Quran-Universe Parallel Reading: Chapter Takwir – Part 5

81:11 “and when the heavens are unveiled,

Recap: When the ultimate results of act of creation where the qualities of the Creator are manifested is referred to as “heavens are unveiled”. That is, the meaning of things which refer to the qualities of their Maker is disclosed.   In other words, the reality of the objects became obvious to you and you discover the meanings manifested in the objects, whatever kind of meaning you get. If you do not see what the qualities manifested in the objects point to, then the qualities cannot belong to the objects themselves because things have no freewill, power, knowledge etc. which are necessary to be able to create anything.

Example: There are lots of qualities manifested in the laptop. One must not be thinking logically to say that the qualities are natural or the qualities are coming from the parts of the laptop themselves.

What are natural laws?

What we observe in creation is that if something is a constant then it is referred to as a natural law.  The order by definition means to follow the same routine of coming into existence.  What is the Source of Existence or Cause of such routine? Is it “natural?” What do you mean by “nature?” There is nothing “natural” in creation.  Either things are created or they can give existence to themselves. Can things really give existence to themselves?  No and we know that the things do not have any quality to give existence to themselves, neither to any other thing.

Lots of Philosophers (especially since the last two centuries) based their notions on “naturalism”, and “materialism”. As if “nature,” whatever they mean by it, is making the qualities.

All the science subjects discover the qualities manifested in the objects. All the content of science discoveries are defining the qualities manifested in the objects and these qualities can only be given to them by their Maker and so we have to look for their Maker. This Maker cannot be a part of the universe because we are looking for the Maker of the universe and we cannot say that the Maker of the universe is the universe itself. It is irrational!

When we discover that things are manifesting the qualities of their Maker, we unveil the heaven. When the heavens are unveiled, it must have a representation in my being.  Example: when I unveil the qualities manifested in creation, I must also unveil the meaning in my actions and refer it to its Creator.  That is, I must discover the meaning there and in my actions I should not lose myself in the action itself. Human consciousness needs to concentrate on the action it is performing. Otherwise the action is worth nothing and has no value. Everyone can eat, walk and do certain actions here and there. Even animals do the same thing i.e. they eat, sleep and reproduce… What makes a human being is his/her consciousness which is expected to be used in order to unveil the heaven of that object. It means the ultimate purpose in its existence, to demonstrate the qualities manifested in it. The qualities always refer to its Creator.

Matter cannot perform any action by itself. It is made to act in a certain way. Atoms are subject to the order of the universe and they have no other option but to follow the order as they are created. That is, they are created within the order of creation. That is how they exist i.e. created within the order. As far as I am concerned, I must be conscious of the meaning demonstrated in my action. That depends on my consciousness. Meaning refers to the ultimate purpose in the existence of anything. The ultimate purpose in the existence of my action is to reflect the qualities of its Creator. When you do any action try to see using your consciousness, what are you representing in your action? It could be any house chore or fasting, what are you doing? Are you conscious that you are manifesting the qualities of the Creator in your actions?

Example: You are helping a needy person. Are you conscious that you are manifesting the qualities of the Creator of this sense of helping in you? You are not helping but you are created with the qualities to help others and this quality is created for you by your Creator. If you are conscious that you are helping a needy person or a plant and if you are conscious that: “my Creator is helping through creating my action, I only chose to do this way or another way.” My responsibility depends on my consciousness. If I am aware of it, then my actions represents God’s qualities and I am conscious of it and I attribute the action to the Creatorship of God who created me. That is the responsibility for us to unveil heavens.

Question: We unveil the meaning and what do we interpret from the meaning?

Awareness of the meaning refers to unveiling the heavens. Interpretation comes after the awareness. You first have to pay attention to the meaning that actions represent.  As you look at the objects in creation, you are expected to see the meaning manifested in them, their ultimate purpose.  The ultimate purpose in my being is to reflect the qualities of my Creator but it needs my own consciousness.  I just need to be aware of it. If I am not conscious of it, then I do the action attributing it to myself as if attributing the qualities manifested in a being to itself. Example: I am a good man, I helped another person; sun is a good object and produces light…that is naturalism i.e. attributing the qualities to the existence of the thing itself. When it comes to me, I attribute the action to myself. Doing the action is not the ultimate aim. It does not mean that we should not do the action. Example: I do not have to pray because I am conscious. I have to do the action but with the consciousness of the reality that the Creator of the thing of that action is manifested in the action you are doing.

The word “heaven” is also used in Christian tradition i.e. heaven knows, heaven wills… It should mean the qualities manifested in the objects belong to or it is the reflection of the qualities of the Creator. That is what we mean by “heavens”. In other words, look for the highest purpose in the existence of that object or in the existence of your action.

What is the highest purpose in doing something?

• In other words, what is the purpose for the tree to exist?

In the way trees are created manifest Mercy of Creator, order of Creator, deliberate and purposeful action of the Creator. That is why I am created as a human being to be aware of what is going on here. This awareness is the ultimate purpose of the existence of all objects/events (trees) which is to transfer the qualities of their Creator to conscious beings so they will acknowledge the qualities of the Creator through their existence.

• That is why the universe is created in order to glorify God.
• What does it mean? Things are already glorifying God. As far as I am concerned, I have to be aware of their glorification, exaltation and join them consciously. What is expected of me? I am expected to be conscious, which is known as belief (or imaan in the language of the Quran).

Question: How can we understand certain qualities such as God, “the One that humiliates”?

You can humiliate the unbelief. That is, your wrong choice and wrong interpretations is humiliated for you and so you have to reject it. Hence, you have to be angry with any wrong interpretation of the creation which is an insult to the Creator. If someone says that things are naturally happening, you have to say: “No you cannot insult the Creator’s qualities manifested on them; and how can you attribute qualities to animate beings themselves?” Since that is wrong, we sometimes react to these wrong ideas. The Quran is full of such interpretations such as criticizing unbelief, criticizing hypocrisy, criticizing neglectfulness, following egoistic ambitions…

Question: When we pray, how does it reflect the Creator?

Acknowledgment is worship. Because we are worshippers (aabd in Arabic), we are acknowledging the One that needs to be worshipped or acknowledged. Worship means acknowledgment and choosing and acting according to your acknowledgment or practicing your acknowledgment. If one reduces worship to doing certain actions only, that is not worship. The spirit of worship or what gives life to worship is your consciousness because you are a human being. What distinguishes you as a human being from an animal is your consciousness and awareness.

• The practice of belief not only lies in your actions but more so in your reflections and thoughts.

When we studied verses from the chapter “Throne” (Ayat-ul-Kursi in Arabic), where God describes how we should comprehend Him, one of the part says “Wasi’a kursiyyuhu assamawat-e-wa’l-ard” (2: 255) i.e. when He manifests all His qualities that is the ultimate aim of existence of something i.e. the Creator manifesting Himself to you here and everywhere, the universe. As far as our life and responsibility are concerned, it is to see the Creator’s qualities manifested in the things. That is, seeing God’s throne means acknowledging the Creator’s qualities manifested in the things. Everywhere what you see is nothing but the qualities of the Maker of the things themselves.

The word “samaa” in Arabic refers to “heavens”. The idea being that earth and galaxies both manifests qualities of their Creator. When the Qur’an uses these two terms (heaven and the earth,) we should understand that whatever you observe in the universe. We know that the earth is also within the same galaxy together with the sun.

81: 12 “and when hell is made to burn fiercely,

What is Hell?

Comment: It is a state of mind where one is just engrained in this universe and not getting any meaning out of what they observe and their actions.

If someone does not get any meaning from their actions or observation, what happens?

Comment: When people do not get meaning from their actions, they fail to acknowledge what is that they are doing and why they are doing it. Hence, they go on doing things for the sake of doing it without any fruitful significance in this life. Hell means that the message has been reached to the audience who failed to acknowledge why that message is being conveyed to them.

What is the main description of Hell in the Quran?

Quran describes Hell as a horrible place. Since, whatever you need, you need it for Eternity. Example: when you are hungry, you want to satiate your stomach. These are simple examples described in the Quran. When you are thirsty, you want to satisfy your thirst and when you are given something, it increases your thirst rather than giving you comfort. That is Hell. When something is hot, you need something cooling that provides you shade. But the shade is a dark cloud which makes you suffocate even more. Your dilemma is should I seek refuge under the temporary shade (worse than being in a bad position) or just keep burning from the heat? Why does the Quran describe Hell in this way and what does it refer to?

Comment: There is no other alternative to getting comfort from my existence.

What do we mean by “my”?

Comment: Everything is through my lens and perspective. Everything, then, is my reality, conclusions, outcome of my choices. There is no anything else.

We think of “me” as only my physical body or my thoughts only. What do we mean by “me” when I refer to myself and try to make my existence meaningful? It is not only my physical body or real hunger which suffers but my whole humanity. The Quran describes Hell and Paradise in terms of physical beings but the result of hell is a horrible feeling or torture as if I am hungry or thirsty. However, hunger and thirst is just a physical thing but the result is a horrible feeling as far as Hell is concerned whereas Paradise is the most comfortable feeling.

People mostly think of Paradise and Hell and happiness in terms of their physical being in this transient world only. Example: I ate food and I am very satiated, that is how I am and I enjoyed it. That is the point we need to make the distinction of experiencing something physically and its results in feelings form.

Comment: The feelings go beyond our mind and body, it is internal.

How can we describe what is “me”?

My human awareness and consciousness. Although the description is physical but the effect of this physical relationship is described in the Quran in terms of your consciousness. We are not talking about the physical existence of Paradise in another creation. Instead, we are saying, what can I make out of this verse while I am here and now.

Why does the Quran describe Hell with harsh language, in physical terms and with our practical examples?

Comment: Hell is a pain that one suffers through experiencing meaninglessness and when you go on with your daily routines without realizing who I am i.e. the consciousness, you get stuck in a circle of meaninglessness and that feeling is Hell. Like you were describing the dark clouds that one look to take refuge in but that is not going to add anything to that which I am seeking or to provide me with some kind of comfort in my existence.

In practical terms, we say that our stomach needs food. When you put food in your stomach, you say I am fine but you are not stomach only. Animals also have stomachs and they look for food when hungry. Human beings reduce their status to that of an animal if they go on just filling their stomachs. You may put food into your stomach but your humanity needs what?

Comment: It needs something that lasts more than transience. My humanity is not satisfied by anything temporary.

You want to enjoy your existence eternally that is what human being is. Whatever your human side needs, Hell provides you its opposite or something against it. What makes one deserving Hell?

Comment: If you are just taking care of your animal side only.

If a person says that I ate food right now and I am satisfied. As a human being, will this person experience pleasure in his life?

Comment: We have an existential need that is always hungry for something beyond this world.

Do not jump into conclusions yet! What do you want as a human being?

Comment: As a human being if we just say that I am satisfied with the food, it is a feeling given by the Creator.

Do not bring God into the picture whenever you are reasoning about any matter related to belief. Analyze the case step by step. As a human a being, you are hungry and you ate food and you enjoyed it. Will you be pleased with your existence?

No. The biggest worry is that whatever I experienced ended right there and then. The need arises to re-experience that and the worry about how many times I will re-experience that within my existence while knowing that my existence is not within my control and it seems that my existence will end and so I crave for that to be Eternal.

Human beings want eternal satisfaction. Example: you tasted a new ice-cream. If you did not know the ice-cream, you would not have the desire for it. Now you tasted it and you feel the desire for it. You ate ice-cream and it is gone. You know that it has an end. Everyone is sure that their life is going to come to an end. If you think of yourself as an animal side only, then you are in pain because you are going to die and you know that. That is the pain for your human side.

Whatever you experience here and if you reduce that experience to itself, then it helps you to establish a need for it eternally and in this world, there is no Eternity, so what are you going to do?

• If you reduce yourself to physical body only, whatever you enjoy here becomes a source of pain.

We have to understand the nature of this type of creation. Whatever you like and enjoy here, if you reduce its existence to this world only, then this world says “I am transient” and you say that “I am transient” but your desire is eternal and permanent. The more you experience the beauty of this world by reducing it to this world only and do not think of the Source of this world, the Creator whoever gives existence to this world and keeps repeating it, then the more pain you suffer. That is, things are transient but they are coming into existence in another form but from the same Source. It means that the Source is Eternal. Your experience is transient but your desire is Eternal. So what is going on here?

• If someone does not acknowledge the Eternal Source, then s/he is building up his/her Hell.

Comment: How is my desire Eternal?

You do not want to lose your brain. You did not want to lose your youth. You do not want to lose your eye sight. You do not want to lose your appetite. You do not want to lose anything in this world that you enjoy.

Human beings have qualities that they want to enjoy everything they have eternally with no end. But this world says that I am not eternal. The contradiction comes from the way you enjoy the things in this world.

• There is a conflict between the nature of this world and your human side.
• The more you enjoy, the more pain you produce for your life. That is the sign of Hell which is how the Quran describes it.

Comment: At the same time, without pain, you would not notice this contradiction. There is a constant swing between Heaven and Hell.

That depends on your conscious choice. The more you experience Hell, the more you produce pain for yourself. The only solution is to develop your consciousness about the Source of your existence, the Source of your feelings and the Source of the things that you enjoy. If you do not connect your consciousness to the Source of the things that you experience in this world, you are developing your Hell!

Mostly people neglect this side and keep busying themselves with activities in order to gain satisfaction as far as the human need is concerned. That is what the Quran describes that we keep piling up the same thing or repeating the same thing. Example: Consumerism, shopping…etc. where people are looking for eternal satisfaction and they want to replace it with another activity. That is why they continuously do shopping in order to keep repeating the same activity. In order to perpetuate your satisfaction, you have to have opportunity and facility and for this you need money. You need the power to buy and get. In order to get money, what you do is to get several jobs which are endless torture and the description of Hell in the Quran.

Comment: Hell is not that bad in its existence.

Yes, its existence reminds me my contradiction i.e. where it is that I am making the mistake. Since the existence of Hell makes the right and wrong clear for me that is why some scholars say that creation of Hell is Mercy. Quran describes Hell much more than it describes Paradise because only the reminder wakes me up. Otherwise you say that I will be rewarded after I die, I do not know how true this is. Quran points out Hell in the actions that you are experiencing right now and then you realize that there is an inevitable contradiction in my action. So how can I solve this problem?

• Now you look for a solution.
• Hell is more helpful for me to realize the truth than Paradise.

Comment: Original question about satiety and pleasure, I would say that a person will experience pleasure because if their hunger is satisfied and they are not reducing it to their physical being, then they can just eat and move on.

As soon as they are satisfied, they keep trying various things or various cuisines/eat-out for example because the need never ends. For that they work hard to earn money to buy things that they want to satisfy their endless desires. It becomes a vicious circle. It does not mean that we should not earn money or eat but we need to change the lens of our mind and eye i.e. our perspective. Otherwise eating is not a human satisfaction rather a satisfaction of the stomach which is temporary.

• The more we get pleasure from this world and if we do not have the right attitude, the more pain we are planting in our humanity.
• In the actions we perform, immediately, the Creator has established the order in such a way that it reminds me of my contradiction. It does not say that tomorrow I will let you know. The order of creation does not say that when you die, I will let you know. Within the action the pain is created in order to warn you that what you are doing is wrong. Do not confuse your human side with animal side! Human side needs deliberate reflection, pondering over your reality and realizing who and what you are. Animal side is temporary.

When the Hell is made to burn fiercely is what I experience when I do not realize that the Source of my existence is Absolute and that I have a Lord. What I experience now must have consequences in the future as well i.e. when I am taken away from this creation. If I do not feel hell burning fiercely right now it means that I am neglecting my human side and reducing myself to an animal being only who pursues its ambitions only. Seeking Eternal happiness is with you but you denied saying that it is a wishful thinking, it is not real, it is imagination and there is no such thing.

If you study the Quran closely, there are beautiful descriptions of all human feelings but you have to read it here and now. If you refer it to after I die, it becomes alien to you. Example: people who work for this life and want to make money, when you tell them “akhira” (hereafter,) they say “after I retire from my job I will think about it”. They think that they are not experiencing Hell now because they have reduced themselves to an animal status.

Comment: The experience of Heavens being unveiled can be instantaneously turned into Hell being burned fiercely if you think that your pleasure ends here. Example, if you enjoy something, you want more and this crave becomes a greed which makes you think that the Source is limited. That is pain of Hell.

If you apply the teachings of the Quran to your daily life and think freely without going into religious concepts, then everything will make sense.

Comment: If we want to experience the vastness of Heaven here and now, for example, relationship between family and spouse and if we root it to how it was given to us and why we are in this position, then we are experiencing Heaven.

First of all, the material beings mean nothing, it is just a means to get to know the Source. Second, an atom is vaster than the universe. Human side does not look at vastness of physical beings.

Question: What exactly am I burning here?

You are burning yourself, i.e. your humanity. Fuel of Hell is human beings:

“… then be conscious of the fire whose fuel is human beings and stones…” Baqara (2): 24 

How does the Quran describe the relationship between Hell and people of Hell?

“The unbelievers will be led to Hell in crowd: until, when they arrive, there, its gates will be opened. And its keepers will say, ‘Did not messengers come to you from among yourselves, conveying to you the Signs of Your Lord, and warning you of the Meeting of This Your Day?’ The answer will be: ‘Yes’, but the Decree of Punishment has been fallen due upon the unbelievers!”

Zumar (39): 71

What are unbelievers?

• People who neglect their reality.

The principle of this class is that we read the Quran here and now, not after I die.

Unbelievers by definition mean any understanding which contradicts one’s humanity. People who reduce themselves to animal side only and do not pay attention to their human side and human expectations (which are permanent and perfect).

These people when they arrive at Hell, their gates will be open, which means that their gates were closed and not open to human beings. If we are contradicting our nature, we force the door of Hell to open. Example: If someone does not take notice of humanity which requires eternity and perfection but looks for eternity and perfection in this transient world and his transient nature, then s/he is forcing the door of gate to open and puts himself in Hell position, totally contradictory position as far as human side is concerned.

Did not a message come to you from among yourself?

The nearest messenger is you, not the Prophet. That is, your human senses are messengers to you existing within you. Of course the senses need teachers and they need to be educated. Since our senses are in need to be educated, the teachers are employed. The people who were with the messengers, did they all listen to the messengers? Some did and some did not. They did not listen to themselves first and thus denied the messengers i.e. people employed to educate their human qualities and make progress in their human qualities. They rejected them, why? Because they rejected the message in themselves first. Example: If you deny the education system, can you listen to the Professor? No. Similarly, if you do not pay attention to yourself, you do not notice the speech of God (the Messengers) and following a religion becomes baseless. One has to be realistic with their own-self. If you want to help someone, first call yourself to the truth. First, go home and sit in your room and think who you are. You will understand that you are in a terrible situation and if you choose to get out of this situation, when a messenger comes to you, then you can approve it if it makes sense to you

• If someone does not think of his reality, s/he will not get the message.
• Listen to the Prophet yes but first listen to yourself in order to appreciate the message of the Prophet.

People deny teachings of the Quran because they skip listening to themselves. The first message is in your own-self. By definition, “the gates of Hell are closed,” that means no one is inviting you there and getting you into a contradictory position in your existence.

A teacher is someone who teaches and guides you in order to develop your realization of the contradiction and educates you and trains you on how to get into the right understanding of your reality which is your religious duty. The Quran and any scripture teach you who you are and what your reality is. If the teachings of the Quran is reduced to dos and don’ts only then its reality becomes alien to you.

Comment: But one has to have faith without any doubts. Is not that true?

• Doubt is there and the real questions are:
• How to get a strong faith?
• What is the process for it?

Otherwise the general teachings, such as “Have faith without any doubts” do not make sense. You’ve got to start from yourself, reflecting on yourself is essential if you want to guarantee Paradise, only then the teaching makes sense. Thinking about your own-self needs concentration and you need to get rid of your previous culture/understanding.

Signs of your Lords are the messages of your Lord, teaching you exactly what this creation is pointing at. Where are the Creator’s signs? All around us!

“Human consciousness is aware of the reality” is what the verse refers to when it says that the teachers warned you about the consequences but you denied it.

Example: There is no such thing as eternal happiness.

-Where did I get this hope? It is with me. Every human being acknowledges what is right and wrong for himself and within himself and then the messengers, i.e. Creator’s Mercy, come to you to develop and improve and progress in your humanity but you have to accept that we are in the school of training.

This world is field of training, otherwise, its existence becomes meaningless.

Tags: At-Takwir, Quran and Universe, Takwir Series