Section Al-Furqan – Part 26
We are continuing to investigate the verses from Section Al-Furqan where we looked in the example of prophet Moses and his brother Aaron to deliver the message of God to those who are denying God’s signs. Paying attention to the signs of God is important for our living right now which makes me realize that there is a Conscious Being taking care of me and the universe at every moment. This way I can have a comfortable heart and not be bothered by many events which disturb me. This message can be shared with those who are looking for meaning in life. The previous verse gave an example of prophet Noah who was tasked with the same mission. We related the “ark” to the prophetic message and our own “drowning” when we do not pay attention to the “signs of God” in creation.
Let’s continue with the following verse:
وَعَادًۭا وَثَمُودَا۟ وَأَصْحَـٰبَ ٱلرَّسِّ وَقُرُونًۢا بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ كَثِيرًۭا
25:38 We did for the people of Ad, Thamud, and al-Rass, and many generations in between.
وَكُلًّۭا ضَرَبْنَا لَهُ ٱلْأَمْثَـٰلَ ۖ وَكُلًّۭا تَبَّرْنَا تَتْبِيرًۭا
25:39 To each of them We gave warnings, and each of them We destroyed completely.
These verses must be paid attention to with care. Why does the Qur’an speak in this way to discuss topics mentioning others. There are many comments in Islamic scholarship on such verses as to who these people mentioned are, where did they live, what happened to them. These details are not important. For example, if these people lived in 12th Century Africa, how would that benefit me in my life? There are many narrations, more like speculations developed through the commentaries on the Torah. Even if they are reliable, what shall I do with that information?
Do we need to wonder who these people were as they are being mentioned by their names in the Qur’an? Why does the Qur’an mention their names if they are not important? The Author of the Qur’an could have made it general as relating to certain people without mentioning exactly who, but the Qur’an specifies the names. The purpose of the Qur’an is to be clear and avoid speaking in an abstract way. It gives physical description of things such as describing Hell and Paradise and also describes physically the destruction of the opponents of the prophet (pbuh). In some verses, the Qur’an even mentions the names of some people such as “Abu Lahab” and “As Samiri”. The Qur’an gives physical descriptions of the signs pointing to the necessary existence of the Creator of the universe. The signs of resurrection are physical descriptions that we can observe and experience. The abstract teaching does not have as much of an effect on people’s imaginations than physical description. If the Qur’an had said “some people” rather than specifying their names, then I would not really be able to relate them to my life. Mentioning the names means that certain people really did something from which I can take a warning to myself as the reader of the Qur’an right now. Although, I don’t know who they are, but they are mentioned by name with a vivid description. The Qur’an presents a scenario where I can visualize the scenery. I can understand that some people did it and deserve the consequence for it. Rather than wondering who they are, I must wonder what they have done; so that I don’t do it. The Qur’an speaks to my human capacity where the mentioning of the name is useful for practical reasons. These warnings are given to us to be careful and not be neglectful with the message so that I do not fall into the position of these people mentioned by name.
Do we think the events some people call “natural disasters” may be a sign that God is angry with us when we do not acknowledge Him? The word “natural” infers that the events happen by themselves having no Agent to give it existence. It makes no sense to say that the universe happens to exist accidentally or “naturally” for which there is no evidence. Anything that we see demonstrates to us that its Maker has the qualities to make it according to Its capacity. When it comes to the whole universe, we see that every part is connected to each other, which necessitates a Knowledgeable, Powerful Agent encompassing the whole universe with everything at every moment changing but they are always perfect in their existence. We can easily conclude that everything needs an agent who must be the Creator of everything at the same time, which is a logical conclusion. Whoever creates the universe must have created these events that we like or may not like, that happened in the past and are happening now as well.
There are events that are not pleasant to me, I am given the sense to protect myself from harm, stay away from anything harmful to my being. Yet, these events are created. Does that mean that God is angry with me to create such events? When we don’t accept Him, we don’t properly obey Him or behave as He wills, then we do get warnings as reminders. This is a common struggle experienced by many as to why I am going through such an experience which I don’t like. For example, someone may lose their property, or lose their life, is this a special event created for them? We can categorize these events created in our lives as similar to the events narrated in the Qur’an; they cannot be separated.
When I look at anything in the universe such as a star, I can see that it is created deliberately with a specific shape, characteristic and uniqueness to its creation. Whatever happens in the world is the result of deliberate creation. The events that destroy people are specifically created. Some events in the Qur’an are describing people being destroyed, mentioning sometimes how they were destroyed such as a flood or earthquake. We must take these in general terms to see that they must have all been deliberately created for some purpose. We also experience these deliberately created events in our living.
I shouldn’t wait for a special event to happen. For example, if some inhabited land is sunk into the sea, this event may be regarded as a special creation. Aren’t all creations special? One may say that it is special to those who lost their lives, suffered physical harm. Isn’t there any lesson for me there where the event should be special to me as well? It could have happened in the area when I am in as well based on the Will of the Creator of the universe. Every event should be taken as a means of teaching me, warning me to be careful in my life, be loyal to my mission, understand it and behave accordingly.
If some event happens to me which I am not happy with, from my perspective I may regard that as a sign where God is angry or displeased with me when I may not have been living according to my purpose of creation. I cannot say that it is the anger and wrath of God; it is just God teaching me Mercifully that I have been doing something that I should not do. Although, some verses may be understood as some people have deserved God’s anger as far as people are concerned they may take it in this way. But as far as God’s creation is concerned, He is Mercifully reminding us that we should be aware that we are just created beings, and cannot guarantee anything in this creation, this world is nothing but a temporary education place preparing us for an eternal life after leaving this world. For example, in Section Fatiha, it uses the word “ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ” referring to those who earned the displeasure of God. It is not God who is putting them in this position but one earns it by neglecting their purpose of existence. Even when God is trying to teach me that I must behave myself, not be neglectful about my purpose in this world, I may choose not to heed this teaching and become deserving of God’s displeasure where I will be treated in the next creation after death according to what I have learned in this world. I am thus being warned by God not to be among those who have been living contrary to the purpose of my existence. Thus, I deserve to be warned.
We can take the example of a loving compassionate mother who warns her young child and may even give a slap for their good. From the perspective of the mother, the child deserves this for their benefit which is part of the mother’s merciful warning. From the perspective of the child, mom is expressing her anger, concluding that she is displeased with me.
Another example is that of a good teacher who grades according to the effort put in by the students. The student who submits an empty paper is penalized accordingly. From the student’s perspective who got a zero grade, the teacher is horrible and s/he is angry with her/him. Whereas from the teacher’s perspective, the failing grade given is out of mercy to let us know that we are not fulfilling our purpose of being in this school of life.
Rather than saying that God is angry with me, I must see that I am being mercifully warned by God according to how I need to be warned in my case. In every case, God guarantees that His mercy encompasses everything. Even the creation of Hell is under the umbrella of Mercy. Especially mentioning the horrible sceneries of Hell in His Speech, the Qur’an, they are nothing but out of concern for us. As if God is begging us not to choose wrong options that contradict the reality of our being created. He is the best teacher warning those students who are not taking care of their responsibilities, reminding them that they should attend the classes and pay attention to what the teacher is teaching before the graduation date comes all of a sudden. Death is imminent for us since we cannot guarantee that we will live until a certain age.
When we come across any event mentioned in the Qur’an that happened where the towns were destroyed because of people denying the message, we must see that destruction of the town as a sign of mercy, although for the people who are destroyed it is the sign of God’s wrath. We must be comfortable to read the narrations of their destruction mentioned in His Speech of the Qur’an, that this is not an angry God but a Merciful Teacher reminding us that we should not be doing as they did by silencing or expelling the prophets from their vicinity but listen to them and try to understand what message they are conveying to us. If the message does not make sense to me I just ignore it rather than trying to chase it away from me. The messengers do not force anyone to accept the message, they just deliver it. If the mailman delivers mail which according to your criterion is not of any use for you, do you try to kill him or prevent him from doing his job? If God does something to me specifically, I should understand that He is warning me that either I have been doing something “bad” for me, or it is a precaution for me that I should be on watch for my future life. I must see this as He chose me to be a candidate, to be a martyr to demonstrate His creation on me. God’s beautiful teaching will be experienced by others through my going through this experience. In the Hereafter, God’s justice will recompense it for choosing me as a martyr to demonstrate our reality to other people.
Let’s take the school example where a student completes his requirements early before official graduation, the administration takes this successful student out of the education system. This serves as an example to other students that they don’t have to wait until graduation day but can leave the education system much earlier as determined by the school administration.One would be treated according to how much effort they put in during the education. The administration knows that the student who was taken out of the education system way before graduation would be successful if given the opportunity had been given for him to continue. This student deserves to be given the highest degree as he perfectly did his responsibility. The concept of “martyrdom” in the Qur’an must be understood in this way.
However, if a person deliberately risks his life while being educated in this world under the pretext of “sacrificing himself” for the sake or God or to serve God’s religion then this person is not chosen by God to be a “martyr”. To be a martyr, one has to be selected by God otherwise it would be a “self proclaimed martyr”.
These seemingly “wrathful warnings” are in fact, God’s Merciful warnings about the reality of our life on earth. It is not a challenge; it reminds us that we always need to be reminded.
Verse 156 in “Baqarah” mentions: ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَصَـٰبَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌۭ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ, translated as “those who say, when afflicted with an event (one gets targeted by it particularly), ‘We belong to God and to Him is our return’”. We came from God, He is my Creator, we are going back to Him. Something hits the point, and I may be that point where it hits. One may say that by hitting a point where there is some destruction: “why would the Creator destroy His work by hitting it as a target? Is He a crazy Creator going out of His mind?” Look at the signs in the universe where everything works in harmony and balance; there is no sign of craziness. Everything declares that it is deliberately, consciously coming into existence, leaving nothing to chance, accident or randomness.
Anything harming the deniers of the message is regarded as a “calamity” whereas a believer should never call events as a calamity. The word “أَصَـٰبَتْهُمۭ” in the Qur’an means when I am chosen to be an example for some event deliberately by a conscious Being. For example, in the game of darts when you hit the target, this is called “مُّصِيبَةٌۭ”. In this case, the “مُّصِيبَةٌۭ”, some event would target me. It cannot be an accident but a conscious choice by God. In the Islamic tradition if someone is going through “مُّصِيبَةٌۭ”, some event that may be undesirable to them, they say to the person “good news, you have been chosen by God”. If unbelievers are destroyed, then that is good news as they no longer need to go further in their rebellious attitude which prevents them from taking any lesson from the prophetic message. It’s also a lesson for me where I must stop my rebellion towards what my purpose in creation is. If a believer is destroyed or harmed by God’s decision, then, it is good news for him that he will be treated in his eternal life as if he has accomplished all of his mission on earth. This life on earth is nothing but a short term preparation place for eternal life where everyone will be treated according to what they deserve.
In war conditions, the prophet (pbuh) participated as the commander in chief. Some Muslim apologetics say that he never killed anyone. In war conditions, we cannot be sure. The message is simple that there is One Absolute God who must be worshipped alone. Those who opposed the message waged war against that belief by attacking the believers physically. The believers need to watch out and defend themselves from their attacks. The believers are encouraged in the Qur’an to kill them if they physically attack and try to kill them when in war conditions. The prophet (pbuh) encouraged the believers to kill those waging war before they kill the believers. If a believer is attacked physically for his belief aiming to kill his body, i.e. killing the body for the idea one has, it is obviously wrong. Equally wrong is if a Muslim says to a denier that they will kill them because of their belief; they cannot do so, otherwise it will be equally wrong as well. If someone is physically attacking for one’s belief, then the Qur’an and the prophet encourage the believers to kill them before they kill you. If they are not killed then they would kill a believer, a person who deserved to live. If you don’t kill them, they will kill you in war conditions. If they are not killed, will they stop killing under war conditions? No, they will continue in killing believers. They went to war to destroy the newly formed fragile Muslim community of Medina. The believers must kill the attacker who will be killing an innocent person just because of his belief. By killing the attacker, one is not harming him but saving him from committing a graver crime of killing other believers and thus protects him from doing further harm. This way they will receive a lesser punishment in the Hereafter because they will not be able to commit one of the biggest crimes of killing a person just for his belief.
If someone denies the Creator and understands his life as “natural” being, how much can this person enjoy his life? Their life would contradict human expectations, feelings and they would suffer from non-existence at the end of their life. They know that their time will come, and they will lose everything. They “naturally” come to and will “naturally” disappear from existence. For them death is disappearing from existence and hence they fear death as opposed to believers who should not. Those who deny the Creator and deserve Hell will be experiencing hell in this life right now.
In this world I must realize that I am created by a conscious, merciful Creator. My existence here is not forever, it is not for this world, but I am created for eternal life. I must get ready for this eternal life by trying to understand who my Creator is, which kind of Creator He is. For example, the moment of death is not known to anyone, but everyone knows that this time will come anytime. We should never ever lose ourselves in this worldly life as if this is the only life I am living. The creation of death must not be feared as it is a transportation event taking me from a temporary place to a permanent place. One can think of it as the process of boarding a plane and taking a flight to their destination.
وَلَقَدْ أَتَوْا۟ عَلَى ٱلْقَرْيَةِ ٱلَّتِىٓ أُمْطِرَتْ مَطَرَ ٱلسَّوْءِ ۚ أَفَلَمْ يَكُونُوا۟ يَرَوْنَهَا ۚ بَلْ كَانُوا۟ لَا يَرْجُونَ نُشُورًۭا
25:40 They must surely have come upon the town that was showered with a ruining rain, have they not seen (understood) it? But they do not expect resurrection.
There are metaphors being used here that we need to be careful with. By giving detailed information about this example, the Qur’an is relating this to our life now where we must try to see this example in our living conditions. There is an interesting analogy here: The rain is sent to the dead earth to grow plants to come out like “Resurrection”. The rain coming down does not really grow the plants, the order of creation is taking place in this way. Just like rain is a means to grow plants, the Revelation comes down to help the human spirit to grow and improve human seeds of feelings, and potential to grow into a tree. We are given this quality (seeds) to understand who God is in my spiritual being. If I don’t receive the message, it ruins my potential to grow, just like the ruining rain destroys the seeds. If the seeds are not used, the seeds will rot. But in the verse, it says “ruining rain” describing the result of their not believing in the Resurrection when the rain is meant to inform them of “Resurrection”. The news of Resurrection disturbs the pleasure of unbelievers’ temporary life because it reminds them that their self-centered life feels no responsibility towards the One who gifted them this life for a purpose to educate themselves who the Giver of this gift is. Everyone knows that nothing can be purposeless in this creation. How then the human life with its huge potential will be purposeless?
We will continue investigating this verse full of analogies and metaphors next time.
Tags: Belief, Feelings, human qualities, Life, Lord, Quran, Worship