Recap: We receive Revelation in two stages i.e. the message of God from His speech, and what goes on in the universe. That is, we must go to the universe and check to see for ourselves (by using our human qualities) to confirm the content of the news that we receive from the Revelation. Within our own feelings, we start experiencing the reality of what the message of God conveys. The human feelings i.e. the heart is expected to be satisfied with the message of God, otherwise, we will always be in contradiction with our existence. Also, we must stay alert while using our freewill, which has the option to choose to ignore the reality or confirm the reality and declare peace between the expectations of the human feelings and the message of God.
As we discussed in the last session, we may ignore our human reality and may not want to fully submit to it due to considering criteria such as societal values which are external to our reality. With such an attitude, one is not looking to obey the will of their Creator, a very common trend, because most people prefer to declare to be independent in their existence. With minds allured by societal norms, people do not want to think about their Origin of Existence. When we do not prioritize the Origin of our Existence, we take our existence for granted and establish a sort of self-confidence. With such an attitude, we trust ourselves and try to find the meaning of our lives by ourselves yet being aware that we are confined within the limitations of this created world. Consequently, we ignore our Source of Existence, and we prefer that way. This human conditioning is very common and dangerous. For example, we start thinking that as long as we remain within the limitations of this universe as created beings, we will keep living, because nature exists eternally, and is still within the universe. In this case, the Source of Existence of the universe may be denied, if not ignored. These are alternatives that we are free to choose.
When we deny the Source of our existence, we do not want to submit ourselves to the will of our Creator. Although we are subject to obeying His will with every interaction that we take here such as eating, breathing, sleeping… Submitting my will to the Will of the Creator means that it is the way that the Creator has willed me to be. As far as my bodily relationship with the universe is concerned, I can find out how to grow things, how to earn a living, and how to use the order of the universe to survive. However, my human side cannot find any Source of satisfaction to fulfill its feelings of eternal expectations within the confinements of the universe. Our human side is always looking for perfection. If something is perfect, then it must be eternal. Neither perfection nor eternity can be found within the universe.
The way that human expectations are waiting to be satisfied perfectly is not possible in this universe. Even a small creature like a virus, threatens us. In its existence, the action of the virus is perfect, and we are given the sense from our Creator to keep away from it. Regardless of what physical conditions we are in, our expectations for eternal satisfaction can never be satisfied within the conditions of this world. Either through a virus, signs of old age or something else, at the end we will die. This is not acceptable as perfection for my human feelings. My human expectations desire eternal perfection and there is no perfection in this transient fleeting universe. What a perfect contradiction to push me to look for the Source of my creation and seek answers from that Source.
If human beings do not understand this contradiction, our human feelings will always be in suspension. Otherwise, we may condition ourselves that as a human being, I am created, and the order that I follow never changes. Furthermore, I have my human feelings, and I do whatever I can by following the order to get satisfaction from this universe for my temporary lifespan. This is the attitude that people take when they turn their back to Revelation, the most threatening disease in civilization. What they are essentially saying is that they can find satisfaction within the limitations of this universe. They listen to their human feelings and cheat themselves by applying the conditions of this order in the universe and try to make the most of it. Everyone knows the contradiction that the human being experiences, but we choose to numb ourselves from our reality. The universe cannot do anything to fulfill our human expectations. I want to have a perfect, satisfied, and pleasant eternal existence, and the universe cannot give it to me. This consciousness should alarm us because we know that we will die one day. It means that the universe is not answering my questions, and that is why I must submit my will to my Creator. How to do that? I should look for any source which brings news from my Creator, investigate it, work with it, try to see if it works hand in hand with the qualities manifested in the universe, and complement each other.
The universe itself demonstrates that their Source of Existence cannot be anything of this universe, because the whole universe in its entirety needs to be given existence. Everything with their qualities bring the news and make human beings realize that the source of Existence of this universe must be an Infinite One, not of the nature of this universe i.e. Absolute Being. It means that I cannot describe the Creator of the universe in terms of this universe. The word “Absolute” means that the Source of Existence of this universe is undefinable and indescribable, but we are sure of its existence. Absolute simply means that I cannot define this Being within the conditions of this universe, which means that we cannot get out of the universe to get a word to describe it. When people say “God” and look up at the sky, it seems like a physical expression, but it means beyond the universe i.e. Absolute Being. We should never take the word “Absolute” literally. We cannot know “Absolute”, that is why it is unknowable, which does not mean that we cannot be sure of its existence.
This process of receiving the message of God and going to the universe to confirm it with the witnessing of the universe is how the human being is made. Through the process of going back and forth between Revelation and the universe, the created being will say, my Creator must have these qualities. I must go to the Source that claims to be the Source of Existence of this universe and see if it is really speaking to me. I would look at the qualities of the Creator mentioned in Revelation, and His treatment of human beings and of the universe described in verbal form and the meaning that I can get out of the verse and see whether it is compatible with what I have derived from the witnessing of the universe. If the universe and my feelings match with the Revelation, then the speech of God comes and settles down in my heart. It is exciting!
Symbolically speaking, when Revelation descends, it means that the angel is coming. Although we don’t see it, we know that everything is executed from Absolute form into limited qualities within the universe. This transformation is executed by vehicles that the Creator creates to transform His message or Speech into a created form, in the language of the scripture, it is called “angels”. Have you seen angels? No, but I know that in everything in this universe, there is a continuous execution going on. In the meaning that comes to me within this execution, I see that whatever is created claims that my Source of Existence must have these qualities. From the creation, meaning arrives to me. From Revelation, news comes to me and settles down in my heart only when it is compatible with the meaning that I derived from creation. As a result of this compatibility, we can confirm the message of God. Otherwise, if we do not see any compatibility, then we must investigate until we are satisfied. If we are not satisfied with any text that claims to be the word of God, we can leave it, because we cannot pretend that we are being satisfied.
When we search for other Speech of God (Revelation), and study them, we may find that there are some discrepancies that are questionable. The Psalms for example, seem to be matching what I am experiencing from the witnessing of the universe and what my human expectations are. I can reason about the word of God, but not all of it settles down in the human heart after witnessing the universe. Any Revelation must settle down in our hearts and be compatible with the witnessing of the universe and our human feelings. As a result, the heart will not be disturbed, because there is no fight there. That is what the Quran claims that when you receive this message, your heart will not be disturbed and engage in a fight within itself. That is the Quran’s claim, we must be satisfied when we look at Revelation, otherwise we must keep studying further, ask the experts, because, at the end of the day, it is you who wants to be satisfied.
After your heart is fully satisfied, you are in paradise. Your heart is in paradise; your body cannot because it is limited to this physical world. For example, we are given the sense by our Creator to protect ourselves from the virus, and by taking precautions with a lockdown, we are obeying the Will of our Creator. However, this does not solve our human feelings of wanting eternal happiness. We mostly mistake the needs of our body with the needs of our human feelings. When we take precautions to safeguard ourselves from anything harmful, we are doing so because we do not want to die, and that is how we are made. But we must question the existence of death. Anything harmful out there is employed by God, which in the language of the Quran it is called “joonood Allah” i.e. the army of God, and there is wisdom and purpose in the creation of anything. You will take precautions for your body, but your heart (human feelings) will never complain to the Creator who has created the army of God.
Protecting yourself from harm is a matter of the body, not the human feelings. Unfortunately, we are struggling in this life to sustain our bodily needs only. How about our human feelings (heart), when we want to satisfy and protect our heart, we must go beyond this universe and present all our human expectations to the Source of Existence of this universe. The human heart can do it, because human feelings can connect with a Source beyond this universe. But if one blocks this choice for themselves claiming that their existence consists of only this world, then as a whole being, their existence is confined to the limits of this world only, and inevitably they find themselves unsatisfied in their existence. We must make the distinction between human needs and body needs. For example, when hungry, you look for food, and when thirsty, you look for water. Which one should have priority? As far as the health threatening condition is concerned, your priority is to protect your body. As far as the satisfaction of your human feelings are concerned, your priority is to look, contact, present your request to the Source of Existence of the universe. When you acknowledge the Source of your Existence, you express to Him that He is the One who created you and gave your life. The One who gives us our life now is going to keep His promise which He has already invested in our hearts. That is a very important combination with two sides i.e. what is needed and who is going to satisfy that need?
We are usually not bothered or disappointed with each passing moment. Although we run away from any life-threatening situations,we are usually satisfied with our state of being by not thinking that we can die at any time.. As we get older, we start getting ready for departure from this world. At this stage of life, we understand that there is no way to escape from death anymore. When death time comes, we are ready to submit ourselves to the Source of our Existence. Some say that we submit to the earth; indeed, the body goes to the earth, but human feelings and expectations are with the Creator of the universe. As a result of being with the Source of your Existence, you do not get disappointed in your death bed. Rather, you are content that, whoever gave you existence in the form of a baby, He is now taking you away in the form of a baby. Old age becomes a second experience of a baby where you cannot stand up on your own, and someone takes care of your body needs. It is beautiful to come into this world as a baby and depart from this world as a baby, totally dependent on theSource of Existence who employs people to serve our baby needs. When you reach old age, don’t say that you are dependent on your children or relatives, rather, if we think about it, we are totally dependent on our Creator, and we must acknowledge that. People are employed by your Creator to give you food, water, clean you up, but they cannot save you from death. If you want to experience how the Quran describes this, study the second part of Section Al- Qiyamah (Resurrection).
Nothing in this universe can fulfill or provide you that which your human feelings require. If you define yourself as a body, then you think that people are your savior. For example, a mother takes care of the body requirements of the baby, she cannot give anything to the baby as far as the human expectations of the human sides are concerned. When you reach the second stage of babyhood, it is obvious to understand that people can provide you with food and water, but no one satisfies your need for eternity. The human spirit looks for eternity, and no one satisfies that need of eternal existence; only the One who brought us into existence must fulfill our human expectations for eternity. This One is called “God”, the Creator of the universe. The Quran describes God as rabbul alameen, the Sustainer of all the worlds. This description is appropriate to a Creator. If someone or something cannot create the whole universe and sustain it, administer it, prepare whatever it needs to continue its existence, they cannot be the Creator of anything. In order to create one cell, this One must create the whole body and the whole universe.
وَلَقَدْ رَءَاهُ نَزْلَةً أُخْرَىٰ
53: 17 “The sight never deviated, nor did it go wrong.”
When you fixate on the reality that you learn from Revelation, the message of God comes, describes the Creator and explains to you who you are, and shows you the way of how to connect with the Creator. When you connect your existence to your Creator, and start experiencing satisfaction in your feelings, then your eye never deviates to anything else. For example, if you are plugging your existence to the Absolute Creator, the Eternal Being, Creator of the whole universe, do you need to deviate your eyes somewhere else? It would be impossible; for you to have found the Creator of the universe, Absolute Eternal Being, what else are you looking for? Is there anything missing in the satisfaction of your human feelings? No. All your feelings can get satisfied only by attributing themselves to the Absolute Being who can satisfy the needs of the feeling. Whatever your feelings expect can only get satisfaction from an Eternal One, Infinite One. This will leave no room to look for anything else. Everything is given existence by Him, you are being taken care of by Him, what else can you go to where your eyes get deviated? There is no other One other than the Absolute Infinite One. Infinite can only be one, not more.
The verse here is letting us know that when you receive the message and grasp the message that The Infinite One is conveying to you, then you will not feel any need from anything else to get the answers to the questions of your feelings. That is, whoever created your need for satisfaction can only be the One who is going to answer them. Human feelings are open to eternity. When I plug into the Eternal Source, I do not need anything else, that is how I am. Some say that the universe will satisfy them, they only get satisfaction from their body needs until death. Such an attitude ignores and closes their minds to their past, because they know that they cannot bring anything back from the past. At the same time, since they cannot guarantee the future, they concentrate on day-by-day satisfaction, in terms of their body only. How about your human feelings and expectations of eternal security in your existence? In that regard, we have no answers from the universe. Human beings are in serious trouble if we do not reflect on our human reality. WE MUST SERIOUSLY REFLECT on ourselves a lot. Try to speak to yourself, to your Creator. You can reflect on your being i.e. Who am I, what am I doing here? At least start with these questions.
When you get the news from your Creator, and get the answers to your questions, then you don’t need to go anywhere else for you are with your Creator. When your Creator lets you know: “I am your Creator, the Creator of your expectations, I am the One who will satisfy, don’t look for satisfaction in anything else in the universe, they don’t know any better than you, they are helpless and are dependent like you in their existence, the things are created as you are“, then your sight never deviates from this truth. Nothing is permanent in this universe, and nothing can give you permanent satisfaction here. You cannot do anything to stop aging, whatever you do, you cannot get any satisfaction from this universe for sooner or later we all decay and deteriorate to the earth.
It is an obvious grace from our Creator that we are subject to death in this body. Therefore, we should not deviate from our reality saying that if I find a way of not aging, I will be eternally happy. No one can get out of the problem of aging and death, it is a Mercy from our Creator, otherwise if the world had no problem, human beings would not look for an answer to human expectations, and we would mislead ourselves by saying that the universe is satisfying me. The universe is no different than you; everything is continuously changing. Our cells are encoded with: “I am destined to die“, as if materially, we are given life to die.
We live to die as far as our body side is concerned but the human side never dies. It does not mean that we should neglect our body. While you are looking for the food, your feelings and mind may question, why am I in this position? Again, WE MUST SERIOUSLY REFLECT on ourselves a lot. Are we given life here to satisfy our body only? By trying to satisfy our body needs, we wait until Friday to satisfy ourselves with the weekend. It is so sad to live waiting for the weekend, and then another Friday, while aging and death at the end. How can you bear this burden of life on a weekly basis? For some, a monthly base? If you are a farmer, yearly base? The same vicious life cycles every year. It does not mean that we should not work for our lives, but we should not see it as the purpose of our life. We must understand that this vicious cycle that we are stuck with is only to satisfy our body needs. We must protect our health and body, but we should not live our life to this level only.
No one needs encouragement to sustain their life here, even a beggar sitting in a corner knows what to do. The whole civilization encourages us to protect the human body, but not our human concerns. As a human being, I have many concerns. Yes, I will do what it takes to sustain my body, but I need eternal satisfaction and settle down in my human feelings where no contradiction takes place within my heart. While you are searching for your food, think about it: “I am created in these life conditions, what can be the purpose of it, who is putting me in this position. Why am I created in this position? There must be a purpose. I know that I have consciousness which asks questions, why are you here in this condition?” It means that we are already encoded with this human inquiry, questioning and searching ability. We must use it to our eternal benefit.
When you receive the message from the Creator, it should not cause any battle in your heart. Your heart should be a place of peace, not a battlefield. You must look for an answer.
If you find your heart to be in a battlefield with the message of God, check to see if you are denying your reality or are you taking the human feelings as a wishful thinking? Where did you get your human feelings, have you acquired this feeling from the outside world? If that is so, then how come seven billion people have the same human concerns? Have they learned it from society, culture or social background? How come everyone has the same feelings?
Whatever life conditions you are living in, you have the same human qualities and ability to question your existence. Even 2 years old ask the question of why are we doing this? Has the child learned the questioning abilities from society or the parents? Isn’t it obvious that it is God given, that is how a baby comes into this world, with a sense of curiosity. When the child asks, who is God, show me? Most parents do not have an answer to that. Unfortunately, the parents keep the child busy with toys, so they do not get disturbed with the child’s human questions. Is the child learning to question from the society? No. The questions are given to human beings to be answered.
Everyone must sit and think for themselves, and question, what are they doing here? Does what the Revelation convey to me make sense to my human expectations by witnessing the universe? Whatever makes myheart at peace should be followed by living with that message as that becomes a guidance for me. The Quran is full of the word “peace”, that should be a message where my heart will surely find peace with. Therefore, we must study the Quran, spend time on it, reflect on it, and try to learn from the experts i.e. teachers. We need teachers, and we learn everything from teachers. No one can claim to be a subject matter expert by themselves. Why do people go to school? To learn from experts and develop their human potential. Similarly, we must study the Quran from experts and fulfill our human expectations. There is no need to re-invent the wheel, the answer to human existential questions is available in the Quran, we just need to take it seriously and study it with expert teachers
We need to live a balanced life. The body is not the alternative to the spirit and vice versa. According to our immediate needs, certain priorities take place. When the feelings need satisfaction, the spirit takes precedence over anything. Similarly, when you are hungry, the body needs to be nourished.
The Quran says if an ignorant person insults you and argues with you and rejects what you say, just say “peace be with you” and leave them. Don’t try to give an answer back, argue or quarrel with them. That is, if you find yourself in a contradictory position, get rid of it with “peace”. The purpose of the Quran is to assimilate peace within yourself, which is “salaam”. When you reach the point of ultimate satisfaction with Revelation and have confirmed it within yourself, you will say that you are at peace within yourself as described in Section Al-Qadr (Destiny) of the Quran, salamun heeya matlaa’il fajr. That is, you will receive the light until the day light, and you will be at peace. If you miss on receiving light, the effect of peace is experienced less.
When you are fully satisfied in your feelings, you do not need anything else, and there is no fight with anything. For example, when you are hungry, you eat until you are filled. Similarly, you get satisfaction from the message of the Quran as much as you are hungry for guidance and light.
لَقَدْ رَأَىٰ مِنْ ءَايَـٰتِ رَبِّهِ ٱلْكُبْرَىٰٓ
53:18 “and he saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord.”
We must study the various scholars and see what we can benefit from their studies. Each scholar has a particular area of expertise, and we appreciate their endeavors, for they were right in their field. As we come closer to our era, we see that some of their understanding is updated and closer to our age, nevertheless, the information is driven from the teachings of the Quran. The way we approach understanding the Quran in these discussions is not to be found in much of classical Islamic scholarship.
We cannot grasp all the greatest signs of our Lord all at once. What is the greatest sign of the Creator, ayat-ul-qubra? When we recognize the Lord i.e. my need for an endless Source of Existence.
That is, when I find the guidance teaching me how to get satisfaction in my existence, which is not from a philosopher, sage or a monk, although they may have some grains of truth, I need full satisfaction so that my eyes do not deviate from the truth. When I get the response from my Creator which fully satisfies my heart, that is the greatest sign of my Lord for me, and my eyes will not deviate from it to other sources. Let’s say that you have been satisfied eating a certain type of food, and then one day you decide to give something else a try, just for a change. That is an example of deviation. Similarly, when it comes to the satisfaction of our human feelings, and when we find the Source of our Existence to satisfy all the expectations of our feelings fully, then our heart will not wander around in search of anything else to seek guidance from. When I reach out for guidance from the Creator of all my feelings, I find the Source of Existence of my feelings, as my Lord, and that is the greatest sign for me to benefit from.
We must always look for the greatest signs from our Creator. When you study scriptures, you will see that it is enough of a sign to follow. No other teaching apart from my Lord can fully satisfy my heart. At the end, my heart must be fully satisfied. I must make sure in my being that this guidance suffices me, that it covers all my human expectations, and I confirm that it is the message from my Creator. I may not grasp all of it, but I feel that if I work on it, it may satisfy me. Similarly, there may be some pieces that I may or may not be fully satisfied with. Therefore, we must work on it, not get disappointed for not understanding all of it.
We must stay humble that we cannot claim to have reached the highest understanding. If the Revelation claims that it is from my Creator, then it must include all comprehensive answers to my questions. We must look for it. The more you work on it, the better you grasp the meaning and will feel satisfied in your existence. The process of understanding the Revelation is based on your hard work and consistency with your efforts. For example, if you keep digging the earth, you see that it becomes more wet, which means that you are approaching the source of water. Similarly, the more we work on understanding the message of God, and look for pieces of information from other scholars, the bigger picture we get about our reality. The understanding of my human reality and who my Creator is the reminder and is the greatest sign from my Creator to me.
In the last class, we went over how Revelation was revealed as it is (from beginning to the end) to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). When Revelation comes to my heart, I am exposing myself to it and I am learning. That is, layer by layer, I am discovering the meaning of the message of God for me. If I don’t go deeper in my understanding, I stay at the surface and make no progress to see the greatest signs of my Lord.
When I receive my Revelation, the layer of the meaning I receive depends on my capacity i.e. how much time have I spent on it, and how many years am I consistent with studying it. Just as without going over the learnings of first grade, a student cannot go to second grade. I must enroll in the school to get started with my first grade education and then move to the next grades. Similarly, the Quranic education is always open for our learning at any level and stage of life. Then you continue with years of studies to learn more. Is there any end to any studies in this world? No. Therefore, we must stay consistent with learning from the Quran.
We must receive the signs from the Lord of “me”. The “me” means that I am a small creature, yet a legible sign of my Creator within the universe. The body size of “me” may not be that significant, but my human potentiality is important. Just as an atom cannot be seen under a microscope, but when it explodes, its effects are seen miles apart. Similarly, I am just an atom within the universe but within me exist human feelings which encompasses the universe yet does not get satisfaction from the universe. The universe is not that vast of a place to satisfy my human feelings. That is why, when I say “my” Lord is the Lord of the universe, I refer to my human feelings which need Something beyond the limits of this universe, and that Something is the source of existence of this universe.
When I say “rabbi“, my Lord, I am not talking about the Creator of the universe, rather I am talking about myCreator,whatever my feelings are, I want to get full satisfaction from Him. There is no eternity in this universe, therefore the Source of Existence of this universe must be Eternal and have Infinite qualities. It means the Source of Existence of this universe cannot be described within the conditions of this universe. That is why, the greatest sign of my Lord encompasses all my feelings and the whole universe, and is called the Infinite One.
As the verse says that when I see some of the greatest signs of my Lord, that is the way of getting full satisfaction in my human expectations, which nothing of this universe can provide.
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This section is hard to get a deep meaning on. We have not even scratched the first layer of understanding. Although it speaks in a simple language, the message is endless. You must analyze all your feelings, and see what is going on within you. The message has an endless layer of meaning as you reflect on it.
In the next few verses, we will go over certain tribes, and see what Al-Lat has to do with me? These are the people who died billions of years ago. We cannot put the speech of God in a limited space time frame. I must bring it to my practical life.
May Allah protect us from the beautiful virus, which is full of potentiality. We want to protect our lives and seek refuge with Allah from it. “kul audhu bi rabbi-al-falaq“, O my Creator, I am seeking refuge with You from the harm of what You have created. What He has created in this world can only affect and harm our body, but nothing can affect our spirit from what He has created. What can harm the human spirit? Only if you choose to block yourself from submitting to your Creator i.e. I am not going to accept any Creator, I am an independent being, I want to be free as I want until I die, and enjoy my life daily, but you will see how your feelings will be in a battlefield. For example, you enjoyed today with a wonderful dinner with friends, now it’s gone, can you bring it back? No. You may be taking pictures, capturing moments and keeping it in your memory, because you know that you cannot bring it back. You can only see the picture and remember that yesterday you were happy and had a wonderful night, gone. You cannot bring it back. What is the reality behind this? Why am I created in such life conditions? These are the main problems that we are struggling with. We should not deviate from the purpose of our existence; we must be careful. We must bring Revelation to our feelings.I must be satisfied now, if I can read Revelation according to my needs to be satisfied, and not be in a battlefield but at peace in my heart.
Here I am living in this world, and I have my feelings of wanting eternal satisfaction, what is going on? What will help me connect my feelings to its Source of Origin, so they fit into each other? Only my Creator can do that. I don’t think that my Creator is ruthless to leave me here alone without showing the way, otherwise, I cannot find any answers to my questions in the universe.
How should I benefit from a Source that claims to be the speech of my Creator guiding me how to live my life, understand my reality, and giving me the criteria to live by. We need the criteria, and when we use the criteria, we find peace in our heart.
Finally, may Allah keep us safe from this harmful creature that He created. He also created the cure, this is from your Creator reminding you to see the wisdom in its creation, benefit from it, don’t get angry with it; because He is just giving you an opportunity to think more about your human reality, and take life seriously and see why you are here on this earth.