Qamar, Part- 3
Recap: People who resist the message and do not want the message to spread are in need of warnings. There is a difference between warning and encouragement. The Quran is known as a scripture with the presentation of “angry God”. Yes, He is angry for the rejecters and at the same time, He is loving for the believers. When the Quran mentions the reward of the believers, it goes beyond what the believers do in this world and tells them that their reward will be multiplied infinite times with Paradise. The description of Paradise is so attractive and encouraging.
Example: A person is guilty of committing some crime (unbeliever and rejector), and another one is not guilty of doing such crime (believer). Now the person in a decision-making position will tell the believer that you will be given a never-ending life. This news causes pain in the heart of the criminal. The pain of losing such enormous reward by the Creator who is promising eternal life is also a source of punishment. That is, you are missing out on all these opportunities. We must keep the balance between mentioning the reward and punishment. The ones who confirm the truth and never stand against the truth, they feel a sense of relieve from the punishment which gives them an extra pleasure from their Creator.
– When punishment is mentioned for the unbelievers, the believers’ joy increases because of the relief from the punishment. They know the taste of it and want the others to share this taste. In this way, the believers are encouraged to try to save their fellow human beings from this unbearable pain of rejecting the truth and torturing themselves with the idea of a meaningless life and the imagination of falling into nothingness at the end of their lives.
– When the joy for the believers is mentioned, the unbeliever’s pain and punishment increases: “I am going to be punished in this way and I am going to lose all these opportunities”.
54:1 “The Hour has come near, and the moon has split.”
Splitting of the moon and the other celestial bodies are mentioned in the Quran, which is a sign that the universe cannot protect itself. It is under the surveillance of a One not of the nature of this universe. The point is that if the universe cannot sustain its own existence, nothing here can sustain its own existence as well (including you and I made up of flesh and bones). The moon is matter that we see up in the sky, and it cannot protect its existence, so I cannot either sustain my own existence.
54:2 “And if they see a sign they turn away and say, another delusion!”
In the Quran, “sign” is used for three meanings, depending on the context:
- anything created in the world is a sign to its Creator (pointing out which kind of Creator It is for us)
- these verses are signs.
- any miraculous act of creation at the demand of the Prophet and created by God is a sign.
The specific situations created for the Prophets are mentioned as “signs”.
If one does not see the signs manifested in the universe (as mentioned above, applicable to our conditions now as well), how can one believe in a Creator? Example: The moon is just there. We may deny the moon to be a sign of the Creator. Some may say that the moon belongs to its Creator is just a religious narrative. What do you mean that the moon is a sign pointing to something else? They reduce every quality manifested in creation to matter itself. A stone, atom or star, for them, is just part of the natural order. This is another way of saying “another delusion!” They turn away from it and do not notice it. If we don’t read the signs manifested in the world, how would we believe that the universe has a Creator, and we have to take notice that we have a purpose here. Our existence depends on the choice of a Conscious Being. Some people think that this is a big responsibility and they run away from it. As a result of their rejection, they find themselves in a meaningless and purposeless existence (short lived life where they will die soon). All this happens because one denies the signs in creation.
At the first stage, noticing the signs in creation is important. We must realize that the universe is a sign to its Creator, otherwise, I cannot explain the universe. Another consequence of the delusional attitude is that I may reduce the qualities manifested in the universe to unconscious matter. Is there any way for me to understand that this universe must have a Conscious Creator without attributing the existence of the universe to an Agent? No way, because I have reduced the things to themselves as existing by themselves, therefore I cannot make the connection then. Can I prove that the things exist by themselves? No. However, logically, it is possible to conclude that this universe is the act and work of Someone, and that unconscious matter cannot be the responsible for this result. That is human logic, and so we say that this must have a Creator. They say prove it! Prove what?! Can you prove God? Impossible! I don’t say that God created the universe, rather I say that the universe needs to be created by a Conscious Being. This is a logical conclusion and the logical conclusion can only be proved by the person who logically reaches this conclusion. That is, it is not God’s existence that is going to be proven, but it is human logical conclusion that is going to demonstrate its consistency with human reasoning.
The Speech of God says that “I created the universe”, but for me, that needs to be confirmed. That is, I experience the universe and so I say: “The universe needs to be given existence”. Example: When I look at a pair of glasses, I say that the glass is the work of a conscious being. It is made in China, even if I find the man, is it a proof? No, because I don’t see that he is making the glass. We must reason carefully when we introduce the concept of God to ourselves and consequently to others, and we must be watchful of our language. If someone does not accept that the glass is made by a Conscious Being, then they ask for a proof? How can you prove that the glass/universe is made by a Conscious Being? Just look around you, everything that is created must have a Creator and the glass/universe is a sign to the logically necessary existence of its Designer who must know that these are to be worn by a person. Can we say that the glass happened to be in existence by itself or the molecules of the glass made the glass after a billion of years of explosion? Can you believe in that? This is a delusion, not looking into the glass to conclude that it must have a Designer with the quality of art, beauty, texture… The Designer of the glasses knows that the human beings need to have the defect in their eyes corrected with the lenses, and accordingly He designs it. The glasses are purposefully made for anyone who has the same defect in their eyes. If you are nearsighted, then you need special glasses by the Designer. Similarly, the existence of the universe and you complement each other and a One not of the nature of this universe (Absolute) knows what your needs are. This Absolute is referred to as “ghaib” in Islamic scholarship.
Our ego asks us to prove God, that is its mission. The universe points to the Necessary Existence of an Absolute Source is a logical conclusion. If you say that matter is giving existence to the qualities, then prove it? You cannot and so logically you can say that the qualities manifested in the matter must be given by an Absolute Source. A Conscious Being must have done the work that we see manifested in the universe. That is why, belief in God is belief in “ghaib”. The universe is a sign pointing to the Necessary Existence that the universe must have a Conscious Creator. That is perfectly acceptable to one’s human intellect.
To prove one’s egoistic claim, one may say that the qualities are coming into existence accidentally. Can the order come into existence accidentally? Everything is in perfect harmony; how do we explain that?!
55:37 “And when the heaven is split and becomes red like [burning] oil.”
The moon is the closest celestial body that we have here around us in the galaxies through which we can keep track of day and time. Some people say that moon has an affect on human psychology. Example: the woman’s body arranges itself with the positioning of the moon. That is, there is some relationship between the arrangements of the moon and us.
84:1 “When the sky is split.”
The word “split” is used in the Quran in a general sense, how everything is changing with the passage of time.
54:3 “They reject the truth and follow their own desires [prejudices], but every matter is already settled.”
Whatever they deny or find ways of explaining existence; We have decided the will of everything in advance. We have decided which kind of qualities We will give to human beings, so that they will be able to understand the purpose of their existence, who they are and appreciate the qualities that We have given human beings. As a result, you will understand who your Creator is. This matter has already been decided by Us. It means God decided everything already but now it is up to you to choose i.e., deny or reject your reality. You will choose and I will create the result accordingly, that is the order.
54:4 “While the news had come to them in which there is sufficient warning.”
The Prophet started spreading the message, and the people who rejected, did not want to acknowledge it. In this verse as if God is saying: “As far as I know you and what I have created, and I know that you need this sign or explanation presented to you through my Messengers, I gave you sufficient warning which inclines you to accept what it says.” That is, the obvious truth is there, and you have no reasonably acceptable reason to reject it. Also, it refers to physical events as far as what happened to previous nations who rejected the message and the messenger. I will give news about them, and you will think about it, whether I (the Creator of the universe) can do it or not. Can you prevent the Owner of the universe from doing this?! The rejecters destroyed themselves.
54:5 “This Quran is profound in wisdom, but warnings are of no benefit [to the one who decides not to believe them]”
This is a revelation (understanding/meaning) revealed to you full of wisdom i.e., it hits the target and reaches its aim. In other words, what the human beings need is exactly represented in this message of the Quran. The purpose of the message of the Quran is to educate human beings to understand who they are in this world, what options they are given and what they should choose to be convinced with their existence. The Quran is perfectly purposefully designed; however, the unbelievers decide not to accept that they have a Creator and so they do not have to take notice of the purpose of their creation. Human beings are endowed with innumerable human feelings and capacities. If I work perfectly with my human nature, then everything goes smoothly, and I will be enjoying my life. Otherwise, if I do not use my human feelings in the way that they are created, then they cause pain in me. Human nature is perfect, if I use myself perfectly, then human feelings become a source of joy. If I do not use them, then they become a means of torture.
All our human qualities are given to us to appreciate the purposeful act of the Creator and identify myself with Him. In this world, I am changing and getting older. Gradually, I am being reminded that this creation is transient, and the purpose of your existence cannot be limited to this type of existence, because your body is getting older, and your senses remain as young as they are. So, you desire to keep all the qualities given to you as perfect as they can be. This desire is given to me by my Creator.
“Rejecting religion has to do with freeing oneself from an apparent burden”, this is a misrepresentation of religion. Otherwise, the true religion of God as presented by the Messengers is supposed to give me comfort and security in my existence about my future.
All the human feelings are given to us to read the signs in the creation and get to know its Creator. All the qualities manifested in creation are the manifestations of the qualities of their Creator. We must understand who our Creator is, and the conscious Being who organized this universe. He must be the One who creates the endless qualities.
All the science disciplines are the study of the qualities manifested in the universe. They are deciphering the signs of the qualities of their Creator, unconsciously or consciously. That is, in the Qur’anic discourse, the “Names” are God’s qualities manifested in the universe.
10:101 “Say, look at all signs in the heavens and the earth. All the proofs and all the warnings can never help people who decide to disbelieve.”
This is an important message teaching us how to think in this world. When we look at anything in the world, it gives me some meaning. It is not that I see it and it influences me, rather people who have already made up their mind to reject the meaning of creation, have closed themselves to the meaning of this existence. That is, everything depends on our intention to see and interpret, and accordingly I attribute things to something or myself. If I do not want to acknowledge the superiority of a person where I want to be superior to, then I am lost in competition and look at his work to reject that he is in a superior position. In other words, I have decided to look for an excuse to reject it and I will use all opportunities to disprove it without looking into it.
Nothing in this universe can choose anything on its own without following the order. Have you ever seen any atom acting with its own will? Everyone knows that the atom is acting within a conscious will, nothing is accidentally acting on its own. Everything is subject to the order. The rejecters have decided to block themselves with the possibility that there may be a Creator, and accordingly they make the decisions. How about the believers? The believers may not have consciously chosen what they believe in, at least we need to be aware that I must be open to the possibility of whether I can explain the existence of anything within its own nature or must accept that it must have a conscious being who created it within the order of the universe.
Disbelief comes from pre-made decision, that I am not going to believe in anything which is not observable, and the opposite stance to this pre-made decision would be: “I will believe in God no matter what because I am a Muslim, for example”. Please note that belief cannot come from pre-made decisions. Belief must be open to investigations, and then if result necessitates belief in ghaib, then believe in It i.e., confirm and submit to It.
– Belief comes from open-mindedness, and disbelief is close-mindedness.
– Disbelief or claiming belief starts with bias, while belief has no bias, open to the result of the investigations.
- If belief makes sense, then confirm it, don’t reject it.
If you already decide that this universe has a Creator, then it is just information inherited from family culture, ancestors, and society. A cultural background does not necessitate belief, rather to believe, we must choose, and confirm that the universe is witnessing to its Creator. Then we must go along with the revelation, because revelation also supports this idea and provides further evidence to it, and educates human feelings/psyche according to the purpose they believe in. Hence, there is harmony between what the universe says, human feelings says and what revelations says. The revelation is a trainer teaching us how to utilize our conclusions. Example: There must be a Creator. The revelation comes and says this Creator has created you for such and such purposes. Think about it within your own self and living in this universe you can see the harmony between what your senses say and revelations convey within its signs advising us how to utilize ourselves. That is why belief is not the opposite of disbelief.
Disbelief is a preconceived decided attitude that I will reject belief and not accept any Creator about me. I happen to be by myself, and I feel free in this way. Belief is not the opposite of disbelief. Belief must be because of open-mindedness, i.e., if it makes sense I will confirm it, otherwise I will reject it. Then, start seeing the harmony between the universe, your own qualities, and revelation, for yourself. “Here I am, and I accept this, the resonance between the universe, my qualities and revelation”.
Unfortunately, the way most people present God’s religion is not with an open-minded pre-requisite way. We are not aware of the value of the revelation deciphering our reality.