Ethical Lessons from the Quran, part 13
Our aim in studying the Quran is to benefit from its message to apply it to our practical life. Each word in the Quran refers to a particular concept, which is important for us to grasp. Although the words are in Arabic, knowing the Arabic language does not give anyone an edge for understanding the core message of the Quran. The literal translation of the Arabic language may give us some knowledge of the message of the Quran. However, our objective is to benefit from this knowledge by studying it for its purpose i.e. the belief aspect pertaining to our state of being at any given moment.
The Quranic language is different from the Arabic language, which is easier to follow. What makes the Quranic language distinct is its vocabulary that depicts the various concepts pertaining to our purpose in existence which we need to assimilate within us, i.e. belief. That is why we see different translations, none of them are wrong as they give us different perspectives to the meanings of the same concepts. Every word in the Quran has a different meaning within the context of the Quran that differs from our cultural language. Just like a medical book within the discipline of medicine has its own dictionary particular to that discipline which is different from Mathematics for example. Similarly, the Quran has its own meaning it attaches to the vocabulary that it uses.
The questions that are posed in our presentation slides alongside the verses are to draw our attention to some important points for us to consider while making sense of the verses under discussion. We are trying to work on how we can all benefit from the verses of the Quran?
Let’s study the following verse:
إِنَّ سَعْيَكُمْ لَشَتَّىٰ
Layl, 92:4 “Surely, [O human beings,] you aim at most divergent ends”
The word “سَعْيَ” means “to strive for”. The Quran mentions running back and forth “سَعْيَ” between two hills in the vicinity of Ka’ba (2: 158). The story goes back to the practice of the prophet Abraham’s wife Hajar and his son Abraham, symbolizing her faith and patience in search of water for her baby. It is also one of the rituals of Hajj to do “sa’y” from “safaa” and “marwa”. What are we advised to do while performing this act? Why are we advised to hurry and look for a solution? But first, we must feel a need that needs to be satisfied. Do you have a need?
Human beings are always running to obtain something. If you live in big cities, you observe how people are running to get to work and home during rush hours. We are all looking for financial gain and wealth, that is how we are made with the need to satisfy our physical needs. What about satisfying the needs of our spirit? Our spirit needs eternity. Are we aware of it?! Are we really striving to find the answers and solutions to our spiritual needs? Just like Hajar was concerned for the need of her baby, how concerned are we for our spiritual needs. Are we running back and forth to get satisfactory answers for our existential concerns!?
This verse says that we all go our own way in life. Does that mean we should respect people even if they are totally different from us? Since everyone is unique, does it make sense to share our conviction with them or should we keep to ourselves? If everyone has their own way in life, why were the Prophets sent and they were trying to change other people’s perceptions or way of life?
People may be doing different things in their lives based on their different needs. For example, John goes to work every morning so that he can earn money to support his family. Jane puts in extra hours at work so she can buy a house. Jack works on the weekends so he can fill his wardrobe with designer clothes and show it off to his friends by wearing it at school. Jill has two jobs so she can be financially independent within the next 10 years and travel the world in retirement. Everyone is treading on their own path to fulfill some purpose or goal that they have. We are all divergent people in this way, and we come from different walks of life. For example, the US is a very diverse country, where you will find people from different places and different faiths and backgrounds. A diverse society is mostly considered to be the best society as people learn from each other. However, are they open to diverse ideas? God keeps sending Prophets to encourage them to keep their purpose of existence, to warn people living in these societies. Why are the Prophetic messages rejected by these societies if these societies are open to diverse ideas and thoughts?
How are we going to deal with our lives? Is there a balanced way of dealing with these problems? Before anything else we must first take care of ourselves. What am I doing here? What am I after? Which kind of satisfaction am I looking to achieve? We all know that bodily satisfaction is only temporary satisfaction. My aim should be to get Permanent Eternal satisfaction. Should I only be concerned about this for myself? Why were the Prophets concerned for the people living in societies and they struggled to help them achieve their spiritual needs? We cannot force anyone to follow the path that helps them satisfy their spiritual needs, but there is a responsibility to offer the advice of following the path of the Truth to them.
As a civilization in the 21st century, we have become people who are very much concerned about the self. We hear jargons such as: “self-confidence”, “self-love” and “self-care”. It is easy to make sense of the needs of the self, mostly bodily needs, and then try to fulfill it with solutions that do not require reasoning. Let’s say that you are living comfortably in your home, and you hear a kitten in your backyard making noise out of hunger. Would you like to help that troublesome kitten? Yes. This sense of help is very human, and if you do not help the kitten, you will feel disturbed within yourself. Similarly, we are quick to organize charity events to help others with physical means, which also satisfies the self. Otherwise, we will feel troubled that we are eating comfortably in our homes while some people on another side of the planet have nothing to sleep on, for example. There is nothing wrong with performing these acts, because that is how we are made to help out the needy. However, when it comes to helping with fulfilling our spiritual needs, we do not pay much attention to it. Are people comfortable about their spiritual needs? No, it is a fact that most people are disturbed with some psychological issue. That is why the psychology department at institutions keeps researching ways to satisfy human insecurities, loneliness, fear and depression, which are ultimately spiritual needs.
This civilization is becoming more prosperous physically, and weaker spiritually. Ever since religion became institutionalized and monopolized by the clergy, we are moving away from understanding the abstract teachings of Revelations, which requires evidence from the universe to understand and make sense of. It is very human to want to help others, and if you know that a solution works well for you, then you are inclined to share it with others expecting nothing in return. Just like the Prophets who were ceaselessly helping others to make sense of the Revelation without expecting any payment for their services or act.
When I live with the awareness that I have a Merciful Creator, the universe has a Conscious Creator that takes care of the needs of every being, and therefore takes care of my needs, I feel secure and confident in my existence. The One who is the Creator of my needs promises by satisfying my physical needs that He is going to take care of my spiritual needs, just like He is taking care of the needs of other beings in the universe such as the sun, moon, plants and animals. Unfortunately, only the human being is not fully satisfied in its existence as compared to other beings. Everything in the universe declares that their Creator is an Ever Merciful One, which brings comfort to one’s spirit. When you live with this spiritual certainty and existential satisfaction, don’t you want to share it with others?!
The following verse draws our attention to learn that this message satisfies human essential needs. For that, you must first check yourself and see if you feel satisfied with the spiritual food provided in this message. If this message indeed applies to you, then you cannot stop yourself from sharing this spiritual food with others who are needy.
فَأَمَّا مَنْ أَعْطَىٰ وَٱتَّقَىٰ وَصَدَّقَ بِٱلْحُسْنَى. فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُۥ لِلْيُسْرَىٰ
Layl, 92: 5-6-7 “There is the one who is charitable, who is mindful, who confirms the truth of ultimate beauty. We will facilitate for him the way of ease [happiness, satisfaction.]”
- What does it mean to be charitable? Apart from financial aid in cash or properties, what else can we give to charity?
The shorter the verses of the Quran, the more profound the meanings. The concept of charity in the Quran is not only to depict physical food/items or financial needs, but also spiritual food or spiritual eternal satisfaction. The act of charity points to “consciousness of God “or being mindful of God.
That is what the word وَٱتَّقَىٰ refers to i.e. being careful not to go against my human nature is “taqwa“. Just as when you are practicing defensive driving in a crowded road, you are being prudent not to get into an accident. Similarly, when trying to live by following proper Divine guidance, we are careful not to get into the wrong path and contradict our human reality of misinterpreting the message of the Quran. I need to be watchful not to divert myself from the perception of the Truth, the way I was created originally. I should be vigilant not to spoil my origin of creation.
A person is charitable when s/he tries to help others satisfy their spiritual needs. The purpose of the message of the Quran is not to solve our material dealings with others. The few ones that we need guidance with are provided in the Quran such as inheritance laws, managing the family life and divorce, business transactions or the requital for murder just to name a few. They only constitute less than one tenths of the Quranic message whereas the message of the Qur’an mostly deals with satisfying our spiritual needs. Even the jurisprudence matters (fiqh) have a belief aspect to it, and some scholars may reduce that number to less than 5 percent. Nevertheless, the Speaker in the Quran intends to address our spiritual needs, by reminding us not to deviate from our innate human disposition. Therefore, if you engage in charitable activities, 95% of it should be for spiritual guidance, while the rest should be to fulfill the jurisprudence side which comforts the physical self.
This civilization puts so much emphasis on body comfort that even religious activities organized by religious institutions get reduced to fulfilling the jurisprudence side of one’s belief. We must collectively strive to revive the real spirit of the Quranic message which fulfills our human existential purposes.
We are given “the spirit” (rooh) as “a trust” (amana) from our Creator to fulfill the purpose of our existence according to the requirements of religion i.e. message of the Quran. How are we going to treat this “trust”? By not misusing it, that is called “taqwa”.
Let us focus on our personal responsibility: Have you ever thought how precious your spirit is, how precious your human qualities are, which looks for eternal satisfaction in everything that it experiences? Every spirit is yearning for a Paradisiacal life. This is what we must remind each other of. To be a person of “taqwa”, one must be really taking care of his/her spiritual needs which is one’s foremost duty.
Comment: Mostly, when you ask someone “how are you?”, not only the inquiry is related to bodily check-in, but also the response is related to bodily well-being. No one is going to confess that their existential side is in turmoil, because that will be perceived as carrying a psychological connotation, per the definitions of the society. There are not that many opportunities to talk about existential well-being.
Since the age of enlightenment in the 15th century, religion has been exploited. For example, in the Muslim world, the religion was under the control of the Sultans for centuries for political reasons. Religion has been alienated in Governmental affairs, and no one mentions their spiritual life or stance in public discourse. It is as if spiritual concerns have been taken up by the discipline of Psychology, which mostly deals with issues of the mind, past experiences and cause and effect relationship. The sad part is that no one mentions that the psychological issues stem from the human spiritual needs that are not being fully satisfied. Therefore, when you mention the concepts from Revelations such as “Resurrection” or “Prophethood” which are necessary to understand for our spiritual needs, these topics do not enlighten anyone. We have become numb to the message of the Creator of the universe!
- What do you think “ultimate beauty” means? (Hint: Think beyond pretty things to deeper concepts). Can we try to find beauty even in difficult situations?
When we acknowledge the qualities manifested in the universe as belonging to God, everything becomes beautiful. In the series on section Fatiha of the Quran, we studied and demonstrated how each word in the verses of the Quran is perfectly located and interconnected with each other. Please refer to those notes by clicking here. In this verse under study, we started off with the word “taqwa”, which is related to “confirmation”. What are we supposed to confirm? The beauty in creation. That is, anything in creation that reminds me that God’s most beautiful Names are manifested is to be appreciated and acknowledged.
- Have you heard the word “Al-Husna” before? It often refers to God’s beautiful names in the Quran. Can you connect this word with God’s beautiful Names?
Our spirit has the qualities to appreciate God’s most beautiful qualities manifested in creation, so that we will acknowledge the beautiful qualities manifested in creation (asma-ul-husna).
What is the most beautiful thing in creation? A rose garden? Sure. A frog? If you look at the creation of a frog, you will see that the One who created the frog is the Most Powerful One and Knowledgeable One. If you investigate the design of any creation, you will confirm how Wise its Creator must be. Everything in creation is fulfilling its mission perfectly. For example, a dog has a perfect sense of smell as compared to a human being.
Our mission as human beings should be to practice “taqwa” i.e. confirm the qualities manifested in creation and connect them to the Most Beautiful One. Otherwise, we would be wasting our qualities without acknowledging the Creator of the universe and His beautiful creation. For example, if you are given a precious gift, you are very careful about it and try not to lose it. Similarly, the most precious gift from our Creator is creation (with you and I in it along with other species beings). Hence, we must try to connect our existence to its Creator using the qualities manifested in the universe by practicing “taqwa” and “sadaqah”. That is, try not to waste this precious gift of “trust” in you by confirming the qualities in the creation of everything and by appreciating its Sender i.e. Creator.
- How can we show that we believe in this “ultimate beauty”? What are some examples from your own life?
All our needs are looking for eternal satisfaction. If I am given the tools to acknowledge my Creator then I must use them. For example, all things are created with perfect wisdom. Try to connect this awareness to the quality of wisdom that one observes in the creation of a fruit, which points to the Existence of an Eternally Wise One. By appreciating the quality of the need for wisdom in yourself, you declare all creation to be belonging to an Eternally Wise One. That is how you use creation to connect to its Creator i.e. the Lord of the universe.
Some beautiful things in our practical life experiences may include a nightingale, a butterfly or the moon… the list goes on. The way that things are manifested, they demonstrate the qualities of their Creator. As a result, that thing becomes the most beautiful thing for you. All the perfect qualities that I observe in myself and the creation (design, wisdom, knowledge…) belong to their Creator, God.
Finally, don’t waste yourself and the universe. I must establish a connection with the universe to confirm the Beautiful Names of God. Scholars spent time studying the message of the Quran and confirming it with the universe as evidence.
- What do you expect from God to make it easy for you?
Unfortunately, we are lost in the short attention span of observing creation, becoming familiar with it, and our humanity is at a loss. We are in need to get mesmerized by the act of creation taking place, which points to its Creator. That is the only way humanity can come out of its loss!