Section Al-Furqan – Part 20

Let’s continue to study the verses from Section Al-Furqan from where we last left off. 

وَقَالَ ٱلرَّسُولُ يَـٰرَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِى ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ هَـٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ مَهْجُورًۭا

25:30 “The Messenger cried, O my Lord! My people indeed treat this Qur’an as something to be discarded.”

The word “مَهْجُورًۭا” used here is translated as “something to be discarded”. It is something that in the course of time has “ceased to be of relevance”. Some scholars interpret it as the complaint of the Prophet that will happen in the Hereafter. I must see how this message is relevant to me in my living conditions. The Qur’an being discarded means that I may not have anything to do with it, forgetting about it, not taking it seriously. The word “الهجرة” relates to the meaning of making a migration, leaving a place. In the context of the above verse it means that in the course of time the Qur’an becomes irrelevant, and one may look for another source of guidance. 

We can ask if this is the case now for us? How much are we trying to understand and benefit from the teachings of the Qur’an? I can ask myself; how much time am I spending in understanding the Qur’an. The Qur’an is always with us, is it not? Unfortunately, we may take the Qur’an as only a book of codification or jurisprudence. The Qur’an is fundamentally teaching us the meaning of our life, how we are going to manage our time and life. How are we going to perfect our human side, make ourselves satisfied with our existence, our life. How do I prepare myself for eternal life? The Qur’an explains why we are going to be taken into eternal life and explains everything accordingly. 

We cannot get into the deep meaning of the verses but as much as our capacity allows it, we must try to benefit from the scholars who study the Qur’an and explain it. The rules of practical matters such as how do I pray, how to perform fasting, pay my zakat (charity) are explained in “Fiqh” (jurisprudence). The rules of prayers are already established and fixed. Social and practical matters may need to change as the societal needs of the people changes. How about the teaching of moral values, education for my spirit, how can I benefit from those teachings. How can I connect my feelings with my Creator? How can I live according to how He wants me to live in this world? Almost half of the Qur’an has narrations of the prophetic experience. Each of the prophetic narrations (qissa-qasas) is, in fact, a guide related to a particular matter of my life. They are specially selected in the Qur’an where each prophetic example looks at one aspect of my life. For example, the story of Jonah looks at my spiritual aspect, directly related to me. Another example is the story of Solomon, yet another is in the stories of Moses that have many aspects precisely related to my practical life now. There have been many prophetic narrations in the Qur’an, Adam, Abraham, Moses, Shoaib, Hud, Noah, Jonah, Joseph, etc. Each of these narrations of the prophets are different, pertaining to a particular aspect of my life, so I must try to benefit from their example and apply the teachings in my current living conditions. 

The Qur’an provides us the reason on why and how we should get ready for the Hereafter. There are examples given of the enemies of the prophet and what they deserve. They are also teaching me that if I oppose the messages of the prophets or l ignore them, then I will be facing the same consequences in my spiritual feelings now, and in the next creation physically as well. We cannot simply go with the translation of the Qur’an but must become comfortable to study the Qur’an from its aspect of providing guidance to me. We may choose certain translations that have some commentaries on the verses as a start as the exegesis on a verse can be many volumes of explanation which may not be feasible for us to study. 

The verse above reminds us that the prophet (pbuh) will complain that: “I have brought the message to them, but they did not take it seriously, they ignored it”. All generations have studied the Qur’an, many volumes have been written and we are not even aware of them. How can I claim that I believe that the Qur’an is God’s word, and He is speaking to me but not heeding His Speech.  Just imagine God is speaking to me, and I may not be listening. I even turn around and listen to anyone who is speaking to me. When there is a message on my phone, I immediately look at it to see who it is from and what they are saying. I feel guilty that when God is speaking to me continuously, I don’t pay much attention to what God says. The Qur’an speaks to everyone at every age according to their own living conditions. I must read the Qur’an as it is speaking to me right now.

How can we abandon the Qur’an while we read it or if we have finished reading it? Are we still subject to the complaint of the prophet (pbuh)? Let’s consider the following points as it relates to one who abandons the Qur’an:

1. Reading the Qur’an but not thinking about what it says. Reading by a person who is not educated, who cannot really think and understand what it says is understandable. One can read the original text and is devout to it, that is good for their level. How about those who had college education? We must go and see different references, investigate as to how I can relate the message to my life.

2. Just reading it to learn what it says and accept it without questioning. How can we confirm its message? For example, the news of Paradise and Hell, how can I confirm and believe in them? Can I confirm that this news is completely true? We must try as much as we can to confirm the message based on evidence from our practical lives and from the evidence in the universe. This confirmation is not hard and one needs to practice by improving in confirming the message.

3. Learn what it says to obtain information, to know what it says and then to teach others. Like a businessman, I learn to teach others. We are not judging anyone, but I must not learn what the Qur’an says in order to pass the message on to others. I must learn it for myself and after benefitting, I may share with some friends that are ready to listen.

4. Learn something from it but not conform to its teachings in my life. I may have the knowledge but I do not practice it. This way the teachings remain in me only in the form of information but become irrelevant to my life.

If one studies classical scholars, he will understand that they did not have the problems of denial or asking for logically acceptable evidence in their time with the community they were addressing? People were with full belief and submission like perhaps some of our parents and grandparents who have not gone through secular educational institutions. This was probably till the beginning of the 20th century that Muslim people were fine with their belief and the scholarship catered to them. If one says that the prophet (pbuh) did something in a particular way, that was enough for them. The classical scholars were comfortable in not giving any reason at all why one should confirm the verse. The Muslims of that era would be fine saying because the Qur’an says it this way I believe in them. Why? How? There was no reasoning needed for evidence in order to be able to confirm the message. They were comfortable to focus on the grammar and rhetorical side of the Qur’an. Why? They didn’t need to reason or give an explanation. 

However, this generation is fading away where everyone is exposed to many ideas, ridiculing the belief in God and the Hereafter which are the fundamental teachings of the Qur’an. We study sciences in the secular education system where we are told that matter is doing everything. They indoctrinate our way of thinking so that we start thinking that things are happening by themselves. They say “Alright, even if you say the universe is created by God, the things within the universe are acting by themselves; this is scientific “. When speaking of the human spiritual side, they say “your spirit will inform you what is right and what is wrong. Just get the information from your spirit and follow it; that is enough for us”. We are exposed to such ideas currently.

The classical scholars have done great work explaining the grammatical and rhetorical side of the Qur’an, even arguing amongst themselves sincerely. For example, why is the “Bi” used in “Bismillah”? There is tremendous work done by scholars to explain why there is the letter “alif” as “ism” (noun, pronoun, adjective, adverb) there”. Scholars have written pages on this aspect of the Qur’an. But now in our age we must at least understand what the “ism” signifies whether it is a noun or pronoun etc. I should understand how I can relate the “ism” (name) to God “In the name of God.” What does “the name of God” mean for me now? How can I understand and confirm that God has infinite names? These are the questions that need to be addressed and explained with evidence that I can physically and spiritually experience.

We can easily say “I am beginning with the name of Allah”. Arabic grammar allows many possibilities besides having an “ism”. What is “Allah’s name”, is it a proper name like “John” or “Mary”. The scholars nowadays don’t spend much time on explaining this although it is a great subject. We must educate ourselves as to what “ism” signifies to get some understanding. When I interact with any part of this world I see that in the existence of all of these beings, some qualities attract my attention. When I pay attention to these qualities manifested in their existence I immediately realize that the One who Created them must be introducing Himself to me by demonstrating His Qualities. As if every quality invites me to know their Creator with these qualities. The Qur’an calls these qualities as the “Names of God.” When I say “In the name of God” I declare that I am using these things by acknowledging that these qualities belong to their Creator. 

To be close to the Qur’an, these are the topics that we must concern ourselves with if we claim that Qur’an is God’s word and a guide for me, apart from the practical matters like “zakat” (obligatory charity), “hajj” (pilgrimage), inheritance, and prayers which are all settled. I need the meaning that I can apply to my life right now and have evidence that it is true. I must learn the meaning from my own investigation and practice it in my spiritual life, intellectual understanding, and my consciousness so that I can live with that awareness: “My Creator must be the Creator of the universe, He does not abandon His creation, at every moment He demonstrates being the Absolute Being. Everything is the manifestation of His Absolute Will. I am given free will by Him to exercise, which is my training in this world. God is training me, asking me to think about the events that I go through. After the things are created for me, I must wonder what God meant to teach me here, such as: “I cannot guarantee anything in my life, I cannot trust this world. God is teaching me to be careful as nothing is guaranteed in this world. The purpose of my life should not be devoted to this world. 

As some scholars mention: In the Hereafter, the prophet (pbuh) who brought you the Qur’an would come to you and ask you: “what have you done with the Qur’an that I conveyed it to you?” We must be careful to not waste our life in this world while we are living but investigate the evidence and, if we are convinced about it, we can confirm the teachings of the Qur’an. This is what this verse is teaching about the prophet complaining, which may be hard to swallow.

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِىٍّ عَدُوًّۭا مِّنَ ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ ۗ وَكَفَىٰ بِرَبِّكَ هَادِيًۭا وَنَصِيرًۭا

25:31 Similarly, We made enemies for every prophet from among the wicked, but sufficient is your Lord as a Guide and Helper.

The word “مُجْرِم” is translated as wicked but can also be translated as criminal, not physical criminality. It is doing something against one’s nature, against the purpose of one’s creation. They may be unjust to the prophets, even if they don’t believe and follow him, they become enemies of him. The verse continues by saying that your Lord is sufficient for you as a Guide and Helper. The enemies should not stop you, continue in your way, trust in your Lord. 

To have trust in my Lord, I must know who my Lord is and be conscious of Him. I can use my free will with His awareness, knowing that my Lord will take care of His religion and His prophets. This verse is not applicable to the prophets only but to each one of us as well. Do we have enemies as well? 

We studied in the previous verse about Satan always being with human beings presenting them with false ideas, hindering them from the remembrance of God. For example, I may say that if I have this, then my life would become perfect. This is diverting my trust away from my Lord to some created beings in this world, which are Satanic whisperings. I should do what I need to do, expecting that it should happen, but I should not put my trust in them to say that it will satisfy me and that would be the end of my expectation. What I must do is connect my expectations to my Creator: “Oh my Lord, although this is temporary, it is a sign that Your Mercy is eternal. You are the Generous One.” I must keep remembering my Creator declaring my neediness of Him and His Mercy.

The previous verse (25:29) was talking about Satan as being the enemy of human beings. This verse tells that the enemies of the prophets are wicked human beings. How can we reconcile them? In the previous verse, everyone is assigned a Satan who is clearly described as their enemy. I must exercise my free will to confirm the truth which is one option (angelic inspiration, spirit, God’s Revelation). The other option from my other side (Satanic whispering) is to ignore or deny the truth.

In this verse the prophet’s enemies are human beings. Insha’Allah none of us have any human enemies that would want to kill us. It may seem then that we don’t have any human enemies.

Let’s investigate the following verse:

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِىٍّ عَدُوًّۭا شَيَـٰطِينَ ٱلْإِنسِ وَٱلْجِنِّ يُوحِى بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍۢ زُخْرُفَ ٱلْقَوْلِ غُرُورًۭا ۚ وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ مَا فَعَلُوهُ ۖ فَذَرْهُمْ وَمَا يَفْتَرُونَ

6:112 In the same way We assigned to each prophet an enemy, evil humans and evil jinn, whispering to one another with elegant words of deception. If it had been your God’s will, they would not have done this: leave them to their inventions. 

What are these “زُخْرُفَ ٱلْقَوْلِ غُرُورًۭا” translated as “elegant words of deception”? For example, advertisements want to make us feel that we really need their product. A car manufacturer may use an attractive female to sell their product. What is the point of putting an attractive woman with the car (elegant words of deception)? The verse is speaking to me now where I see everywhere full of advertisements especially in metropolitan cities and in social media. They all have elements of deception in them, and they take advantage of human weaknesses. 

The verse continues with God letting them do all this. God lets human free will choose freely. I am left free to either go to the right side or left side. The verse says, “leave them to their inventions”. In His Absolute Wisdom, God permits their “elegant words of deception” to take place which are false fabrications and  calumnies. 

In the verse, God says that every prophet has been assigned enemies by Him. If we did not have any opposite option, we cannot learn anything. The more we are under attack, the more we become stronger, ready to defend ourselves. If I say that “I believe in God, everything needs to be created by Him”. A scientist may come and say “No, look at it this way. Everything is happening because of some improvement, everything has the tendency to survive and adapt themselves, make progress in their lives by themselves.”. I then start thinking, the more I reflect and try to understand and concentrate on the subject, the better I would understand what it means for God to be the Creator of everything. The core message of the Qur’an is “La ilaha illa Allah”. The phrase signifies a tension in observing the universe to find the source of its existence. One can come to a conclusion by rejecting the wrong option and confirming the right option of an Absolute Source of existence, not of the nature of the universe, which convinces me.

The Qur’an presents all the prophets as having enemies. For example, Prophet Adam had Satan as his enemy, Prophet Joseph had enemies in his own brothers, Prophet Solomon had Queen Sheeba as his enemy, Prophet Jesus had Jewish rabbis as enemies, Prophet Muhammad lived his life with conflict until his death. Although we may have no human enemies attacking or harming us physically, we are always on a battlefield with the enemy within us and the false ideologies presented to us in the social media or in the education institutions. We have the option of choosing false gods or must come up with the right option. I get to reject the wrong options and choose the right one. We are always living with “La ilaha illa Allah” (I reject any idea that claims any part of this world has the power to give existence to anything, but the One who must be the Creator of this entire universe with each and every part of it, who is called God.)