Bruce gained a million dollars but today it’s all gone. Bruce feels only the pain of losing everything which is unbearable. How can people support the idea that life just happens to be an accidental happening coming into existence by itself? We will die and disappear from existence. How can a human being bear this? This idea is contradictory to human nature which rejects this idea and is disappointed with it. This idea of accidental happening contradicts human reality which desires to have permanent pleasure, but the creation here cannot provide it.
- Within our existence, we love to have permanent pleasure here, and there is no permanent pleasure here in my existence. Isn’t this contradictory?!
- How can a person accept this self-contradictory idea? No one can bear it as it contradicts human nature which requires permanent happiness and human nature says that you cannot have it.
Again, where did I get this feeling i.e. need/desire for permanent pleasure here while experiencing transience?
Everyone wants to be permanently happy. Where did I get this feeling? Quran claims: “Definitely the Creator of the universe has arranged it so that you can communicate with Him when you are given the conditions of happiness, you will acknowledge Him as the Creator of this condition and you will ask Him to give you happiness permanently.”
- Only the Creator of the universe can give you Eternal Happiness because it is the Creator of you that has given you the desire/need/feeling of Permanent Happiness.
- The above claim from the Quran conforms and complements your human nature.
The denial of God/Atheistic idea brings nothing to human life, nothing but just contradicting human nature. That is how human beings are created. We are here in our existence to experience happiness eternally, that is why we incline towards a pleasant family life. That is how our feelings function, which is our human reality. However, the Atheistic idea calls these experiences just a pleasurable delight without any real purpose. How can we reject our human reality? The Atheistic ideas make human beings feel miserable without any hope/purpose/despair. Seeing the universe without any Owner/Creator/Originator sustaining the universe consciously by giving the good news of eternal happiness to human beings leads to despair.
- Without communicating with the Creator and connecting our desires consciously to the Source of Existence, human beings cannot get satisfaction from this existence.
Everything is a means to communicate with the Creator. It’s a good thing that we cannot go to the past and bring it back, but the One who creates you has given you the sense to want all your pleasing days back and experience it physically by making you realize that He can do it because He is the Absolute One (Creator of the universe from the beginning to the end), not subject to space time but the Owner of space time and He must fulfill all your expectations. We are here to acknowledge this happiness/news that He exists, and we are not left alone here. We have our owner/master/lord/point of worship where I acknowledge His presence in my life, and He is my Creator. What is expected of you and I?
- We must be with Him consciously and I have to acknowledge Him consciously.
53:44 “and that He causes to die and makes alive,”
He deals with death and life; this may seem strange that death before and life afterwards. Why is that so? Because we are reminded that we were not alive before receiving life here on earth. Our life is made possible by the Creator and we can experience physically that our life is sustained through dead material i.e. earth is dead, air is dead… whatever comes out of combination of these matter is dead. They are given life. Dead things cannot be the Source of life, they do not have life to transfer life to us. Does matter have knowledge of me? Does matter have consciousness? Does matter take pity on me? Does matter have free will to choose?
- Matter has no means of communicating with me, but life is given to me out of dead matter.
Within the conditions of my life here, what I experience is the physical/material source of my existence is dead, but I am given life by something which is not in the universe because there is no life in the elements here.
- The One who constructed the universe has made it in such an amazing way which allows me to understand that there is no source of life in matter.
Life is given externally to each living being according to his own conditions of existence. Your life is different and uniquely given to you, particular to you, different from your friend’s or family’s life for example. This demonstrates that the One who gives your life is well aware of you personally, you are created as an individual with a distinguishing character from the rest of your species, other human beings.
Just as every dog has a unique character (shape, color, behavior… is different) and relationship with their owner, similarly, the human being is a unique creation deliberately with its own personality. That means that everything is given special attention to its existence. In other words, I am not a number in the universe, rather I am particularly meant to be a human being as I am by my Creator with unique features and characteristics. Everything is unique in my being i.e. my eye is unique, and each of my feelings is unique to me. That is to say, I am created by a One who created the universe within the universe I am not one element, rather I am a particularly designed creation, act of creation, tailored designed (specially me). This means that the source of existence is creating everything at the same time but each of the things is given unique features in its existence. What is that?
- Can it be explained as a haphazard happening (blind/ignorant or a natural thing happened by itself evolved accidentally)?
Life is particularly given now. How about my life at the end of my existence in this world? Whoever has given me life from dead material here is the One who is taking this life from my body and taking His trust back from me and keeping it as the Real Owner of my existence. Isn’t this an exciting news? If I am aware that life is particularly designed and given to each individual being by the same Creator, the same Creator is taking it back from me and keeping it back from me to give it back to me in different life conditions (not in this universe). In this universe we are made to cry/laugh and are given different life conditions. But if we acknowledge that all the creations which make us feel happy and if we recognize that is a deliberate grace from our Creator and respond back to Him (return back to our Creator): “thank you for creating the things for me which make me happy, I am pleased with You”. How about the things that make us cry? They need to be used as an excuse/means to go back to our Creator and communicate with Him that: “I do not want this, don’t give it to me, you made me happy with pleasant things and you made me dislike unpleasant things.” The unpleasant things are also given by Him, it’s not accidental. This makes me understand that whoever is giving life is the One who gives death.
Death is not a lack of life. Life is put into my body which is a material being and life is taken out of my body and my material body goes back to its origin i.e. earth, my body will become lifeless. Life is taken away by the One who gives it to me. The Creator/Giver of life is taking it/preserving it for me, my spirit also goes back to its origin i.e. where it came from. I will be with my Creator when I die. Although I am with my Creator when I am within my body which I must acknowledge with my consciousness. After I die, my consciousness will be with my Creator in His hand and I will not have any freewill to use my consciousness anymore (whether I turn back/deny it), consciousness will be with Him. In other words, how I have progressed/improved my consciousness here, that much of my life will be with me. That is to say, after graduating from this school of the universe, whatever knowledge and skills I have developed here and whatever I learned here, when my spirit is taken away from here, I will have all the acknowledgement of the truth of reality that I developed here. How I dealt with my consciousness here? Did I deny the reality of my Creator or confirm the reality of my Creator within all the different conditions of my life here (happy/sad)? Did I come closer to my Creator by using all the means of acknowledging Him? Did I come to know who my Creator is? How is He dealing with me? How is He creating me? Did I acknowledge Him?
When I graduate from here, I will take away with me whatever I learned here, that is called consciousness of confirming the truth or belief (imaan).
- The awareness of my Creator is my gain/degree/award. This consciousness is not only applicable to happy conditions but to seemingly unpleasant conditions as well. In any condition, I have to know how to thank my Creator and how to seek refuge in Him. In both cases, I must acknowledge my Creator.
That is how life is composed/designed, in good and unpleasant conditions, I am always with my Creator. That is so pleasing! Example: A tornado may seem threatening and we know that we cannot stop it because we cannot guarantee our existence but I acknowledge You that only You can guarantee my life and only You can provide everything for me. I cannot provide existence for me, neither can anything else do it. Can anything in the universe give me existence, my body, my senses, my consciousness, my rationality, my intelligence, my emotions? Can the universe be the Cause of your Consciousness? Everything in the universe needs to be created. They cannot create themselves and free themselves from the order of the universe. They all have to obey the order of the universe like you and me. We are conscious of that.
While we are obeying the order of the universe, we are obeying the Order-er of the universe, the One who established this order and we say Thank You! Example: I am hungry, and I eat food. I do not say thank you to food because food does not know me, it needs to be prepared and given existence and has no freewill and knowledge and does not know how to operate in my body as it is created the way it is, Rather, I say thank You O the One who created the food and enabled the food to operate in my body. Thank You O the One who created my body to utilize it and established the system. Thank you to the One who established the order of the universe, rather created the universe in its entirety. That is what human beings are expected to be conscious of. That is why we are here. Yes, we do not like death, that is right.
I do not want to die now but eventually I will die. That is the feeling I am given not to like death because I am created in a way where I do not like death. My Creator wants me not to like death. That is how I am made, and I cannot contradict myself. But my Creator says: “Don’t choose death, but acknowledge that only I can decide to give life and death.
Did you decide to exist and be alive and be a human being? Did you decide to be conscious of your own existence? No. My Creator says that it is Me who gave all this to you, don’t worry about it and I will give you death as well, trust Me. I gave you the sense of not liking death. When you do not like death you want eternity/immortality. Nothing can give you eternity/immortality in this universe. The universe itself is not eternal. Only the Creator of the universe and the Creator of the sense desiring immortality can. Your Creator says that I can give you life and immortality but I will take you out of this transient/aging life (decay sight/hearing/taste/body aches) Human being realizes that he is not in need of a decaying life, rather we all want a permanent pleasurable functioning life. The Creator says: Don’t worry I can transfer you into a permanent life, only I can do that and nothing in the universe can do that because it is transient. That is how I created this universe so you cannot be misled that nature or accidents will give you eternity. The universe itself says that I am mortal like you. Nothing here can give you permanent life. The Creator says: Don’t worry, I will give you death, but you will be in safe hands. It is Me who gave you your life. The One who gave you life is the One who will give you death, don’t be afraid of it. It means do not get angry with the Creator that He is giving death.
- “When you are given death, don’t be disappointed as it is the One who brought you into existence and gave your life with the desire for eternal happiness and immortality. It is the One that takes your life out of your body, why bother worrying, you are in good hands!” This is the good news we extract from this verse and it is very promising! We can feel happy about this.
If we understand this verse, then we can release ourselves from feeling contradictions in our existence. Otherwise, we will say that we love life and we will disappear from existence but there is the sense of desiring/liking and yearning for immortality, how is that going to be satisfied? Where did we get this sense for yearning for immortality, where is it coming from? People may say forget about it and enjoy the moment. But the moment is leaving me behind and I cannot get it back. How torturous life will be if we do not listen to revelation or the scripture news from the Creator of the universe? If there was no scripture news available for us (in this age the Quran, news from the Creator in its original form), then I will be suffering from contradiction. Throughout our life, what we really want we will not be able to get it and life will turn into a complete torture without a scriptural news from the Creator. That is why we can confirm this verse, it speaks to me exactly how the reality of my creation is. My reality confirms the news of my Creator who knows me. He gives me the news which enlightens me, and I am excited to have this opportunity to know this which is in conformity without human conditions. The One who is speaking to me is the One who is giving us existence right now. This is good news!
- No human production of knowledge can compete with this news which fits our human nature and reality.
53:45 “and that He creates pairs, male and female”
It is He who is doing this, such an exclusive statement i.e. definitely nothing else can do this only the Creator of the universe is doing this. Why does my Creator remind me of this? There is polarization (pairs) in creation i.e. cold/heat, health/illness, true/false… The apparent polarity or pair in creation is men and women, who have different biological, psychological structure but are equally created value wise. Things are created in such a way that they are complementing each other without any contradictions.
- There are different opposing poles in creation working in harmony.
How comfortable do we feel with our submission to our reality?
We should ask ourselves how comfortable do we feel in our submission to the Creator who is operating over us? Mostly, our egoistic side makes us think that I am doing things on my own because I want to be an independent being by claiming my self-satisfaction and self-confidence. I do not want to be needy of anything and listen to anyone. The Creator has given this option and at the same time provided the opposite option that “I created you not to be submissive to anything (including yourself) but Me.” This sense of being independent, not in need of anything else must be used for things that do not deserve to be deemed valuable as in being attributed as the source of satisfaction. Only our Creator deserves to be esteemed/valued and respected/worshiped.
- Self-confidence is given to me in order to reject the other options which are false and have no reality. These options do not deserve to be esteemed.
We are given two options to choose, we cannot deny this reality. We are not talking about created options of preference, rather existential matters:
- One option says declare your independence. I say, it is not a bad thing but from what? Free from oppression, yes. From nature, yes. Nature is dead/lifeless and does not know anything about me. Hence, I do not worship nature.
- The other option says I owe my existence to the Creator of nature.
I cannot deny that I must be self-sufficient, but in regard to what? Needy of other people? Lifeless nature? No. This does not mean that I should declare my self-sufficiency to my Creator. That would be a wrong usage of this sense of self-sufficiency. All our senses are given to us for a good reason. We need to learn how to use these senses, where to use them and for what purpose?
Example: The sense of being independent needs to be used for wanting to be independent from oppressive ideology. Yes, I will reject them because they are wrong and so I will use the right one. That is, where can I trust my existence? In whose hands can I trust my existence? Only the Creator of the universe can I put my trust in.
Universe is created in such a way that the universe cannot be arranged by itself. Countless numbers of contradictory elements are harmoniously complementing each other in our observation, where this universe is perfectly functioning. How amazing the structure of this universe is, there is no crack to even get a smell of it that the universe may happen accidentally by itself! Everything from the sub-atomic level to galaxies are created contradictory to each other yet complementing each other. How can the universe be explained as happening by chance?
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- I am not crazy to subscribe to this idea of accidents.
- I am an honorable being and I cannot commit such a crime and claim that the universe happens to be like this and ignore the Creator of the universe who has created the universe completely in its entirety with contradictory elements yet complementing each other.
- I must submit to the idea that this universe has an Absolute Creator that I cannot deny. That is why my Creator speaks to me with the news that only He can combine the contradictory elements in a complementary order.
How can I say that this sentence/verse is not the speech of my Creator? I must confirm it. –
- Belief/imaan/certainty in one’s mind is not contradicting one’s own self. This is the core teaching of the Quran. As if the Creator is saying that: “I have given you to use your free will, please do not put yourself in a contradictory and torturous position in this life and then at the end come to Me with a destroyed condition without accomplishing the purpose of your existence (don’t destroy this beautiful creation).”
- “I created you to be a perfect creation realizing your reality. Come back to me with the realization of the truth to submit yourself to the truth, so that I will say welcome to you or say “salaams” (welcome) to my presence/realms of existence”.
The Quran says that “when you go to the presence of God and if you have not destroyed your reality/consciousness/heart, your Creator will say “salaams,” come to Me. There is peace between Me and you”.
- “That is a beautiful world, there is peace between you and Me now for I am your Creator and you are my creature.”
- There is a peace relationship between you and Me, that is called “life in Paradise” or living in the presence of God”.
What kind of creation is that “presence of God/Paradise” going to be? We cannot imagine just as we could not imagine what type of creation this life would be. We were brought here and found it to be a wonderful universe, this is a temporary home and we are tenants here.
- I need another type of existence where I do not age and lose all my beautiful tools of pleasure. My Creator says come back to me in terms of peace. Always keep a peaceful relationship between you and the Creator: “Whatever You create, I am happy with You!”.
- All types of creation created by the Creator must be used as a means to communicate and respond back to Him. “O my Creator, I am pleased with You and only You can provide me with what I like/need. You are my Provider/Master/Owner and I worship You alone.”