We are starting a new Section of the Qur’an which is Section Al-Furqan (The Criterion). It is chronologically the 42nd revealed Section of the Qur’an. It was revealed like the previous Sections we studied during the 5th and 6th years of the mission of Prophet Muhammad’s prophethood, his being the messenger of God. The opposition, rejection of the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) message was becoming stronger at that time mostly by the chieftains, poets and elite leaders but not by the general public who were mostly innocent. The prophet was never reluctant to deliver the message to fulfill his mission. It was not his choice as he was employed by God. The chieftains were discouraging people from listening to the prophetic message. The social situation became more severe in the course of time until the boycott period started around the 7th and continued until the 10th year of the prophetic mission.
This Section introduces the concept of the Qur’an, what it is. It then gives a brief presentation as to who God is and discusses different arguments, rejections of the opposing people. The verses then present the defense of the Qur’an on how the prophet and the Qur’an are not fabricated but true and authentic claims. Very brief references are given to Resurrection and warnings of punishment if they insist on resisting the Qur’anic message and trying to stop the mission of the prophet. The Section ends with much of the last page giving a description of the believers.
تَبَارَكَ ٱلَّذِى نَزَّلَ ٱلْفُرْقَانَ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِۦ لِيَكُونَ لِلْعَـٰلَمِينَ نَذِيرًا
25:1 “Blessed is the One Who sent down the Criterion to His servant (‘abd’, worshiper), so that he may be a warner to the whole world.”
The phrase “لِلْعَـٰلَمِينَ” translated as “whole world,” has a few different meanings according to the context. One of the meanings is generally referred to conscious beings who are the addressees of the Qur’an. In this verse, it means all human beings. For example, in section Fatiha, the word “rabbul Al-alameen” refers to conscious beings. According to the teachings of the Qur’an, the universe is a conscious being, like a book (alameen) as opposed to compiled sheets of paper with ink which would be in Arabic عوالم(‘uwaalim). There are 2 different types of plurals عالمون “alamoon” or عوالم “uwalهm”. The “‘alamoon” form refers to something that is conscious. As compared to sheets of paper, a book is conscious. The knowledge and information in the book are something conscious that I can communicate with. Someone may say that I can also communicate with the sheet of paper. Yes, paper also has a conscious side to it. In the existence of the paper, one is seeing the angelic side of the paper.
The example of a book and sheets of paper is an analogy to help us make comparison. There is a pile of paper on one side, and the other is a book to compare with, where I can communicate with the book. By studying the book, I directly communicate with the author of the book. The book has an angelic side to it. Some Muslim scholars see the whole universe as a book that is alive and conscious where the consciousness is represented by angels. The Qur’an expects us to look at the universe from the angelic perspective, not just material as we see it. Every matter has an angelic perspective to it. This is one of the neglected aspects by believers nowadays where the value of creation is neglected. Most of the commentators study the Qur’an only with a partial reference to the creation of the universe. They didn’t take it as having equal value to the universe. The Qur’an cannot be read without the witnessing of the universe, they must be read side by side to each other. In this verse the prophet is bringing the message to all of mankind. The phrase “لِيَكُونَ لِلْعَـٰلَمِينَ نَذِيرًا” is translated as “he may be a warner to the whole world (human beings)”. Warning should be understood as a kind reminder of the danger I may fall into while I am living in this world and the next creation if I do not pay attention to this news.
What does the Qur’an bring (blessing, baraka) increase in our life? When I learn something from the Qur’an, don’t I see a change in my life? I feel secure and confident in my existence, save myself from being a purposeless, meaningless being. Generally, no one lives in this world with the understanding of being meaningless; we always look for meaning in whatever we do. Without the Qur’an, one may still make their life meaningful, look for enjoyment for the time being. However, the pleasant feelings experienced end after every moment and in the very end of our life in this world with death and become temporary. The Qur’an brings eternity to my experiences. I start feeling that I am a deliberate act of a Conscious Creator. This value of my being can only be possible with the news of the Revelation of the Qur’an which introduces to me that I belong to an Absolute Being, who is capable of giving me eternal life. Without Revelation, human beings cannot find out that they belong to an Absolute Conscious Being who can entertain them with infinite life.
There may be people from far eastern countries with no message of Revelation, they say that is how we are. They haven’t received any message of Revelation from anywhere. The Qur’an says that they are not responsible. If they are ignorant of reality, they will not be punished. In Section Al-An’am(6:131): “your Lord would not destroy the cities for wrongdoing if they had not been warned”. In another verse (17:15), it says that “We will not punish a nation to whom we have not sent a messenger”. If people are ignorant of any message of God, not necessarily through a messenger, they will be ignorant of the truth. These people’s responsibility is limited to being honest to their already given human values and consciousness.
There may be many people in Scandinavian countries who would not know the truth of existence that Revelation brings, generally speaking, they think of themselves as natural beings. Christianity didn’t satisfy many of them and most of the population is well educated. They may have heard of Arabian culture, but not the true message of the Qur’an. It is also very rare in China, except a few places, to have exposure to Revelation. In the Scandinavian countries, they replaced Christianity with Humanitarianism and are satisfied with it as it does not go against human nature. The solution and satisfaction for them remains in this world: “when I die, I disappear from existence anyway, after which I don’t have to bother.”
The phrase “نَزَّلَ” means to be sent down step by step, i.e. continuously being sent down. The phrase “نزل” “nazala” can be translated as “sent down” whereas “نَزَّلَ” “nazzala” used here means to be continually sent down. What does this coming step by step signify? Let us examine this at the personal and societal level between the people and the Revelation of the Qur’an. For ourselves, when I start communicating with Revelation, I must know that I will realize the message as I get engaged with the Qur’an during my connection with the Qur’an. Accordingly, it is expected that my life will start changing, my capacity to understand the message will change which impacts my social life as well. The more I get the message of the Qur’an, the more this creation becomes meaningful for me. I can delve into the deeper meanings of the message through the creation of the universe.
For example, I am a student majoring in Chemistry. In my first year I learned a few things about chemical reactions, definitions of atoms and molecules, and their relationships. The following years, I build upon that understanding and I become much better in my understanding of Chemistry and the subject becomes more meaningful to me. The same process of learning happens based on how much I engage myself with Revelation. The understanding of the ones who engage with it changes gradually. It comes to me step by step as education cannot happen overnight. We must work on the message of the Qur’an to have an effect in our lives, to help us establish a world view, purpose of our lives, our attitude towards others and the rest of creation.
The Qur’an must not remain only as information in our mind, studied as an intellectual activity. The Qur’an is meant to influence my life, have effect in my personal life, personal preferences such as the way I perceive the existence including my existence of my feelings, intellect and consciousness and also the way I eat, work, and talk to others. Historically we see that the companions changed their way of living dramatically. Their language changed, their behavior towards other inanimate and animate beings changed, the way they dressed changed, the family structure changed, how their children should be educated and trained changed as well. We must be open-minded to welcome this change in our lives. Otherwise, learning anything from the Qur’an remains an intellectual activity which has no effect on my life.
Some Muslim scholars mention the Qur’an being the book of life which includes all fields, psychological life, social life, legislation, regulation of the society, etc. The more we learn from the Qur’an, the more we realize our existence completely depends on our Creator. He is the One who is taking care of me and the whole universe. I am a guest in the universe and must behave as a guest in the universe, recognizing that I have a Host: I am not the boss of my life, my neighborhood, boss of my family. Be a modest “abd” (honored creature) of the Lord of the universe. I cannot ask anyone to worship me. Whatever duty that I am involved in, I must perform that duty modestly according to what is required of me. Modesty is the essence of the Qur’anic teachings.
I must never forget that it takes time to learn. The most learned and perfect men are the prophets and the most perfect one is the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as we learn from the Qur’an. Even the most perfect human being on earth went through step-by-step education, it took him 23 years to be perfected. I must not be disappointed as long as I am growing and am on the way to perfection. One must be on the way to progression, not just have knowledge to become arrogant but practice through that knowledge. I must have the intention to change, actively and verbally pray to Allah: “Put me on the middle way and let me avoid the extremes of either positive or negative.”
What does the Qur’an separate from, what kind of criteria is it establishing? The Qur’an separates from right and wrong, reality and falsehood, truth and lies, good and bad, and makes the distinction between the material side of beings and the angelic side of things. How should I look at the universe and my life, “egocentric perspective” or “God centric”. How should I see my life? What comes first: bodily beauty or spiritual beauty? Temporariness or permanence? How am I interacting with water for example, do I see it as a gift from my Creator or is water just a material being? The car that I use, a material body or a gift from my Lord. Recognize that a loving God has sent this to me, and I must be happy with His gift to me. Everything is the property of God, not mine, I am just given the permission to use it. Everything changes in my life, that is “ٱلْفُرْقَانَ” (distinguisher, Criterion.) That is possible only through the message of Revelation. No other source can teach me this or have this criterion to teach me this. Without the message of the Qur’an, the materialist minded says: egotistic satisfaction until I die. Whereas being satisfied eternally is the news the Qur’an brings which is a significant difference.
Why is “عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِۦ” translated as “to His servant important”, why not “رُّسُلِهِۦ” which is “to His messengers”? Is there any difference between these two? There are other verses that specify His messenger specifically. Is there any difference for the criterion being sent down to His servant, worshiper or to His messenger?
In this Section, it deals with answering the questions and rejections, mainly the objections to the prophet where he does not have any power by himself, but he is supported by the Lord of the universe. The usage of “عَبْدِهِۦ” is to emphasize that he is the servant of God, employed, supported by Him. This section later will deal with the objections of people saying: who are you that you are teaching us, who are you who is warning us? Are you rich and noble? Are you a famous poet? The poets were regarded at that time as scholars or scientists of our time. Who are you then? The Qur’an says that he is nobody in society but my “عَبْدِهِ”, worshiper, I employed him, he has nothing of himself. God speaks on the prophet’s behalf in this context of the Section: “He is my servant, whatever he does, he says is My word.”
There are two aspects of the same person “abduhu” and “rasuluhu”. In this context, the “abduhu” is taking priority. For example, in section Israa, the Miraj/ascension took place by the power of the Creator, not that Muhammad (pbuh) can move by himself, completely handled by the Creator of the universe. That reality is emphasized by using “عَبْدِهِ” as everything was totally arranged and fulfilled by the Creator of the universe. In some contexts, it says that the prophet is going to do this such as the verses from the Medinan period describing the war and defending of society, mostly “Rasul” is used such as in Section Al-Fath (48:29). In the battle of Badr, battle of Uhud, the “رُّسُلِهِ” is going to defend along with his followers, although God is creating. However, when God defends on behalf of the prophet, without the messenger interfering, the “عَبْدِهِ” side is emphasized; God is saying that not that he (pbuh) will do anything, but “I” will be doing it.
The latter part of the verse mentions the prophet (pbuh) being a “warner”? Why not being described as a bringer of “good news”, but the “warner” to the whole world? The good news is there but the Section deals with the conflict between the prophet and a few rejecters. As a defense of the prophet, God uses “warn” them, and they will be punished. These people are opposing the prophet (pbuh) and need warning. If someone rejects me, I must warn him: “If you don’t submit yourself to the Creator of the universe, you will be suffering from meaningless existence.” If someone helps me by introducing the message so that I will have a pleasant life with the message, then I should encourage this person to help others as well. Depending on the context, I would change my attitude.
Generally, the Christian tradition reduces God as the bringer of good news, the literal meaning of “injeel” is good news. The Qur’an is both warning and good news. The mission of the prophet Muhammad must have two sides: warning and giving good news.
Under the attack of secularist ideology, I must defend myself and my beliefs. At the same time, I must be open to receiving the message of the Qur’an, not being in a conflicting position with the message to receive good news. I must protect myself seriously from the secular civilization from one end and be open to receive the good news from Revelation from the other end. By saying, “la ila ha” which represents the warning news side, I get “illallah” representing the good news side of the message. When I receive the message of the Qur’an, I enjoy it but also must take the necessary protections from the influence of the secularist ideology and take a severe position against that influence.