Chapter Qiyamah – Part 5
Chapter Qiyamah, part 5
This is the 31st section (chapter) of the Quran and the name is “Qiyamah” or “resurrection”, revealed during the 4th year of the Prophetic mission. Thus far, as we have been following along, it doesn’t seem to be alluding to resurrection i.e. after the universe is destroyed, human beings die and then they are resurrected. However, if the verses are taken literally, the descriptions of the event may seem to be talking about what will happen after we are re-created in the new type of creation. However, we don’t have any clues of it as far as its physical experience is concerned i.e., we don’t know which kind of creation the second creation will be. When we interpret our existence here and now according to the Speech of God, we can relate our human condition to the Necessity of another kind of creation in which all my expectations will be fulfilled; that is called Resurrection. As far as we see the signs in creation, we know that there is an end to everything, and this end cannot be for nothing and going into non-existence (or disappearing from existence). Rather, a transformation from one stage of existence to another, because our whole life story tells us/reveals to us that we are continuously being changed.
This reality of being changed continuously demonstrates that the act of creation is continuously changing and not exactly repeating (i.e. we cannot say that the act of creation is the same, rather it is constant). Although the order seems standard, its content (which is part of it) or the act of creation manifesting qualities continuously changes. This demonstrates to me that my existence must continue beyond the confinement of my experiences in this universe. It is a sign that the Creator of this universe (COU) can create everything in a different form because this universe demonstrates that this Creator must have Absolute limitless qualities.
Then the subject of the verses came to the attitude of the human being and his weak points, i.e., how we defend ourselves by putting forward our excuses and justifying ourselves. The Creator says, “whatever you do and the excuses you produce, we are recording it i.e. within yourself, you know that these are not the real reasons for your choices in this world. You are justifying it, but your ability and human consciousness is very much aware of what you are doing”.
- We know ourselves and we are given the ability to recognize our own reality i.e. what we are doing and why we are doing it.
75:20 “Truly you love this fleeting life.”
According to the choices we make, we know and understand that these choices when they are not on the right side, they are oriented on the transient world i.e. immediate pleasure and satisfaction without thinking of its consequences. That is what this verse reminds me of my human self that loves immediate pleasure.
75:21 “and neglect the life [the result] to come.”
All this love for the fleeting world, comes at the expense of what? You are neglecting the life to come i.e. the consequence of your choices. You prefer to do this thinking only to satisfy immediate pleasures, but you know that your feelings and consciousness tell you that what you are doing is right or wrong according to your choices. The end result that I should seek is the recognition of the qualities that I observe and feel in the pleasures I get and what they point to.
75:22 “On that day, some faces will be bright with happiness.”
If you do something right and make the decisions according to the requirements of your human expectations, then your choices will make you feel happy and you will experience the effect of the results of your choices. Just as the verse says, the moment we do something right, our faces are brightened with happiness.
What are we expected to do? We, here in this class, mostly concentrate on reading the Quran from a belief perspective. The actions and rituals are not to be neglected, we all know that, but our actions depend on our interpretations of our existence. If we perform the actions according to our understanding of our existence such as: why do we exist, how do we exist, how am I going to satisfy my human feelings, which kind of understanding and worldview should I have, then we act and live accordingly.
- The foundation of my actions is my belief or my understanding of the reality of the existence of this universe and the world.
If I do something right i.e. according to the expectations of my human feelings (please note that we are not mentioning the teachings of the Quran yet), that is how I am supposed to act. In other words, acting according to the requirements of my human feelings is what the Quran asks me to do. We must understand this and be sincere and consistent within ourselves, but we have the option to cheat and mislead ourselves by making up false excuses, we must watch out! However, the witness will be me myself, my consciousness, my spirit, and my feelings, they are all the same depending on whatever aspect I look at myself with i.e. if I look at my existence as just physical looks focused on the body, then I am just a material thing.
We all know that if we hurt any part of our body for any reason, we would not carry on that act of hurting ourselves. This awareness or action has nothing to do with my belief, worldview, or existential interpretations of my human reality. That is, when you are in physical pain, you try to remove the pain, regardless of your interpretations of your existence. It is so obvious! Similarly, when we accept the truth, confirm the truth, reject the truth, or deny the truth, we are aware of it regardless of how we interpret our existence. However, in this aspect, which is related to belief, my conclusions as to how I interpret myself and my existence, these actions or awareness are according to my existential emotions and feelings i.e. my consciousness and soul will let me know what I am choosing and doing.
- The true and only witness is me.
A lot of verses in the Quran emphasize the importance that everyone has a witness next to him/her. The word “qarin” or “shahid” means that whatever is next to your being is not a stranger and foreigner to you i.e. you know yourself what you are doing, but you may choose to neglect it, ignore it, deny it or CHANGE its direction to a WRONG WAY of INTERPRETING and UNDERSTANDING your EXISTENCE and REALITY of the world.
“And every human being will come forward with inner urges [“Saaiq”] and [his] conscious mind [“Shaheed”]…And one part of him [“Qarin”] will say: “This it is that has been ever-present with me!” (Qu’ran, 50: 21 and 23)
- Now, if you make the right choice, then you will understand what is the wrong option, or the other way round.
75: 23 “Looking up to their Lord”
How can some faces be bright with happiness?
It means to connect my existence to my Lord, Owner, Creator or Maintainer and Sustainer, the One that sustains my existence and being, for my being depends on It. However, sometimes, I may choose to deviate my interpretations and expectations and direct them away from my Creator. Example: This world is as it is, and I must enjoy myself. Anything that you experience fleets away and leaves you alone, a momentary existence. You know that you enjoyed yourself 45 minutes ago or 45 years ago, it is all gone, and you cannot keep it. Any moment that passes by, I am losing what I have learned and what I have gained, and I am getting closer to the end of my existence in this world, that is my human condition. No one can deny that; everything is subject to transience for there are no exceptions in the world. Now, when we make decisions, we can experience this.
75:24 “While other faces on that Day, will be gloomy with despair.”
This is the description of the human situation i.e. our feelings experience and train ourselves (which becomes a habit) to get ready for the end of our life according to our interpretations and worldview. That is, according to the level and type of my experiences, when I leave this world forever (not living a transient experience in this creation anymore) i.e. when I die, I will die with the status of how I educated and trained my feelings?
- In other words, after I die, I will be treated according to my education here. How do I know this?
Here I am before I die when I don’t rely on my Lord, the Creator of the universe, and instead rely on any other source from this universe as providing me with satisfaction (apart from the COU), then whatever the point of reference I have for my existence will leave me with despair. Even if I say that I belong to the stars or I was born under certain constellations (zodiac signs), can they help me? Can they preserve me and give me satisfaction? Can I say yes, I am sure that it will protect me from falling into despair and it will satisfy me? No one can say that there is any kind of sign of protection for me in created things. Stop cheating yourself!! The universe is just a compilation of matter and matter cannot respond to the needs of your soul and spirit. Now, I fall into despair i.e. whatever source I attribute to satisfy me, I will get no point of support and satisfaction at all from it, simply because it is like me, subject to decay. Can anyone show that this understanding may save me from falling into despair? The only thing that we hear from people is that decay is a sign of something, and we can talk about it.
Example: Two friends (Antoine and Pascal) are sharing views and Pascal says to Antoine that you are a religious person, but I don’t believe in anything. Antoine agreed that he believes in what he understands from looking at himself and the universe. We are all human beings and we are free to choose what we want. Antoine wanted to understand Pascal’s view which was something new as he was not much aware of what was going on outside his own religious views. Pascal was an honest person and said that he does not harm anyone, and he always does good things and he helps people, his family, and his old mother. Then, Pascal goes on to say:
- “Even if there was another life after death, that means belief in God is correct”.
- “God is not going to punish me, because I was a good man and I accepted being good”.
- This is the most acceptable attitude of a person who is honest within himself.
- This view is interesting, does it have any reality?
Since then, Antoine has been thinking about this view, and later when he developed and improved on his readings and reflections on the subject of decay, death and resurrection, and his understanding of the Quran, it became the only serious topic for him to think about i.e. what is the reality of this world?!
Again, this view is so prevalent, and Pascal-like many others are so comfortable with it. Although the Quran says, and so does my soul, that this is not the solution because it is full of doubts. Yes, I do not contradict my nature by doing and preferring good actions and good intentions for other creatures, especially for human beings. Pascal was a respectful man and he is not alone in this attitude, there are many people sharing this idea and most people say that I am a good man. However, the human soul wants security for its existence and expects such security that is fully satisfactory and guaranteed.
Can one obtain this guarantee that He will surely be saved in His existence, by trusting a source that is able to protect Him from falling into non-existence?
Can we really claim that being a good person can secure our expectations of eternal happiness, let alone our existence, and protecting me from the fear of going into non-existence after death?
Example: While you are driving a car, you know that you want to secure yourself from getting into a car accident. What you do is that you take precautions while driving, you don’t say that I will take my good intentions and I will not pay attention to the road while steering the wheel. In other words, I will be good in the car so as to not cause any damage. We are all careful while driving and we want to be on the safe side, that is why we are told to practice defensive driving because you don’t know, someone may be neglectful. We must be careful that our driving is safe. Is it guaranteed? No, it is only guaranteed if I know the future and if I know the intentions of the people. Everyone looks for guarantee and sure security for the driving of their life. How can we have it? We are not able to make sure that our life is secure by ourselves, let alone eternal security. Now, listen to your consciousness and feelings, they say that they need a point of support to guarantee that their future is secure.
What does a secure future mean?
It means that my life has a permanent direction or a fixed point of support. And I am aware that the fleeting moments are not aimless or going into non-existence, rather they are pages of a book that can be edited with every opportunity given in this fleeting life so that I can fill in with loving narrations about my Creator as that is what will be recited back to me by my Creator when I meet with Him in person? Hence, a secure future is one where I feel intimately close to the Star of my story who I get to know through my being, my feelings, and this universe that He creates. As a result, nothing bothers me because I am always in the know of Him, aware of His existence and presence in my thoughts. When death is given, it is just like jumping in deep water knowing that you will be carried in with gentle wide arms opened.
Think of your life now and listen to your feelings now and if you say that you may or may not disappear from existence, then reflect further. Just in case if I may not disappear from existence, I will take the necessary precautions, but I may also disappear from existence, think about it. Although I am taking into consideration the possibility of my life being transformed into another existence (i.e. my existence must continue), accordingly I am taking my precautions, that is my human reality and we cannot deny that. At the same time, listen to your feelings, what do they yearn for and look forward to? I listen to myself and I say that there is a possibility that I may be saved and also there is a possibility that I may not be saved. As soon as this second option comes out, my soul, feelings and the human side starts suffering like the verse says, “gloomy in despair”.
When you look at the latter side of the possibility (as given above), you will feel despaired. It means that I don’t want this option at all, that is how our manufacturer setting is all about and what our reality is all about; we don’t want annihilation, extinction, or non-existence. Our feelings are hardwired with these expectations. I don’t want this option at all, that is a call for a human being! We are not using any reference from the Quran, rather we are referencing human feelings. Afterward, we will come to the Quranic teaching, but first I need to experience within myself that I need full security for my existence, feelings, and expectations. However, this security is not possible from within the conditions of this universe, nothing can save me here, even the galaxies, the atomic energy, technology, and modern medicine cannot save me. We can try to expand the life span if it is possible within the order of the universe but the universe, in its own nature cannot guarantee that you are not going to die, not only you as a human being but everything else created dies, even the galaxy dies. It is a matter of time, a continuation of creation. How much something continues is within the conditions of the order of the universe then everything finishes in its appearance and dies here.
We all know this as a reality that things die here, some may call it “black holes”, doesn’t matter what it is called, but the fact is that there is a reality, this universe is going to get to an end and will collapse. There are many theories about it and there are no proven theories thus far that this universe is eternal, there is no sign and no evidence for it. Even the human being and the universe dies.
- As soon as we interpret death as going into non-existence, disappearing from existence, the troubles of my soul start acting and disturb me and tell me that your choice is wrong, I do not want it.
- My nature rejects disappearance, where did I get these feelings from?
- That is how I am and that is how we are made.
- Admit yourself and be brave, that is how you are manufactured!
As soon as we realize that the second option is a possibility, my soul starts trembling and shaking that there should not be this possibility, that is the only way to look into this matter seriously and find out the Source of the Existence of the universe (SOE) and therefore, yourself within the universe. Whoever is the COU, including the order of the universe, whatever it is called as “natural laws”, all of them need to be created and need to be taken care of in their existence.
- None of the elements of this universe can be the SOE of this universe.
- These are the fundamental realities that we must remember at every moment.
- This universe cannot be sustained by itself; nothing can sustain itself and everything is subject to change.
Nothing escapes from being subject to the order of the universe and the order of the universe does not have its own independent existence from the rest of the universe, everything is an all one packet/entity, that is how it is set. In other words, there is no universe + order as an independent entity but they exist together. That is how the universe is given existence, which is phrased as the“order of the universe”.
- If the universe needs to be created, automatically we see that the order also needs to be created, that is an inevitable conclusion of human reasoning: “It is my Source of Existence (SOE), whoever it is that is creating this universe with the order”.
If I don’t attribute my existence and the existence of other beings to its SOE, then my face is gloomy with despair, it is inevitable and that is a sign that I will be resurrected with this despair because that was my choice and I educated my feelings with despair and so I will be rewarded accordingly, i.e. with despair. If I do not study and am ignorant, then I will be given a degree that says that “this man is ignorant”, on the other hand, if I study and am a successful person, then I am given a degree that says that “this man is a learned one”. Accordingly, I will graduate from this universe.
Now, what happens if I insist that although my soul experiences half hope and half despair, I still want full security for my existence. Being a good man and acting according to human nature is good (as far as I can know) but that alone does not save me; I must attribute the existence of all my actions to the Source of my Existence. Only then will I say that everything belongs to Him and He will take care of all my feelings, He will preserve my existence and He will be rewarding me according to my choices. That is the only security. Half faith does not save me, but it is better than being an arrogant man i.e. I cannot do anything. You cannot do anything, anyways, you are going to die whoever you are, even the emperors died away and (no one cares) for they are rotten now and the spirit is in despair.
75:25 “knowing that a crushing calamity is about to befall on them.”
Whatever I choose only for immediate pleasure, I know that I have done something wrong and that feeling is just but gone. Even if I experience the best possible life now, it is gone immediately, and I cannot keep it, but I can only keep the pictures of it, not the reality. “Yes, we had a wonderful party and enjoyed our lives, but it is gone, can you keep it?” No. How about tomorrow? “We will have a nice day tomorrow as well and we have arranged something with friends, and I can afford it”. While being excited, one side of you will say that “I will experience it and it will go away again”. That is how the human psychological state is. When we realize the teachings of the Quran, we can see that it can be considered as a human psychology book.
This is the 4th year of the Prophetic mission (still early) and it is preparing the feelings, the minds, and the imaginations of the audience. If one studies the Quran and undergoes the training as it is revealed chronologically, then one will come on the 4th year of education of their Quranic studies and just like the contemporaries of the Prophet, conclude confidently: “I will say without hesitation that I cannot guarantee my life unless I look up to my Lord, my Owner, there is no way”.
Knowing that every moment, whatever lifestyle I follow will fall into despair and it will be gone, how can people be so negligent and ignorant about their human feelings and reality, trying to forget and keeping themselves busy with something which diverts the attention to nonsensical things such as political activities or social engagements only for her/his own satisfaction, saying that I am a good man, cheating themselves with self-claimed virtues?
- We can cheat ourselves briefly, but we all know that we are running away from our reality deep down.
If someone is aware of his/her own reality, then this person says that this is true, and does not want to cheat his/her precious value of existence: “My human qualities are well enough that I will deserve the reward for it (the consequence of my actions). Human values are so huge, the universe is in front of me”. Every person can claim that the universe is for me alone and the things in it are for my entertainment.
- We can all say that: “Your being in the universe is not an obstacle for me to entertain the beauty of this universe. You and everything else are elements in my universe, you are my friends and I am sharing my feelings, emotions, understanding, and ideas with you. You are helping me, and your presence is a help for me”.
Just as my next-door neighbor has a beautiful garden, it is for me as well and I can benefit from its beauty too. If it is something ugly, then it affects me too. It means that everything is for me. Just as everyone’s face exposes them to the sun. Even if there are one hundred billion people, I can still get my sun fully and their existence does not limit and diminish my benefit from the sun; it is obvious for everyone.
Comment: There are two students who study for the exam and worked hard for it. On exam day, one student is still being nervous while the other one is calm, even though they both did well on it. Similarly, when I connect with my feelings that my Source of Existence will guarantee all my needs that I am created with, the anxiety and doubts are still there and do not go away, as long as we are in this world, we are subject to these human feelings.
This is a very common concern. When I am having a discussion session like this, I say that there is no doubt, I have a Lord who sustains my life and who is the Creator of me and He provides everything for me, I am sure. Do I get out of the anxieties? No, because the following starts: If I deny the Creator, then there is no way to escape from anxiety because there is no source of hope for me. If I don’t deny It, then I am always in between hope and fear. Why? Although I have worked hard, I am still not sure whether I have done my assignments well enough so that my Creator will be pleased with my work or not. But, definitely, despite all my doubts I am hopeful not for my well-done work but for the Mercy of my Creator.
Example: There are two students and one of them has not studied at all and the human feelings are a witness to it, that is how God creates me and is going to treat me accordingly. He created me with my feelings! My feelings are the signs through which I know who my Creator is. If I don’t study at all and ask my teacher to please pass me, the teacher asks me to show the assignments that I have done, and if I have done nothing, what do you think the teacher will say? The teacher will say: “How can I say that you deserve a passing grade, it would be a lie and I cannot do that, it will be just a blunt lie?”
- Now, another student does not go to the teacher and falls into despair with no hope, I am a failure, finished. The teacher will say: “You deserve what you have asked for.”
Finally, let’s add another student who tries his/her best and for any reason confuses the subject sometimes and may not have prepared enough for the exam and is aware of his shortcomings. Do you think that he can go to the teacher and say that I am sorry, unfortunately, I was not successful enough, can you give me a favor for I tried my best?
What will the teacher say?
Comment: The teacher may give the student another chance to make up.
Every moment that we live in this world is the final exam of that moment. I live now, and it is passed and finished, all gone. It means that it is the final exam of that moment. The moment of death is the accumulation of all the final exams. Example: A student learns something in one class, and a bit more in the next class, and at the end of the 4th year from school, when the final graduation ceremony comes, that is the death moment. Every class was a kind of experience of the death moment.
- If I missed a certain class, then that is it, it is finished.
- If I learned something, then that is it, it is finished.
- Can I compensate for my studies again if I missed?
- That is why we must understand that there is another chance only for the following class or upcoming class or next class.
Today my day is gone, and tomorrow is another day and the following day or the next day. Every moment has its own share and due. When I want to improve myself and try again, I can go to the teacher and acknowledge that the exam is gone, there is no way to go back, I tried this much, can I have any hope that the teacher will say try better next time knowing that there is no next time because yesterday I lived once and there is no opportunity for me to live yesterday again? I may have this hope that as long as I tried my best, my teacher will say: “Are you sorry that you did not do your best?” Of course, that is why I came to you with my apologies and requesting your Mercy to pass me, although I do not deserve it.
The feelings of the teacher will not say “no”, rather the teacher will try to be as compassionate and benevolent for the situation of the student because he tried something, he was sometimes on the right track and tried to study but somehow was being negligent partially. That is why we are made to ask for repentance i.e. declaration of the failure and saying: “Look I did something wrong, I am sorry for it”. Admit it with confession of your reality to your God. “I did not do enough, and I could not appreciate Your generosity to me, Your grace to me as much as it deserves but I would like to, and I am a failure to a certain extent.”
I feel that if someone does something wrong to me, and then comes and asks for apologies: “excuse me, it was a mistake, I should not have done it”. I would forgive him because that is the feeling given to me and I would say let’s be friends from now on and keep your promise and don’t do that horrible thing again. That is how human feelings work and we should not forget that we must try our best in order to keep our hopes “alive”. Even when we fail, we must confess it. In order to confess our mistakes, it is essential to acknowledge the authority of the teacher.
If I don’t acknowledge the authority of the teacher/the Creator of the Universe, then how can I confess my shortcomings? That is a horrible situation! I say that the universe is the result of nature, whatever is meant by it, and I just die and finish. Unconscious nature cannot protect me, let alone forgive me! There is no hope within the nature that I will save my existence (nature or “matter” cannot be the source of the qualities that I experience, it is obvious) with, but if I acknowledge the conscious Creator of the universe, the Conscious Being who knows what He is doing, who is demonstrating His qualities to me in creation, then there is hope for me. Similarly, I cannot get the feelings and produce them by myself or I cannot make my face have four eyes, for example. Two eyes are what is given to me and I must suffice with what I have been given. We cannot be the SOE of anything and nothing else can be either!
If you accept the existence of a Conscious Creator, then you are on the right track: “O my Creator, I acknowledge that you have the authority to forgive me as you created me and endowed on my existence these qualities, so you are the Owner of my existence, I am coming to you and confessing my shortcoming i.e. I am asking for forgiveness, that is repentance.”
My feelings say: “If someone repents, I am inclined to forgive this man. If someone does not repent, does not ask for apologies and forgiveness, then I don’t feel like forgiving this man and I take him to court.” However, if someone asks and says: “please forgive me, it was my mistake”, then you start being sympathetic to this person, that is how human beings are created.
In order to ask for forgiveness, the first necessary condition is to accept the authority of the Creator who created you and who can do everything to you as He did, and He can forgive you. Belief in God is the necessary element in asking for forgiveness. As much as you know your Creator, you can make sure that He can forgive you. If you don’t know enough about your status, then you cannot make sure that He can forgive you. Confession and repentance, seeking forgiveness is our status of existence, that is why we have to work on the belief system of our reality i.e. what can I conclude about the results of my existence, what can I make out of my existence? That is what we need to do in this world.
- Belief is the necessary step to ask for forgiveness. That is why belief comes before forgiveness and forgiveness is attached to the level of my belief. Hence, we must work on first belief and then on forgiveness.
Comment: Perhaps the teacher will test you based on what you did attain or tried to attain.
The word “test” must be replaced with “opportunity” i.e. the teacher will give you the opportunity to further educate yourself and will judge accordingly.
If I don’t attribute my existence and actions to the Absolute Creator, then I have no hope for the security of my existence, and I must experience the despair, which is inevitable. If I don’t attend the class and don’t accept the authority of the education system when graduation day comes, do I have any hope for anything? No, all these crushing calamities (despair) will fall on me, that is inevitable.
This is an interesting description of the moment of death or the pangs of death or the death of every moment. This is very important to understand!
75: 26 “No indeed, but when [the last breath] comes up to the throat.”
This is a terrible description of the moment of death. In fact, when we really think about our reality, we can feel this feeling momentarily until we are waiting for the moment of the death pang. Yesterday is gone and I am here alone, the day is finished for me and the last breath is gone with the moment. Who can save me?
75: 27 “and when it is asked: Could any magicians save him now?”
General understanding of these verses relates this to the moment of death. That is the moment of the death of a person who did not acknowledge His Lord. As far as we are concerned right now, every moment is like a final exam allowing me to acknowledge my Lord. I must read the moment and experience this right now, so let’s make this real for ourselves: the sun is about to set and the day is going, who can save me, any natural thing or magician? Who can save the world from rotating? The sun is setting, and darkness is covering me, there is no way to escape from it, nothing can stop it. Since ordinary things cannot do it, I look for a magician or a wonder maker. In the eye of a person who does not believe in a Creator, he has to look for a source of wonder-making (scientism, as discussed in part 3 of this series). The sun is about to die, can it save you or can a moment save you?
- If we don’t acknowledge the conscious Creator of the universe and myself, then my conscious spirit cannot find any source that can save me from aging. Every moment, I am getting closer to total annihilation (especially for the people who do not believe in God, death is total annihilation, and nothing can save them.) Any magician or wonder-worker out there? No.
75: 28 “And the dying person realizes it is the time to depart.”
When the dying day is experienced, I am realizing that it is time to depart. I cannot stop the earth from revolving and the sun from setting, they are just about to be taken away and I cannot stop it. We can apply it to the moment of Death, but I am not experiencing the moment of Death now.
The Quran is speaking to me within my here-and-now experience and I have to apply it now, so when the Death moment comes, I will not be surprised, rather I will say that I was experiencing this (moments of death) throughout my whole life.
When I am dying, I will say that my existence belongs to the Creator of the universe. He gave me existence freely and He has been taking care of me throughout my life freely and entertained me in this world and giving me the opportunity to educate myself, to get to know who I am and what the things are and who my Lord is. All my training sessions are ending as he brought me into existence without any request from me, He is Generous, and He will save me from going into non-existence.
- Death is just a transformation from one state of existence into another; must be so because my Creator, by definition, under the witnessing of the universe i.e. the signs that I see in the universe shows me that He is all Powerful and Mighty One, all Knowledgeable One, all Wise One, all Merciful One and Just One.
Every moment He has taken care of my existence and sustained my life, or else who can sustain my life in this world? I am totally dependent on His will, now I submit myself to His will for this moment. We must train ourselves for this submission moment every day.
- When my day is about to go, I have to say: “I trust the One who created me, created this day for me, it is not going to go into annihilation but will be preserved with Him, He is the all-Preserver. His power has no limit, in the past and the future, He is Absolute.” If someone does not have such an Absolute Source, he looks for a magician or something extraordinary to happen within this universe, which is impossible. No one can stop the day from going and I realize that I cannot stop the day. I don’t even know whether I will get one more day to age.
75: 29 “And the leg is twisted around the other leg.”
It means that this person is completely imbalanced with no solution at all and all source of hope is exhausted.
Comment: The legs are what usually support us and for someone who is denying the hereafter and is trying to hang on to time such as youth and strength, the only thing that supports them is the illusion of it and that disappears and does not do anything for us. This means that your deemed source of support cannot help.
The meaning of “saaq” is difficulty, hardship, passion, and vehemence. Now, when it is used for the description of the death moment, it means total despair, and all my points of supports fall into nothingness. Nothing can save me.
75: 30 “On that day, the journey is to your Lord.”
You cannot find any magician, anything, even beyond the imagination of the universe. Only your conscience, your soul, and your feelings know that whoever has given you existence, only that One can save you, nothing else (that is your Lord). We are free to acknowledge our Lord (we have free will), although we know that doing something is wrong, do we still do it? Yes, I know it is wrong, but I still may do it. Sometimes, I say that I am aware of it and I still do it. Just like every student knows that they must study. When the time comes to study, we say that I will do it tomorrow and procrastinate. That is what we do and that is why human feelings necessarily inform us that I know, there is only one right way. However, I don’t want to be a religious person, I want to be a free man, an intellectual man. More excuses such as I did not see God, so how can I believe in it? At the same time, there must be something, that is why people always look for the Cause of existence and say that matter exists by itself (may not explicitly say this) and make it sound scientific somehow or say that things exist naturally. We never think about what the word “natural” means. These are common excuses that people go with and they know that they cannot show the SOE within the universe. If God was within the universe, then I will show it to you. Do you find the maker of an app within the app? No. This is simple human reasoning.
Comment: They say science and technology will find a way to prolong life.
Can you prolong the modern life of galaxies? Is it possible? Even galaxies will die and so will you. Yes, we can look for betterment as long as the order and the setting of the universe allow us. We can and we should look to have a higher living standard, that is human nature and how we are made, but it does not guarantee that my existence will be saved eternally. There is no eternity within the universe!!
These ideas are common among the “educated people”. Most of us are educated in a secular setting of education and still cannot find the right way of explaining existence. An educated person does not mean that someone is “educated in learning the reality of existence”, which is not taught anywhere in the world’s education system, rather an educated person is someone who uses his human qualities and the universe to make sense of his existence. Thanks to the Creator, God He gave us the guidance and when we study it, we say yes it makes sense, that is what we are doing here in these classes.
Even the denying person, deep down realizes that there is nothing at all and no magician to save his existence but there must be someone because I am given existence out of nowhere. I found myself that I exist in the course of time, that is how I am given existence as a human being here. Whatever the SOE of my existence is, will save me.
(Next time) –The process that we are put through and are being developed cannot be explained within the conditions of this universe.
Tags: Akhira, Al-Qiyamah, Calamity, Death, Eternal Life, Hereafter, Meaning of Existence, Qiyamah Series