We are studying the concluding verses of Section Al-Furqan of the Qur’an. We last investigated verses mentioning the worshipers of the Most Merciful One who are careful in not falling onto falsehood. Have qualities that don’t attribute deity to any created being. They repent for their mistakes and then perform righteous deeds by acknowledging their source of existence. Then the following verses mentioned those who deny belief in God and the prophetic message. They will face consequences and punishment that will be multiplied in the Hereafter. We discussed what the multiplication of punishment meant where one will be faced with eternal humiliation. However, we are given the opportunity to repent in this world, and we must be careful to recognize God in the deeds we do. The verse concludes with God being Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.
We will continue with the following verse:
وَمَن تَابَ وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحًۭا فَإِنَّهُۥ يَتُوبُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ مَتَابًۭا
25:71 And whosoever repents and works righteousness does indeed repent to God with true repentance.
When one repents, it must be to God. How do we understand “repentance”? We understand that it is not only some lip service but must be from within and sincere. Is it only after doing some sinful action and then deciding not to do it again? The repentance must be sincere before God as He knows what is going on in my mind and heart.
What if I repeat the sinful action, would my repentance be accepted? Anytime I repent, I acknowledge my Lord, the Owner of the universe, and that is beneficial to me. I should be careful not to do the sinful act again. If I repeat the act, the Qur’an doesn’t say that my repentance is not accepted. That repeated act is a separate act. The verse uses the verb form of repenting, asking for forgiveness is good for us because anytime I ask for forgiveness, that moment I am connecting myself to my Lord. That makes the moment that I seek repentance worthwhile for me. The word “يَتُوبُ” is not in the past tense but in present continuous tense. Whenever I am repenting, I am turning to God with true repentance. The act of repenting may be once, but the returning to God is a continuous action.
The phrase “يَتُوبُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ”, translated as “he continuously and constantly repents to God”, literally means “he turns to God”. Why is turning to God interpreted as repentance? I need to have the realization of the Creator of the universe in my living. When I don’t have that recognition, I turn away from my Creator. If one repents out of fear, then that is not true repentance. If I did something wrong, I would have done it against my Creator’s Will. I should return back to Him by recognizing that I did something wrong. Repentance and asking for forgiveness must be for the sake of acknowledging my Creator. When I fall into neglect as a human being, I must remember God and ask for forgiveness for my negligence of Him: “Please forgive me for my negligence.”
True repentance needs to be accompanied by “righteous works” as expressed by the phrase “وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحًۭا”. Usually in the Qur’an, the “وَ” indicates two separate events based on the context, where one may be the consequence of the other. For example, “I took my phone and called my friend” has two actions in them. Without the “وَ”, the actions would be combined together for them to be accepted, whereas here in this verse it is two different events, i.e. the two events independently will be rewarded. We should pay attention to this when reading the Qur’an.
What is “righteous work” in this context? Whatever wrong we may be doing, we would stop that and do rightful things that are encouraged by my Creator.
وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَشْهَدُونَ ٱلزُّورَ وَإِذَا مَرُّوا۟ بِٱللَّغْوِ مَرُّوا۟ كِرَامًۭا
25:72 And those who do not take part in any falsehood/do not testify falsely; and when they pass by idle speech/evil activities, pass by it honorably without engaging in it.
The phrase “ٱلزُّورَ” means something that must not be paid attention to, something not worth mentioning, translated here as idle speech. The phrase “وَإِذَا مَرُّوا۟ بِٱللَّغْوِ مَرُّوا۟ كِرَامًۭا” has the meaning of passing by something honorable without engaging in it. For example, when I see one of my believing brothers do something wrong, the Qur’an advises to pass by it, ignore minor mistakes as if I have not seen it.
In traditional translations they usually translate لَا يَشْهَدُونَ ٱلزُّورَ in terms of some judicial matter advising that one should not give false testimony or falsify their witnessing. One must be honest in their testimony. That is correct but to expand this, we must not take part in any falsehood, idle speech. The word “يَشْهَدُونَ” also means to be present and “لَا يَشْهَدُونَ” means that one must not be present in all of falsehood. I must also not take any part in that falsehood, i.e. I should not be joining them.
What is “falsehood” in today’s culture? The material minded culture we are surrounded with, the news from social media are elements that this verse is addressing. We must not be present in what is conveyed there. The materialist scientist’s interpretation of the universe is something that one must pass by honorably without engaging in it. The events mentioned by materialist scientists are mostly correct but the interpretation from their perspective is not. They are mostly lies that I must not be present with and not partake in them. They take any part of the universe and make it an “idle being”, having no purpose in their existence and they have no conscious owner. For example, in the statement “the tree grows the fruit”, the Qur’an says “no, the tree and the fruit are given existence at the same time by Him. The tree has no knowledge, power, will, to give existence to the fruit.”.
How can it be possible not to take part in any falsehood? One must be careful, not buy into any falsehood, any news from social media events which they have no control over. It is much more valuable to pay attention to the creation of events, paying attention to the creation of things in the universe.
Are we not advised to correct anything we see wrong by hand, if not possible by tongues, if not possible by heart? This is a famous hadith, narration of the prophet (pbuh) that most of us are familiar with. If one thinks that they would effectively make a difference in some matter, then they should do it. I must be wise to determine whether I can have some positive impact on the matter. It is useless to express their reaction or anger without any result.
وَٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِّرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ رَبِّهِمْ لَمْ يَخِرُّوا۟ عَلَيْهَا صُمًّۭا وَعُمْيَانًۭا
25:73 They are those who, when reminded of the signs of their Lord, do not turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to it.
We must be honest to ourselves, how conscious we are of the Qur’anic message in our living. How many hours of my day do I spend studying the Qur’an? Did anyone remind me of the “signs of my Lord” recently? The whole universe is available for me to witness the signs of my Lord. I am given feelings within me, senses that help me to learn about things. The prophetic message comes to how I should live my life. The combination of the universe, me and the prophetic message is how I can read the signs of my Lord.
What do we understand from “turning a blind eye or a deaf ear”? When we read a verse from the Qur’an or we see a creature, or we have a feeling about anything we should try to understand it. When I don’t see the meaning in events, who is presenting them to me then I turn myself away from my Lord communicating with me.
وَٱلَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَٰجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍۢ وَٱجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا
25:74 and those who pray: ‘Our Lord! Grant us spouses and offspring who will be a joy to our eyes and make us the forerunners to those who are God-conscious.’
The previous verse mentioned that when God’s signs are mentioned to them, they pay attention to them. This verse addresses my personal need to have a spouse and children that would bring joy to my eyes. I would thus ask for a spouse and children who would be the leaders, forerunners of being God-conscious. The word “إِمَامًا” is understood as the person who goes to the front to lead the prayers. That is why we can understand here the word “إِمَامًا” meaning as forerunners. I must have my personal relationship with my Lord under any circumstances including in difficult war situations. My prayers are my personal responsibility before God. In order to help Islam, if I don’t pray or study the Qur’an what help can I give? Many are busy earning money and thus find it easier to contribute for someone else to study the Qur’an. To run their business, making money is sweeter to them than to study the Qur’an? We must watch out for ourselves and be careful with this current trend.
Do we think that there are some people who would not like their spouse and children to be better than them? Only those who are psychologically unstable, full of egoistic side, haven’t trained themselves and are not aware of who they are and what their purpose is may exhibit such feelings. Otherwise, everyone tries to prepare a better future for their generation. The Qur’an is asking us to utilize this in-born feeling to prepare them to be a candidate for their eternal future life in Paradise.
What does the Qur’an mean by saying “they pray to God”? The Qur’an is encouraging us to help our spouses and children to be good examples and after making the effort, asking God to make me successful in my effort. This verse is also encouraging all of us to be good examples to those who believe in God.
Another point is that there is a serious scholar who studied the prayers of the prophets and mentioned that they all start with “رَبَّنَا”, addressing their Lord with humility. Although there are also prayers with “Allahumma…” in many hadith narrations. By using “Our Lord”, I establish the relationship of my Lord as my Teacher, Trainer, Educator, Provider in this world which provides a closer and loving relationship in my supplications to my Creator.
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ يُجْزَوْنَ ٱلْغُرْفَةَ بِمَا صَبَرُوا۟ وَيُلَقَّوْنَ فِيهَا تَحِيَّةًۭ وَسَلَـٰمًا
25:75 All of them will be rewarded with the highest paradise for what they patiently endured, and they will be received with greetings of peace,
Can I imagine that if I fulfill my purpose of existence by living with the qualities of a believer, not assigning any deity to any created being, then I would be rewarded with the highest paradise and will receive greetings of peace from my Creator? My Creator would be greeting me with “Salaams” and “Peace”. Usually, the scholars explain the greetings of peace coming from angels, but we can understand the greetings coming from God as well. Can I imagine God saying “Salaams” to me? That is the biggest reward.
How can we understand the term “Patiently enduring”? In making sure more and more in our certainty in belief articles, performing our worship of God, in resisting the temptations of the environment, not falling into negligence. Recognizing God in all events and not owning our actions which are all created by Him.
Who is going to receive them in paradise? My Lord with all His beautiful qualities that I experience here and get a glimpse of them while living.
What does “will be received with greetings of peace” mean? I will be entertained with all those qualities that I cherished and recognized as belonging to my Creator.
خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ حَسُنَتْ مُسْتَقَرًّۭا وَمُقَامًۭا
25:76 Living there forever. What an excellent place to settle and reside!
The highest place is reserved for those worshipers.
Do we think it will be boring after a while? Satisfaction does not come from boredom and my feelings seek eternal satisfaction.
God says, “it is an excellent place to settle”. How would I agree with this news? Do I have any evidence for it, or do I just believe in this news because God is telling me this news?
Will I be satisfied with only spiritual pleasures? Since I entertain myself with my physical body here, I would like to experience the same physical and spiritual pleasure.
قُلْ مَا يَعْبَؤُا۟ بِكُمْ رَبِّى لَوْلَا دُعَآؤُكُمْ ۖ فَقَدْ كَذَّبْتُمْ فَسَوْفَ يَكُونُ لِزَامًۢا
25:77 Say, “You would not even matter to my Lord if not for your prayers to Him?” But since you have denied the truth as lies, punishment will inevitably befall you.
The phrase “كَذَّبْتُمْ”, translated as “denied the truth as lies” means to consciously, knowingly deny the truth. Here one would be reacting to the truth knowingly for example by preventing the spreading of the message. There is rejection as well as accusation. Whereas the term “kafara” is not accepting the truth but not reacting to it; a kind of being indifferent to the messengers. Whereas, the “كَذَّبْتُمْ”, conscious deniers and those who react by preventing spreading of the truth are deserving of punishment by accusing the messengers to be liars while they are well-aware that the message is really true and they prefer others not to hear this truth because it goes against their worldly benefits.
Why does the subject suddenly change from being in Paradise to prayer? Paradise is the result of how we live our lives here. If I am aware of my reality that I need to be given existence, need to be sustained then all I do in my life is nothing but prayer.
Do we not have any value before God if we do not pray to Him? I am given the opportunity in this life to acknowledge my Creator. What can I expect from blind, chance or nature? Even if I do not believe in God, He is still providing everything to me. Why then would one need to pray? Is it only for asking Him to put us in Paradise? My reality is that I am in need to pray. Every being in the universe is created and in need to be sustained. This neediness and who can fulfill this neediness would result in prayer. Paradise is a gift out of God’s mercy.