By July 10, 2023 Read More →

Section Al A’raf – Part 52

We will continue with studying section A’raf (the cognizant) of the Quran and review once more the following verse:

ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ ٱلرَّسُولَ ٱلنَّبِىَّ ٱلْأُمِّىَّ ٱلَّذِى يَجِدُونَهُۥ مَكْتُوبًا عِندَهُمْ فِى ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ وَٱلْإِنجِيلِ يَأْمُرُهُم بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَىٰهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ ٱلطَّيِّبَـٰتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْخَبَـٰٓئِثَ وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَٱلْأَغْلَـٰلَ ٱلَّتِى كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ فَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِهِۦ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ ٱلنُّورَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ مَعَهُۥٓ ۙ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ

7:157 those who will follow the Messenger, the unlettered [uneducated] Prophet they find described in the Torah and in the Gospel, the Prophet who will command them to do what is obviously right and forbid what is obviously wrong and allow them the good things in life and forbid them the bad things. He will release them from their burdens and shackles that bound them before. Those who will believe in him and honor him and support him and follow the enlightenment that has been sent down with him will succeed.”

We discussed the phrase “ٱلنَّبِىَّ ٱلْأُمِّىَّ , translated as “unlettered Prophet”. The term unlettered is contrary to what we may understand as it relates to someone that is not influenced by societal culture and is committed and true to their human nature. The prophet must be an intelligent person who has not polluted himself with the existing culture, i.e. his understanding of life and the world, his knowledge must not have been polluted. The typical characteristics of the prophets are: intelligence, questioning, and not following anything that does not make sense to them. They don’t look for the answers from the already available culture but only receive the answers to human questions from the Lord of the universe who created them, employed them and educated them to be the leader of people in their particular area. In the case of prophet Muhammad, the message is addressed to all mankind. 

Whenever human beings need guidance, God sends a messenger to guide them. The message conforms to their human side and is not alien to them. The message is from the Creator of the universe, who is also my creator so his speech should not contradict my being. We can only benefit from the message which is the Quranic revelation when we don’t corrupt ourselves with cultural views that make no sense. The revelation teaches me what is right (maruf) and what is wrong (munkar). The word “Maruf” is related to the word “urf” translated as “customary, familiar” meaning that my human side approves what is conformable, not alien to my human nature. The word “Munkar” is related to the word “Inkar” translated as rejection, meaning that my human side rejects what is wrong. Within our human nature, we can confirm what is obviously right and what is obviously wrong.

I should be careful not to condition myself with the ideas from the present civilization that I am living in. When I don’t condition myself or not have a biased idea and listen to what the message says, I will understand that this universe must have been created by an Absolute Being. I will see that nothing in the universe has any quality to give existence to anything else. Although human beings are the most intelligent creatures, we realize that we cannot create or give existence to anything. We can only follow the existing order operating in the universe.

The message taught by the prophets are the “good things” which means useful things for our being that we need. There are certain things such as stealing and gambling that we understand to be wrong so why does God need to tell us about them? We need to confirm the message presented to us through the prophets. The prophets come to us to present the message as a trustworthy person with no agenda, not looking to establish power and authority. They further present miracles to the first audience of the revelation to build their confidence in the prophets claim. The miracles through the prophets were much needed as revelation was not completely revealed to the first audience. 

The message of God tells me what my nature can confirm and explains what I may not be sure about in terms of what is right and what is wrong. For example, in civilization certain activity may have been unacceptable by society but along the years it changed to become acceptable.

The prophetic message releases me from my “burdens and shackles”. What are those “burdens and shackles”?

The most important “burden” on human beings is the meaningless existence, purposeless life. The message prophets bring mainly explains how the universe exists and what is the purpose in its existence. Human beings without the guidance from the Creator of the universe cannot talk about the purpose and meaning of existence because they only try to explain how the order of the universe works by itself as if matter has consciousness, will, power, knowledge. However, there is no evidence demonstrating that matter has such qualities. The burden of meaninglessness remains with human beings who have feelings urging for eternal satisfaction. Only the Creator of the universe can inform human beings about the purpose of existence of this transient world and therefore release their burdens and shackles of meaningless life.

Every society has some sort of values which we inherit from our ancestors. There are some general and universal values such as stealing being unacceptable. There are other values according to one particular custom that would be different in another custom. We may attach value to certain things and may feel the need to follow it, abide by it. We may not question whether the value that I am following or the habit I have is right or wrong.  Customs have become so influential in our living that we no longer question many of the things that we do. When I get accustomed to a certain way of living, I may feel that is the best way. When I am exposed to another custom I may start seeing the difference and question why they do it in a different way than the culture that I am used to. We find ourselves bound to the customs we made for ourselves.  The prophetic message releases us from the artificial customary habits; the message allows human beings to live as they are meant to live.

When we follow the message that the prophets bring to us, we believe in the message as it conforms to my human side and thus believe in him. By following the message, we honor the message which is also honoring him. We must also support the message by sharing the message with others and not just keeping it to myself that I am satisfied with. 

The verse mentions enlightenment from the prophetic message which happens when the purpose and meaning of existence is realized. My suspicions and doubts, my unanswered questions are answered by revelation. The darkness in my understanding of the universe is enlightened with meaning and purpose. For example, why do I exist? Why am I created in this world and then why am I taken away from this world, i.e. given death? Who brought me here in this world and arranged my sustenance? I consciously ask these questions and look at the universe which is wonderful but doesn’t answer my questions. I understand that there must be wisdom in my existence but what is that wisdom, I don’t know. When I become a young man, I am happy and later on I start degrading with old age. Why do I face all this, what is the purpose in dying and leaving things behind? The universe doesn’t answer me.  This is the most bewildering mystery of creation. The answer comes only through my Creator explaining to me why He has created me, what am I expected to do in my life, what is the point in living and dying in this world. He explains and presents the evidence that He is the One who creates everything including human beings. He guides me on how I should benefit from the existence of the universe, not only bodily but to satisfy my human side, including my feelings and intelligence.

None of the philosophers can conjure up the answer to my human questions unless one gets it from the revelation from the Lord of the universe. Nowadays the universe is interpreted as if random activities are happening in matter. It is impossible to accept that things are happening accidentally because everything is so perfectly adjusted in the universe and shows signs of wisdom and consciousness, that creation is happening by one who knows what he is doing. Human capacity cannot find the answer within the universe and by themselves. It is only the Creator of the universe who must provide the answers to the questions that are not clear to human beings. I am expected to follow the light sent down to me with the message of the prophets.

The following verse mentions the importance of following the prophetic message which brings us back into our human state:

قُلْ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنِّى رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا ٱلَّذِى لَهُۥ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ يُحْىِۦ وَيُمِيتُ ۖ فَـَٔامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ٱلنَّبِىِّ ٱلْأُمِّىِّ ٱلَّذِى يُؤْمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ وَكَلِمَـٰتِهِۦ وَٱتَّبِعُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ

7:158 Say [Muhammad], “O people, I am the Messenger of God to all, from Him who has control over the heavens and the earth. There is no deity but Him. He [alone] gives life and causes death.” Believe in God and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet who himself believes in God and His words. Follow him, so that you may find guidance.

We can look into our habits and see how much work we have to do to become uncorrupted human beings. 

وَمِن قَوْمِ مُوسَىٰٓ أُمَّةٌۭ يَهْدُونَ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَبِهِۦ يَعْدِلُونَ

7: 159 There are some among the people of Moses who guide with the truth and establish justice accordingly.

This verse gives an example on how people treat the message of the prophets. It is not always the case that all people would follow the message that the prophets bring. Human beings have free will, I may know something is right but I may not practice it. Some people have their own agenda and prejudices, some may be after power, influence, ambitions, financial interests. Not everyone follows the prophetic message sincerely. We may agree with the truth or disagree with the truth due to other considerations. Prophets are not financially rich or they are not politically powerful initially when they are given the mission which is why those who have a status in society, are financially strong would have a hard time to follow the prophetic message with that worldly mindset. 

We are expected to practice what we learn from the prophetic teachings.

 

وَقَطَّعْنَـٰهُمُ ٱثْنَتَىْ عَشْرَةَ أَسْبَاطًا أُمَمًۭا ۚ وَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰٓ إِذِ ٱسْتَسْقَىٰهُ قَوْمُهُۥٓ أَنِ ٱضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ ٱلْحَجَرَ ۖ فَٱنۢبَجَسَتْ مِنْهُ ٱثْنَتَا عَشْرَةَ عَيْنًۭا ۖ قَدْ عَلِمَ كُلُّ أُنَاسٍۢ مَّشْرَبَهُمْ ۚ وَظَلَّلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْغَمَـٰمَ وَأَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْمَنَّ وَٱلسَّلْوَىٰ ۖ كُلُوا۟ مِن طَيِّبَـٰتِ مَا رَزَقْنَـٰكُمْ ۚ وَمَا ظَلَمُونَا وَلَـٰكِن كَانُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ

7:160 We divided them into twelve tribes – each as a community. When his people asked Moses for water, We inspired him, “Strike the rock with your staff.” Then twelve springs gushed out. Each tribe knew its drinking place, We shaded them with clouds and sent down to them manna and quails. [saying], “Eat from the good things We have provided for you.” They [certainly] did not wrong Us, but they only wronged themselves.

Human beings are created with different natures as one may call it, with their strengths, weaknesses and levels of understanding. The different types of human beings receive their share of guidance according to their living conditions. Some may be farmers being experts in agriculture, others in raising animals, some professional engineers, some in business, some in services industry or some in the military, having different lifestyles, where each community needs guidance. The Quran acknowledges this in other verses such as “God created human beings into nations and tribes”. 

The verse mentions that the people of Moses asked him for water and then some miraculous creation that happened. The verse hints as if every tribe said that they need their own water. The physical miraculous side is a different matter. How am I expected to benefit from this mentioning of the miracle? I can understand applying this verse to my life now, the striking of rock symbolically. How can I understand that water is running out of the rocks? How can I make it universal where the verse is applicable to all human beings at all times who have not seen Moses and this miracle of water coming out of rock.? We can ask why God tells me this event?

Water is the most essential nourishment for our bodily life. How about the nourishment for my spiritual life? The purpose of revelation gives me this nourishment to my spirit. We have to receive spiritual enlightenment from the message of the prophets. My intelligence, feelings need water, which is the message of the prophets to satisfy its thirst. Mose’s staff is a miraculous message of prophet Moses. Physically speaking, the water came out of the rocks and satisfied his people. Spiritually speaking, the message of the prophets benefits our human side. Every group of people benefit from this message according to their living conditions. 

Another miracle is the “shaded them with clouds and sent down to them ‘manna’ and quails”. Some say ready made food could be sweets and prepared bird meat. For example, a farmer plants a sampling that grows out of a seed. They allow it to grow and then cultivate the crops which are ready and prepared food. The sustenance for human bodily needs are prepared by God directly with no other agents interfering in their existence. Farmers are not contributing in the creation of food, they just take care of their crops by watering the plants with the already existing water and processes by following the order of creation. Although the people of Moses received the bounty through miracles, we are also enjoying the “manna and quails” in our living where their creation is also a miracle for us. We are also shaded by the comfort we receive with the facilities allowed within the order of creation such as shelter, heating and cooling. We benefit from everything in creation, all the food that we eat is provided for us from the Creator of the universe. We have to realize that they are all provided by the Creator of the universe.

When we don’t follow the prophetic message, don’t see the consciously arranged creation as being provided by God and take them as ordinary purposeless activity then we wrong ourselves, we do not wrong God, the Creator of the universe. We also do not wrong the messenger of God by not following his message. Either I accept what my reality is or I let my caprices and ambitions force me to do things contrary to my reality, to deny the prophetic message which makes me lose the purpose of my existence as a result of which I harm myself. I suffer from painful feelings. I may think that I am successful in this world by myself rather than seeing them as God’s favors. But I contradict my feelings which yearn for eternal satisfaction knowing that when I die, everything that I have will be left behind. The purpose of life would be for nothing where one dies and leaves everything behind.

I need full satisfaction: there must be another existence which follows the existence of this world. A new creation must exist to satisfy my feelings. The creator of those feelings guarantees that I am the Creator of those feelings and will provide that satisfaction.

 




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