We are studying Section Al-Furqan of the Qur’an and last investigated the verse mentioning the believers in the Creator of the universe who pray to Him to protect them from the punishment of Hell which is an evil place to settle and reside. When the Qur’an mentions Paradise and Hell, it refers to both the life in this world as well as the next where we are all craving for Paradise. We pray to God to forgive for our shortcomings, negligence, and mistakes in this life, and we hope that our Lord will grant us Paradise. To attain this blessed destination, we must start the journey here and now, striving to educate our spirit and purify our feelings so that we may become deserving of Paradise while living here. Let’s refresh on how we can keep that consciousness for our destination alive.
We looked at the example of driving a car with the aim of arriving at some destination. We journey in the car all the way to our destination where we will be settling down. While driving, I have the destination in my mind and accordingly I make my decisions in the journey. The important point to notice is that all the decisions about which roads to take, where to turn are meant for my destination. This is the analogy for how I must live my life in this world with my destination in mind. When I use my freewill to act on something, I must be conscious of my destination.
We also used the example of a student who attends classes with the objective of getting a degree and practicing professionally once they leave university. Another example was that of a farmer who has the outcome of his/her yield in mind when farming.
In general terms, if we follow the truth, we must always keep in mind the reality of the transience of this world and our destination to where we will head; I must act and use my free will accordingly. I cannot just sit here doing nothing and ask God to grant me Paradise. While I am in the car, without paying attention to where I am going, where I am turning, I cannot expect to arrive at my desired destination. I must be consciously following the proper directions to arrive at the destination that I intended for.
We must not read the verses related to the Hereafter only in terms of obtaining information about the Hereafter, but it must be applicable to my life now. While I am living in this world, I must live my life to confirm the truth, be respectful to others including all kinds of animate and inanimate beings, and not transgress the rights of their existence. I must use my free will accordingly. My journey to Paradise starts from here without waiting till I die. There is an amazing verse (67:2): “He is the One Who created death and life so that He might put you to a test [and thus show] which of you is best in conduct and [make you realize that] He alone is almighty, truly forgiving.” Instead of the translated word “test” we must understand that life and death are created as means of education for us to improve ourselves in this life for what we are created for. Once death is given to me, there is no more learning.
The verse is teaching me to bring the awareness of the reality of death (which is the accumulated result of living) to my day-to-day life. This continuously changing universe shows me that it is transient, the creation of death is to teach me to bring this understanding into my daily living. Every moment, I must keep in mind the day of my graduation while I am in this world before I die. I am learning in this life by keeping the understanding in my mind that one day a graduation day definitely will come. I must prepare myself in this life of education and will get the degree according to my education after graduating from this world, leading to a place where I will settle and reside.
Let’s study the following verse:
وَٱلَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَنفَقُوا۟ لَمْ يُسْرِفُوا۟ وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُوا۟ وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ قَوَامًۭا
25:67 And they are those who are neither wasteful nor niggardly when they spend but keep to a just balance.
The letter “و” at the beginning of this verse is connecting the message of the previous verses that started with the worshipers of the all-Merciful are those who walk on the Earth with humility, i.e. those who have preferred to acknowledge and respond back to the Merciful One. They know their reality in all situations they face, submit their being to Him and are conscious of Him. Accept that they have shortcomings and pray for forgiveness and ask their Lord to keep them away from the punishment of Hell.
The word “أَنفَقُو”, translated as “spend” means to provide one’s adequate support. How do we define “adequate support”, according to what? How do I help people by “spending” on them, what do they need? Everyone regardless of any religion is given the feelings to help materially in terms of daily necessities that satisfies the body, such as how to take care of one’s health, how to be healthy financially. Do I need God to teach me to help with my material needs? The Qur’an encourages people to share the message of the Qur’an which entails what I do not know. There are many verses that mention that my Lord teaches me what I don’t know, questions to which I cannot get an answer from this universe. The prophets (pbuh) also are employed to teach me what I don’t know. The Qur’an encourages human beings to help others with the purpose and mission of one’s existence that it teaches and the prophets practically demonstrate how to fulfil this mission.
Human beings need permanent satisfaction, and they cannot find it in this universe. I wonder about the mystery of death, how I am given life and then given death, this is all mysterious. Why am I here in this world? I want the One who created me with the need of knowing what I don’t know which I need to know. What is this wonderful creation for? What is the purpose of the existence of my feelings that desire full satisfaction. Although I can know that I am given existence by someone, but I do not know Who made me like this, I don’t know. The Revelation comes to help me by telling me who my Owner is, why He has created me and what is expected of me, and how I can communicate with Him. I want peace in my life and around me, justice, harmony, be happy and desire eternity. Why are these feelings given to me? Where is this need to help others come from? Why is there life and why is there death? Why am I changing to get old and then die in the end? If I had not heard from the prophetic messages, I would remain without an answer. These questions must be answered, and the Revelation of the Qur’an provides the answers. I must read the Revelation in order to get answers to such human questions. If there was no Revelation and if someone or a civilization encourages me to live a happy life on a temporary basis, day by day enjoyment and die as a happy man and disappear from existence in a meaningless way, does that satisfy my expectations?
That is what we should understand for “spending” with the usage of the words such as “نَفَقَة ‘“صدقة”. Also, for “زكاة”, we are purifying the property given to me by my Creator? Everyone gives something to charity. The Qur’an’s aim is something else: why am I giving, how am I expected to give, with what understanding do I give? I need to purify myself from the dirt of my ego-centric world view that says the property belongs to me. For example, a famous atheist mentions that he does not need religion. His human qualities are enough to know what is good and what is bad and by helping others he is exercising his goodness upon them. The Qur’an says that I must help and give to the needy by acknowledging that the property does not belong to me. I need to purify myself from the false egoistic understanding of appropriating the property of God. This is what “zakat” is for, to purify the dirt of my ego of misappropriating the given property, to understand my position that I have a Lord, my Owner who is the Owner of everything. I must practice this consciousness when giving “zakat”.
What is “لَمْ يُسْرِفُوا۟” translated as “do not go beyond the limit and become wasteful”? There are quite a few verses in the Qur’an that ask us not to waste. How do we define “to waste”? We don’t need God to teach us to not throw food away or spend money on unnecessary things. When I am using water, why do I turn the tap off? The material waste is one percent of the meaning of “waste” in the message of the Qur’an. I must ask: “What is the thing that I don’t know according to the purpose of the Qur’an?” When the Qur’an tells me not to waste it means that I must have the consciousness that water is a blessing of God given for my benefit. I must recognize my Creator as the Merciful One, the Generous One, the Cleansing One, etc. Water and its qualities are the means for me to connect with their Creator. I cannot waste the opportunity to acknowledge the Creator of whatever I am benefitting from.
Through the beings, my Creator is introducing Himself to me and inviting me to acknowledge Him as well as communicate with Him. I must just admit His blessings and not be ungrateful. I must not waste my feelings, intellect given to me. I must acknowledge the qualities of the Creator in the continuous creation of beings which is known as “time” and respond back to Him by glorifying Him. The qualities of the believers according to the Qur’an are those who don’t waste but use the beings to communicate with their Creator, called God. I must not be “niggardly” by giving the qualities of the Creator to the beings themselves. I must be generous in using my human qualities to connect the qualities in beings to their Creator and respond back to Him.
How do we “keep to a just balance”? What are the criteria? I must read the Qur’an according to the purpose of the Qur’an, which is to teach me what I don’t know, i.e. I cannot find the answer from this universe or other created beings. I must use my feelings for the purpose they are created for. I must also communicate with other beings in the universe for the purpose they are created for. I must be generous in utilizing my feelings for the purpose that they are created for, which is, to acknowledge the Creator of things that I am using and to glorify Him. This allows me to communicate with Him, which constitutes the essence of worship.