Reading the Quran Here and Now: Chapter Muzammil – Part 9

“Your Lord knows that you keep vigil nearly two thirds of the night, and (sometimes) half of it, and (sometimes) a third of it, and (also) a party of those with you. God determines the measure of the night and the day. He knows that you would never grudge it. So he has turned to you (mercifully), therefore read what is easy of the Quran. He knows that there must be among you sick, and others who travel in the land seeking of the bounty of God, and others who fight in God’s way, therefore read as much of it as easy (to you). And keep up prayer and give charity and offer to God a goodly gift and whatever good you send on beforehand for yourselves, you will find it with God. That is best and greatest in reward. And ask forgiveness of God. Surely, God is forgiving and Merciful.” (73: 20)

These early revelations were dealing with establishing the fundamentals of human emotions and teaching human beings how to educate themselves in the right way

What is night?

The night in its physical sense represent darkness i.e. when the sun sets. You ask:

• Who is determining day and night?

Then you observe creation around you and you ask: “who is creating the goat or hen?”

• Is the chicken producing the eggs?
• Is the goat producing milk?

You then conclude that everything we see here is created by the One that creates the whole universe. Every action going on within the hen is deliberately created within the universe. The growth of the hen is independent from the growth of the eggs.

In the verse above, night represents the ignorance of the Creator of the universe. That is, when you are in heedlessness, you do not see the reality of the universe. You do not know what the universe points to. In other words, you are in ignorance of the reality of every action taking place in this universe and the message it brings to you.

• Ignorance= not knowing what the purpose of creation is.

We need to work on relating the news that revelation brings to its action manifested in physical form in this universe. The message from the verses of the Quran and the message from the universe brings the same meaning.

What is vigil?

Keeping awareness of the reality of things i.e.

1. Getting the meaning in the existence of the universe in its entirety.
2. Getting the meaning in the existence of the qualities of the things that they dissipate.

How should we connect with the reality?

Example: eating food.

There is the body’s relationship with the food (physical side), the meaning of the existence of hunger and then the existence of the food. The physical side of any matter is just a means connecting to the meaning of things which we extract using our human qualities.

Physical being always carries a message and we need to look at the meaning side of its existence. When you see a thing, the power of seeing comes automatic to your nature but the meaning that you extract from the things needs execution on your end. That is, we have to get educated with how to read and get meaning from things using our human qualities. Then, we can apply the meaning to our human senses and evaluate the meaning to come to a conclusion. It is a long process of education. That is the news or education that the revelation brings:

• Creation + my feelings= meaning of existence

What is the main objective of the Quran?

In other words, why are there different acts manifested here? The different types and act of creation gives us the opportunity to know the different qualities of the Creator. Example: observing how a hen protects its chicks makes us realize how we protect our little ones. This sense of Compassion that we observe in the universe is experienced by each one of us individually. As a result, we become aware of the Creator through our different qualities by tying it to the qualities that we observe in creation. That is knowledge of God. Every manifested quality needs to be acknowledged through our human feelings. Ask yourself:

• Am I taking care of my offspring by myself?
• Am I creating the sense of Compassion which forces me to take care of the needy ones?
• No. Everything is managed by the Creator of the universe (lailaha)

STOP REPLACING God’s act of creation or qualities manifested in the universe with yourself!

• Can you create anything?
• Does Compassion belong to you?

MAIN TEACHINGS OF THE Quran:

• Who am I and who my Owner (Lord) is?
• Who is the Owner of Compassion in me?

It is necessary to ponder on all the questions above. That is the only way we can close the associating partners with God (shirk) gap. The Quran gets into the details of closing the shirk gap. Understanding creation from the inside out is the fundamental teaching of the Quran.

One’s outward actions are not the most important. The motif behind the action is important. Example: one can become proud and conceited with his charitable acts. In reality, through the act of charity, your Creator makes you realize that It is the All-Charitable One.

How can some people be neglected and forgotten?

Nothing is neglected here, everything is a deliberate act of creation. If the One that gives existence to the whole universe does not neglect any part of the creation, then how can we conclude that some people are being neglected of Its Mercy? Not at all, everyone is experiencing their reality but some choose to deny it, want to remain deluded and keep up with that choice. The feeling of being deluded is a sign that the Creator is not neglecting them.

The difference between the Prophet’s understanding of creation and Abu Jahal’s understanding of creation was based on different perspective of creation i.e. two totally opposite worldviews. Example: while feeding the poor or helping a needy one, the goal should be to benefit from the opportunity to get to know who your Lord is.

• Read what is easy for you i.e. study creation at your own level.
• Tie your feelings to the Source of their Origin: I have done this action in order to reach the Origin of my feelings.
• WITHOUT KNOWELDGE OF GOD, WORSHIP OF GOD CANNOT TAKE PLACE!

Hence, charity or any other action is the act of purifying yourself. When you use the action to tie your feelings and human qualities (humanity) to its Source of Origin, you find God and thus you fulfill the purpose of existence.

Analogy: a bulb, small or big attached to the power supply will always yield light. Similarly, any action when done with awareness of its Source of Origin, becomes an Eternal action.

At last, always acknowledge your shortcomings to close the shirk gap.