Section Al-Furqan – Part 18

We are continuing with our study of Section Al-Furqan of the Qur’an. We last studied how we need to pay attention to the angelic side of the universe in order to appreciate and be grateful for experiencing the manifestations of God’s qualities while living here.

We will continue with the following verses which are very descriptive but are full of meaning.

وَيَوْمَ يَعَضُّ ٱلظَّالِمُ عَلَىٰ يَدَيْهِ يَقُولُ يَـٰلَيْتَنِى ٱتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ ٱلرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًۭا

25:27 “On that Day, the one who was unjust to himself will bite his hands [in regret] and will say, ‘How I wish I had followed the way of the Messenger,

يَـٰوَيْلَتَىٰ لَيْتَنِى لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًۭا

25:28 It’s too bad for me! I wish I had not taken so and so as a friend.

When it says, “On that Day”, we usually understand it as primarily the Hereafter, we can also understand it as at that moment when we think about the Hereafter. The verses describe the scenario when one realizes what he has been doing in his life, what he has prepared for himself, how one has lived in this world, whether it was improper, then they would find themselves in regret. I can look at myself and see if I was an unjust person in the actions of my life  and being unjust to others in the universe, I would bite my hands in regret: “why did I do all this which I shouldn’t have. How I wished that I had followed the way of the Messenger. Why did I waste my time until now by not following the way of the Messenger!” The Qur’an is presenting the case in a figurative way which I can relate to. The unjust people will be sorry regretting that they spent time with the wrong people and have not followed the way of the Messenger. 

The verse follows with “I wish I had not taken so and so as a friend”.

What does “taking anyone as a friend” mean here? Can we apply friendship to viewing a video or following the news about a matter that does not concern me, reading a book which does not benefit my future life in the Hereafter? For example, we may be spending a lot of time on social media, listening to certain personalities, spending time on activities that have nothing to do with my Hereafter. We must be careful with what friends we have. The phrase “خَلِيلًۭا” translated as “friend” is not exactly “sadiq” or “rafiq” which have slightly different meanings in English. For example, “rafiq” is used for intimate husband and wife relationships as being friends. “Sadiq” refers to sincere and faithful friends. “Ashab” are friends that one can talk to and share things with. However, “خَلِيلًۭا” is the strongest word among the meaning of friends. In the Qur’an, Prophet Abraham is described as the “خَلِيلًۭا” of God, a very close friend of God, always with Him and trusts in Him.

For example, some young people get engaged in video games to such a point that they lose themselves unaware of themselves and their surroundings. The game that they are playing has become their closest friend, “خَلِيلًۭا”. Verse 28 is using a very strong language expressing regret at such friendship where one must have instead taken the way of the Messenger.

“Can we take the Messenger as our friend instead? How can I do that? By following the “way of the Messenger”, practices of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh). I can learn from the Messenger by taking him as my guide in terms of what kind of life I should live. We usually hear about following the “sunnah”, the way the Prophet (pbuh) lived his life such as how he drank water, how he slept, how he interacted with people. 

What was the prophet’s primary concern? The meaning of life, purpose, what will happen to my life after I die? Let’s try to understand this “sunnah” where in the Fiqh (jurisprudence) terms, it differentiates from “fard” which is obligatory. How about to believe in God and the next creation, isn’t that “Sunnah”? What about receiving the message of God through angels? Do we not receive messages from God through our human feelings and other creatures all the time? Let’s refer to verse 2:285:

ءَامَنَ ٱلرَّسُولُ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَمَلَـٰٓئِكَتِهِۦ وَكُتُبِهِۦ وَرُسُلِهِۦ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍۢ مِّن رُّسُلِهِۦ ۚ وَقَالُوا۟ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ ٱلْمَصِيرُ

2:285: The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, as do the faithful. They all believe in God, His angels, His scriptures, and His messengers. ‘We make no distinction between any of His messengers,’ they say, ‘We hear and obey. Grant us Your forgiveness, our Lord. To You we all return!’

The Messenger and the believers all believe in God, His messengers, His books and angels. We must expand our understanding of following the “Sunnah” which for us is to follow the life of prophet Muhammad (pbuh). We may understand “sunnah” in only Fiqh terminology: “fard”, “wajib”, “sunnah”, “nafila” and “mubahat” (permissible) which is practical but doesn’t represent what the Qur’an says. There is an important belief aspect to “sunnah”, referred to as the best pattern of life, “uswatun hasanah” (32:21). 

The prophets struggled to get to know the reality and the purpose of this universe and human beings by themselves and they failed. Since they felt the need to know the purpose of existence then God introduced His message to them.  They impart the concept of God to the people through revelation. First, reminding them that God spoke to him (as His Prophet) and he (pbuh) himself confirms that it was God who spoke to him. He is also asked by God to convey this message to others to fulfill his role as “Rasool”, prophet of God. We must understand the most important “sunnah of the prophet” is to believe in God, the angels, the books and the prophets. In this above verse the Hereafter is not mentioned but these other elements of belief are fundamental to the teachings of the Qur’an along with the belief in the Hereafter. To establish this foundation is the most important “sunnah” of the Prophet if one wants to be on the “way of the prophet”. This way of “Sunnah” is unfortunately not paid attention to in the mainstream. The prophet lived with the foundational Islamic belief system first which was followed by the practice of prayers, fasting, alms giving, etc.

Another strange and new point is regarding the receiving of the message of God through angels for you and me. We understand that the Prophet (pbuh) received the message through angels, particularly Gabriel. How are we to follow this “sunnah” of the prophet in terms of getting the message? 

The prophet received the message through angels in verbal form. At least we should try to receive the message through our capacity. The creator of the universe does not only speak once to the prophets, but He speaks in many ways through His acts of creation. We should be getting His message through the universe, particularly though the angelic side of the universe and thus communicate with our Creator. For example, “thank you God for this wonderful weather with clear blue sky displayed today that is perfectly done, purposefully done, shows wisdom, is beautifully designed and well balanced.”  We must be able to see that God is introducing Himself to us through the creation of the universe. The prophets are sent by Him to us as well. 

When the prophet (pbuh) received the verse: “There truly are signs in the creation of the heavens and earth for those with understanding” (3:190, and more), he used to cry from this message as narrated by his wife Aisha. She asked the Prophet (pbuh), “why do you cry?” His response was that “I received this verse today.” The verse is asking to reflect on the creation of the universe and receive the message from them. We receive the message from the Qur’an, the universe and our spirit (human qualities such as feelings). We should wonder where we are getting all these feelings to be satisfied and happy from? They are all from our Creator, the message within ourselves (51:21). There are signs, messages for you within creation and within yourselves as well, why don’t you reflect on them? These are the messages that we receive in our living here similar to what the Prophet received; the Prophet (pbuh) received the extra verbal speech of God as well besides these. 

We must be comfortable in receiving the message and in responding back: “Oh, my Creator, you are the Lord of the universe, all glory belongs to You.” Wherever I pay attention to the signs and receive the message, I must respond back to glorify my Lord. I must be full of admiration for His signs received through many ways. We understand that the Qur’an is available to receive the message, but the other means are equally presented to us. Just pay attention to the universe, the sky, clouds, plants, animals, fruits that all bear messages from their Creator. More than half of the Sections (Surahs) of the Qur’an are named after the creatures which highlights the significance of the message through the universe as equal to that of the Qur’an. The Prophet (pbuh) was given the same human qualities as I have been given in order to communicate with God. The Prophet (pbuh) utilized them, and it is “sunnah” for me to utilize them as well. 

The phrase “ذِّكْر” in the Qur’an has the meanings of: Remembrance, Reminder, the Revelation, Message, the Qur’an and they are all connected and related to each other. The Qur’an reminds me along with the universe and this can be combined with my feelings. Within my being when I use my given tools, I am reminded of my Creator having many qualities. They tell me these qualities cannot come from matter; physical matter cannot be the source of existence of those non-physical qualities. We cannot look at the universe and try to get the message without involving my feelings. I must connect the message to what the universe says, the prophetic life says and what my feelings say. All these means must be combined to help me understand different aspects of the same reality. The universe speaks through existence, by manifesting many qualities that I can understand. Human feelings speak to me telling me whether something is right or wrong based on my choices. The Qur’an reminds me as to what I am doing in this world. 

“Human conscience” is given to us to function as a criterion to differentiate the truth from falsehood in this world through which I can realize what is right and what is wrong. We cannot have any excuse while living in this world not to make the distinction between right and wrong. I cannot ignore the universe and cannot go along with those who say that this universe is “naturally existing”. Some may say that I don’t need guidance, I can follow my human senses and that is enough for me. If we are really honest with ourselves, and are not biased that I am not going to submit myself to God then I can understand that human conscience is a tool for me to know what is right from wrong. For example, if one says that random things are happening then I can use my conscience to recognize that everything is perfectly created, there is no sign of randomness, accidents. Nothing can exist without obeying or following the order operating in the universe. This order cannot be established by any created being.

لَّقَدْ أَضَلَّنِى عَنِ ٱلذِّكْرِ بَعْدَ إِذْ جَآءَنِى ۗ وَكَانَ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ لِلْإِنسَـٰنِ خَذُولًۭا

25:29 he led me away from the Revelation after it reached me. Satan always abandons human beings.

The verse is specifying the regret of having friends such as social media nowadays that keeps me away from God’s reminder. The word “ذِّكْرِ” also means Revelation, in our time the Qur’an. Anything that prevents me from being reminded of God where the reminders can come from my feelings, the universe as well as the Qur’an. The verse continues that “Satan always abandons human beings.” The meaning of “خَذُول” is when you most need something, whatever you relied on leaves you at the end. In this case, Satan leaves you by yourself. 

What do we understand from this statement: “Satan always abandons human beings”? A friend is expected to stay with you and support you when you need him the most. Having the Prophet (pbuh) as my friend would be when I follow his way as discussed above. Briefly, The prophets introduce to us the Absolute Creator of the universe and His promise of the next creation after death where all my human feelings will be satisfied by their Creator, God. In the case of Satan abandoning us, we can revise our understanding of Satan. Any idea that has no foundation, no reality is represented in the Qur’an as Satanic whisperings. For example, if you play this game then you will enjoy it. The trick is that there will be enjoyment from playing the game. Will I be enjoying my life after the game is over? Can I gain meaning in my life or am I just wasting my time?

Another example, if someone says that you just exist like this, enjoy your freedom. What are you imagining about the Hereafter where you will be entertained? That is the satanic whispering that is presented through various means. When I look back at what I have done, I wonder what is left with me now, everything is gone, what kind of enjoyment was this? All my feelings say that they want eternal happiness. Satan will keep me busy making money which is only good to satisfy my temporary bodily needs. Will this money satisfy me eternally? Whatever Satan suggests has no base, no reality, nothing supports those ideas.