We will continue with our study of Section Al-Furqan, where we last looked at the verses mentioning the opponents of the prophet (pbuh) asking him to have some extraordinary abilities. They were expecting that he (pbuh) should be something more than an ordinary man that eats food and walks in the marketplace. They expected that he should have some angel to help him, have a garden in this world which he had been talking about in his message. They accused him that he has nothing special than an ordinary man as their expectations were for the prophet to have extraordinary qualities. They think that the message that he is delivering is coming from him and not directly coming from God which is why they expect him to be in a super being position. According to them, if the message was really from God, then God must send an angel along with him and favor the prophet to be different from other beings. Only then would he deserve to be selected as His messenger. However, they see that this man is an ordinary man but an honest man and they can’t speak against his honesty.
Let’s continue with the next verse:
تَبَارَكَ ٱلَّذِىٓ إِن شَآءَ جَعَلَ لَكَ خَيْرًۭا مِّن ذَٰلِكَ جَنَّـٰتٍۢ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ وَيَجْعَل لَّكَ قُصُورًۢا
25:10 “Blessed is the One who may grant you something even better than that if He so wishes: gardens through which rivers flow. He may even grant you palaces!”
This is the response from God where He says that: “I may grant you something even better than what you are asking for.” However, God doesn’t choose the way people are asking for in this world by granting gardens and palaces. One may ask since people are asking prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to show some extraordinary qualities during his life then why is he not given so that the people may believe in the message. We discussed last time that in such a scenario, people would be bound to follow the message without really looking for the message or searching for the truth. That is why God does not respond to their demands and leaves the prophet (pbuh) alone with the message itself. People are given the option to examine the message and understand if it is true or not and accordingly decide whether they want to accept it or not. If God had answered to their demand by creating what they asked, without them being convinced with the content of the message, they would be bound to accept it. That is not the way of believing in the content of the message but one would hypocritically accept the message without any conviction of the content of the message. We have been reading the narrations of the accusations being presented in the Qur’an. In our position of receiving this message now, we may wonder why God does not respond to their demands and does not fulfill them. However, we discussed this important point last time which was that they would not believe in the content of the message but be obliged to accept the message because of the prophet (pbuh) having super abilities not because they were convinced about the truthfulness of the message.
When the obstinate people challenged God, saying: “if You can do it then do it”, God says “No, if you challenge me, I will not obey you but destroy you and show you who I am. I can only respond to those people who ask me regarding their true needs.” People have needs but they cannot obtain it by themselves and pray to God: “Please God, I believe in Your Power and am convinced that everything is in Your hand, I am in a desperate position, please help me.” God responds to this prayer because these people are acknowledging God and asking for His Help. Whereas the deniers are not acknowledging God’s authority but are rejecting His creatorship. Because of their challenges and objections, God says that He will destroy them: “You will see what I will do to you in your next creation.” For example, if someone tries to challenge any authority then the authority will make them an example by showing them how his authority really is.
God also says to the Prophet, and by extension to anyone of the readers of the Qur’an, that if He wishes, He may grant you palaces much better than what they are asking for to be given here. Why does God choose it in this way?
Would you choose a life of eternal joy, or one with temporary pleasures? Let us consult our heart – what does it yearn for? Either I am given a big banquet now or not. If I put my trust in God and recognize Him by being loyal to Him, God says that “ask me what you want but know that your need is different. What you need is eternal satisfaction. Within the conditions of this world, I won’t give you something temporary as a challenging demand of the disbelievers as if I am obeying them.” This world is not the place where something permanent will be given to us as the nature of this creation is transient. We are being trained by realizing the transience of this world and we seek eternal satisfaction. Our hearts look for permanent satisfaction, not temporary ones, that is how we are created. In this world, God may grant some palaces based on what human feelings need. However, what my feelings necessitate do not fit within this type of creation so God may not give those palaces in this world.
Imagine yourself amidst endless gardens and flowing fountains. Can such luxuries in this world ever truly soothe your fear of losing them, knowing that it will all vanish one day, leaving you with nothing, and you will also die? The nature of this creation is transient whereas human beings desire permanence. That is why God says that “I will not give you transient things where you will expect satisfaction from them and be done with, without seeking permanence”. The prophet did not ask: “Please God, give me a flourishing rich garden so that these opponents will quiet down from making accusations.” The prophet never prayed such. God advised the prophet to be patient and be honest to the message without any fear. Keep delivering the message without asking anything in return. Only those who really feel the need to understand the reality of their own existence would confirm the message, educate their feelings and direct the requirements of their feelings to their Creator: “O God, I need permanent palaces, need permanent comfort. If it is not permanent, I would be suffering from always losing it.” This world teaches me that I will die and leave everything behind.
How can I be satisfied with the temporary things? The fear of losing whatever I have here in this world is always more effective than my loving it. Unfortunately, because of neglect and not paying attention to our reality we ignore our human needs. I must think about the reality of my existence and would feel sorry to ask for temporary satisfaction. Let’s think about this, if something temporary is satisfying me then I wouldn’t bother for permanence. If I realize that my feelings would be satisfied fully by my Creator, nothing should bother me anymore. When I am aware that my Creator guarantees full satisfaction, I must acknowledge that only He can give me. I must ask Him what I really need. I would start feeling the pleasure of this creation looking forward to death when it is given with pleasure to be favored with full satisfaction of my feelings. Although, I am given the feeling to not desire death, it is the means for getting away from the fear of transience by acknowledging my Creator gave me the desire for eternal satisfaction.
For example, I am stuck in a desert, in a desperate situation and receive a message that tomorrow a rescue team will come and take me to where I want to be in the best place. Don’t I start feeling happiness and satisfaction where the hope for my future is presented. Guaranteed news has arrived. Although I am still in the desert, I start feeling the pleasure of the news right now. In the same way in this life, I can feel the pleasure of the news of permanent satisfaction from my Creator. The Creator of the universe cannot be a dishonest Creator as everything in the universe is so perfectly created when I carefully observe it. This is how the pleasure of the news of Paradise starts here in this world as soon as I acknowledge the reality and confirm it based on evidence which is the fact that He has created me with the need of eternal satisfaction. That need is a guarantee that He will give it if only I ask Him to give me by acknowledging that He is the only creator and these feelings in my existence are His promises. Thus my expectations of satisfaction are not “wishful thinking.” I can live with the pleasure of Paradise here. There are prophetic narrations mentioning that on one occasion he (pbuh) described smelling Paradise in this world while picking up some fruits relating them to Paradise but did not want to consume them here. We need to concentrate on the content of belief to see its value which is so real and precious. Belief is not baseless but based on my own reality that I am experiencing. It is the source of my pleasure appropriate to my nature.
Don’t those who cling to this world dread death? After all, it signals the end of their transient joys and a reckoning they cannot escape. Many are horrified to hear the word death that they wish to remove the word death from their dictionaries. Although no one wants to die, they interpret it in a way to ignore reality. They also accept it by saying “you only live once”, although their feelings rebel against it by seeking permanent joy in this world. They don’t really recognize the content of what they say death is. If we live only once, why struggle with life then? Human feelings are such that when we get an illness, we rush to a specialist to get it cured.
Now, doesn’t it make sense why those who reject the Prophetic message feel such profound enmity to start accusing the messenger himself? It challenged the very foundation of their fleeting world. Since the prophets remind them that this world is transient, you will be held accountable for your understanding of the purpose of your life and your actions, and there will be another creation. This shatters their imagination and damages their enjoyment of daily life. They don’t like to hear this. Everyone wants to be as he or she thinks is right, they don’t want to be disturbed from their comfort zone. It may be our attitude as well; we may also not want to get out of our comfort zone when some truth is being shared. If someone is convinced, it must be based on evidence. For any challenge to truth, one must present their evidence. The Qur’anic verses in many places challenges to bring their evidence to their claims, (27: 64; 21: 24; 2: 111 and 28: 75) using the phrase “هَاتُوا۟ بُرْهَـٰنَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰدِقِينَ”.
بَلْ كَذَّبُوا۟ بِٱلسَّاعَةِ ۖ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِمَن كَذَّبَ بِٱلسَّاعَةِ سَعِيرًا
25:11 “it is actually the coming of the Hour that they reject: We have prepared a blazing fire for those who reject the Hour.”
Pay attention to the trick the present day rejectors are playing with. They attack the prophet and criticize the prophet without considering the historical context and life conditions of that time. Their fear is not the person but the news being presented to them about the Hour, the time of death for everything. Nothing in the universe can escape death in this world. An atom cannot escape, the stars, galaxies, plants, animals, humans, the whole universe cannot escape death. The word “ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ” is sometimes wrongfully translated as “doomsday”, it is signifying the end of this creation and starting another creation according to the promises of the Creator of the universe. The phrase “ٱلسَّاعَة” is similar in meaning which is to mark the end of this type of creation and moving to the next creation at every moment instantly. For example, the phrase “مات لساعته” (He died instantly) is used to indicate when someone instantly dies, without any reason. The word “ٱلسَّاعَة”, translated as “the Hour” does not mean a part of the 24 hours of a day. It does not mean simply the end of the world but the end of every being that is created in this transient world.
The phrase “سَعِيرًا” translated as “blazing fire” is only for those that reject the Hour. The accusers attack the prophet and criticize him out of ignorance. Nowadays, if someone says that what the prophet (pbuh) said does not make sense; think about it within the context and conditions of that time. I must see what the principles in the prophetic actions are and apply them according to the conditions of my life here. Take his actions as a pattern in my living. For example, in a scenario someone gives a dollar to charity out of his pocket, but he only has a hundred dollars. However, if a person with millions of dollars only gives a dollar to charity, it would be shameful for him. If this man stands up and says, look at this prophet who gave a dollar in charity, how can he be my guide in life while I give 100 dollars? The reality is that if the prophet gave 1% of his 100 dollars, then I must give 1% of my millions of dollars at least in my position. In our example, the person who has one million dollars must give at least 10,000 dollars to follow the prophetic tradition. This is a simple example on how we should transfer the prophetic life into our living conditions.
Another example is when the prophet abolished slavery in society. From the very beginning, his message declared that every being is God’s property, His creatures (ibaadallah), there is no being slave to each other. The abolishment of slavery gradually took practice within a world-wide economy primarily based on slavery. Within the Islamic society nowadays, slavery almost disappeared besides certain kings that have made up some excuses to practice it. In the life of the prophet, we saw the slavery system gradually was eradicated during which some remnants inevitably remained at certain stages of his life but consequently this gradual eradication has been accomplished. There are a lot of dishonest interpretations promoting misrepresentation of reality. For example, they say look, the prophet tried to abolish the practice of slavery, but he is talking about how to deal with slaves, which means it is accepted. Some say that it took a long time and accuse the prophet of not completely abolishing slavery. When did the abolishment start taking place? 1450 years ago. Can these accusers find any society in the world where there was no slavery at that time even until very recently? They found slavery practiced everywhere until the 19th century except within the legitimate Islamic countries. It is an unimaginable success that the prophet accomplished in his life. These are false accusations made against the prophet (pbuh) by those who should be ashamed of themselves as it is only a couple of centuries or years ago that slavery was abolished in many other places as we learn from history.
Do we see why unbelievers focus on discrediting the Prophet, rather than engaging with his message? Their attacks reveal a fear of the news of the hereafter which they have been escaping. Every day is “the Hour”. Every moment of our lives is experiencing “the Hour”. If one denies the reality, then the Qur’an continues to say that “We have prepared a blazing fire for those who reject the Hour”. This means that they reject the reality that they can die instantly any time. The message makes one think about their reality that their lives in this world and the universe is transient. This is what disturbs the disbelievers. The Qur’an presents it as an invitation to consider without getting into any arguments as they do in debates which are pointless, and the Qur’an prohibits them. (See for example “Invite all to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and kind advice, and only argue with them in the best manner. Surely your Lord alone knows best who has strayed from His Way and who is ˹rightly˺ guided.” (16: 125). We must present to them by pointing out the human desire to seek permanent satisfaction and moving away from seeking temporary satisfaction. Think about your reality. Respectfully and kindly share the message. If they criticize religion and belief system, respectfully reject them. I must not look to challenge them.
Some may claim to believe in God yet reject the core implications of what it means, which is accountability of their living. Their superficial faith highlights a desperate attempt to avoid confronting the truth.
Let’s examine a scenario where someone says: “I don’t mind dying but because of some of my sins I am afraid.” Are you sure this is not an excuse to say exactly why you fear death? Are you afraid of losing your property, comfort zone? Are you convinced that the hereafter is going to be realized by the Creator of the universe for you to experience permanence? This Creator tells you to correct yourself, get on the right track by acknowledging your Creator, ask for forgiveness of your sins by addressing Him. Why are you making an excuse that because of my sins, I am afraid of death. If you sincerely ask for forgiveness, He guarantees forgiveness as long as one doesn’t turn back to their sins. If a believer is sure of their belief, they must not have the fear of death. Not having the fear of death doesn’t mean that I don’t care about my life. It is my responsibility to take care of my life and protect it. I must balance by not having the fear of death and by not putting myself in danger of death. God created me with the reality that I will experience death to teach me that the transient world does not fit my reality. I must search for eternal life. Look for evidence to be sure that there will be hereafter. When I do, I will find out that my Creator created me with this feeling, and that He will satisfy all my expectations as He Promises.
This verse discloses the reality of the objectors of the prophet. Their problem is not with the prophet but with the news of the reality of “the Hour”. We must educate and prepare ourselves to establish a sure and secure belief in the Hereafter, that it must be created as the reality of the existence of this universe demonstrates to me.