Section Al A’raf – Part 5
Part 5, section A’raf
7:10 “We have indeed established you on earth and provided you with a means of livelihood. Yet little are you grateful.”
Livelihood does not only mean food, but we also need air, we need something for our intelligence, and something to satisfy our feelings. All these needs are experienced and performed through the spirit breathed into our body. There are many things that we need. We don’t only need food to live but also our spiritual thirst must be satisfied. The spirit does not function without interacting through the body. That is why we understand that after I die, my spirit needs another body to function with its new capacity as I had prepared while I was in this world. While I am interacting here in this world, I am using my body. If I did not have a body, my spirit cannot function. That is how the creation of the human being is for the spirit through the body. When the body dies, the spirit leaves it behind in this world (which is “death” and the spirit says that the body/vehicle does not work for me anymore, so I am going back to my original place of existence) because the spirit is a non-material being, and therefore it is not subject to change.
The place where you are going to function and settle is provided for you, yet you are not grateful. But I thank God for all the provisions that I am given. That is just a thought and is not enough. I am thankful that the universe is provided by my God for me, what else am I expected to do? Example: If I give you a shirt that you need, and you say thank you, but you do not use it, what does it mean? Being grateful alone without practicing does not mean much although it is better to acknowledge the Giver than not acknowledge Him at all. Even if you don’t say thank you verbally, but you put on the shirt, and admire it, you appreciate it and use it. That would be a way of thanking. However, if you say that you found it by yourself, then you are denying your reality, that would be the worst. (you only have two choices, confirmation (i.e., belief or denial).
In this verse, the Quran says that you are not denying, rather, you are not thankful enough for the things I provided for you. It means that I am not using the creation of the universe, body, and spirit to fulfill the purpose of their existence. What is the purpose of the existence of the universe out there? If I only use the universe to satisfy my body, that is not human. It means eat, drink, breathe, use the light, all for the benefit of my body. Example: you are just carrying the book and not reading it. Here, I am not using the book for the purpose it is created for, I am just wasting energy, like keeping my body healthy, and not utilizing it for the purpose it was created for. In the existence of the body, there is meaning. We must intellectually (conceptually) get this meaning and appreciate it through using our spirit. The spirit is created with the ability to understand the reality of its existence, which is the reality of the existence of the universe, i.e., to demonstrate the qualities of its Creator. The reality of my existence is also to acknowledge its source of existence. The main function of the spirit is to be aware and conscious of its existence. It is easy to say this, but to realize that I am aware of my existence is so amazing and priceless, which means that I am aware of the manifestations of the qualities of my existence. I am aware of the reality of my existence through consciousness and experiencing this reality through the existence of my feelings. We must connect all this to understand what is going on in my life. How amazing?! I experience this reality through my feelings.
That is why the huge capacity of the spirit may be utilized by human beings only partially. But we must be careful not to deny the meaning side of this book that we are carrying (our existence and the existence of the universe, i.e., the meaning in it). The universe reflects the qualities of its maker, because in and of itself, it has no qualities to be able to produce the meaning manifested in it.
Comment: If you do not connect your existence, the existence of your feelings to something not of the nature of this universe, then there is nothing to be sorry or grateful for. Because you do not even realize how much you are losing.
First, we must acknowledge that my existence is meaningful and so is the existence of this universe, then use this realization to fulfill the purpose of the existence of everything. What is it? The universe is here and needs to be created, I am also in need to be created. The Creator is connected through human consciousness by using the evidence in the creation of me and the universe, and attributing both to its Creator because I have been given the spirit which can acknowledge its Source of Existence. In other words, the spirit has been given the ability to acknowledge its Source of Existence. I cannot attribute the existence of my spirit to anything of this universe. I cannot even show it physically and put it in a lab and demonstrate that it is coming out of something of this universe. There are no signs whatsoever. However, it is experiential in my real-life experience that I am not only body, but something else as well. That is what makes me a human being. My body is just matter, an animate living being. Example: If someone loses his/her eyes, s/he still has the sense of sight and wants to see. If someone is born blind, and wants to see, s/he realizes that a kind of seeing is needed. The spirit demonstrates its own existence without any prior experience. Just as a baby is born, it starts slowly interacting with its environment, acknowledges the mother/father, makes the distinction between the others, and is scared/weary of strange things. If a stranger approaches the baby, s/he runs away from it. Who taught it? Do you think that the mother instructs the baby while carrying him/her in the womb with all these senses? She did not even know what type of creature she was carrying in her womb. Some people deny the spirit, and they are free to choose so although it does not make sense at all. I am not only body and life. Having life does not make me a human being; an ant also has life, and I am not an ant.
What makes me different from an ant? We have 3-dimensional existence, body, life, and spirit. We communicate through the spirits. A living being (if it does not have spirit) does not communicate with anything, as they just follow their instincts automatically. That is why today’s secular sciences reduce human beings to animate beings only. They must do so, because if they accepted that human beings have something more than animality, then they would be in trouble. I know that I have my consciousness, I know that I can reason, and I know that I feel different from any other living creature. Yes, living creatures are also experiencing some sort of feelings, but I am conscious of my own existence, I am conscious of my huge capacity, I have memories (remembering the past), I have hopes and expectations for the future (I desire to have something and escape from harm…) The other creatures have feelings, but they seem not to have this self-consciousness of being aware of the past, present and future. They just follow their instincts and they cannot improve their capacity like human beings at all. However, human beings do not follow only their instincts, they have choices that have so many varieties and they can improve their qualities through experiences. That is why I understand reasoning and improving my capacity and turning my potentiality into capacity. These are all the things happening in my life.
7:11 “We created you, We gave you shape, and then We said to the angels, prostrate before Adam, so they all did – but not Iblis, who refused to prostrate with the other.”
Our existence is adjusted in such a way that our potentiality, and the meaningful side of the qualities in creation, and the spirit altogether work in such a way that perfectly supporting each other and functioning in harmony. Example: human beings can use their consciousness to be able to understand the meaning side of existence, i.e., intelligence is functioning there, and make reasoning that this thing cannot exist by itself. And asks the question, what can be the source of its existence? Every human nature asks this. That is why our creation is perfectly adjusted so that everything will be functioning in harmony. The Arabic word “sawwarna” (gave a form and shape to you as per the translation) means to be adjusted perfectly to fit what it meant to be well functioning together.
What is my relationship with the angels (as mentioned in the verse above)? The way that I am created, my form always asks for the angelic side of creation, not the matter itself, rather, the meaning in the existence of the matter. The angels represent the meaning side of the matter. Example: When you look at a painting, you see the matter side of it. No one is interested in the painting because of its paint/material side, rather people look for art. People hang it, want to see it always because they are communicating with the art manifesting in this framework. Art means that I do not belong to this matter at all. It is so simple! That is the angelic side of the painting. Angels are going to be employed for the human being now, not the paint or matter itself, rather the angelic side of the painting is going to serve the human being. Matter/paint may serve my body, and I am not body. No one can define themselves as a body, which is like a car. What is important? I am important, the one using the car. If I don’t use the car what is the car itself good for if I do not use it? If a conscious being does not utilize the car, then there is no point in making the car and there is no point in the existence of the car. In this analogy, the body is the car. The universe is created for the spirit which functions only through experiencing the bodily existence of the universe. That is how our reality is and we must understand this. That is, we cannot ignore our bodily side of existence, and at the same time, it is just a vehicle/means to reach the goal to understand the meaning in its existence. Hence, without spirit, I cannot make sense of the meaning in the existence of the universe. After breathing the spirit into the body, God tells me about my relationship with the angels, because only my spirit can communicate with the meaning of the creation. As the Quran says, thereafter, we sent to the angels to prostrate.
“Prostrate” has two meanings:
- If it is taking place between two created beings, this prostration is not complete prostration and submission. One is serving the other. Hence, in the verse above “prostrate” means to serve human beings.
- If it is between the Creator and the created being, the created being prostrates before God with complete submission. The Created conscious being worshiping his/her Creator.
Prostration means to serve. Example: In olden days, people used to prostrate before kings i.e., I am ready to serve you. However, prostrating before God symbolically during prayers means that I acknowledge and submit my existence completely to You. Angels are created beings, and human beings are created beings. From this, we can conclude that between two created beings, there is a prostration going on. What does it mean? It is not complete submission, but they are serving human beings to help them acknowledge the Qualities of the Creator manifested in the creation. God asked any other creatures, then including the body side of the human being to serve the spirit. It means everything serves us. That is, the angels convey the message of their origin of existence, i.e., which kind of qualities He must have. Spirit means coming from God, breathed into the human body from God’s spirit, the tools operating to decipher, understand and discover the qualities of the Creator manifested in the created beings. Hence, get these qualities and attribute it to its origin. The spirit’s origin is the same, hence, make it united there. That is, One Creator, and the rest of existence is created beings. The relationship between created beings and human beings are taking place in such a way that the human spirit utilizes them to connect their existence to its Source of Existence.
The purpose of giving this example in the Qur’an is to let me know that I have to utilize the angelic side of the universe to get to know who my Creator is. “The whole universe is created to serve me so that you will acknowledge Me in full sense because I am going to manifest all My names in the creation/created form, and I have given you the tools to acknowledge all my qualities in your spirit.” It means that we are given the ability to recognize all the Creator’s qualities, and when I see the universe, I recognize them.
The universe is ready there, but one thing (Illa Iblis). What is it? Iblis refused to prostrate with the other angels. What does it mean? God is drawing my attention to one aspect of my qualities, which is the human free will. Human free will functions between two options, and human beings are free to use it whichever way. The matter is made so clear in existence that one option is absolutely true, and the other is absolutely wrong.
Wrong does not exist, but we have the option to choose that. Example: 2+2= 5 does not exist but I can choose it. Also, I can say that something is made but it happens by itself. Example: No one can say that a pair of glasses happen to be like this by itself. This is very simple to understand. That is, no human being with free reason can say that these glasses might have happened by themselves. We are given the ability to choose either option. Do I have the option to say 2+2= 5? Yes. There are many people who say that the universe exists by itself. How come? If something is continuously changing, it cannot happen by itself, there must be a factor behind it, and any human reasoning can understand it. They don’t say this clearly, they just say that they are not interested in how it came into existence: “We are just using what we found in the universe”.
Again, this matter of prostration has nothing to do with worship at all, rather the relationship is taking place between two created beings where one serves the other.
Comment: Would that be considered an act of serving by angels if the human beings are not acknowledging the Creator of the universe?
Yes, but they are not choosing the option of confirming what the angels are conveying the truth. By not confirming the truth, the angels are serving you only to give you the opportunity to choose between right and wrong. Example: you go to a place, and they serve you food, you take it, but you do not eat it. In other words, the universe is serving and fulfilling its job, but you may not fulfill yours by acknowledging the message of the angels and that which they represent. The universe always gives signals, even if I don’t take it. Example: I have my phone, but I did not turn it on. Do you think that the broadcasting stopped? No. There are messages being sent but I am free to choose to turn on my device or turn it off. That is freedom of choice, and I am responsible for the result of my choices.
Human beings are expected to be extremely careful about the function of Iblis in their life. If there was no Iblis at all, what would we be doing? We would have been directly acknowledging the Creator, that is how we are shaped and formed, to function in this way (sawwarnaa). If I did not have the free will and choice, then I would just be a robot or just be a piece of stone. This is something unimaginable for us. No one wants to lose his human side and the freedom of choice. They say that freedom is not cheap, it is not given, it must be gained. People fight for it, that is human nature. Regardless of one’s belief in a Creator or not, everyone wants to be free. Freedom is an essential need for human beings. We cannot say that if there was no Iblis, then It would be better for me. That would mean that if I were not a human being, and if there was an option for me to be a stone, would you go for it rather than being a human being? Impossible! The creation of Iblis is important for us to recognize and realize the truth. Iblis represents the wrong option, and we are created with two sides, because we can only think by comparison. Is 2+2= 4 correct or 2+2=5, correct? I can make the distinction. One is correct and the other is wrong. Otherwise, human beings will not be able to make the distinction between what is correct and what is not?
7:12 “God said, what prevented you from bowing down as I commanded you? And he said, I am better than him, you created me from fire and him from clay.”
In this verse, a dialogue with Iblis is given so that the nature of Iblis is exposed for me to check myself. What does the function of Iblis include in its existence? Why would God create Iblis? What is the nature of Iblis? Iblis says that I am better than him. Let us see what the reason is.
Iblis acknowledges that it is being created. We are symbolically being taught here. Even if someone acknowledges that I am created, it does not mean that he will reason in the right way. Watch out! I may say that I am created, and I have a Creator, does not mean that I will use my human quality in the right way. No, that is what the Quran is telling me to be careful about. I can say that “I am better than him. You created me from fire and him from clay. What type of comparison is this?! ” But what makes me a human being is not my clay side, rather my spirit. Iblis does not acknowledge the meaning in creation, therefore it represents the attitude of those people who do not acknowledge the meaning side of the universe and the things in it. So, Iblis did not acknowledge the spirit of human beings, regarded them as meaningless clay. That reminds us now that materialist scientists treat the universe as “body with no meaning in their existence. ” That is exactly what Iblis represents in the Qur’an. We have to watch out for their interpretations of their scientific discoveries. Their discoveries are wonderfully exclaiming the meanings in their perfect creation but they muffle them up with their personal biases that they just happen to be as we see and there is no purpose in their existence.
Comment: It sounds like an excuse.
It does not matter; I must be careful with my interpretations. This is an analysis of the human psyche. When I ignore and deny the meaning of existence, the art quality of the painting/universe, when I ignore the purposefully written part of the book, I reduce the book to paper collections and frames, and reduce the art to its painting. Someone may say that the frame and the paint have no value, why should I give money for it (if I deny the art on it)? Iblis is represented to us to draw our attention to the reality that even when I accept that I have a Creator, it is just the beginning of the story. Yes, I am created, and the universe needs to be created as well, it cannot exist by itself eternally, no one can prove the eternity within the universe. So I cannot reduce the universe to matter only or meaningless existence. Reducing the universe to matter only is prevalent nowadays among materialist scientists. This is the most Iblistic attitude of people who reduce the study of the universe to matter only, interpret and understand human beings in terms of body only. Human beings may choose to serve themselves by serving their body side only. This is the Iblistic side of the scenario presented to us in the Qur’an.
Iblis is not representing reality at all, it is just a completely irrational, false, and unacceptable scenario of creation. The angelic side of the universe fulfills the purpose in its existence. The Iblistic side of the universe denies the meaning of its existence. Iblis and angels are represented to us as: “O human beings, you may take the same attitude, you are given the option to follow the angelic attitude, demonstrating the qualities of its Creator manifested in the existence of the universe or you can take the Iblistic side.” This is a symbolic teaching to me, that is how the Quran teaches in an abstract way that the human being cannot really grasp the meaning. But when it is presented in a scenario form, you grasp it. Just like when reading a novel, you don’t grasp the meaning much as opposed to watching the movie, where you get the exact representation of the message in it. Hence, it is in human nature that people usually convey the message in scenario form representing the various human sides. That is how God speaks to human beings, making a scenario for us. The universe is a manifestation of the qualities of its Creator. Matter is not important, but because of matter, I can communicate with it, and understand what the “mithal” (parable) is referring to. We should see the “mithal” as external to fulfill a purpose, created in the form of matter. Example: We express all our feelings through our actions.
The message that I am better than the human being also has an aspect of ‘jealousy”. While we are making the comparison with material prosperity (such as my house is made of gold, I am rich with lots of property, this guy is poor…and I am better than him), there is an element of jealousy. It means that I am better than him, because of my worldly status, I have diamonds… Iblis does not want to accept that the human being has a spirit and therefore makes a comparison within the body/universe only. Let’s say a scientist who has a biased attitude does not want to accept that s/he is needy and that s/he must search for his/her Creator and acknowledge/worship him. Worship means that You are the One who is giving all these opportunities to me, rather than being proud of himself as being a smart scientist. Because of his/her attitude, the scientist ignores the meaning side of the matter they study in the lab. That is why the Quran keeps warning not to take the Iblistic attitude and to be careful to follow suggestions from people. Watch out!
Iblistic interpretation is a baseless claim or false assumption. Example: It does not make sense to say that I am taller, so I am better than you. Quantity is there to serve the quality, just as the universe is there to serve the qualities.
Therefore, matter serves my body, meaning/angels serves my spirit. Iblis comes and makes a comparison between bodies (fire and clay). Why does God describe Iblis as being made of fire? “Your enemy is made of fire”, what does it mean? The enemy is giving you the option to look at matter not with meaning. This attitude is made of fire. What does fire do? Consumes and burns. 2+2= 4, human mind confirms it. Apart from this option, how many possible options are there to give a wrong equation? Infinite. Fire turns the thing into infinite non-existence. It means 100% wrong. There are many options and all of them are wrong. That is why the Quran says to watch out for the options, because you have one option which is so clear, and it makes the distinction easily from other false option. Watch out, don’t choose the non-realistic conclusions. You can easily identify the truth and say that 2+2=4, and the rest of the infinite options and conclusions go into trash. When we find the truth, we should not keep ourselves busy with nonsense infinite falsehood.
The Quranic description is so delicate. While Iblis is speaking and giving its excuse not to accept the superiority of meaning over matter, it ignores the matter and the source of this attitude is fire, which consumes and never gets satisfied. The truth itself is one, but it has infinite false alternatives. The fundamental backbone of the Quranic teaching is infinite lailaha, one illallah. Super clear! Even the analogies presented in the Quran are so consistent, only if we pay attention to it and study it seriously.
Next time…
7:13 “God said, Then get down from this state! It is not for you to be arrogant here. So get out! You are truly one of the disgraced.”
Tags: A'raf Series, Al-Araf, Meaning of Existence, Message, Prophetic Message, Reality, Truth