Qamar, part 6
54:24 “They said, what? a man? Why should we follow a lone man from amongst ourselves? That would be misguided and insane.”
This is a general problem for everyone in the world. Everyone wants to feel comfortable with people around them and not be different from others. Also, no one wants to follow a person who is opposed by everyone. We prefer to be with one community in general and not to be separated from others. We tend to follow most people who agree on a way of life, and so we will be joining all the bodies of people. The Quran also explicitly states that the opponents of the prophets usually reject them with this reasoning only: He is only a lone man from amongst ourselves. They claim that “if we follow one man, then that would be insane.” We must watch out for ourselves with what other people are doing. Example: living in a family, we say that everyone does this and I am not going to do something different than others, or I am not going to believe in a worldview different from others. We must look at what people are saying and see if it is acceptable to me or not, only then can we reach a conclusion.
Prophets are sent when there is no trace of truth in a society, related to the fundamental ideas of belief, which everyone must be aware of. That is, believing in what you’re understanding, and what the purpose of your life is. If there is no trace of the truth in the society, then one person is employed to convey the message to the people. It means that we should pay attention to whether what the person says is right or wrong. In Islamic traditions, most of the followers of Islamic religion (Ummah) cannot unite on mistakes or misguided ideas. We should be careful the hadith does not say “majority of the people,” but it says “majority of Ummah.” That is, the majority of the people always follow the truth, with one condition that they must be following the message of revelation, these people are expected not to unite on mistakes.
“54:25 “Would a message be given to him alone out of all of us? No, he is an insolent liar!”
“54:26 “Soon they will know who is the insolent liar.”
The reasoning of the denier is that he is one man to present something that they are not accustomed to. The whole world is created by an Absolute Being. Whatever we choose is created by the Creator of the universe. The majority of the believing community unite on one message, otherwise all the community will continue following the previous generation. If an idea is wrong, and the society is corrupted, then one person must stand up and speak the truth.
If they have a reason to reject his idea, then they can. Example: I am a student in a college, and I am in an auditorium. There are 500 students and one teacher. If all the students stand up and say that they are the majority as opposed to the teacher, what happens? The whole purpose of the teaching in an education system is disregarded. Similarly, being a majority helps one follow the proper way of life but it does not mean that we should go against our human nature which necessitates that we should be following the right understanding of life.
54:27 “We are sending the she-camel as a test for them. Just watch them and be patient.
The she-camel represents God’s camel, i.e., it does not belong to anyone in this world. Do you think any creature in the world does not belong to its Creator, God? Anything created in the world has the right to live. The she-camel refers to all creatures belonging to God. That is, we must respect the right of every being. I must sustain my life and my Creator says that this animal belongs to me, and you can benefit from it. Example: I can benefit from an apple garden, but I must respect the ownership of that gardener. Similarly, we must respect the order of the universe. There may be some animals not protected by other beings. The Prophet insisted that this animal is created for you and has an owner, who is her Creator. It must be given the permission to continue its life or if it is going to be used as nourishment then it can be taken away in recognition of its Owner only. The people did not respect the animal because it is owned by someone else, its Creator, that they cannot fathom.
54:28 “Tell them that the water is to be shared among them. Each will have a turn to drink.”
Can we just go and harm a bird we just see in the garden? No. The Prophetic message teaches us that we must learn to respect the rights of other beings as they are. Even inanimate beings should not be disturbed and change their locations. The Prophet warned people not to do that. These people are tested with these animals, for example, the she-camel should be respected like any other creature. The point is that we must respect all beings’ rights.
54:29 “But they called their companion who took hold of her and cruelly slaughtered her.”
54:30 “Then how severe was the suffering which I inflicted when My warnings were disregarded.”
The inflictions that are imparted may not be a physical one, rather a psychological suffering, does not matter. The point is that if I say that a created being does not have a protector, then I can harm him/her or do what I please with it, for example. When we do this, we may not get any physical punishment in this world, so what is the message in this verse? How can I relate it to my state of being right now, for there are so many people harming others worldwide for political and economic reasons? How come the oppressor goes unpunished without any suffering? Rather, as an oppressor, for example, I will feel the psychological/spiritual suffering for treating creatures and this universe as without an owner/protector where I do as I please, i.e., without acknowledging the authority over me. But the rights of innocent beings must be protected and the criminals must be physically punished as well as they harm others physically. Being left with no physical punishment for the criminals and with no reward for the innocent in this world necessitates another type of creation where the full judgement must be practiced if the Creator of this world is really the Absolutely Just.
54:31 “Indeed, We sent a single, mighty blast against them. They became like dry sticks for fence building.”
If one rejects the message, they are not destroyed physically now. That is, when the idea that a particular person has no protector is entertained, and that I can take over his/her sovereignty and enslave him/her for my own ambitions, it means that I cannot acknowledge that their owner is God, hence rejecting the truth. If I do that, then I do it because of my understanding that this universe has no Owner and therefore these beings have no Owner. This ultimately means that I do not have an Owner. If I do not have an Owner, then I feel purposeless in my beings, this destroys my security and comfort, and I become like a dry stick, so meaningless.
- Living a purposeless and meaningless life is the worst thing for human beings to have in this world.
If I have no purpose in my life, the result of this unbelief reflects in my feelings, which destroys my spiritual comfort. Even if I live comfortably here, it hurts me psychologically and spiritually. Example: If I eat lots of great food every day, it does not help me but becomes ordinary for me after a while. Similay, if I live in a big house, I can only use one room at a time, and I am still living in one room. If I wear expensive clothes, they do not satisfy my human expectations. The Quran always speaks in a concrete way, by giving physical examples, to teach me that my feelings and intellect need to be used properly with my consciousness, otherwise, I am destroying myself with meaningless ideas. I must bear in mind that the descriptions of these ideas are not physical, however, we understand that spiritually, the rejecters always feel the vacuum and need more and more superficial and fleeting satisfaction.
If we try to experience within our own life that everything here has an owner, then I feel that the universe has an owner who is giving us the opportunity to get to know Him, so that I will feel comfortable in my existence now. Death is just a transfer from one stage of existence to another. Human spirit wants perfection, and if something is transient, it cannot satisfy me. If I do not attach myself to an Absolute Being, then I cannot get any satisfaction at all. For a temporary base, if I attribute myself to nothing, that is the horrible feelings that human beings cannot bear and get any satisfaction from at all.
We can try to satisfy ourselves from one event after another throughout our life journey here. Youth adventures are different, but people who became drug addict for example during their middle age, then that is problematic because life has no meaning with that mind-set.
In a way, every person is destroyed in different ways. That is, if we reject God’s guidance and do not listen to Him via His messengers, we ruin ourselves and our future. The messengers who bring these ideas, are only conveying the message from God which is beneficial to my well-being. The deniers rejected the Prophet and wanted to prevent the Prophet from spreading the message, not because they did not have any reason to believe, rather they did not want to submit to an Owner of the universe and wanted to be free from accountability of their existence. What the Prophetic teaching was doing was going against their egoistic tendencies, and so they reject and oppose the Prophet. These are the people who did not listen to the Prophet and deserved the consequences of what they chose, i.e., psychological and spiritual turmoil.
54:32 “We have made it easy to learn lessons from the Quran, who, then is willing to take it to heart.”
If you don’t want to take it seriously for yourself and if you reject the message/truth, then you will be a candidate and receive these kinds of punishment as well, both in this world and in the next creation.
54:33 “The people of Lot also rejected the warnings”
This universe is under the control of an owner, who demonstrates that He can create anything. No one can get an everlasting sense of security here. Just because the order of the universe does not change, does not mean that it will always be as you think and desire. Example, when an earthquake happens, I realize that the earth does not have to provide me a comfortable place to feel secure. I cannot secure anything here and, in my existence, everything is in the hand of the Creator. These are the changes that occasionally happen in the universe, to educate me that this universe is not guaranteed, the Owner can create anything in any way. Life is given to me, and death is given when the Creator decides. I am totally dependent on my Creator. That is why it must be in this way that I must remember and take it seriously that this is a warning for me, that I cannot guarantee anything, and I better put the trust in the Creator.
Those people who follow the Prophets are saved means that if I follow the message of the Prophet then I understand that I belong to an Absolute Being who is my owner. He just demonstrates my reality to me, and I must leave my existence to Him. My life does not belong to me, it is given to me, put your trust in this Absolute Creator. Everyone leaves everything behind when they are given death. We are created in a way where when I put my trust in an Absolute Being, only then do I feel secure in my existence, and not worry about my future. Taking care of my daily life is different than my existential future. I don’t panic about the troubles of life, rather my Creator has given me something to educate myself about my reality. The Owner must know what He is doing. The universe is created this way, i.e., if I put my trust in Him, I feel the reward of security and serenity in my life.
54:34 “Therefore, We sent them a storm of stones…Except for the family of Lot…We saved them at daybreak.”
54:35 “as a blessing from us. Thus, We reward those who are grateful.”
54:36 “He (Lot) had warned them of our punishment, but they doubted the warnings.”
54:37 “They even demanded his guests from him, so We blinded their eyes. Taste, then the suffering which I inflict when My warnings are disregarded!”
According to their belief, intention, the order of the universe is put in a way where if someone transgresses the right of another creature and goes unpunished, we may think that he may be comfortable in this world, rather he is not enjoying spiritually. Check yourself: if you really harm someone for no reason at all, do you feel comfortable? No.
54: 38 “Early in the morning, an eternal punishment seized them”
Those who rejected the prophets were expecting satisfaction in a new day, but eternal punishment was waiting for them..
54: 39 “Taste, then, the suffering which I inflict when My warnings are disregarded.”
54:40 “We have made it easy to learn lessons from the Quran. Who, then, is willing to take it to heart?”
54:41 “And the warnings also had come to the people of Pharaoh.”
Not everyone will be treated in the same way. Every suffering of the people will not be the same but similar in nature.
54:42 “But they rejected all of Our signs, so We seized them with the [crushing] grip of the Almighty, Most Powerful.”