Section Al-Furqan – Part 3

We will continue to study Section Al-Furqan, the 25th Section of the Qur’an which is also one of the titles of the Qur’an meaning “the Criterion”. We last investigated the first 2 verses and saw that the topic related back to the first verse indicating “Blessed is the One who sent down the Criterion”. The verses do not use the word God, or any common words used in the Qur’an but uses “ٱلَّذِى”, indicating “the One Who” does all this. This is one of the methods we should learn and employ for ourselves as well as when sharing the message with others.

We also studied the concept of being an “abd” (worshiper) of this Blessed One who has sovereignty over the whole universe. This One employed His “abd” so that he may be a warner to the whole world. This is all possible by the Blessed One who does all this by arranging everything. This section is introducing a method to us on how to present one’s belief. If one believes in the Creator of the universe, one must start by describing the evidence in the universe. I must look at how perfectly every creation is determined in coming into existence. 

The following verse will now present an argument with some accusations where the Qur’an responds to the counter interpretation of creation, challenging their argument:

وَٱتَّخَذُوا۟ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ ءَالِهَةًۭ لَّا يَخْلُقُونَ شَيْـًۭٔا وَهُمْ يُخْلَقُونَ وَلَا يَمْلِكُونَ لِأَنفُسِهِمْ ضَرًّۭا وَلَا نَفْعًۭا وَلَا يَمْلِكُونَ مَوْتًۭا وَلَا حَيَوٰةًۭ وَلَا نُشُورًۭا

25:3 “Yet some have chosen to worship gods other than Him, gods who cannot create but are themselves created, who have no power to protect themselves from harm or benefit themselves, and who have no power over death, or life, or resurrection.”

We still see the reference to “Him”, pointing to the One who holds the sovereignty of the heavens or earth. This One who has not inherited or given any quality to what He has created. This One created everything and determined how they should be established and working harmoniously, wisely.

What does this verse refer to by saying “worshiping gods”? When I interact with things, do I see them as satisfying me? For example, do I assign the power to decide, create, choose anything, to parts of my body or another being, thinking that they are the ones doing things for me and creating satisfaction? Things cannot create another being as they need to be created themselves and be given existence. 

In the eyes of materialists, as they investigate further into the micro world, they see that the particles of a being are vibrating, and cannot sustain their being, as they continuously disappear; they cannot sustain their existence for any moment, displaying that their existence is totally dependent on another being. However, these particles somehow adapted themselves to make a perfect being. My bodily existence, the existence of feelings, intelligence, consciousness and the power to decide are ascribed to the parts of my body. The minute particles of my body are arranged in such a way that I became who I am now, perfectly adjusted to the environment. This is how existence is in the eye of a materialist. 

However, those particles disappear as soon as they appear in existence, i.e. they cannot even sustain their existence. There is so much contradiction in the materialistic claims where God is no longer in the picture. From an existential point of view, this is the most common claim by Materialist scientists. Many people just accept their claims, some don’t take notice of them, some appreciate their work and without realizing what they really mean they conform to it. I do appreciate their discoveries, but they bundle their interpretation alongside those discoveries. For example, the engineers make a computer that works and bundle the explanation that this was possible by particles which are working by themselves without a conscious engineering process. This is the most common idol, god of this time.

None of the things which consist of particles have any consciousness, knowledge, power to know me and be able to satisfy me. I must be arranged by the Creator of the whole universe who is holding the sovereignty of the whole universe, alone; nothing can accompany Him or help Him as He must be the Absolute being. 

How does the Qur’an describe “God”? For example, how would I answer if someone asks me: What is the “God” of the Qur’an? The Source of the existence of the universe. The Source of existence of my existence along with the rest of the beings. The One who manages, arranges, gives existence to the orderly continuous creation that I observe in the universe. Nowadays, we must be clear in describing the meaning of “la ilaha illallah”, which is the brief description of the Qur’an indicating through negation that nothing created can be the source of existence of anything. We must question existence which is usually ignored when describing God. We must be able to describe God of the Qur’an according to the needs of the age. 

Have you ever seen anyone who makes an idol and says, “this created everything, including human beings”? These are obvious questions for which we must develop our language to phrase them in a reasonable way that confirms belief. The presentation of the current scientists must be scrutinized. When they say the things are organizing themselves, helping each other, so that life in beings becomes better. They say that the things adapt themselves to survive. Things own themselves as if I own myself. I wonder if those things have any sense or knowledge, consciousness to know what the best fitting is for themselves. We must be able to distinguish the lie in the scientific interpretations and courageously be able to challenge it. Their physical discovery shows that the universe is perfectly arranged. Things work because one is obeying the order in the universe. However, I may not acknowledge that all these discoveries develop devices by obeying the order which has been arranged and set up to work by the One who is the owner of this universe. It all runs thanks to God’s grace and blessing, not my discovery or by the grace of the things.  That is an extension of one’s ego to interpret in this way where God is ignored. One may have heard that the ego is the most effective, influential god these days. This understanding says that I own myself and want to be superior to other beings. In classical Sufi scholarship, the great theoreticians say that all the problems and misinterpretations of reality originate from human egotistic assumptions.

Why do you think some people choose to worship things that themselves need to be created? They don’t accept that they themselves need to be created which would make them obliged to thank the One who created them. However, they are proud of their ego as everyone admires them for the accomplishments they have achieved, the gadgets they make. Some may choose to be just lazy and not bother and live heedlessly. They don’t want to question as it makes them answerable to someone. Conscious beings deep within them know if they openly question their claims, they will not find any satisfactory answers from within the universe and they deliberately deny the truth. Additionally, they don’t want others to question and speak contradicting their claims.

وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ إِنْ هَـٰذَآ إِلَّآ إِفْكٌ ٱفْتَرَىٰهُ وَأَعَانَهُۥ عَلَيْهِ قَوْمٌ ءَاخَرُونَ ۖ فَقَدْ جَآءُو ظُلْمًۭا وَزُورًۭا

25:4 “The disbelievers say, “This [Qur’an] is nothing but a fabrication which he made up with the help of others.” Their claim is totally unjustified and fabricated!”

The Qur’an has presented the case that the universe is owned by Someone, the One who has revealed this Qur’an, the Criterion for me. The Owner of the universe is speaking where the universe and the Qur’an are witnessing each other. Now, in this verse, the disbelievers present their argument as to the Qur’an being a fabrication and made up with the help of others.  

This is only one of the accusations made during the life of the prophet. How about now? What do they say nowadays? The influential enemies of the Qur’an speak against it and reject belief in God. By publishing books and speaking in social media with unwarranted words and claims they shape the mind of others who are not really thinking about their reality. They all claim that their interpretations are the scientific ones. As a side note, believers speak by copying the religious sources. The denying scientists never demonstrate that their interpretations are scientifically proven at all. They just describe how things are being created in an orderly manner by their Source of existence. They claim  that unconscious, powerless, and senseless matter are giving existence to their being and arranging their future and perfecting their lives etc. These are all big lies? Nobody so far could demonstrate that things have free choice and act independently and create their existence the next moment. They just wait to be given existence at every moment. On the other hand, the believers demonstrate that the qualities manifested in these unconscious beings, as they are continuously brought into existence, to human intelligence that they can never belong to the senseless particles. We must be prepared to answer those who say that they only believe in science, all questions will be answered by science; religion is just fiction, and not reality. These cultural ideas have invaded the minds of people and without declaring anything, they are expecting that science will explain things: “I just need to take care of my life without thinking until I die.” 

Do we see that in this accusation mentioned in the above verse they are in fact revealing the fact that Muhammad (pbuh) cannot write this Qur’an by himself? The verse infers that Muhammad (pbuh) cannot write the Qur’an by himself as he was illiterate. If he had any ability such as poets and scholars, then he would have been able to learn from others and the suggestion that he wrote with the help of others would have made sense. However, that was not the case with prophet Muhammad, who was educated along with the revelation of the Qur’an. 

During the prophetic time, the disbelievers were saying the Qur’an was fabricated by prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who was also getting help from others without considering that he did not get any education from rabbis or other scholars.  Nowadays, no one says that Muhammad (pbuh) wrote the book with the help of others but some claim that Muhammad wrote the Qur’an by himself. The Qur’an mentions that the prophet was illiterate, uneducated, and cannot know anything by himself. These kinds of verses are still in the Qur’an, do we need these verses now? The contemporaries of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that believed in him couldn’t say that he was a learned person as they knew that he was uneducated. Upon receiving the message, they devoted their lives to him, proving that they believed in the message he brings. 

If I investigate the Qur’an now, I can conclude that an uneducated, illiterate person cannot be the author of the Qur’an, that mentions about an Absolute Creator of the universe with Absolute qualities where no one could ever demonstrate or will ever be able to demonstrate that these powerless, unconscious particles with no ability to choose can be the source of their existence or their qualities.