Section Al A’raf – Part 4

7:8 “On that Day the weighing of deeds will be true and just: those whose good deeds are heavy on the scales will enjoy the happy state.”

The verse is not only talking about the good deeds, rather a scale/balance, which has bad deeds as well.  All our bad actions/deeds, wrong choices, wrong thoughts will not be directly punished, rather it will be weighed with the good ones on the other side.  That is, if the bad deeds are overweighing the good deeds, the result will not be a very happy one and we don’t enjoy that.  On the other hand, if the good deeds are heavier than the bad deeds, then we will enjoy this happy state in our creation.  But I should be aware that the heaviest deed is the belief in Ghayb, i.e. God, Angels, the fact that God should speak and answer my human existential questions and appoint a human example of their practices in my life, the necessity of existence of the next creation after death etc. 

How do I experience this news in this world?  If I do a good action, then I feel happy within myself, that is how we are made.  It is not that I prefer to be happy, or I choose to be happy, rather, as a consequence or result of the good choice, I feel happy automatically.  That is our human reality.  Now, when I do a bad deed, then I feel unhappy.  If this bad deed is something very severe (not minor), then I feel that I cannot compensate it with good deeds in this world.  Still, the pain of unhappiness remains in me and that puzzles me.  Let us see what the Quran says, and check whether it makes sense to me or not.  This principle is true for matters related to belief, not for actions, in and of itself, which may be influenced by external factors where society measures what makes a good action.  Hence, we must try to be just about the action (under the Quranic guidance, see if it makes sense), try to avoid the biases as much as possible, and clean ourselves from the influence of external culture/civilization and societal life.  We must try to understand any matter with the connection with my Creator.  

Example: My Creator says not to drink alcohol.  However, in society I hear that a small amount of wine is good for one’s health.  What should I do now?  My Creator says, don’t drink, and my teacher (the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him) says that even a small amount of wine is prohibited, because that is the Creator’s property.  You can drink all other beverages, in the name of God and give the action an eternal dimension.  If you don’t drink any beverage in the name of God, then it only gives temporary pleasure.  This depends on your attitude, whether you will use your human qualities and decide about it.  When the beverage becomes fermented (alcoholic/intoxicant), then do not drink it at all.  I know that a big consumption of alcohol takes away my consciousness, my awareness, my reasoning, and body balance.  The drunken state does not match human honor and dignity.  I may not understand why consuming a small amount of alcohol (which does not really harm me) is still prohibited.  The reason that the teaching of the Quran presents to me is that you should act according to the desire of the Owner of the property, you cannot use the universe against His (the Owner’s) will.  I must reason about it; does it really make sense?  That is the wisdom that we acquire.  Does it really make sense that I should not do something, because the Owner of that thing says that it is My property, and I am not allowing it?  At the same time, I learn from the teachings of the Quran that through a minor prohibition in the world, I understand that when I use the rest of the good provided for me (the 99% of the provisions), I always remember and take into consideration this criterion (is it wine or not?) while drinking water or any other beverage.  If it is not an intoxicant, then go ahead and enjoy your beverage.  This remembrance is only possible when one beverage/item is prohibited.  As the example is given in the Quran with the story of Adam, i.e.Paradise is yours, but one tree is not to be approached.  Just one tree out of billions of trees, is the criteria for me to remember to check if the other trees are not that prohibited one.  The wisdom here is that anytime I recall that this item/tree is not the prohibited one, I remember the permission of the Owner of the whole Paradise.  That keeps my consciousness alive. How amazing it is that everything that I benefit from becomes so meaningful that I remember their Owner and I use them in the name of their Creator?!  That is the worship connection between me and my Creator.  How wise is this teaching?!  I say thank you to the Owner of alcohol for prohibiting it, for it became a means for me to be cognizant of your Ownership over everything else.  This turns my ordinary actions into a worshipful action, what wonderful wisdom!?  “Even a drop of wine should not be accessed/consumed by me, in order to respect the wisdom of the Creator, how perfect it is!”

Even in the prohibition and permission of the actions, I can see the Absolute Wisdom of the Creator.  Whether I can make sense of it or not (some cases may not be that clear for me because of my habits, I learned under the influence of the external world, or because of my ignorance of some aspects of it), I lay my trust in what my Creator directs me to do and not to do.  But in matters related to believing in the Ghayb, that is in God, Revelation, prophethood, existence of the hereafter etc, I must question and look for wisdom.  In general, in the actions, I must give priority to the Creator’s will and then look for wisdom if I can find or not (this may seem dubious because I may or not be able to).  If I see a few examples and if I am convinced about it, for example, approaching the tree/alcohol or not, then I may understand the wisdom of the Creator.  Some issues can not be clearly understood, for example the distribution of inheritance.  However, I trust in the wisdom of the Creator because I experience the wisdom of the Creator in the creation of every single being in the world, which is Absolute. After being convinced about His Absolute Wisdom, if I fail to see the wisdom in the prohibitions and permissions of the rituals and fiqh rule I can trust His Wisdom that I might have not seen it.  In any subject related to belief matter as mentioned above, I cannot follow this way, I must make sense of it, so that I can be convinced, confirm it, and submit myself to it.

When I do something wrong against the will of my Creator, it remains with me.  Example: You killed a person, and it hurts you. You may say that you can look after the life of an orphan so you will be comfortable about it.  Impossible!  These are two different matters: Feeling guilty about killing a person and enjoying taking care of the needs of an orphan. But the Quran says that we are weighing your deeds on the scale, and we will judge about your reward or punishment based on the weight of both sides of the scale.  How can I make sense of this?  We must reflect on this and then share, rather than keeping it to ourselves.  Verse: “The Prophets are not reserved, stingy and keep something secret of what they have experienced in reality especially concerning Ghayb”. (See the Quran, 81: 24.) That is, whatever news about ghaib/Absolute is given to them, which you cannot reach by yourself, the Prophets disclose what is beyond the reach of human capacity at the will of his/her Creator.  In other words, they just release the news about Absolute and let everyone benefit from it.  That is the primary mission of the Prophets, and we must follow this Prophetic path, and share it with others who need it (this is what I have, whether it makes sense to you or not, it is up to you to decide).  

One thing that the Quran gives an important news about is to ask for forgiveness and repentance.  The only thing that we can do here, because in the hereafter, it will be too late (the education period has ended).  In this world, we should repent and ask for forgiveness.  Going back to the example of killing a person unjustly, the pain is there, and there is only one way to do something about this pain.  Only through repentance, I can ask God to forgive me.  Even if religion requires me to pay for this killing, that is not enough to soothe the pain.  Paying money to the family does not save the life of a dead man.  This is how social life is adjusted to keep order and peace in the society, and this is just worldly punishment.  This murdered man will say that you ended my life without God’s permission (although ultimately it is God’s order that this person’s life will end through my obeying the order, i.e. the result of death can only be created by God. That is what the order teaches us, whatever we choose with the order God promises that He will create the result of, for example, action of killing).  Regardless, the Creator says that you should not kill this person, “I will decide about it, not you, for I am the One who gave it life, and I am the One who has the right of taking it back, not you.”  Bottom line, no one can compensate for the act of killing, even with payment.  One must ask God to forgive, please God it was a mistake and I accept and I am not going to do it again, please forgive me.  That is the only way to feel somewhat comfortable about it in our feelings because I ask God to forgive me and reward the person that I killed unjustly.  Also, in order to practice my repentance, I can take care of the orphans: “I did something very wrong in my life so I will try to compensate for those mistakes through this action.”  Otherwise, there is no other way that we can solve this problem of regret.

7:9 “and those whose good deeds are light will be the ones who have ruined themselves by their willful rejection of Our messages.”

We must understand that within every bad action or unintended carelessness, there is a hidden negligence of God, a kind of not recognizing His Ownership of everything including my existence. Example, I am fully aware that God, the Owner of my life, my Creator, the Owner of my properties that I am misusing, or the Creator of the actions that I am doing in this world, still I may commit something against the will of the Creator, not because I am rejecting it, rather I fail.  Again, the door of repentance is open for me, I know I should not do it, please forgive me.  It may work.  One thing is not accepted by the Creator, the willful rejection of His messages, i.e. the messages (ayaat) of God.  The word “message” or “ayah -plural, ayaat” (in Arabic) has many meanings in the Quran.

“ayah” = message, signs, verses of the Quran, creation, miracles of the Prophet, miraculous side of the Quranic rhetoric, and the message bearers (angels, prophets, creation, human spirit).  We can confirm all these signs at the same time and may reject them at the same time, which means that there is a belief problem here (belief in God, His Angels, His Messengers…).  Also, there is a rejection of creation, where you attribute creation to nonsensical things like accidents.  These denials are not forgiven.  This is what the Quran says, and the Prophetic message emphasizes to be careful about it.  Sinning by not choosing the right actions according to the Will of the Creator, is very human, but one thing is not accepted from humans at all, with no exceptions i.e., assigning power or any quality to anything that is not able to create and being the source of existence.  That is rejecting the Creatorship of the Creator, God of that thing.  Therefore, this side of sinning is not forgiven, because the right of innocent existing things (unprotected it seems to be in this world, like orphans) is transgressed or breached.  “I created this universe, I created the human being and the human feelings (all these are here to function as signs and messages to their Creator), but I cannot forgive someone else’s right.”  If I insist on saying that I don’t have a Creator, I exist by myself accidentally forever, then that is my choice, no matter how baseless this claim is.  Here, I am declaring that the universe is a stupid, meaningless being.  What a horrible insult to the innocent orphan creatures?!  We can understand this because we are aware of our consciousness, i.e., if someone insults me, we cannot easily digest.  This feeling teaches me that any of the creatures of God cannot digest it either.  The right of the beings is the angelic side of creation.  Example: the author of the book is here, and I say that the paper/ink tell me the meaning.  In other words, if I say that the paper/ink is the source of existence of the meaning, what will the author say?  You are insulting Me and My knowledge.  The author of the book of creation in this world is aware of what He is creating when He hears it and says, “you are insulting Me and you are insulting the meaning/angelic side of creation, where these angels are conscious executors of My will (God’s will).”  The angels feel insulted as well and proclaim “I brought this one from the Creator of the universe to manifest His power, endless knowledge, endless wisdom and will, and you are insulting the action that I have done, you are insulting me, and even worse, you are insulting the Creator, the Source of your existence.  Now, God says that you acted in such a crime that involved the right of other creatures as well (“I cannot forgive the right of other creatures, this is My principle, and I would not forgive that”).  Example: your brother has been beaten by someone and he is in pain, you tell your brother to go to the person and tell him that I forgave him.  The brother says, who are you? I am the one experiencing the pain, and I am not forgiving this person, for I need my revenge and this person must be punished.  That is very human, and this sense teaches me that my Creator will treat me in this way.  God is not going to forgive the rights of the created beings, and the angels.  If it was directly related to Me, then maybe, but for the rights of others, My created beings, never.  The problem rises from here and it brings us to a very important subject.

18:103 “Shall we tell you who are the greatest losers in whatever they may do?”
18:104 “They are those whose efforts are in vain in this worldly life, while they think they are doing good!”

I think that I am doing something good by helping people, taking care of the environment, my health, body…that is what I am doing, but the Quran says that my efforts here are at fault.  My human senses tell me that this action is excellent, where I go help the needy ones in some places around the globe for humanitarian causes.  (Needless to say, all around the globe, the children are being treated like orphans even by their parents, influenced by the secular culture with no Divine guidance, making human beings into robots.  The slogan of this civilization is to work harder, and you will be satisfied by doing more shopping…)  I may think that I am doing good deeds here, but my efforts in this world are in vain.  The Arabic word a’maal refers to actions and efforts.  The Arabic word sun’an means art/industrial production, which means technological productions in this age.  They say we are improving your livelihood by making technical communications for you, so you can stay in touch with family and friends.  However, most of the people are talking about vain and meaningless things, just to keep themselves busy, and discuss the color of someone’s dress for example.  Some people use it in a good way. For example, we have the opportunity to discuss useful matters with people while being at home. They say that we are helping humanity prosper, for example, you can fly from one place to another in a few hours and talk nonsensical things with friends.  Again, this civilization does not offer us anything apart from political disputes and secular information and it does not offer anything essential for human existential inquiries.  We should save time from vain talks and try to utilize these advances in a positive way, such as useful conversations pertaining to the meaning of our existence.  

The people who are bragging about their invention of technological gadgets may lose their actions and efforts in this world, i.e., their result will go in vain.   What an interesting subject?!   How is this possible?!  They are helping human beings to have a better life.  Example: just put everything in a food processor and it does the job for you.  Why is this verse talking like this while the inventors must be dignified?

18:105 “It is those who disbelieve in their Lord’s messages, and they deny that they will meet Him.  Their deeds come to nothing, on the Day of Resurrection We shall give them no weight.”

Again, the word “ayah” which is translated as “messages” has many meanings.  This verse points to the fact that they have reduced human beings to animals and have reduced the world to matter only.  They deny the human feelings as desiring eternal happiness and perfect satisfaction.  Also, they deny that this worldly life has a purpose. When we die, it is the end of our lives, and everything ends.  This is denying the ownership of their Creator.  They deny what they are doing while benefiting from the order.  The order belongs to a conscious Creator, He adjusts everything in a perfect way, which allows me to benefit from.  Rather, they say that I found it as if it is a “lost property.”  That is why their actions all go in vain, they do something by denying the owner of these actions, this creation, what an interesting news that I have never heard people talk about this verse.  

Since their actions fall into nothingness here, on the day of resurrection, when they face their reality, the Creator will present to them what they had been doing here on earth and will give their actions no weight.  It is as if the deniers are stealing His property, and denying that it is theirs, by making a public announcement that some of them are writing a million-dollar check to help alleviate poverty in an impoverished place, let’s say.  Where did they get this money?  Similarly, where did they get this existence from, the discoveries done here only because the Creator has already put into the order He created, why are you denying the Ownership of its Creator?  Isn’t this an insult of His ownership?!  Thus, the people who claim that they are good people, they follow their feelings, what a horrible thing they do?!  Example, my feeling says to do good actions and I feel comfortable when I do so.  Excuse me!  Who owns your feelings?  Who owns your existence?  Who owns your life and who owns the actions that you are doing?  Who owns the property that you are distributing to others?  Is it yours?  Did you create them?  Are you a thief and insulting the Owner of these properties?  You are a liar and denying the truth!  You can only claim that you discovered what has already been in the creation and you need to acknowledge the Owner of this creation and be thankful to Him for providing these opportunities for us. Which kind of good man are you?  All  humanitarian activities will go into vain, if they don’t acknowledge the Owner of the properties that they are using (the order of the universe, their given human qualities, the matter…).  The Owner says that you have stolen my property and I will get it back from you, i.e., your good actions will be in vain.  In other words, I will get the good actions back because they are my property, not yours.  What you have done in the name of doing good things is my property and you will be left with nothing, for that is justice?!  Indeed, that is justice.  If something is not my property, how can I be proud that I am doing something good with it by claiming that it is mine?  I am a thief!  The Owner will say, give me my property back, I will distribute it, not you.

108:106 “Their recompense for having disbelieved and made fun of My messages and My messengers will be Hell.”

The truth strikes the human feelings and makes us submit to the truth.  We should not cheat ourselves saying that we are good people, doing good actions.  If we do not do it with God consciousness supported with belief, but as a result of blindly following the influence of outside civilization or culture, then we will be losers and left with nothing.  We must watch out!  Trusting one’s actions is an evil choice.  Even my worshipful actions are given to me by my Creator.  When I understand that worshiping God is the right thing to do, then this understanding was possible for me because my Creator gave me the capacity to appreciate it.  It is not my property!  I must acknowledge God and I have to be thankful to my Creator: “You gave me this consciousness”; I am now aware of the value of declaring myself as to be a worshiper of Him. You deserve to be worshiped and I deserve to be the worshiper.  That is understood through the capacity that you have enabled me with.  We must be thankful to God, rather than being proud of our prayers, fasting, good deeds/actions.  He is the One who enabled us to do that and created the results/productions for us.  We must acknowledge that.  Again, we must never rely on our actions, yes do it, but be thankful for being able to do it.  That is why these verses are the Speech of my Creator, deciphering my human side from within.  All the secrets are disclosed and spread in front of the eyes of my spirit, heart, and intellect, which can easily see that this guidance can only be from my Creator who knows me, how I act, how the composition of my existence is.  This news is what we should confirm as to be the news from my Creator.

Now, we understand that all our good deeds will be in vain if we reject God’s messages and signs in creation, in His Speech, in His angelic side of creation, in my own existence, in the existence of my feelings, I shall be careful to be honest to my reality and accept that these are only from my Creator.  These are nothing but messages from my Creator, letting me know what the reality of my existence is all about.