Section Al-Furqan – Part 34

We are studying Section Al-Furqan of the Qur’an and will continue from where we last left off. The previous verse that we investigated mentioned that a “warner” would surely have been sent to every community if the Lord of the universe had willed so. We also looked at another verse (16:36) that mentioned that a messenger was sent to every nation. Yet, another verse mentioned the messengers were sent to major cities from which we understood that the message spread wide further to other surrounding areas. We summarized these verses as not contradicting each other but generally we can understand that the message of the Lord of the universe has come to people.

Let’s investigate the following verse:

فَلَا تُطِعِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ وَجَـٰهِدْهُم بِهِۦ جِهَادًۭا كَبِيرًۭا

25:52 So do not obey the unbelievers (those who deny reality and the prophetic message) but struggle vigorously with them by means of this with all your strength!

This verse is concise which is the usual presentation of the Qur’an. The verse does not give unnecessary information and leaves those details to the reader’s capacity. Some orientalist scholars with the intention of criticizing the Qur’an claim that the topic jumps from one to another which according to their expectation the Qur’an is inconsistent. We must examine ourselves whether there is a jump of subject or is this verse directly connected to the previous and the following verses. The subject discussed in the previous verse was the sending of messengers. The above verse mentions not to obey the unbelievers who deny reality and the prophetic message, and to struggle vigorously with them. Since the unbelievers do not want to submit to the Creator of the universe, I must not obey them, i.e. I must not submit to their desires and ideas. 

The phrase “ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ” translated as unbelievers has the explanation added that those who deny reality and the prophetic messages. This was the case when the prophet (pbuh) was performing his mission of prophethood by conveying the message to people. The deniers of the truth were preventing him from doing his mission. In this way, the verse above is directly related to the subject of prophethood and the prophetic mission. Some people do not submit to the message of the prophet and they do not present any reason other than accusing the prophets of being “mad” or telling a lie, or obsessed etc. Even if they don’t submit or listen to it, they should at least not prevent the spreading of the message to others. 

The prophets are not looking for any material benefit, some authority or status in society. Their mission is only to invite people to worship the Lord of the universe and not worship created or imaginary beings, the things that are in need themselves, as they need to be created.  The beings which need to be created cannot be the creators. How can I worship them by being grateful to them for creating something, when in fact they cannot create anything? The prophets also convey the message to get ready for the next life. If people choose not  to want to believe, then they don’t have to believe in it. The prophets do not force them to believe, they only present to them what they received from the Lord of the universe. Why do the unbelievers try to prevent the spreading of this good news? Their consciousness definitely knows it and the evidence in the universe is open to them as well. On top of that their feelings are looking for eternal satisfaction. These are all to be taken as messengers as well. The universe is continuously speaking, human reality is continuously speaking, and the prophetic message is also continuously speaking to remind us. 

The latter part of the verse mentions to “struggle vigorously with them by means of this”. The phrase “جِهَادًۭا كَبِيرًۭا” has the literal meaning of “really big Jihad”, and is translated as “struggle vigorously with them”. The phrase “بِهِ” (with it) is translated as “by means of this”. In terms of the previous verse, what can “by means of this” refer to? Recalling the context of the previous verses mentioning signs in creation and the messengers being sent to people, we can see that the “means of this” refers to the evidence mentioned in the verses. The universe and the events happening in the universe are evidence, the prophetic message is evidence, my feelings looking for perfection and eternity, my consciousness and other senses are also evidence. It is obvious that this “struggle vigorously with all your strength” can never be understood to struggle with weapons, which is completely out of context.

The Qur’an has verses that mention “Jihad” in another context which refer to the scenario when the enemy physically attacks someone. In this case the Qur’an usually uses the word “قتال” (killing each other, which can be used only in the “war battlefield”) or other derivation of this word. That person must struggle against them to defend themselves. There are verses in the Qur’an about physical defense by reminding that one should not let themselves be killed. The context of physical attack and defense applies when on a battlefield, it is not an arbitrary attack.

However, when the context is regarding the denial of the signs in creation and the prophetic message then the usage of “Jihad” is according to that context and the evidence must be pointed out vigorously. One must present clearly and defend their ideas.

Most of the literalist commentators of the Qur’an understood “بِهِ” in this verse as referring to the message of the Qur’an, which is not wrong. If someone criticizes the Qur’an, then the evidence must be presented from the Qur’an which provides evidence from the universe. Most of those who criticize the Qur’an want to stop the message from being delivered to people. They don’t want to hear the message because they don’t want the message which reminds people about the evidence in human feelings and the universe. The message itself gives reference to the universe and human feelings, intellect, asking one to reflect on the creation out there. They don’t react to the message itself but what the message refers to.  They don’t want to be reminded of what the universe and their feelings are evidence of. This universe is functioning wonderfully, human qualities, and feelings are amazing with immense capacity. They don’t want to be reminded of this evidence; deep down they know that this message is true but they prefer not to submit to the message just because of their arrogance.

For example, if the prophetic message simply mentioned the existence of the Hereafter and angels without providing any evidence, would they really be bothered about it? They would regard him as a poet imagining a life after death and some imaginary beings. It is really the evidence that frightens them. We should thus extend the understanding of “بِهِ” (with it) related to the Qur’an with the evidence in the universe and my human qualities.

Another example that we can see in history is in certain countries the presentation of religion with evidence was either prevented or discouraged. Anyone who just repeats the religious message without any evidence would be welcome to do so. The authorities would even provide them with the platform and establish institutions for them. In the first half of the 20the century in Turkey , one scholar who was presenting the commentary of the Qur’an with evidence was under strict surveillance whereas any other commentator speaking without evidence was left free. If one speaks on religion with evidence that is intellectually congruent, rationally consistent then the message of the Qur’an is to not give up and one should continue to try their best. We should be careful to never talk about religion without evidence, and present in a way that is logical, congruent and rational. Avoid speaking in an imitative way on the verses of the Qur’an and hadith narrations as well. May God give us the opportunity to be on this path of speaking with evidence and give success to all of us. Ameen.

We should be clear that the enemies of the prophets did not reject the prophetic message but the evidence within the message.

Does Islam allow offensive war, or only defensive? However, in the past we saw some offensive wars. How do we explain this? 

Unfortunately, some people propagate offensive war after reading some events mentioned in the prophetic biography that were interpreted as being an offensive war. However, when one carefully studies those events, we see that they are preventive actions to prevent something from happening, and not offensive which is meant to kill people just because they did not submit to the message. Islam straightaway rejects the coercion (Qur’an, 2: 256)

Let’s examine the next verse which seems like it is jumping to another topic, but we see that it isn’t.

وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى مَرَجَ ٱلْبَحْرَيْنِ هَـٰذَا عَذْبٌۭ فُرَاتٌۭ وَهَـٰذَا مِلْحٌ أُجَاجٌۭ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًۭا وَحِجْرًۭا مَّحْجُورًۭا

25:53 He is the one who has merged the two seas, one fresh and sweet, the other salty and bitter, and He placed between them a barrier which cannot be passed.

Things are brought together and there is a barrier between them. For example, a positive and negative charge cannot be merged physically. The barrier between them is that the positive charge stays positive, and the negative charge stays negative. I don’t have to look for a physical barrier; it is obvious, they never mix with each other. Similarly, there are male creatures and female creatures who keep their essence. A goat stays a goat, and a sheep stays a sheep. Unfortunately, through artificial insemination some scientists are playing around by following the order in creation. In every creation, there is a barrier that cannot be joined. They maintain their perfect order in which they are created. There isn’t any in between or merging.

Muslim scholars interpret this in many ways, and they are correct as there is a barrier between them where they cannot be merged:

1. Being a Creator and a creature
2. Belief and unbelief
3. Spirit and body; Spirit and egoistic desires
4. This world and the next creation (The Qur’an has verses mentioning that one cannot go back to previous creation)
5. Life and death
6. Existence and non-existence
7. Worshiper and the Worshiped
8. Good and evil 
9. Salty sea and sweet water
10. Every being with individual characteristics
11. Each stage of creation cannot be transferred to the next stage of creation
12. male and female
13. attraction and repulsion forces
14. Paradise and Hell etc.

What is the connection between this verse and the previous verses mentioning the signs in creation, prophethood and then “jihad”, to struggle with evidence? If anyone does not want to submit their existence to their Creator and wants to declare their independent existence, this attitude cannot be combined with belief. Unbelief cannot be merged with belief and there is no “in between”. This means that belief and unbelief are essentially contradictory to each other. Unbelief to one’s creator cannot be merged with belief in the Creator of the universe. Belief and unbelief are analogous to the sweet and salty water that is mentioned in the verse. Within the context of the sequence of verses we studied, the fresh and sweet water represents belief and the salty and bitter represents unbelief. 

Unless someone decides to submit their existence to their Creator, they drop their obstinate ideas, change their attitude, then this person leaves unbelief and enters belief. The struggle between belief and unbelief will remain until our existence in this world. If we remember the “jihad” struggle from the previous verses, it ties into this struggle between belief and unbelief. Satan and an Angel cannot be merged, they each have their essence.

Although things in the universe are contradictory to each other, they harmoniously work together. Who is arranging this? It is impossible to interpret that physical matter is responsible for all this. The whole universe is functioning at every moment with contradictory elements coming together, where nothing can be the result of anything. Unconscious matter or energy cannot be the source of existence of a perfectly functioning universe, in spite of being subject to continuous change with all of its elements- from the sub atomic particles to vast galaxy clusters- while maintaining harmony despite being composed of essentially contradictory elements. This reflects the miraculous nature of the universe’s creation. They can only be coming into existence by the Will and power of their absolute Creator.