Section Al-Furqan – Part 5

We will continue to study Section Furqan, the 25th Section of the Qur’an. A little recap as to what we covered last time: After establishing that the prophet (pbuh) cannot make up the Qur’an from his intellect, or getting help from others, the subject shifts to why we should believe in the message of the Qur’an. As we engage with the Qur’an, we should learn to confirm the message of the Qur’an rather than just accepting blindly by saying that the Qur’an says so. We should question, why does the Qur’an speak to me? When I read the Qur’an, I can confirm that the One who speaks must have these qualities that I observe in the universe. I must look for conviction based on evidence where my reasoning and feelings are satisfied with the message of the Qur’an. The Qur’an so far has been introducing the Owner of the universe as “the One” who has been doing all these things. Whoever is doing all these things is the One who revealed the Qur’an to his honored worshiper, an illiterate person who was honest and trustworthy which was accepted by all his contemporaries. 

Let’s examine the following verse:

قُلْ أَنزَلَهُ ٱلَّذِى يَعْلَمُ ٱلسِّرَّ فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ غَفُورًۭا رَّحِيمًۭا

25:6 “Say: ‘It was sent down by the One who knows the secrets in the heavens and the Earth. He is always Forgiving, Merciful’”

We get a general idea in terms of the content of the verse mentioning that this One sent down the Qur’an and knows all that is in this universe. The verse indicates that there is a relationship between the Qur’an and the heavens and the earth, which is the universe. Whoever is speaking says that I know the secrets in the heavens and the Earth. If the speaker in the Qur’an truly possesses the knowledge and secrets of the heavens and the Earth, as claimed, then these hidden secrets should be revealed within the Qur’an. Through human intellect, feelings and emotions, which guide our existence in the universe, we can explore and understand those secrets while living in this world.  Whatever is mentioned in the Qur’an, it must reveal the secrets of the heavens and the Earth. I will expect from the Qur’an to explain to me what is hidden in the existence of the heavens and the Earth. The Qur’an must disclose these secrets which are beyond human capacity to figure out by themselves. Only the One who creates the universe can know them. I am sure a person cannot find these secrets out, let alone an illiterate person living in a desert among the Bedouins. If I see the message in the Qur’an that reveals the secrets of the heavens and the Earth then my heart and mind will be comfortable that the One who creates the universe is speaking to me in the Qur’an.

What are these secrets of heavens and the Earth? We can examine a verse from Section Naml, 27:25 which has similar content as it pertains to the secrets of the heavens and the Earth.

أَلَّا يَسْجُدُوا۟ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِى يُخْرِجُ ٱلْخَبْءَ فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تُخْفُونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ

Naml, 27:25 Should they not worship God, who brings forth what is hidden in the heavens and earth and knows both what you [people] conceal and what you declare? 

This is an example to help us understand how we can relate the stories of the prophets to the message of the Qur’an. For example, in the story of Solomon, a bird was sent by him to the Queen of Sheeba. The bird delivered the message of Solomon starting with “بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ” (In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful), and then asking the queen to submit her throne to him, prophet Solomon. Historical interpretations mention the surrender of her physical kingdom to the prophet. From a belief perspective, we can understand the surrendering of the people of queen Sheeba to the message of the prophet Solomon. The prophet is an elected figure to be an example for me. They are not looking to invade land and territories which are temporary resources. Why would a prophet be engaged in invading and getting lands? What kind of example is prophet Solomon, employed by God, setting up for me? I have no interest in invading land or a country. Historians mention the army of Solomon is made up of Jinn, Satan, birds, and all kinds of animals. This means that everything in the universe is witness to the truthfulness of his prophethood and message. His army is his message, and his throne is the authority of messengership. 

It was historically narrated that Sheeba was a clever queen running the richest countries in the area. The Qur’an presents the scenario where Queen Sheeba tested Solomon whether he is acting indeed in the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Merciful or in his own name? She wanted to find out if Prophet Solomon is truly acting in the name of God or does he have any caprices, to take over her territory. She sent over some precious gifts to Solomon. If he had been acting with his caprices, he would be pleased with them, and that would reveal that he is acting in his own name. However, prophet Solomon did not show any interest in those precious gifts and returned them back as the scenario is presented in the Qur’an.

The story has another aspect directly related to our subject regarding secrets hidden in the heavens and the earth. In the presentation of the Qur’an, the bird goes to Queen Sheeba with the message of “بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ” and comes back to prophet Solomon and gives the news in this verse we are looking at (27:25). The bird is one of the types of evidence of the prophetic message that brings this news: “Should they not worship God, who brings forth what is hidden in the heavens and earth and knows both what you people conceal and what you declare?”

The phrase “تُخْفُونَ” translated as “you” is said to be only speaking to human beings. Yes, the Qur’an speaks to human beings and provides them guidance. At the same time, the Qur’an speaks to all conscious beings, which includes human beings, jinn, angels (angelic side of creation). Guidance is provided to all of them. The Qur’an mentions that the universe has angels, where I can see the angelic side of the universe according to the message of the Qur’an. The Qur’an speaks to guide human beings, but its addressee is the whole universe. When I read the Qur’an, I must bear in mind that the message encompasses the universe, and I must take the universe when I am trying to understand the message of the Qur’an. This is the most exciting way of engaging with the Qur’an where the Qur’an should be read and understood with its nature of universality of the knowledge of the speaker of the Qur’an.

In the verse, the bird acting as the messenger of prophet Solomon says that they should worship God. Who is God? The One who brings forth what is hidden in the heavens and earth. He knows what is concealed and what is declared. He knows what our eyes can see, what the eyes of the heart can see, and He speaks accordingly. Whatever I can see here in the universe, He knows it. He must know what my perception perceives, what my capacity can perceive, what is the hidden aspect in the existence of the universe we live in. For example, the existence of a tree has the apparent aspect and the “مَلَکُوت”, angelic side of creation. When He reveals the secrets of this angelic side, I must be convinced about the news, that is the truth that I was looking for, which is the confirmation of the Qur’an. 

The term “ٱلْخَبْء” is translated as hidden, covered. When I take the veil off the tree, I would see all the qualities manifested in the existence of the tree. I see the tree has roots, branches and leaves where extraordinary things are happening. A botanist would detail all the wonderful phenomena, chemical reactions that are continuously happening within the tree, an inanimate, powerless, unconscious material being. What is manifested on the tree? Infinite knowledge, Power, Wisdom is revealing the secret side of this tree. My angelic side sees the angelic side of the universe which are the secrets of the heavens and the earth, that is, what is covered by the outward appearance of the physical beings. In my bodily appearance, only material things are visible. However, my secret side (human abilities) is there that  communicates with the secret side of the universe. By touching the tree, my mind and feelings touch the Kind, Merciful, Wise, Deliberate, Knowledgeable, Beautiful, Purposeful manifested on the created tree. As a scientist, if I study what is going on in the existence of the leaf, I will simply prostrate to the Creator of the leaf: “Oh, Creator of the universe, you are revealing Yourself to me through the leaf.” Like when I read a book I can experience that the author is revealing his knowledge to me. By mentioning the things hidden in the heavens and the earth, the Qur’an is not speaking to encourage exploration of resources in different parts of the world but to see the angelic side of the universe. The main purpose of the Qur’an is to introduce God Himself to conscious beings.

Going back to the verse 25:6, the word “لسِّرّ” is used which is translated as “secrets”, which can be referenced to the “hidden” or covered which is the angelic aspect of the universe. Can we say that these secrets are Infinite? They must be, cannot be otherwise.

Infinite has two aspects. The exploration of the chemical reactions going on in the cells of a leaf are endless, one cannot get to the end, thus it is infinite for us. Everyone is searching deeper using tools to investigate the micro world. Scientists speak to what their eyes see. In this sense also, the division performed by scientists goes to Infinity as they keep dividing the smallest thing they discover. Nowadays, they are theoretically dividing things and cannot come to an end. 

The purpose of the Qur’an is not that side of it. These research and discoveries are included where the Qur’an mentions the combination of the particles “Zerre”. The particle cannot be defined as it is not of a material body known to human beings. In science, they are referred to as fundamental particles having no internal structure. They are now looking at the Infinitesimal small particle (zerre), previously the smallest building blocks were atoms. The particles combine to make an atom which further combines to make molecules and it continues to form a being. Every stage of this creation has infinite qualities manifested in them, of an Infinite Owner of those qualities, an Absolute Being. Both sides are infinite because only an Absolute Being can manifest qualities with no end. This demonstrates the Source of existence of this universe must be an Absolute One. 

If humans could explore the smallest or largest scales of the universe and could reach the end, they would not witness the Source of existence of the universe to be an Absolute Being. The Qur’an challenged 1450 years ago that neither human beings nor Jinn could get to the end of the universe. The tools used by scientists have become sophisticated, but they can only talk about 2% of the universe as the experts claim. This 2% they mention is just an approximation, no one can give any number as far as infinite is concerned. Can I say I discovered 2% of the infinite? That is a laughable matter to scientists as Infinite is not limited. We cannot talk about limitless creation in terms of numbers, i.e. we cannot describe infinity with a number. The universe is infinite as far as our capacity is concerned. This does not mean that the universe in and of itself is infinite. It cannot be just because it is a created being and therefore cannot  be infinite. For practical reasons, scientists speak in this way to express an approximation. We should realize that the main concern of the Qur’an is to show the angelic aspect of things, i.e. the qualities manifested in the things, not just the physical aspect of things. 

Do you think these days scientists are searching for the secrets of the universe? What are they researching in their laboratories? Scientists are discovering the material constructions of the universe by looking at the physical aspects of the universe. They are researching what is not known by human beings only from the physical aspect. By this definition, they are playing a trick, they say we are discovering what this universe consists of.  We go into the details to see how the universe is constructed. Then they speak in terms of cause and effect where the acts are the results of material body elements. They say that is how the universe works by itself. They discover what is happening there but describe it as if the things are the actors in the chemical reactions, for example.

The reality is that A cannot affect  B to become as it is. A and B both need to be created.  They are not actors in any chemical reactions. The things you are ascribing existence to are created beings, they cannot be actors for the chemical reactions, they themselves need to be created, they do not have these qualities that can make it happen in this way. The tricky language they use is to mention things as if they have inherent qualities. Where are they getting these qualities from? The things need to have Absolute Knowledge, Absolute Will, Absolute Power for the results to be created. Things cannot act independently but are purposefully working together in harmony. Scientists talk about entanglement where everything is meshed up together. They don’t say that we are searching for how things are created in this way. They don’t have a research problem but an interpretation problem where they are not trying to understand how existence is taking place.

The Qur’an encourages its readers to realize how perfectly the universe is adjusted within its creation by the Creator of the universe. The Qur’an says in the above verse: “it was sent down by the One who knows the secrets in the heavens and the Earth.” The Qur’an mentions that you can decipher things and find out the qualities manifested in them. Materialists reduce these qualities to blind matter, reduced to accidental happenings. This is the greatest insult to the Creator of the universe. 

Which aspect of the universe is more important according to human needs? Scientists are discovering the physical aspect, naming and describing how things happen rather than seeing how things are created, coming into existence. The Qur’an encourages us to see the angelic aspect, the meaningful side of the universe where I see secrets in the universe in terms of the manifested qualities of the Creator of the universe. The Qur’anic worldview gives the explanation of existence, and we are responsible for the message being known to many others who are misled by scientific interpretations. We must watch out for ourselves with the interpretative language of the scientists. They repeat these words so many times that it may even become a daily language of the people. Either seek bodily satisfaction by finding out how the universe is created to make technical gadgets for my bodily ease or, while benefiting from them for my bodily satisfaction, be introduced to the Creator of the universe where in every being are presented the qualities of the Creator of the universe to my angelic, spiritual side. From the Qur’anic message I would know that I belong to an Absolute Being who is promising me with His Absolute qualities, that He will create another creation to satisfy my spiritual needs in the next creation.

We must reflect on Section Fatiha of the Qur’an. The phrase “مَـٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ”, translated as “Master of the Day of Judgement”.  This universe is nothing compared to the next creation. This universe physically satisfies the needs of my body and introduces the qualities of its Creator until I die. However, the universe has its meaningful side which satisfies my mind and feelings. My infinite human needs cannot be satisfied in this fleeting world but must be rewarded and satisfied in the next creation. We should read Section Fatiha with this consciousness and enjoyment of the next creation which is presented to us. A believer will take the positive side where I must take care of my shortcomings and He will take care of me with His favor. 

We should not reduce the meaning of “Master of the Day of Judgement” to gathering people to take into account. But this “judging” in this verse is to give a permanent bodily satisfaction for those who prepared themselves for this result. So, as believers we should have more hope in the news of this verse which encourages me to prepare myself to expect this satisfaction of my spiritual needs from my Creator, rather than not preparing myself and having the fear of being taken into account. This fear may turn into despair and make us tend to not like it and, at the end, to hope that there should not be a “Day of Judgement”. This is very dangerous and contradicts our human qualities; it may end up looking for an excuse to deny the reality of the next creation. We have to watch out for this and prepare ourselves for the best result in a hopeful way. When we fail to accomplish in the best way, we have to acknowledge it and ask for forgiveness.