Ethical Lessons from the Quran, part 8

Ethical Lessons from the Quran, part 8

لَآ إِكۡرَاهَ فِي ٱلدِّينِۖ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ ٱلرُّشۡدُ مِنَ ٱلۡغَيِّۚ فَمَن يَكۡفُرۡ بِٱلطَّـٰغُوتِ وَيُؤۡمِنۢ بِٱللَّهِ فَقَدِٱسۡتَمۡسَكَ بِٱلۡعُرۡوَةِ ٱلۡوُثۡقَىٰ لَا ٱنفِصَامَ لَهَاۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

2:256 “There is no compulsion in religion: true guidance has become distinct from falsehood, so whoever rejects false gods and believes in God has grasped the firmest handhold, one that will never break.  God is all hearing and all knowing.”

Recap: In our last discussion, we talked about the verse above in terms of how true guidance becomes clear not only through revelation, but also the way the universe is created which gives signs that every being in the universe must also be created. The Creator of the universe must have His own existence. In order to be able to create anything which did not exist before, one has to be a being with Absolute qualities. Because there is no absolute being in this universe we human beings cannot imagine how an Absolute being can be, but we can understand that an Absolute Being must exist in order to be able to explain the existence of this ever changing universe. This Absolute being cannot be likened to anything He creates. Thus we cannot think that He is in need of anything else. Infinite, by definition, is something that is not lacking any number in it. If we carefully look at creation, we can see no sign of anything of this universe giving existence to creation, but this universe must have a Source of existence not of the nature of this universe. However, our being familiar with creation makes us inattentive to live with such awareness.  Furthermore, people are free to choose to live with such consciousness or not, and we are all free to deny or confirm the truth.  So then, we may ask the question, why do we bother about delivering the message and are concerned about others’ beliefs?  We are so interconnected with the rest of creation, that we want to share our understandings to help others, that is how the human being is created.

In summary, we spoke about the firmest hand i.e. بِٱلۡعُرۡوَةِ ٱلۡوُثۡقَ (urwatul wuthqa), which means that our existence is meaningful and there is a purpose in our existence.  If we realize that our existence belongs to the Creator of the universe, then we attribute our existence to this Creator.  When we attribute our existence to the Creator of the universe, our Source of existence, then we can claim to be secure in our existence.  Furthermore, if I attach all the expectations of all my feelings to its Source of existence (with anything that I want to be perfect and to be satisfied with), only then can I feel like a meaningful being with a purpose to exist. However, in this life, if I cut off my relationship with my Creator, then I fall into a meaningless being.  For example, I just happen to be here for no purpose; I will die and disappear for no meaningful reason.  What a meaningless being do I become then by not properly using my free will to connect with its Source of existence?!

With such realizations of not wanting to be a meaningless being, the guidance and falsehood becomes distinct.  Either my existence has no meaning and purpose at all, or my expectations from the smallest feelings to the biggest feelings (eternal satisfaction) must be satisfied.  There is no in between.  Similarly, either I am created by a Conscious Being, or I am an accidental being.  Again, there is no in between.  Think about it, is there any way to interpret our existence in the middle way?  For example, my body is created by my Creator, but my feelings are not.  Similarly, some part of my being is created by my Creator and the rest of my being is just an accident?!  If one of my body cells needs to be created and cannot be created by itself, then my whole body must need a Source of existence.  If someone demonstrates with evidence that one of the cells in my skin exists by itself and proves that the cell has the qualities to give existence to itself, then what would this imply?  It would imply that all my body cells have the same qualities because they are of the same nature, that would mean that they all are the  result of an accidental occurrence. However that is impossible as each being is created with the need of being given existence and cannot exist by itself.

Similarly, if one of my human feelings could be satisfied by myself or something of this universe could satisfy it (according to the capacity of my feelings), and if someone can prove that they can fully satisfy human feelings, then it implies that all feelings can be satisfied by myself and this universe.  First, nothing of this universe can claim to satisfy human feelings fully, beyond transient bodily satisfaction.  For example, I am hungry, and I eat food.  Am I satisfied?  Yes, the body is satisfied for a few hours.  What about your infinite capacities of your feelings, what can satisfy it?  Is there a limit to the capacities of your feelings? We want to reach the top level of satisfaction of our feelings.  How many feelings do we have?  Endless.  Deep down, we have every feeling that makes us aware of our human needs of infinite satisfaction.  For example, if you have a small scratch in your hand, you keep taking care of it by putting ointment on it.  Even if the rest of your hand is good, you just want the whole hand to be good, that is how human feelings are. This example only depicts the body, but what about the need to not wanting to die?  I know that I will die, but I still want the hand to heal and be perfect, that is how human beings are.  We need perfection and full satisfaction until death.  What can guarantee such perfection for us permanently?  A firmest hand hold, بِٱلۡعُرۡوَةِ ٱلۡوُثۡقَ (urwatul wuthqa), a thick rope that I can trust to hang on.  There is nothing in this world that I trust my feelings with.  Can the galaxy satisfy you?  No.  Can your parents satisfy you?  No, but they can provide us with necessities of life by taking things from this universe and temporarily satisfying us, where our body needs are mostly met.  However, to satisfy our spiritual needs, only the Creator of the universe can satisfy me for He created such needs.  Whoever created me can satisfy my infinite needs and He is promising me that only He can satisfy it.  For He gave the need, and only He can satisfy it.  Again, the firmest handhold can only be the Source of my existence.  Hence, بِٱلۡعُرۡوَةِ ٱلۡوُثۡقَ (urwatul wuthqa) means attributing my existence to its source of existence, whoever has given me existence.  The universe is less qualified than me for it has no consciousness to understand that matter itself cannot meet my spiritual needs.  By using matter I can only satisfy my temporary bodily needs.  My spiritual needs are waiting to be satisfied by the One who gives me existence.

وَلَوۡ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ لَأٓمَنَ مَن فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ كُلُّهُمۡ جَمِيعًاۚ أَفَأَنتَ تُكۡرِهُ ٱلنَّاسَ حَتَّىٰ يَكُونُواْمُؤۡمِنِينَ

10:99 “Had your Lord so willed, all people on earth would have certainly believed, every single one of them!  Would you then compel people to become believers?”

If the Creator of human beings willed, He would have made everyone believe in His guidance and follow it.  We would have no choice.  Do we have a choice to choose?  Yes, we are based on the conditions of this universe, i.e., the way He creates the universe allows me to choose from options.  If I did not have options to choose from, then I cannot choose something that has not been decided and created by the Creator of the universe.  

This verse is primarily speaking to the first addressee of the Quran, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and to any reader of the Quran thereafter.  If someone tries hard to convey the message of God to others, they will feel a sense of happiness when the message is well received by others.  For example, Larry tries to convey the message of God to his extended family who do not accept the message, but Larry keeps insisting because he wants others to get the type of pleasure that he is experiencing from understanding the message of God.  Larry keeps getting upset with why shouldn’t they also accept the truth and receive happiness and satisfaction by understanding that their life is meaningful and purposefully created,  so that one is pleased with their existence?  However, his extended family keeps saying that they will die and think that they will disappear from existence, so until then, they will enjoy their life superficially by meeting bodily expectations only.  A typical human behavior of choice for not wanting to think, and thus choosing the lazy way.

Observe people in the big cosmopolitan cities. Most people are trying to find the most satisfactory life, and if they do not have a Creator in their understanding, then they will only try to satisfy themselves daily temporarily by benefitting from the already existing things and pretending to be satisfied.  As the day passes, the pleasure passes, and they say that it is gone because there is no purposeful existence in their mind.  Yes, we are all trying to satisfy ourselves, but if it is only the bodily satisfaction that we occupy our concerns with, which puts us at a loss. This is what happens when we accept the notion that at the end, we will lose everything.  None of us can get out of the feeling that at the end we will lose everything, and whatever we have gained, will be behind.  Therefore, we must look for a solution.  If you do not believe that our existence is consciously designed and purposefully created, then regardless of age, all the satisfactions you had until now, are gone.  I cannot have it anymore.  You try to satisfy yourself today, but you know that it will be gone again.  Can you get out of this feeling?  We are all aware that when we die, everything that we collected and all the pleasures that we experienced in this world will be all lost.  No one wants to experience continuous losing.  For example, you are entertaining your existence by spending an entertaining weekend, but you know that it will soon come to an end, hence you are continuously losing the pleasure.  If I do not accept that my existence belongs to an Absolute Being, then I will always live with fear of losing the continuous pleasure and just pretend to be happy.  Again, there is no in between, either I accept that my existence belongs to an Absolute Source, or I deny this reality and fall into a meaningless way of living.  

The verse draws our attention to investigate why don’t people take the opportunity to enjoy their existence spiritually, and what do they gain by denying?  For example, someone is hungry, and you are offering them food, but they refuse to have it, knowing that they are hungry.  Don’t you feel sad that this person is suffering?!  Big cities have lots of homeless people, some of whom are drug addicts.  Although we would like to help them when they ask for money, they seem to be exploiting human generosity by intoxicating themselves.  For it makes us question who is needy and worthy of our help.  However, there are some legitimate people out there who need our help, but are hard to come across.  For example, Antoine was visiting a friend in a city and parked his car a few blocks from his friend’s house.  It was late at night, and when Antoine got out of his car carrying his bag, there was a homeless lady who approached him and asked Antoine if he was carrying some food in his bag.  Antoine saw that the lady had a shopping cart with her personal belongings in it and she seemed to be legitimately very hungry.  He told her that he is not carrying any food but can help her get some food from the place that he is staying at.  The homeless lady followed Antoine to his friend’s house and waited outside for a few minutes.  Afterwards, Antoine comes out with a plate of warm food and some money and gives it to the homeless lady.  A few hours later, Antoine went to check on the plate by his friend’s porch and saw that it was completely empty with no morsel left, which made him realize that the lady was very hungry, and this was indeed a legitimate charity case.  As a result, Antoine wished that he could have given more money to such a needy person.  The morale of this true story is that we must realize who we are as human beings.  If I am satisfied, I want others to be satisfied as well.  Even if I am not fully satisfied, I want to see others to be satisfied.  

In the above story, Antoine is happy that he helped someone, and sorry that he did not help more.  He is still carrying this feeling in him and wants to share this satisfaction with others.   I am made in a way where I am compelled that I must share my happiness with those people who are needy.  The Creator of the universe (rabbul alameen) in the Quran says that if I willed, I could have made everyone equal. After experiencing this story, Antoine says, “O my Creator, you created me in such a way, that I would ask you not to make everyone equal.”  Why is that?  If everyone was equal:

• I would never experience that helping someone is so pleasurable, because no one is needy.  

• I would not appreciate that I am being taken care of.  That is why, I am happy with my Creator because He satisfies me.  

Let us think about this story with a scenario.  There are two people in your vicinity, one is needy, and the other is helping this needy person.  Both are happy, the needy is happy that s/he is being helped and the helping one is happy that they are given the opportunity to help someone.  Would you be happy to see this scenery?  Yes. This experience reveals that creating the universe and human beings in different positions must have a purpose so that human beings will feel that we get pleasure if we sow the seed.  For example, if someone studies for the test, then they are successful.  If someone appreciates creation, then they get more of it.  If someone is being dishonest, then you get harmed and express that I do not like that.  These differences in creation allows us to experience and makes us realize the different types of feelings and needs that we have, so that through these I can experience who my Creator is.  For example, by helping someone, I feel satisfied, and this feeling tells me that the One who created this feeling in me is giving me pleasure by guiding me to help someone, be of service to someone.  In this world, it is a temporary satisfaction, but by giving an infinite capacity to my spirit with the need for eternal satisfaction. Do you think that this Creator will create you with a need and not satisfy it?   Anyone who is needy, when they get satisfied, it is pleasurable.  This feeling demonstrates that God is revealing to me that He is going to satisfy my needs for He gave me those needs and He will be pleased to mercifully satisfy them when I acknowledge Him as being the source of help.  He is giving us the news that I am waiting for you to come, and I will satisfy you for I gave you the sign, in your existence.  That is what we can experience from the differences.  

1. “There is no compulsion in religion”.  This verse also says: “The Messenger’s duty is only to deliver the message. (5:59). What is the relation between “not using power in imposing religion on others” and “delivering the message only”? What does “delivering the message” include?

How can I deliver the message without imposing it on others?  We are given the opportunity here to practice the feelings that God gave us to help others.  In other words, if people reject the message that we present to them, should we get disappointed?  No, because we must remind ourselves that human beings are created with free choice to accept or deny the message.  Again, we cannot feed people who have filled up their stomachs with temporary pleasures for they will throw it out.  This verse is drawing our attention that it is better for me as the delivery person of the message to concentrate on who I am as a created being and what my mission in this universe is.  The Creator is letting us know that if His wisdom requires it then He would make everyone accept the message, but again it is for us to keep ourselves in check with how we have the free will to choose to fill ourselves with good things or not.  For example, the universe is presented daily to us and demonstrates that there is no other Creator in the universe (lailaha), but only the One who creates the universe (illallah).  I am free to accept this message, and the Quran clearly presents the universe with lailaha illallah.  Our feelings tell us that nothing satisfies me (lailaha), only the One who gave me the need of satisfaction (illallah).  Did the cell give you the needs to be satisfied eternally?  No. The cell needs to be created, it cannot sustain its own life, and it is going to die as well.  There is a perfect balance in creation.  That is, God creates us with free will and lets us be free to choose.  We must be careful about our free will, which is our only responsibility.  Free will is an excellent gift for us where we can make the attempt to choose the best way and enjoy it.  Our duty is:

1. deliver the message (be a good example) as it is a source of pleasure for us, just like giving food to a needy person makes us happy.
2. don’t get disappointed if they do not accept, because people have free will, and we should mind our own business.  That is how the Quran maintains the balance.

2. Why do you think God did not create human beings as believers but with the capacity to believe? Would it not be better if all believed in God?

Wouldn’t it be better if everyone believed in God from birth?  Yes, but then there will be no struggle or motivation to educate oneself.  If I am created with the feeling of being full always, with no need for food, air and liquid for example, then I would not feel the need for anything. I would not be able to appreciate anything.  Similarly, if I am created with a sense of always taking everything for granted, then I would be living like a vegetable with no consciousness.  Let us be more practical: Have you thought today, how useful your hands are to the point of thanking the One who created you with your hands?  No.  Why is that?  Again, it is the familiarity with things that makes us inattentive towards our creation.  God forbid, if something happens where you cannot use your hands, then you realize that hands are so precious that you did not know prior to this event.  That is why alternate creation is needed so that we understand our reality.  Similarly, if you do not feel hungry at all, would you feel appreciated that you are being fed by the Lord of the universe?  No.  You would not feel hunger so how can you appreciate your Creator?  

Nowadays, people do not realize hunger because we are always munching on food and sipping on drinks.  Until we ponder over Antoine’s story as mentioned above, then we can appreciate hunger.  When you are hungry, can you appreciate what is being offered to you?  Yes.  Only then you can realize that you are being taken care of.  God created us with hunger, so that we experience how He is presenting all the opportunities for us, demonstrates that He created us with the need, and He is satisfying it.  The sun, water and air cannot take care of our needs and make the delicious food that we are eating, and cannot make the beautiful taste, smell and design, almost like a package.  For example, take a banana, which is wonderfully and perfectly arranged to meet our hungry stomach’s expectations.  Only this way, I understand that whatever I need is going to be taken care of by the One who created me with this need.

If I did not have the opportunity to experience between alternatives (conscious creation or accidental), then I would not know that I am deliberately created by the One who creates the universe, and I am put in contact with the rest of the universe.  I am here by the will of the One who created me within the universe for He must be an Absolute Being because He is the Creator of the universe.  Look at the universe and you will realize that a needy limited being cannot be the Creator of this universe, and therefore, I cannot define Him within the conditions of the universe.  Hence, He must be the Source of existence of this universe.

With the alternatives of a meaningless purposeless life, the idea of a fully guaranteed life and a fully secured life with God becomes more pleasurable.  As a result, you feel the pleasure of belief in God.  If I was already created with full belief in God, then I would not experience the pleasure of belief.  We can experience the pleasure of having hands for example, and all our other human faculties that are given to us, when we experience the lack of it. As a result, you appreciate the creation more.  Similarly, if God created everyone equally with belief, then that would not help us in anyways, because through the option of denial, we get to know about belief.  Denial has its own pain in it, and belief has its own pleasure in it.  Again, such differences give us the opportunity to appreciate the pleasure in it.  For example, if you do not learn, then you feel that you are losing, but when you learn, then you get pleasure from it.  That is why we are given the free will, and use it in the right way, by being honest with our reality.  

If we did not have options to choose from, then there would be no way to realize the truth.  Without denial we would not get the pleasure of belief.  That is why free will is important and very precious.  Hence, we must be careful about our free will.  Just as we take care of our body without any encouragement needed there, we must seriously take care of our free will.  Am I using my free will in the right way or the wrong way?  We mostly ignore the spirit side of our being.  Consciousness, which is an aspect of the spirit, is the most important human element. Otherwise we would not be conscious of anything and realize that we exist.  The second important element of our human side is free will, which is left to us.  Unlike the consciousness that functions automatically, free will requires the use of our ability to make choices.  We are free to use it in the wrong way.  Therefore, we must appreciate it and be careful about it.

3. Would you like to be compelled to believe in even what you think is true?

If Laura already believes in God, and you ask her “to believe in God,” she will get annoyed that you are forcing her to believe.  As if you are compelling someone who is full to eat something. Offering the food is different from forcing someone to eat. We do not want to be forced to believe in something. We must appreciate the value of having and being given free will so that we can use it in an honorable way.  Finally, I must be left free to exercise my free will, which is what the Prophet (pbuh) was constantly reminded of.

Until next time, think about, is having free will very precious?  Since it is so precious, then it needs to be taken care of thoughtfully.  We mostly exercise our free will unconsciously.  From now, we must be careful to the point of being watchful about the way that we are using our free will.  Am I using my free will in the right direction?  Is it worth it to be that careful?  All these questions must be in our mind.