Section Al A’raf – part 27

Continuing our study of section “A’raf” (Cognizant) where the last few verses mentioned about fertile land. We connected the fertile land to be analogous to our spirit being fertile, that is, being ready to confirm the truth when finding it and benefitting from revelation to grow just like fertile land flourishes with green vegetation. The section “A’raf” continued with the following verse to benefit from the prophets employed by God to convey the message:

لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِۦ فَقَالَ يَـٰقَوْمِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَـٰهٍ غَيْرُهُۥٓ إِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍۢ

7:59: We sent forth Noah unto his people, and he said: “O my people! Worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Verily, I am concerned that suffering befall you on an awesome Day!”

Prophet Noah is inviting people to worship God as there is no other deity to worship besides Him. I can benefit and flourish from the message of the prophets as it brings meaning and purpose in my life. Another option is to deprive myself of benefiting from the message and suffer from meaninglessness and no purpose of existence which is the suffering that can befall me.

The following verse continues with:

قَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ مِن قَوْمِهِۦٓ إِنَّا لَنَرَىٰكَ فِى ضَلَـٰلٍۢ مُّبِينٍۢ

7:60 The notable ones among his people replied, “We see that you are obviously lost in error.”

After prophet Noah delivers the message to the people, the notable ones tell Noah that he is obviously lost in error, without presenting any evidence or any counter argument to the message prophet Noah brings. Instead of presenting any counter argument to the message they just blame and accuse prophet Noah in a strange way by saying that “you are misguided or lost in error”, an accusation without any evidence. What is important to know here is that not everyone among the notables accuse prophet Noah to be misguided. 

The general body of the common people is not involved in rejecting the prophetic message and preventing the prophets from spreading the message, but only denying “notables.” That is interesting and is important for us to understand and teaches us how to treat the ordinary people among us in our time and space. 

The Quran uses the word disbelievers, deniers or those who claim that messengers are telling them lies quite frequently. There are many examples in the Quran of the people that oppose the messengers, reject them, who try to stop them from spreading the message to others. These conscious deniers consist of only a few people of the community that the Quran is referring to; the rest of the community is not being addressed among the opposers of the messengers. 

For example, in the life of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) where he addressed people, not everyone opposed his message, only a few people did, i.e. not all of the Quraysh opposed the message. Another thing is that the Messenger of God, Muhammad (pbuh) never complained about the people and there has been no evidence that the Quraysh tribe opposed the message he was conveying. It is not a matter of tribe where one may think the whole tribe was against the prophet but the prophet faced opposition from just a handful of people. (A side note: One may say that the army which fought the Messenger of God, Muhammad -pbuh- consisted of ordinary common people. We should bear in mind that the society at that time was ruled according to the tribal values and ordinary people had to obey the tribe chiefs, which are defined as “notables.” Nowadays,  most young people join the army of any country either by law enforcement or financial and social benefits, such as American soldiers.)

In this day and age, I can look in my own environment and check the attitudes of people. The majority of the people are indifferent to religion and just carry on their worldly life. They don’t mind the message of the prophets being propagated. For example, one can look where they are and see who tries to prevent the message from spreading and are bothered by it. It is not the ordinary people but a few people in certain positions that may be bothered. 

Although there is a choice for everyone to investigate the message using one’s human qualities, see what the message is saying and if it fits within human feelings. The messengers were fulfilling their mission which is to convey God’s message to everyone, advise everyone, give them best examples as the practice of revelation according to their capacity: “I am giving advice to you. You as a human being must look for meaning in your life, you see that everything is changing, passing, going to die. What does this life mean then? Let’s talk about this. I and you are all equal to the revelation so let’s discuss it together.” 

We have to carefully understand the descriptions in the Quran that mention the enemies of the prophets and cannot generalize by saying that all those who do not take the message of Islam are enemies.

That’s why the Quran emphasizes that only some people, “notables,” are trying to prevent the message of the prophets. The phrase used is “قَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ مِن قَوْمِهِ” which indicates some people that hold a higher position than the rest of society; it is among them who oppose the prophets. The reason to deny could be to keep some sort of benefit, economic, leadership, control, power or egoistic satisfaction.  It is not to say that the ordinary people are innocent or do not have any responsibility but are indifferent to the message being propagated. All the examples mentioned in the Quran indicate that the prophets are suffering from the attacks of a few people. Those who are the “notables”, who think they have the leading position in society are the enemies of the prophets. Practically, I have to be careful of not falling into a self-sufficient attitude, seeing myself in a higher position that would lead me to deny the message. In the following verses we will see a further fine tuning that shows that it is not all the notables but a select few disbelieving ones among them.

قَالَ الۡمَلَاُ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا مِنۡ قَوۡمِهٖۤ اِنَّا لَـنَرٰٮكَ فِىۡ سَفَاهَةٍ وَّاِنَّا لَـنَظُنُّكَ مِنَ الۡـكٰذِبِيۡنَ‏

7:66 The disbelieving notables of his people responded, “We surely see you as a fool, and we certainly think you are a liar.”

Again, not everyone among the notables but some disbelieving, denying notables are opposing the prophetic message. There are about 10 instances of usage of “الۡمَلَاُ” as notables in the Quran indicating those that oppose the prophets and prevent the prophets from spreading the message. We have to pay attention in the Quran as to how it mentions the notables. The above verse qualifies the notables as the “الۡمَلَاُ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡ” translated as “disbelieving notables”. So, the important point to notice is that not every notable is opposing the message but only the disbelieving ones.

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا فِى كُلِّ قَرْيَةٍ أَكَـٰبِرَ مُجْرِمِيهَا لِيَمْكُرُوا۟ فِيهَا ۖ وَمَا يَمْكُرُونَ إِلَّا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ

6:123 “And so We have put chief evildoers in every city to perpetrate their schemes there – but they scheme only against themselves, without realizing it.”

The word “أَكَـٰبِرَ مُجْرِمِيهَا” translated here as “chief evildoers”. It can also be translated as criminal but not every criminal but certain head criminals who can make their criminal activities within the lawful ways. They try to prevent the prophets but deprive themselves of benefiting from the message and thus suffer from the inhuman concluding interpretations. They become the enemy of God’s message.

اِنَّهُمۡ كَانُوۡا قَبۡلَ ذٰ لِكَ مُتۡرَفِيۡنَۚ

56:45 Indeed, before this [torment] they were spoiled by luxury.

The word “مُتۡرَفِيۡنَۚ” is another qualification indicating those who are spoilt by luxury. This may become a reason to oppose the prophets. Important for our practical lives, how? We have to utilize and benefit from God’s mercy, we work on having a comfortable living. Nothing wrong with that as long as I am not going into wastefulness and keeping in mind my purpose of existing here. 

قَالَ يَـٰقَوْمِ لَيْسَ بِى ضَلَـٰلَةٌۭ وَلَـٰكِنِّى رَسُولٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ

7:61: [Noah] said, “My people, there is no error in me. I am a Messenger from the Lord of all the worlds.

أُبَلِّغُكُمْ رِسَـٰلَـٰتِ رَبِّى وَأَنصَحُ لَكُمْ وَأَعْلَمُ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

7:62 I am delivering to you my Lord’s messages and giving you good advice. I know [through revelation] from God what you do not know.

Noah is clarifying that he is a messenger employed by the Lord of all the worlds, the Lord of whatever is out there in existence. I am just delivering the message I was asked to deliver from my Lord, whether you take it or not. I am giving you good advice not because I am more knowledgeable than you, that I know better, and am at a higher position – none of that – I am just telling you what I know through the revelation of my God, what he tells me. I am just like you, if my Lord didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t know. If you wonder about your creation, your existence and purpose in life then the revelation will provide the answers. It is not me as the prophet that has the answer but the revelation, the message of God that has the answer. 

The physical being of the prophet is different from the message of God. What makes the person a prophet is the revelation that he receives from God. It is the revelation that is important for me to receive. In my life today, I don’t necessarily have to see the body of the prophet but the message must be paid attention to which is how the prophet of God would be with me in my life – when I have the message that he brought, I study and apply it in my life. If I have any human problem, I must consult the message from God which should provide for me the answers.

For many things in our life, we now go to advisors. Going to advisors is a sign that we have a problem and admit that we need guidance. I have to search for meaning in my life. I need to go and study the message that is available, investigate and if I face any challenges where I could not find the answer or it’s not clear, I should seek help from experts on the Qur’an.