Recap: We have been studying how the Revelation was coming down and the process of revealing the verses i.e. Speech of God to human beings. It is not that easy to understand the means through which the message of God came down to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), but we must try to understand it with how it is presented to us in these verses.
The receiver of the message, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was seeing how the Revelation was coming to him through a carrier i.e. angel. When God creates something, He commands the executor i.e. angels to transform the Absolute qualities of the Creator into a limited condition of this universe i.e. manifested form. It may sound mysterious how an angel transferred the message of God to a man in the universe, because it is something that cannot be explained in physical terms; therefore, we should not look for a physical cause to explain it. Just the way that the qualities of its Creator are manifested in the universe through the execution of angels at the command of their Creator, similarly, the Revelation is also transferred in the same way. That is, everything in creation is carried and executed by angels.
The Revelation was carried out by angels in human voice to the receiver of the message, Muhammad (pbuh). Just as when we speak, it is out of an inspiration that comes to us. This means that we are always in contact with angels that carry the meaning of the message from our Creator. However, our capacity is limited according to our understanding of our reality. Therefore, we are only receiving inspiration, not Revelation. Also, there are two aspects to our inspirations, one has a reality, the other does not have a reality. The latter is referred to as satanic whisperings. Since we have freewill, we are left free to choose between the two options. Satan represents anything which is opposite to the truth.
When the Revelation comes to the Prophet (pbuh) through the angel, it is not to be confused with inspiration. For example, when an idea comes to me, I either confirm it or reject it. How can I be sure of an idea to be true? Ultimately, human beings are given a criteria in the form of inspiration to discern the truth from falsehood.
The Revelation was sent by the Creator of the universe carried by angels and brought to this world to be presented to an appointed representative, Muhammad, the Messenger of God (pbuh). The Messenger of God, Muhamamd (pbuh) was told by the Creator of the universe that you will receive this Revelation and you will not confuse it with your inspiration i.e. satanic whisperings: “you will receive it exactly as it is, and you will say it out in a human speech”. That is called Revelation, only appointed people receive Revelation.
Through our inspiration, we understand that our Creator is communicating with us, not in a form that we can claim to be the Speech of God, rather as an idea within our capacity. For example, inspiration comes in the form of an ocean, but I can only take from it as much as my potential (cup) allows. Therefore, we must try to improve our human potential as much as possible.
When the Prophet (pbuh) received Revelation, it was transferred to him in human language exactly as the Speech of the Creator which was carried out by an angel through the mouth of the Prophet (pbuh). Just as when we literally say out the verse that we are studying, that is exactly how it came through the mouth of the Prophet (pbuh) carried by an angel. Hence, God’s speech is as it is in the Quran. Similarly, God’s speech in the universe is what we see. For example, when we see beauty in a flower, the quality of beauty is carried by an angel of beauty employed by God. Therefore, beauty in anything is brought into existence by its Creator in the form that I can see, which is carried by an angel. The angel is an executor, not the Creator.
Every quality of the Creator is manifested with the command of the Creator as He wills and the qualities are transferred by angels into the created form as we now see in the universe. The manifestation of anything that we see in created form is given existence by the Creator’s will.
As the Prophet (pbuh) received the message from the angel, he conveyed the message of God to people in a human voice. We hear the message of God in human language, and the truth contained in the message cannot be denied by the human mind. That is, human feelings cannot deny this reality.
وَلَقَدْ رَءَاهُ نَزْلَةً أُخْرَىٰ
53: 13 “And certainly He saw Him in another descent.”
When we hear the message, we analyze its content, and go back to the universe to check it with our reality. It means, here I am as a created being living in a created world, and seeing the message of God. Now, I must reflect on it i.e. when I look at the world, and analyze my experiences with it, is this sentence acceptable for me as a Speech from the Creator of this universe? In other words, do I see any correlation between the sentence that I am hearing and what I see in this world, using myself as a means of deciphering? Can I really confirm this? The Quran mentions that you can confirm its message, unless you block your mind, or have a biased idea that you will not accept that you are created by something.
For example, if the Speaker in the Quran says, I am Powerful over all things and I can do anything as I will. We must reflect upon it. That is, we always communicate back and forth with the content of the Revelation i.e. go to the universe and yourself, get the evidence from it, go back to the universe a second time and check your reality, then read the wordings of the verse again. Only then, you will be able to confirm the truthfulness of the message, if you are sincere within yourself, in the Quranic language, a “mutaqee”. This means that I must be very careful not to contradict myself and my criteria. The criteria is given to me by my Creator i.e. the message comes to me and my human capacity (soul) takes the message and checks in to see if it confirms it with the evidence in the universe.
Without using my given abilities, I cannot understand anything from not only the Revelation, but also what is happening in the universe. The sincere religion belongs to God, that is, if you are sincere, you can get guidance from your Creator. “Sincere” means a person who is careful not to distort his human qualities. I have to free myself from all shackles of false explanations and biased ideas of any sort. I must be a blank slate while analyzing the case. It means approaching the message of God without any prejudices. When I am able to sincerely declare that I confirm the message of God, with this confirmation, Revelation comes to me again, settles down in my mind and feelings i.e. heart. This process is called “belief confirmation”.
عِندَ سِدْرَةِ ٱلْمُنتَهَىٰ
53:14 “At the ultimate point,”
The word “muntahaa” means the ultimate level of understanding within human capacity. In other words, we feel fully satisfied with what the message of the Quran conveys. That is, the message is being revealed to you and you are given the inspiration as a criteria, and are free to use the criteria based on your sincerity and capacity. What this essentially means is that if you open up yourself to the message of God with no biases and check your human feelings, which are given to you by the Creator, you will feel satisfied with the message that the Revelation presents. We must be aware that our human feelings are open to distortion because we have freewill. We cannot deny our freewill.
When I use my freewill, I may mix things up. That is, I may have a hidden agenda and not want to understand the message of God because it does not fit my false expectations, rather than my criteria (in the form of inspiration). For example, I do not care about fully being satisfied in my human expectations of wanting eternal happiness, rather, I choose to benefit from this universe until death only, performing only the obligatory rituals, once a year charity, and staying busy in my life. We must continuously give to charity in many other forms, not only reducing it to money. Nevertheless, the fear of alienating oneself from society, being looked down on by friends or just appearing to be funny restricts our receptors from receiving the message of God. These are the restrictions (false expectations) that we assign to the message of God. One may say that I am ready to fully submit myself to the message of God, but they may carry some preconceived assumptions. For example, one may say, I do not feel comfortable with some verses of the Quran. Hence, we must always keep checking ourselves in our interpretation i.e. am I carrying any biases or false expectations. To be consistent within yourself in this endeavor, is called “taqwah” in the language of the Quran. That is, to be afraid of interference which limits your understanding of the truth, the message of God and benefiting from Revelation. We must try to free ourselves from such considerations.
The most important consideration to be careful about are my expectations of my worldly life, so that I am not looked down upon for not meeting the standards set by the society. We are so concerned about this matter that we mostly adjust our lives just to fit into society. This is a serious problem, which will limit us from fully benefitting from Revelation. We must concentrate on our human reality as much as possible, so we are able to open up to Revelation as much as possible. That will be the only way that we can fully be satisfied with the message of the Quran. No one is expected to be an idealist, but we must try to diminish our preconceived biases. It requires one to be humble and reflect on their reality a lot. That is why, it is required to say “Auzu billahi minash shaitan rajeem”, أَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّـيْطٰنِ الرَّجِيْمِ before studying the Quran.
The Quran itself recommends seeking refuge with God from the whispering of satan. The whisperings of satan are one’s unrealistic considerations i.e. doing something according to the society’s values against your reality. Human beings are guided by the Quran to seek refuge against contradicting our human reality, as it will allow us to open up our horizons as much as possible, and benefit from the message of the Quran to reach our ultimate point. That is the only way to fully confirm the truth. Confirmation has nothing to do with concluding that the Creator of the universe must be an Absolute Being, rather the confirmation that my human expectations of seeking eternal perfection can only be satisfied by an Absolute Being.
If you are trying to seek perfection with an idealist attitude, you will always be disappointed, because you know that you have many other considerations. You must confess: “I am not always conscious of my reality, I lose myself in my external considerations related to my life conditions”. The external considerations are not according to one’s reality, rather it is assumed, learned ideas, and nurtured. I must sit and think, how can I reduce the external considerations as much as possible? Is it really possible, how is it possible? Try to see what your reality is.
Every human reflection starts with thinking about your own reality:
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- What am I doing here?
- What is the nature of my existence?
- What am I?
- What is the nature of this universe?
- What is going on in this universe?
- What am I doing in this universe?
- Who am I?
This is the only way to seek refuge from the whisperings of Satans, which are alternative considerations and ideas to the truth. For example, your life is important, you must take care of your life, and you cannot be singled out in society. Rather than thinking about the above human reflective questions, we get lost with fitting into the society. Ask yourself: Am I really responsible to give account to the society that I am living in or will my account be presented to my Creator? What is the point in my existence?
- Do I want to satisfy the people around me or do I want to satisfy my Creator?
This is a hard subject, and we must be brave to tackle it. I may not be 100% successful but I should remind myself that this is my reality. All this should be reflected upon before exposing yourself to the Speech of the Creator i.e. seeking refuge with the wrong ideas or satanic inspirations. You will be able to confirm within yourself that I think I got it now, and I am ready to approach the message of God.
If I am careful not to contradict myself, the reality that I am experiencing in my feelings and the universe as I witness them, then I should be able to confirm the message of God. This verse is telling me how the process of confirmation is going on within myself. As I explore the verse, I may be aware that I am not that consistent within myself. But as far as the application of this verse is concerned, I say yes, that is what is happening in my relationship with the message that I heard from My messenger or from God, yes, I confirm the message in the verse and experience it. After going through the process of confirmation, you can then say, “the revelation is descending in my heart”.
عِندَهَا جَنَّةُ ٱلْمَأْوَىٰٓ
53: 15 “near unto the garden of paradise”
First, in my own being, I always hope for eternal happiness. I have this feeling within myself, I say yes, if only I had the eternal pleasure and happiness, which is the promise from my Creator within me. I love it, and hope, if only I can get it. This feeling of promise as the garden of paradise, and the speech that I am encountering with now is also promising me that if you are loyal to your reality, I can help you benefit from it, and realize what is within you, so that you can confirm this promise. While you are confirming your reality, you also confirm what I tell you. We must know how to read the Quran, the Speech of God.
We have this promise, that we will reach the ultimate point, the garden of paradise “janatul ma’wah”. This feeling comes from myself (soul) which is also from God, and from Revelation which is also from God. When I reach the ultimate point, it means I have opened up myself to the absolute truth. What I feel now is the garden of promise to be just next to me. I start smiling, and say, yes, if only I have this. I must try to get closer to the garden of promise i.e. I want eternal happiness, the voice that I hear in the Speech of God, “janatul ma’wah” is there, the ultimate level in the grace of God that you will be put into your next creation. And, you can feel it now.
How can you feel “janatul ma’wah” now? If you do anything which is in accordance with your reality, don’t you feel happy? Yes. If I do anything good, which I see that it’s good to do, and if I am honest with my reality, then I will feel happy, in the presence of my Creator, who is promising me eternal happiness. Similarly, if you prevent an evil from happening, you are choosing something good, then you will feel at the ultimate peak of happiness, where your Creator is letting you know that He fulfills your need for eternal satisfaction.
Imagine that you are a scientist in a lab studying to find a solution to this virus that has frightened us all, to the point that we are stuck in our homes. Obviously, no one wants to get ill. If you are the scientist in the lab who finds a solution to the virus, how will you feel? Very happy and thankful to my Creator who enabled me to discover a solution and answered my prayer.
Finally, when you do something right, you know and you feel happiness there. This is the sign of the garden of Promise by your Creator.
إِذْ يَغْشَى ٱلسِّدْرَةَ مَا يَغْشَىٰ
53:16 “The whole place was overwhelmed.”
After reaching the garden of paradise, you start seeing the world as a beautiful place. That is, when you feel the happiness that you have done something right and have confirmed the truth, you realize who you are, a happy being. As a result, when you look at the world, everything seems to be smiling at you, even the virus starts smiling at you, but you don’t want it to come near you. Everything in creation is doing its job perfectly as employed by God and carried through angels. But our Creator has given us the sense to keep away from what is harmful. My Creator inspires me about the virus, “do not get in touch with me, and go away from me”. As a result, you do not get angry with the virus, although you try to keep away from it. That is our reality.
When we are fully happy, everything looks colorful and bright. You start feeling hope for your future. It means all your feelings have become overwhelmed with happiness. What an amazing state of being to be in!? The universe becomes a place of promise for you from your Creator. Hope is with you everywhere. It is the symbol of full satisfaction, including all your feelings, and fear becomes a source of hope.
“The Creator of the universe cannot ignore my desires that He gave to me”. These are beautiful explanations of human reality, as far as my relationship with Revelation is concerned.