Section Al-Furqan – Part 8
We will continue with our study of Section Al-Furqan, which is the 25th Section of the Qur’an. We investigated the verses describing the rejectors of the prophet (pbuh) accusing him of not having some super position. Since he was appointed to be the messenger of God, they expected him to have some extra abilities such as being rich, knowledgeable, have a garden, and have some angels along with him. To be appointed as a prophet one doesn’t need to have the values and criteria the rejectors expect. How about seeking and valuing the quality of being a sincere, humble, trustful person? The mission of prophethood is given to those who need guidance which cannot be found in this world. The prophet (pbuh) is stating: “whoever made me has made me with these inquiries to wonder about my and the universe’s existence and purpose.” The foundation of prophethood is to be needy for guidance. Simply, the definition of the prophet or messenger is the person who transmits the message they received from the Creator to be delivered to other human beings. They are not expected to be the source of producers of the message they convey. They are not knowledgeable philosophers.
Rather than looking at the content of the message of the Qur’an, they accuse the prophet of not having a superior position. The Qur’an mentions that the rejecters keep accusing the prophet rather than finding out any fault in the message. The news about “the Hour” bothers them and they reject it. They are not actually rejecting the prophet but the news of the message they deliver mentioning the transience of this world, there will be a day of accounting where everyone will be asked what they have done with the trust (existence of their lives, all human qualities such as intelligence, consciousness, feelings etc, body) given to them in this world. We would be asked: what have you done with the things given to you while living here?
If one denies the message of the existence of the hereafter, they will be believing that their life will come to an end when they die. With this understanding they feel comfortable that whatever they do they will not be taken into account after death because they would like to believe that they will disappear from existence anyways. The message of the prophet is discomforting for them, reminding them that they will be judged by their Creator and everyone will get what they deserve, Paradise or Hell. Their subconscious realizes that this must be true; justice must be established.
The Qur’an emphasizes “the blazing fire” for those that deny the news of the Hour. The hour means that at any time can be the end of everything in the universe. The most obvious example of it is at any moment we can die. Our existence is so fragile we cannot sustain or guarantee our existence for a moment. We only exist if we are given existence; no one can deny this. Even though some materialist scientists say that matter is infinite, neither a human being nor physical matter has any qualities to sustain their existence even for a fraction of a second. Matter is given existence and is in need to be given existence. The reality of the Hour is imminent for the universe and everything in it including us at any moment.
Let’s proceed with the following verse:
إِذَا رَأَتْهُم مِّن مَّكَانٍۭ بَعِيدٍۢ سَمِعُوا۟ لَهَا تَغَيُّظًۭا وَزَفِيرًۭا
25:12 When it [Hell] sees them from a distance, they will hear it raging and roaring,
Some classical texts mention that this is a real physical description of what hell would be like. There are a few scholars who mention that this description may be a metaphorical representation (الاستعارة التمثيلية), a rhetoric that gives the example of this description that we can imagine in this world to take place in the hereafter. I bring this news to my personal life and face the reality that I cannot guarantee my life for a fraction of a second; neither can the universe. This reality is so frightening and real that it should shake all my expectations. Just imagine, I can disappear from my existence of this life at any time. I can benefit from the description of Hell in my life right now where Hell is prepared for those who deny the reality of the next creation. In fact, the disbelievers cannot deny their reality. They rejected the prophet (pbuh) who brought this news which disturbed their comfort zone where they took life as if they will live here forever or they will not be taken to judgment for what they have done in this world after death. They were shaken by the news of the prophet that this universe is transient, it is not a comfortable life where you can act as you wish, it is not a stable life where I will be leaving this world at any time.
Some classical scholars narrate on the above verse that both the believers and disbelievers will hear the roaring of Hell. By narrating some hadiths, sayings of the Prophet (pbuh), they say that the believers who are saved will see the disbelievers in Hell and get to appreciate the bounty of Paradise. The prophetic narrations make a comparison between Hell and Paradise for the believers to appreciate Paradise. Believers will be saved from Hell as described here: “when Hell sees them from a distance, Hell will be raging and roaring.” In a way, Hell is expressing its anger at the disbelievers: “why did you deny your reality?” Consequently, you will be deprived of mercy completely as you imagined that you are just a being in the world, who happened to be there by chance. Let’s see now how chance treats you. These are the descriptions narrated from hadith narrations. We must read these verses for our time, applicable to us right now. I must benefit with the guidance according to my living conditions here.
If I deny the transient nature of this world and live accordingly in this world, I would be thinking as if I am going to be permanent here and I will try to make my life more comfortable in a worldly sense. It may never cross my mind as to who has given me life, who has given me the human qualities that I find within me, who has provided me with all that I need. Who is it? How can I be thankful to whoever is doing it? It is impossible for anyone not to appreciate any kind of small favor towards them. When someone smiles at me, I am so pleased and reply to thank the person. How about my life, my consciousness, intelligence, feelings, body, health, everything else that I need is mostly provided? The universe is there for me but sometimes it reminds me that this life, this world are transient. I cannot control this world. There must be someone else taking care of this world, taking care of my life. If He wants, he can change my life at any time which I may have forgotten about. Out of His mercy he reminds me where from time to time, there are events that happen, storms take place and events we may not like such as earthquakes. They are perfectly and wisely created to remind us that this world is transient, you cannot guarantee anything, everything is so fragile, everything depends on the Owner of the universe’s Will, Favor and Mercy. Nothing can be guaranteed. Why do I turn blind to this reality by ignoring it? I should be careful about what I am doing in my daily life and keep this reality in check with me.
We must understand that without rejecting the reality of the next creation, how can I confirm that these kinds of severe conditions will take place in my life now. How can I be convinced that this news is true? I can imagine that if I deny the hereafter, deny that I can die at any moment, all the things that I found came accidentally, evolved or by random happenings, what would my life be like? That’s what many in present age civilization say and live by. Can this wonderful universe and human feelings randomly happen? Who arranged my feelings? Is it the unconscious atom or matter? These are such perfect creations and arrangements that they necessitate a conscious Creator. How can I deny this truth? How can someone be so ungrateful to these blessings and additionally reject the One who is reminding them of the truth.
Who are these people being described in the Qur’an? Are they the public on the streets? Some people are very quick to judge others as disbelievers. Let’s understand the matter. A quick judging person will say: Do they believe in the Qur’an, God and the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh? Do the people on the street declare the “shahada”, sincerely testifying the Absoluteness of God and prophet Muhammad being His messenger? If they don’t then they are “kafir”, deniers of the truth. Similarly, one may quickly judge another and say: “this is ‘kufr’ (denial of the truth)” when it may be a mistake or negligence, ignorance and misunderstanding and that is not “kufr”, denial of the truth to justify labeling one as a non-believer. The language usage easily claims someone to be a denier “takfir” in Arabic, to be an infidel or non-believer: “All of the people on the street are “kafir” because they didn’t take their ‘shahada’”. However, we should be very careful not to do this. The word “Kafir” means “a denier”. One must know what they are denying before they can deny something. Are people aware of the reality that they are denying it? Are they really saying that they should not be disturbed, don’t tell me that my life is transient. Are they denying and trying to stop the delivery of the message? I must be honest; I haven’t seen anyone from the public that would deny and try to stop the message. There are professionals who do it to make a living and some who, out of anger, cannot handle the truth and attack belief in God knowingly and deliberately. They know that it is the reality but they do not want to submit or acknowledge the truth. Those who consciously deny the truth after knowing it are described in the verse here.
Why would the Qur’an describe such a small number of people? We must remember this important point that the Qur’an speaks in black and white terms, clearly defined opposing principles. Many great commentators may miss this point. The Qur’an clearly describes the extreme cases such as in this verse referring to disbelievers which is warning us not to deny the truth. The presentation of one extreme to the other gives me clear indication as to which side I should take. The Qur’an describes those who completely believe, who submit themselves to their Creator using words such as: “muttaqeen”, “muslimeen”, and “muminoon”. Those who believe ask for forgiveness when they do something wrong. Extreme scenarios on belief and disbelief are presented in the Qur’an for me to choose the right side.
In this verse, the situation of denying the truth is presented. Those are the ones who consciously deny the truth. Many intelligent scientists and theologians are aware and look for reasons to deny the truth. Ordinary people are not aware, they are just neglectful of the fact that the Creator of the universe must be an Absolute being, not of the nature of this universe.
Can the Qur’an’s description of the next creation, Paradise and Hell be metaphorical? To a certain extent, this is metaphorical in the way hereafter is described in this verse. Hell must be extremely uncomfortable and impossible to bear. For example, I cannot stand 90-degree Fahrenheit temperature, and one can imagine what a thousand times of that would feel like. That means that denial of the truth makes one fall into an infinite state of hopelessness, despair, cutoff from any mercy. Some commentators agree on the descriptions of Hell and Paradise to be metaphorical, indicating the severity of Hell conditions will be unbearable. Next creation is described by the prophet as nothing like this creation at all and we cannot liken or imagine how it is going to be. But we should take these kinds of verses to our present life conditions and try to understand and ask “what does it mean in my real life?” If I deny my reality, I will be experiencing the consequence within my own spiritual life which will be unsatisfactory, trying to superficially enjoy life. However, deep down the human spirit is aware: everything is leaving, passing and I will be leaving as well. They try to ignore it and are heavily bothered when they are reminded of reality. The Qur’an and the prophets remind us not to neglect our reality.
Would it be arbitrary if we relate this description of the Qur’an to our life in this world? Or are they real physical descriptions? The description of Hell is a physical description within the capacity of this present creation of the universe, but the language is metaphorical where it would be impossible to stand the agony of Hell. I must be careful in my life now as I can experience hellish states within me when I deny my reality. These descriptions of the Qur’an indicate the psychology of denial which I can experience in this world. The interpretation of these metaphorical verses must be applied to our spiritual situation right now where we can see what impact the psychology of denial brings to one’s life. The purpose of the Qur’an in telling me the conditions of the hereafter right now is so that I will confirm whether it is true or not by checking myself when I deny my reality. If I take these beautiful things I enjoy in the universe as accidental beings, my spiritual life would suffer. We experience the spiritual treatment of our understanding and conclusions in this world; physical treatment will be experienced in the hereafter. The physical description of the hereafter is told to me now so that I can consult my spiritual side to see what result there would be if I deny my Creator, the One who gives me existence, life, feelings, qualities, prepared all these beautiful conditions and He will no longer create them for me. That would result in a horrible psychologically depressing situation in my life in this world. We must read the Qur’an in this way. If the understanding is only presented as the physical descriptions of Hell without relating to my life right now, then one would say that the verses are not relevant to me: “the Lord is frightening us for something that will happen after death”. The new generation’s psychology nowadays is that we live and die away from existence.
Can you imagine the psychological result of their denial while experiencing the eternal loss of everything they have in this world? Why do you think they claim, “we will not exist anymore after we die”? They are trying to run away from their reality, they cannot face it. They can only turn blind to it to try to be happy in this temporary world.
وَإِذَآ أُلْقُوا۟ مِنْهَا مَكَانًۭا ضَيِّقًۭا مُّقَرَّنِينَ دَعَوْا۟ هُنَالِكَ ثُبُورًۭا
25:13 and when they are thrown, shackled together, into a narrow place therein, they pray for extinction.
The phrase used “مَكَانًۭا ضَيِّقًۭا”, translated as “shackled together as into a very narrow place” where one feels constricted. The latter part of the verse is interesting describing the situation of the disbelievers: “If only I disappear from existence completely.”
Why do we think “shackled together” is important? The verse is still talking about conscious deniers who know the truth and don’t want to hear the prophetic message. They also want revenge by preventing others from hearing the message. To be shackled together means they form an alliance, support each other, form organizations to deny the truth in this world; they would be treated in the hereafter in the same way but this time it will be a means of agony going through the narrow place altogether in a compressed way.
The “narrow place” may refer to one’s spiritual distress here in this world by living a life of meaninglessness. In the next creation, everyone will be given a body to experience pleasure or pain spiritually and bodily either Paradise or Hell. For the deniers the distress will continue in the Hereafter going through the agony with a physical body created according to the conditions of the next creation. We experience that the body itself does not feel pain, but the spirit feels it, i.e. the spirit feels the pain of physical torture; body has no consciousness. For example when one is under the influence of anesthesia they do not feel anything. When the body is subject to any injury if the consciousness is alive then the person suffers the pain spiritually. Their life in Hell will be permanent because infinite bounties, merciful graces are presented to us in Paradise and if I denied them, I would feel this spiritual distress and deserve infinite punishment.
Why do we think they cannot kill themselves? Rather, they ask God to give them death. We may think that we can end our life by ourselves, but the Qur’an describes the other way around: whoever gives life, gives death. If one can give life to themselves then they can give death to themselves. Here in this life on earth one has the free will to ask the Creator to give them death. My life is given after which I am given the free will to choose. I can ask the Creator to continue my life by choosing to take sustenance, taking care of health. It is my choice to ask the Creator to keep existence in this world. I cannot give death to myself, but I can choose to ask the Creator to give me death. In the latter part of the verse, the deniers are asking for death. In the Hereafter there will be no option to ask the Creator to give someone death.
لَّا تَدْعُوا۟ ٱلْيَوْمَ ثُبُورًۭا وَٰحِدًۭا وَٱدْعُوا۟ ثُبُورًۭا كَثِيرًۭا
25:14 [They are told] “Do not pray today for one death but pray for many deaths.”
Anytime they experience this unbearable pain, they ask to be given death. This continues several times when they feel this pain. This is a psychological description of seeking death here but physically experiencing it in the Hereafter but they will not be given the option to choose it.
How grave is their crime? Are they not free to reject the message of the messenger? We all have the choice to accept or deny the message that points to reality. We feel the consequences of unbelief in this world. Let’s imagine that I am denying knowingly; I live my life by not taking notice of the truth, what would be the consequence of this option? It would be the deprivation of everything I enjoy receiving here. By choosing denial, one can understand how painful that deprivation would be.
Do they really deserve this severe punishment? There are professionals who know the truth and are looking for ways to distort it; they deserve severe punishment.
Why does God use this kind of uncompromising language? Some people accuse the Qur’an to be severe by not giving the slightest possibility that it may not happen in this way but says it will surely happen. As we studied earlier, the Qur’an speaks in clear terms with extremes for people to distinguish properly what to go with. But in reality we all know that everyone has different levels of antagonist attitude to the prophetic message, ignoring it, or being indifferent etc. The same goes with the believers; everyone has different levels of recognition, obedience, practice etc. Everyone must get their desert by the precise judgment of the Creator who must have the quality of absolute Justice as we observe it in this creation of the universe.
There are some verses in the Qur’an that mention that if you are given another opportunity, you will still do the same as you have corrupted yourself. The verses are talking about deniers that are faced with the truth and for political purpose, economic purpose, competitive purpose, egoistic purpose, status purpose, they choose to deny. They know the truth and take it for granted with the intention of distorting it.
Tags: Belief, Feelings, human qualities, Life, Lord, Quran, Worship