Section Al-Furqan – Part 6

We will continue studying the next few verses from Section Furqan from where we last left off. We previously studied extensively on the nature of accusation against the prophet Muhammed (pbuh) by some of his opponents. We investigated how we can make sure that these accusations really happened and how we can prove it. We discussed that none of the followers denied that these accusations mentioned in the Qur’an, did not happen. They would have spoken if that was not the case. They also knew the prophet (pbuh) well and stayed loyal to him. The fact that we have now received the Qur’an intact first through the loyalty of the companions is also an evidence that they did not leave the Prophet and preserve the Qur’an exactly as it was revealed to the Prophet including these verses that mention these accusations.

The same accusations from different perspectives are listed in the following verses:

وَقَالُوا۟ مَالِ هَـٰذَا ٱلرَّسُولِ يَأْكُلُ ٱلطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشِى فِى ٱلْأَسْوَاقِ ۙ لَوْلَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مَلَكٌۭ فَيَكُونَ مَعَهُۥ نَذِيرًا

25:7 “They also say, ‘What sort of messenger is this? He eats food and walks about in the marketplaces! Why has no angel been sent down to help him with his warning.’”

This is another accusation being made. For any person who claims to have received any message, it is justifiable to expect that this person should have some extraordinary things happening to him for us to understand this being has some divine qualities within himself. This verse says that this is not the case. In our method of confirming these verses, we looked for evidence, for the truthfulness of these kinds of claims. In this verse, we will look for the evidence from another perspective.

Would it not be better if an angel accompanied him and helped him spread the message and everyone will trust his claim and benefit from his message? If an angel accompanies him and helps him to spread the message, what would the result be? There must be a reason that God has not done it this way. Angels are creatures we cannot see but we can understand their existence. They are beings with a different appearance; some say an appearance in the form of light or something. Whatever the nature of the appearance is, if an angel accompanies him, would it be better for us? The Qur’an narrates that some angels appeared to other prophets such as Abraham, Lot’s people, and to Mary. Let’s assume that there is an angel, and he helps the prophet. Everyone will be obliged to agree that the message that the prophet brings is sufficient. Whereas, when we examine the message we realize that it is supported by the universe. The message comes to us alongside evidence in the universe where the creation confirms the message. The message teaches us how to communicate with creation and encourages us to read, understand and communicate with the universe and connect our existence to the Creator of the universe. 

Going back to the question, let’s assume that the prophet is accompanied by the angel. The message says that “You have a creator, you don’t own yourself.” If there is an angel next to the prophet, then I would say that this person is an extraordinary man. Some of those following Christian theology make the same case for prophet Jesus being an extraordinary man having some sort of divine qualities. The result would be the same, rather than understanding the content of the message and apply it to our real living condition the people would sanctify the personality of the prophet and forget about the content of the message. This obviously would contradict the purpose of the message.

The prophetic (pbuh) message says that you have a creator, do not follow egoistic tendencies, worship God alone, do not expect anything from other beings, and live in this world to prepare yourself for the hereafter. I accept this as I see that extraordinary things are happening in the universe. Why should I be in need of another extraordinary appearance in the personality of the message bearer? Am I convinced with the content of the message or accept it because there are no other options for me? Can I be confident in my conclusions and have I arrived at them by myself? I must be convinced why I am here on earth and consequently I need to understand that I am here to get ready for eternal life, I am sure that it will happen.

However, if I am not convinced with the content of the message then would the prophet accompanied by an angel, that makes him extraordinary, force me to accept the message in an imitative way. Would it benefit me at all in order to make sense of my existence? Enforcing the message in this way will not convince me; it will not be internalized by my human qualities. 

Both cases are similar to each other as far as taking the message externally, i.e. by not having an internal conviction. Let us assume that a person received the message from someone who has supernatural qualities, alongside an angel doing extraordinary things. If this was the case, it would make people into hypocrites claiming they accept the message without being aware of what it is, rather than believers. I must be convinced and satisfied with the message, no matter where I am. This conviction must always be alive and must accompany me in terms of what my responsibilities are in this world. I must be freely confirming the message if I am convinced. Otherwise, if I am not convinced, I must freely reject it. I am created with the free will to choose among the readily created options. The mystery of free will functions here where it asks me to choose from two options. As a result, it will become my own personal conviction. 

What are the rejectors missing? Rather than the content of the message, are they looking for something extraordinary? Are they seeing the extraordinary creation out there or are they seeing the universe just as an “ordinary thing”? 

If someone cannot understand the reality of this universe, he cannot appreciate the content of the Revelation of the Qur’an. If someone cannot really appreciate and understand the extraordinariness of the universe, its miraculous aspect, they cannot understand and confirm the content of the Qur’an. After seeing the universe as a miraculous thing, and seeing the qualities they are displaying, I should be questioning their source of existence, how come things happen like this, how come the universe comes into existence? How do these qualities manifest here when there is no agent visible in this universe? If someone cannot question this then they cannot benefit from the content of the Qur’an. They would not be convinced with the message of the Qur’an and thus not benefit from its content. They will only get exposed to some general understanding that this universe needs a Creator. 

What is the relationship between the message of the Qur’an and the message of the universe? First, we find ourselves here in this world. Whether we received the message or not, the universe is in front of me, and my human qualities are already ingrained within me, within my existence as a human being. I must use my human qualities to question the universe and find the universe to be an extraordinary being. I must wonder how these things are miraculously coming into existence. There is no agent of existence in the universe and the essential elements of the universe are lifeless, dead matter that have no qualities of themselves. Communication starts from me with the universe. If I hear the message, I must take the message and examine it. Use my abilities to see with admiration all the things going on in the universe. It would be inevitable for me to accept the message of the Qur’an this way. That will be a completely free confirmation of the message in a fully convincing way, which is called “imaan” (belief.) We are responsible for going through these stages using our given abilities. 

After being convinced with the things going on in the universe, the second step is to investigate the message of the Qur’an. The Qur’an is a guide for me on how to read the universe, but the Qur’an needs itself an agent that is “ghaib”, not within the universe. I confirm the message of the Qur’an after going through the evidence in the universe. After seeing the evidence, I can confirm the Qur’an and take it as a guide for me to decipher the secrets of the universe. I must realize that there is no agent in this universe and that the agent must be an Absolute Being as the Qur’an says. I would say that it must be so as the dead lifeless matter cannot be the agent of the miraculous existence of the universe. By examining and questioning the universe first is probably an unconventional way of approaching the Qur’an practiced by some of its commentators. If someone says the Qur’an comes first, it is self-contradictory as I need to confirm the message. We must take this method seriously and reflect on it, and reinforce our belief from what we gather as evidence from the universe to confirm the message of the Qur’an. 

What is the purpose of miracles? Should the miracles of the prophets make people obliged to believe in its message or to freely choose the “Reality”, and submit to it?

Miracles took place occasionally and were not based on demand. If someone requests a miracle, the miracle will become an obstacle for taking the message seriously. The miracles happened according to the will of the Creator of the miracle, God to attract certain innocent people that it was meant for. Miracles serve the purpose of taking the prophet (pbuh) seriously as he is employed by God. After the death of the prophet, miracles did not happen. Now that we have the complete message with us, fully revealed, the wonderful universe is out there, we don’t need to see miracles physically happening, the message itself will replace the miracles. Miracles may be needed for those who are not aware of the message. However, we are aware of the message which we have available to us. I don’t need to see miracles, nor do I need to see the wonderworking of a scholar to believe in the message. Sincerity requires that whoever demonstrates some wonderworking must hide it and not publicize it as some serious scholars mention. Wonderworking should not make someone declare that they are extraordinary individuals and diverts the attention from the content of the message. 

Some scholars mention that the Qur’an is the only living miracle of the prophet (pbuh) available to us right now.

أَوْ يُلْقَىٰٓ إِلَيْهِ كَنزٌ أَوْ تَكُونُ لَهُۥ جَنَّةٌۭ يَأْكُلُ مِنْهَا ۚ وَقَالَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ إِن تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا رَجُلًۭا مَّسْحُورًا

25:8 Or, “Why hasn’t he been given a treasure?” Or “Why does he not have a garden from which he eats? And the evildoers say, “The man you follow is simply bewitched.”

They sarcastically refer to “garden” because of the early Meccan verses that mention the hereafter and about gardens in Paradise. Isn’t it only for the rejection of the message itself?

The accusers take the mentioning of gardens literally as the name of Paradise is “Jannah”, i.e. “the Garden”. The accusers are being sarcastic because of his message talking about gardens in Paradise. They are expecting the prophet to have gardens himself in this world, with excessive fruits and vegetables growing. They took “gardens” as referring to this world only.

The Qur’an openly declares what the rejectors accuse the prophet (pbuh) of. He just says that they don’t have good intentions, they are looking for an excuse not to believe in the message presented to them. The followers of the prophet don’t say that God mentions in the verse that he gives gardens to the believers and the prophet here on earth. They know that. He has not given any garden to the prophet (pbuh) and they do not expect that either. They remained loyal to the message of the prophet and knew that the accusations made by the deniers were not true but just an excuse invented by them. Their unwavering devotion is another proof to the Qur’ans authenticity. They continued to be together to support the prophet despite being pressured by the deniers. All these accusations were known during the prophet’s time by everyone where these accusations were all fabricated accusations and excuses for themselves to justify their denial.

Even amidst relentless accusations, the follower’s faith remained unshaken. The Qur’an does not hesitate to mention their accusation because they must have really happened. Doesn’t their steadfastness further validate the Qur’an truthfulness?

This has been discussed previously but we should realize the significance of this matter which we should keep in mind and share with others. These accusations being narrated in the Qur’an itself is evidence that the Qur’an is open to any kind of challenge. The historical reality is that we received the Qur’an protected by the complete loyalty of the followers of the prophet who took this message, preserved it and transferred it to the next generations. If I have the Qur’an in front of me in my hand proves that the people around the prophet (pbuh) were loyal to the message and this accusations really happened. 

Although these accusations are openly stated, declared to everyone, the deniers claimed that Muhammed himself is saying that God is accusing them for not giving him a garden for example. God does not respond to their accusations by giving the prophet (pbuh) a garden or accompanying him with an angel as some of those accusations were. This is one of the proofs that the Qur’an is open to any kind of challenge, as long as we understand the message of the Qur’an presented to us.

ٱنظُرْ كَيْفَ ضَرَبُوا۟ لَكَ ٱلْأَمْثَـٰلَ فَضَلُّوا۟ فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَبِيلًۭا

25:9 “See what they think you are like! They have gone astray and cannot find the right way.”

They are attacking the message by accusing the prophet by saying that: he is bewitched, he was helped by others, there is no angel accompanying him, etc. Their aim is to attack the message which they cannot come up with a counter argument challenging it, so they are left only with accuse the prophet(pbuh) personally. This also is evidence that no one can challenge` the message of the Qur’an itself. The inconsistency of their attacks on the Prophet reveals their true aversion: not to his character, but to his message.

Is there a meaningful distinction between those indifferent to the truth, and those who willfully fabricate excuses to reject it? The majority of the prophet’s contemporaries were indifferent. Only some of the elite and nobles were the ones attacking. In Section 48:25 (Al-Fath) of the Qur’an explains the reason, if there were not some believing people in Mecca, We would declare war and would have gotten rid of them. That is why We didn’t let you get into Mecca until everything became clear. When the Meccan people did not have any power to stop the believers the prophet came peacefully and took over the administration of Mecca. However, despite taking over the administration, the mayor, who was then not Muslim, stayed in his position. The purpose of Section Al-Fath mentioning the prophet going to Mecca was not for invading or worldly benefit but to spread the message peacefully. They demonstrated this clear intention by not taken away the non-Muslim from his position. That time, having the key of the door of Ka’ba represented the mayor of the city in our time.

Can those who refuse to investigate the truth find the right path? If someone is not looking for the truth, they just want to preserve their status in society. Consider those today who dismiss climate change as an example; they deny evidence not for the lack of proof but because the implications are inconvenient for their worldly profits. They know the truth is being told and yet they deny it. This shows that not every opposition may mean that they are not convinced or sincere about their position, but they may have some other agenda for the benefit of their own egotistic concerns which are not expressed outwardly.