We are continuing our chronological study of the Qur’an by investigating the verses from Section Al-Furqan. The previous verses mentioned the signs in creation such as our sleep at night and waking up for the day which was likened to Resurrection. Other signs were mentioned such as the creation of rain which brings the good news of His Mercy. I must question how rain revives the dead earth which is another sign of Resurrection. Miraculous creation is presented which we witness such as the wind being made to carry the rain that touches the dead soil, then the cracked soil is created, out of which wonderful and beneficial things for us are created such as plants and animals. We must be thankful to the One who is creating and arranging, and then presenting them to my service.
We will continue with the following verse:
وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَبَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ قَرْيَةٍۢ نَّذِيرًۭا
25:51 If We had so willed, We would have surely raised a warner in every community
It seems as if the subject is changing here but it is not. Why? All the manifestations of Absolute qualities are presented to us in the previous verses using examples from the universe which are accessible to everyone. It is impossible not to notice the creation of day and night, the creation of plants and animals. The Qur’an speaks to everyone where the evidence is presented in a simple language with many layers of meaning. Everyone can benefit, get something out of it, according to their capacity.
In this verse, the “Warners” as prophets and messengers are mentioned that come to remind me on how to live my life, so that I understand reality, do not make mistakes, make my life beneficial for myself that would be according to the purpose of my existence. This question may come to our minds: isn’t the creation of the universe, that provides evidence, enough that we also need “Warners”, which include the prophets and messengers?
The main mission of the prophets is to let people know that there is a being who is the Creator of the universe and He transcends the universe, transcends the created beings, as all these beings to their minute elements and particles need to be created. Human beings may not be able to comprehend the essence of this Absolute Being, who is not of the nature of this universe. Even by having this wonderful universe available to us, it is hard for anyone to know and imagine a being beyond the limitations of this universe. We observe things are wonderfully working in the universe and this must boggle our minds as to what can be the source of the way they are coming into existence. There must necessarily be some source of existence. The prophets come with the message that this universe necessitates an Absolute Being, not of the nature of this universe. To conclude about an Absolute Being that is not of the nature of this universe, that He must necessarily exist is not possible by witnessing the universe alone without any messenger or prophets. The Prophets bring the news of the qualities of the Creator alongside the witnessing of the manifestations of those qualities in the universe in the way that they are created. This constitutes the primary mission of the prophets.
The second important mission of the prophets is to remind us that this life is transient, this universe is an exhibition hall introducing their Creator to conscious human beings which necessitates the existence of the Hereafter. Everyone is free to use their capacity to confirm their belief in God and belief in the Hereafter. Consciousness is a wonderful quality given to us where I wonder about my own existence, the existence of the rest of the universe and even the quality of consciousness itself, how come it is there? We must learn to appreciate this quality of consciousness given to us, which is to be exercised.
The other items of belief are important and follow only after confirming the above two items without which they cannot be confirmed. After believing in the existence of God and the Hereafter, the minds open to understand belief in the existence of angels, prophets and belief in the speech of God, i.e. God must speak to what human beings cannot find by themselves; the Revelation of God fulfills this need of human beings.
I must recognize the Mercy of my Creator who not only creates the universe, manifesting innumerable qualities, speaks to us through Revelation, employs prophets to convey His message. We are verbally given the message that we can understand without having the need to do any deep investigation of the universe. Through Revelation, we are straightly given the answers. For example, a teacher shows how to solve a problem and gives the result along with it. I don’t need to struggle much if someone tells me exactly how to solve a problem. This is again unbelievable mercy that we are not left alone here without any help. The Qur’an lets me know that God sends messengers, warning me that I should not waste my life. I must use my human abilities, utilize the evidence in the universe to get ready for the next creation to satisfy my spiritual needs, which are infinite. The next creation is guaranteed as this need for eternal satisfaction is given to me as His promise. I am given this need by Him that must be fulfilled and satisfied by Him.
The prophets’ warning us is not just related to punishments. Punishment is the result of my own mistakes; it is not something extra. The Qur’an mentions that the result of your mistake is as much as one committed the crime, made the mistake, the person gets what he/she deserves. Whereas anything that is deemed good gets multiplied. After witnessing the universe and listening to the prophets, I must be careful with my life. All means, tools are provided for me to fulfill the purpose of my existence. I must ask myself whether I am utilizing my human capacity to its potential?
Why has God not sent a warner to every community now? The phrase “شِئْنَا” used in the verse is also used in “inshaAllah” which means if God wills. We will examine a couple of verses which mention messengers are sent to everyone, prophets have come to major cities and from there spread to other places. (See Qur’an, 42: 7 and 28: 59)
Do we think that some communities have not received any Warner? Can the warner mean only the prophet? There are other forms of “warners” that are already sent to everyone. For example, as a “warner”, we are given the fear of annihilation of our being upon death. I must question why I don’t like falling into non-existence after death. The sending of messengers as human beings is an extra mercy from God. Within this universe, we must try to find out that this life is not meaningless or purposeless. This universe cannot be as it appears to be, and my life cannot be as I experience it in this world. Somehow I am brought into this experience as a conscious being. I want to enjoy myself, but I am gradually deteriorating and at the end seems to be disappearing. There definitely must be something in this apparent contradiction between what I physically experience and what my feelings desire. Although, I may not come up with the idea that there must be a Conscious Creator or that there must be a hereafter, which are part of “illallah”, the existence of an Absolute being, I must have the understanding that this world must have something as it cannot exist by itself. Secondly, there must be something mysterious with the transience of the universe and the creation of death. There must be something else apart from this life but that is mysterious that I cannot be sure of. I must utilize all the tools given to conclude that there must be something: “la ilaha”, nothing can be the source of existence in this universe. At this stage, it is difficult to conclude about “illallah”, the existence of an Absolute Being. It is only after the message of the prophets that I can conclude about “illallah”.
The scholars argue about confirming “illallah”, whether it is possible to confirm with or without the prophetic message. We should at least arrive at the conclusion that there must be something. Nowadays, some materialist scientists laugh at primitive societies in terms of the worship they used to perform when they themselves fall behind those primitive societies who at least had the understanding of spirits in beings, such as the mysterious spirit of the forest, the spirit of fire, the spirit of the seas, etc. By denying that there must be something, these materialist scientists are denying the existence of anything beyond matter itself and also their human selves and the qualities that they are given. We appreciate their work but must watch out for their interpretations where every quality is attributed to matter. For example, my consciousness worries about my life after leaving this world and this is interpreted by them as made-up stories, the products of the brain and its interactions.
Human beings are qualified to conclude “la ilaha” and the Qur’an also expects us to conclude “la ilaha” as well. The extra information of “illallah” is provided with evidence from the message of the prophets and the message of the Qur’an. The Qur’an presents all belief matters with evidence in the universe.
What about judicial matters? It is only after I am convinced that I have a Creator who arranges everything for me, guides me to prepare for the next creation that I can work on arranging my practical and social life according to what is expected of me by following the juridical rules. The juridical matters depend on my belief in God and other articles of belief, i.e. they stem from my belief. I must have conscious awareness of belief matters and must feel the need to be guided in my practical life by my Lord. Juridical matters must only be conveyed to people after they are convinced about their belief; otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense to them. For example, prayer and fasting are for the acknowledgment of my Creator, they are not for having a healthy life which is what my nutritionist would tell me. The act of “Zakat” (charity giving) is not to have an equitable financial system but is to recognize who the real Owner of my property is as I am just the consumer; I must be grateful to my Owner. Otherwise, the real purpose and wisdom of performing those acts is lost. If someone doesn’t believe in God, the “Zakat” institution would not make sense to them. The wisdom in the Sharia’s act of “Zakat” only makes sense to a believer in God and practiced within a believers’ administration. In the absence of believers’ administration, these Sharia rules are only to be practiced individually and not expected to see the wisdom of their impact on the societal level.
وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍۢ رَّسُولًا أَنِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱجْتَنِبُوا۟ ٱلطَّـٰغُوتَ ۖ فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ هَدَى ٱللَّهُ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِ ٱلضَّلَـٰلَةُ ۚ فَسِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَٱنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـٰقِبَةُ ٱلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
16:36 “We sent a messenger to every nation, saying: ‘Worship God, and shun the powers of evil!’ Some of them were guided by God, while others were inevitably doomed by their error. Travel around the world and see what eventually happened to those who denied the truth.”
We must pay attention to the verb tense used in the phrase “We sent a messenger” that refers to the previous Revelations revealed to different messengers of their time. Whereas in the previous verse we investigated, it is mentioned “We would have raised a warner” and this message relates specifically to the Revelation of the Qur’an. It is known that the previous Divinely revealed texts mention that there will be another messenger that follows them. For example, prophet Jesus (pbuh) had mentioned that I am going and there will be another one to come after me: “But I tell you the truth: It is good for you if I go away. For if I do not go, the Paraclete will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” (John, 16:7)
The messengers that are sent are guiding people to worship God and not to distort the truth. When the message is conveyed to people, they are free to either follow it or not. When the verse says some were guided and some others were doomed by their error, it must be understood that the message has already been conveyed to them, and they get the result according to what they choose. Would they be destroyed if there was no messenger? There is no news in the Qur’an that destroys a community arbitrarily. Only those who deny the messengers are the ones destroyed. If a prophet is not sent to a community, then that community is not punished because of rejecting or not accepting the prophetic message.
The phrase “ٱلْمُكَذِّبِينَ” translated as “denied the truth” which means that the message is there available to them, but one decides to deny the truth that is conveyed, and they keep denying continuously. Whatever message the prophet (pbuh) brings, they keep denying it. This results in their living a meaningless life, without any satisfaction, where the spirit suffers forever, which is Hell. Those who accept the message with sincerity, confirm the truth, are rewarded in multiple folds by the Absolute Being. That is why Paradise and Hell are infinite, as they are provided by the Absolute Being.
How can we know that there was no warner before the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)? Below are a few verses that mention that the prophets have come to major cities to convey the message of God.
وَٱضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلًا أَصْحَـٰبَ ٱلْقَرْيَةِ إِذْ جَآءَهَا ٱلْمُرْسَلُونَ
36:13 Give them the example of the people whose town messengers came.
وَهَـٰذَا كِتَـٰبٌ أَنزَلْنَـٰهُ مُبَارَكٌۭ مُّصَدِّقُ ٱلَّذِى بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَلِتُنذِرَ أُمَّ ٱلْقُرَىٰ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا ۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِۦ ۖ وَهُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ
6:92 This is a blessed Scripture that We have sent down to confirm what came before it and for you to warn the Mother of Cities and all around it. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in this Scripture, and do not neglect their prayers.
The phrase “أُمَّ ٱلْقُرَىٰ” is translated as “Mother of Cities” which can be understood as major cities. For example, the cities of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago in the United States are some of the major cities. They are the central places of activities, business, arts, etc. The news would spread from there to the surrounding places. In the same way, the prophetic message would spread to the surrounding places as much as they are aware of the message. There is a perennial view (perennialism) of the prophetic message where every culture has some remnants of the message that are found in Torah and the Qur’an. The Bible does not have the message of ancient prophets, but it reminds the forgotten side of Torah in belief and some of the moral and ethical matters. The prophets mentioned in Torah and the Qur’an usually have come to some places in the Middle East, not in places like Antarctica, Siberia or South America. One can see remnants of the prophetic message usually in the far east countries.
We must be aware that although the stories of ancient prophets are found in other cultures, the details vary. The Qur’an presents the same known stories that people are familiar with, but they are dealt with a completely different perspective. Mentioning the same prophets known in Torah brings comfort to people as the Torah is thousands of years older to the Qur’an. The same Source is speaking in Revelations, meaning that there were other prophets in other places. After the revelation of the Qur’an, people’s communication had spread across the region and had become quite large all the way to Persia, China and India. After the Persian empire had killed one of the prophetic envoys, the event became a declaration of war. The Muslims took control of Persia and were able to spread the message of Islam to the people who saw the beauty of Islam. They had heard of the success of Medina’s administration and were appreciative as they were suffering under the previous rulership. With the help of Persian people, the Persian empire was toppled. This tells that communication had spread far wide as these people from one community were also doing trade and commerce at all these other places. Nowadays, this communication is spread all over the world. The message is thus spread to other places and as time passed, the message didn’t disappear. The Qur’an establishes itself firmly as time passes; there is no way to corrupt it anymore.
From these verses, we understand now that the messengers are sent to every nation, community, major cities, and the message spreads out to other places from there. As the communication system spread so rapidly, the message spread to all parts of the world. There is no need to send another prophet to another community. One prophet is enough as in the Revelation of the Qur’an which is not corrupted and is a universal message. That is why Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is known as the seal of the prophets.