Section Al-Furqan – Part 25

We are continuing with our study of Section Al-Furqan of the Quran. We last investigated the verse presenting the case where the prophets ask for help from God in their mission of spreading the message. We can also benefit in terms of learning the message and help spread the message to those who are needy, without expecting any worldly reward in return.

Let’s investigate the next verse:

فَقُلْنَا ٱذْهَبَآ إِلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا فَدَمَّرْنَـٰهُمْ تَدْمِيرًۭا

25:36 We said, ‘Go together to the people who have rejected Our signs.’ Then We destroyed them completely.

In the context of the sequence of these verses, we can understand that Prophet Moses and his brother Aaron are being asked to go together to demonstrate the signs of the Creator of the Universe to those who reject them. The Qur’an speaks in a particular way where it doesn’t mention the details of what happened during this period, but the verse states the result of what happened: “Then We destroyed them completely”. Those who deny or reject the signs of the Creator of the universe are destroyed. This means that the prophets went and presented the message by asking people to take notice of “God’s signs” which they are rejecting. It is only after they reject the message that they are destroyed. This is one of the principles of the Qur’an to mention something briefly without going into details, but which says a lot as we need to interpret them.

We understand that it is only after the prophets were sent to them that they got destroyed. How about us, is there any prophet coming to me now? Not physically. However, when I receive the message of the prophet, I would be with the prophet. This means that the prophet has been sent to me. As long as we have the message with us, the prophet is with us. The physical being of the prophet is necessary in the beginning but after the complete message has been delivered and available, the physical being is no longer required. The message of the prophet should be representing him (pbuh) to us, so that being with his message is like being with the prophet  (pbuh) himself. That is why when we send salutations of peace to the prophet (pbuh) where we express that we are pleased with his message and that we are with him. Even those who were with the prophet in society were not always with the prophet as they each had their private lives. However, the message of the prophet being with them was important. 

If most of the people reject the signs of God, then they would be destroyed. The destruction of people is a secondary matter. According to the Qur’anic narration, some civilizations may have been destroyed almost completely after the believers left the area. Nowadays, we don’t see whole communities being destroyed. We see some events where the destruction of some people takes place, but it doesn’t mean that they are destroyed completely. These destructions mentioned in the Qur’an must have happened physically in history, but we are not going to do research to determine and confirm that it happened. This is not to say that it didn’t happen in history as this knowledge does not help me in my practical life. I must take care of my own responsibility and see if I am receiving the message and benefiting from it in my life when it makes sense to me. There is no reason to argue whether these events physically happened in the past or not as they do not bring any benefit to anyone.  Someone may say that they found archaeological remnants at some place indicating the destruction of people. There is no need to argue whether it was an earthquake or some volcanic eruption that destroyed them. We should understand that they are all created by God. We cannot even say that those who were destroyed denied the “signs of God” because they may not even have been exposed to the prophetic message. 

Another example, some people died from COVID which was a destruction created by God, but it doesn’t mean that those destroyed had rejected the signs of God. These physical events are created by God every now and then, just like how seasons are created by God. The Qur’an presents several physical events which are mostly metaphors, allegories, similes, figures of speech that pertain to our present living situation. The Qur’an is not narrating just history.

What are the “بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا”, translated as “our signs” referring to that we may be rejecting? We understand the signs can refer to the Qur’anic verses, the acts of creation happening in the universe, the feelings and senses within us, the miracles of the prophets that occurred valid for the contemporaries of the prophet (pbuh) at that time only. For example, in the above verse, the example is given where Prophet Moses and Aaron demonstrated quite a few miracles as narrated in the Qur’an. These miracles are referred to as “signs of God” in the Qur’an. In my living, these miracles are not applicable to me as I am not seeing them, i.e. they are not within my experience to either confirm or reject them. Those miracles of the prophets were meant for the people of that time to demonstrate to them the “signs of God”. There is no reason to argue about these miracles having taken place or not, which are irrelevant to me right now. We see “signs” in the creation observed in the universe and the verbal Revelation of the Qur’an which is what we have available to us. 

For me, I would apply this verse as being careful not to deny the “signs of God”, i.e. I must not deny signs within the creation of the universe, all that is in it. We see certain qualities in the universe and logically cannot attribute them to matter itself. Everything I look at is an amazing art which raises the question, who is the Artist of this art? The whole universe is full of masterpieces of art. If I don’t pay attention to this then my life becomes meaningless and thus would be destroyed completely. Out of God’s Mercy, I am given reminders in my life while I am here in this world to realize what creation points to.

The Qur’an mentions in the following verses from Section Al-Ghasiyah (The Overwhelming) (88: 17-22)

أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى ٱلْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ

88:17 Do they not even reflect on camels – how they are intricately created?

وَإِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ كَيْفَ رُفِعَتْ

88:18 And at the sky, how is it raised high?

وَإِلَى ٱلْجِبَالِ كَيْفَ نُصِبَتْ

88:19 And at the mountains, how are they firmly set up?

وَإِلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ كَيْفَ سُطِحَتْ

88:20 And at the earth, how is it spread out?

فَذَكِّرْ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُذَكِّرٌۭ

88:21 So continue to remind them for your duty is only to remind.

لَّسْتَ عَلَيْهِم بِمُصَيْطِرٍ

88:22 You are not there to compel them to believe

The universe is out there, if one doesn’t pay attention to the qualities manifested (signs of God), then the prophetic duty is to remind them to pay attention to creation, the most solid evidence for the existence of the Creator. The meaning in creation, the continuous creation demonstrates purpose, mercy, resurrection, etc. The first meaning of “signs” is creation to which I must pay attention to. The message of the Qur’an also mentions to go and observe the universe. This is the only way to develop confidence in our existence that the universe and me within it must have a Conscious Creator who deliberately created me for a purpose. I must observe my feelings and see that my Creator is telling me something.

Why does God narrate in the Qur’an on many occasions that He destroys the people if they reject or deny His “signs”? I must take this as a warning and reminder for me to pay attention to creation in the universe.

If Muslims are in authority in a land and if some people who live there reject “God’s signs”, then can Muslims destroy them? No. What the Qur’an is saying is to let the Creator of the universe take care of them. In this world they would spiritually destroy themselves, continuous loss in their life, but in the Hereafter, they would be physically destroyed as well. Everyone is given enough reminders and opportunities in this life to prevent this destruction and experience what the reality of this creation refers to. For example, when a mosquito sits on my hand, it is a sign. How does this tiny creature know where to suck blood from? They are experts like nurses by giving anesthesia when they are extracting blood, and one feels it only after they are done. Did they learn this from their society or by their previous generations? Did they get the learning ability from matter? These are the wonderful signs to reflect on. Not only the flies, all of the millions of different kinds of living beings are created with the ability to perfectly perform their mission of existence.

My responsibility is to only remind them and not force them which is what we learn from the verses mentioned above. An important point is that none of the prophets took any physical action against the people who didn’t believe in their message which includes prophet Moses and Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon them). They never tried to kill anyone because of their belief. 

There is one event exploited by the Orientalists where the prophet had asked someone to be killed because he was causing discordance among the community, inciting the enemies (Quraysh) in Mecca by giving them information. By doing so, breaking the treaty of alliance with the Madina administration, for which the prophet was in charge  appointed by the entire community. The prophet said that such people inciting dissidence among people are warmongers. It is not because this person didn’t believe and denied his message. We must be clear that the prophets did not kill physically or harm anyone for their disbelief.o Nor did they instruct others to do so, as such actions go against the Qur’an and the prophetic practice. In our adherence to the prophetic message, we are not expected to harm anyone for their disbelief. 

How about those who do not live in a Muslim ruled land? If the Muslims send over some people to deliver the message to them and they deny it, can these Muslim envoys attack and destroy those who are denying “God’s signs”? Impossible. One is left free to either accept the message or not. One can only warn and remind them.

The next verses provide brief examples from the life of the prophets:

وَقَوْمَ نُوحٍۢ لَّمَّا كَذَّبُوا۟ ٱلرُّسُلَ أَغْرَقْنَـٰهُمْ وَ.جَعَلْنَـٰهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ ءَايَةًۭ ۖ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِلظَّـٰلِمِينَ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًۭا

25:37 The people of Noah, too, when they rejected their messengers, We drowned them and made them an example to all people. We have prepared a painful torment for the evil doers.

The verse mentions rejecting the messengers in plural form, not just prophet Noah. Including all prophets every being in this world is a messenger, every angel bringing the angelic side of the universe is a messenger. We are receiving countless messengers in our living. 

It is important to understand that the ark of Noah represents his message. Those who accept the message are saved whereas others are drawn into misguidance, pain of losing every day, waiting for eternal annihilation. Any materialistic worldview, understanding of the purpose of one’s life is the “flood” of Noah’s people that would “drown” them. This is valid for me right now as well where I need to be careful not to be carried away by the flood of meaninglessness of my existence. If one keeps denying the message, they will eternally experience meaninglessness much more amplified than to what their spirit experienced here. We must not “drown” ourselves within the historical information from the Qur’an. The Qur’an speaks with examples according to my needs. This narration of prophet Noah in the above verse is just an example for me.

If we fail to contemplate the purpose of our existence and instead focus solely on improving our physical comfort and security until death, we would essentially be “drowning in this worldly life”.

Do we see that people who “drown” in their own caprices and seek enjoyment in their daily life, try to impress others by following current fashion, impose their financial capacity, political power, qualifications, status or even the way they dress up for others? We mostly live our lives to satisfy others. For example, young people are fixated on following the fashion trend to be accepted by their group and civilization. They would imitate each other, talk in the same way to please others. Otherwise, they would be alienating themselves from others. Innocent people, especially young teenagers are victims of the exploitation of this secular society. We must watch out to not waste our life and help others who are willing to listen.

How about people who are “drowned in matter” and looking for “god” within matter as to be the creator for the renewal of their existence and its continuous renewal to sustain their existence? They are trying to find “god” within matter to appease a small group of people within their academic circle. They publish papers which no one else reads besides their small group. They may even spend their whole life trying to get some appreciation from their colleagues. Some try to impose on people with their qualifications, professions, knowledge, financial abilities, advertisements, power, particularly military power. If we don’t know how to manage power, it creates a dangerous situation. The flood of our time is tremendous that we need to watch out for. It may be better not to have such power or wealth if we have not trained ourselves how not to misuse it to impose ourselves on others, otherwise these things can be disastrous for our future. I must be careful not to “drown” in “matter” by cutting out my relationship with my Lord, the Creator of the universe.