Section Jathiya, part 7

Recap:  The verses have been mentioning about “ءَایَـٰت“ the signs of creation in the universe and the signs of creation described in the Quran as being the signs of God, the Creator of the universe.  These two signs (creation in the universe  and The Speech of the Creator) combined can be likened to the human body. How so?  Just as a serious thinking Muslim scholar mentions,  the spirit of the universe to be the Quran.  It means that the real meaning of the universe can only be obtained through the guidance of the Quran.  What does that mean?  

The universe can be likened to the human body. Just like life and meaning is given to dead matter, the body gets meaning through the spirit. Our spirit operates through the body and if there is no body, our spirit can not operate.  For example, if someone loses their eyes in a material sense, then the spirit still wants to see.  I see through my eyes, even if my eyes do not function. There must be something within me that enables me with the desire to see.  The eyes are a material body, and the spirit is not of material form.  That is, we cannot see the spirit with the naked eye, but we are always experiencing our spirit. We are not brains only. Even if a person from birth did not have a hand he still wants to move his hand. If it is possible he tries to gain his hand and use it. Dysfunctioning of the brain or any part of the body does not deny the reality that we have a completely independent spirit, representing all our human qualities.

• Without the body, the spirit cannot operate.  
• Without the spirit, the body cannot function.

Let us take another example to understand the relationship between spirit and the body.  We all have heard of heart transplants, perhaps in the future, there will be brain transplants as well. When a person dies his brain cannot function by itself although it may be still alive after death of the person for a while. It needs spirit to function. When it is given to another person then this person’s spirit starts to use this brain. However, as compared to the heart, the brain is very interconnected with the rest of the body parts. Who arranged it? How does the communication happen? Without the spirit, the material brain cannot do anything.  Nevertheless, whatever God creates, we can discover something out of it and there must be  wisdom in it.

Materialist ideas are very prevalent nowadays.  For example, things are adopting by themselves, things are evolving on their own…  Going back to the brain example, since the nerves are intricately connected, all parts of the body are interlinked.  Let us assume that the ability to lift your hand does not function, God forbid, but the desire to lift your hand is still there.  It means that there is something besides the physical body structure at play here.  From this, we can conclude that the body’s existence is different from human (spirit) existence.  

My body and my spirit are two different entities.  If my body does not function, my spirit cannot benefit although it has the desire to benefit, it cannot without the body and physical means.  It is the spirit that gets the news through the body, it processes it, and that results in actions accordingly.  That is why we have free will to make choices with, which is the result of reflective processing.  For example, should I lift the pot and place it on the table or should I leave the pot on the stove?  With this awareness, we should be able to recognize that it is not the brain that is having the information and processing it, rather, it is the spirit (or me) who is choosing to do what action it should take.  We must be comfortable understanding the spirit and body relationship.  Again, without spirit, the body does not mean anything.  At the same time, without the body, the spirit cannot function.  

• The spirit cannot fulfill its purpose without the body.

That is why after our body becomes dysfunctional, which is called death, our spirit needs another body to operate, which means in the hereafter we need a body to operate, therefore resurrection is all about the recreation of the body in a new form.

Now, let us connect “the universe is like a body” with the speech of the Lord of the universe.  The speech of the Creator (the Quran) is like a spirit, which explains how we are to operate.It teaches us to benefit from the universe in the right way befitting the desires of our human spirit which is to seek eternal Paradise.  In other words, the Quran is like a human spirit.  If we read the Quran without the universe, it  becomes like a spirit that does have a body and cannot operate. And it becomes only like an ideology and knowledge.  We may memorize the Quran and learn what it says, but what use does that learning have if I cannot practice it in my life?  We may imitate and superficially follow what the Quran says, but without operating the tools, we cannot practice the message of the Quran.  We must use the Quran to understand the meaning of the universe and make sense of it. Otherwise, without using the universe, the Quran becomes a source of abstract information.  On the other hand, if we use the universe like the materialists who deny the guidance of the Creator of the universe do, then we reduce the universe to a material body only. It would be like reducing human beings to material bodies only.  As a result of not reading the Qur’an and combining it with the universe to understand what it really says, we are bound to say that the universe consists of matter only and it operates itself, that is what the materialists say.  This is very DANGEROUS!

More than a few decades ago, there was a claim about birds migrating South, and people wondered how do they know where to migrate? They did not know the material reason and claimed that it is a sign of the existence of God. This is called “God of the gaps.” Of course, belief in God only when we cannot explain the “reason” for something is a wrong understanding as if the materialistic explanations disqualify the belief in the Creator God. Laterly, it is discovered that Birds have tiny magnetic particles in their beaks, eyes, or nervous systems that allow them to sense the Earth’s magnetic field. These magnetic particles function like a compass for them to migrate. When materialist scientists came up with these discoveries they claimed that “You see it is explained without God and your belief in God now became baseless. They based their explanations of this body structure of the birds and claimed that their body obtained these qualities as a result of  “innate biological drive to migrate, which is called instinct. And this instinct is nothing but the result of the interplay of biological, environmental, and evolutionary factors.”  Don’t you wonder who gives existence to the birds with the ability to sense direction and encoded with a compass like tool together with other innumerable immaterial characteristics!?  Who gives existence to the birds’ body which perfectly fits what these characteristics need to operate? Should not we question what is the Source Of Existence of “environment” which is nothing but just “unconscious matter”? What is the Source Of Existence of  “biology” which is nothing but studying the already existing “life” which has nothing to do with a material nature? What is the Source Of Existence of “evolutionary factors” which is claimed to be the result of the “blind matter” which has no quality of itself but exists only if it is given existence? What is “randomly choosing to survive and adapt itself to the environment”? What kind of consciousness, free will, knowledge, wisdom, and so on does this “unconscious matter” have then by itself? Where are all these immaterial characteristics in the “matter”? 

Now, let us see the relationship between me, my compass, and the universe.  Who is reading the compass and deciding which direction should I go?  Obviously, I am (my spirit is) deciding where to go.  If I deny my spirit, then I would say that the compass is doing it.  I must use the compass which is the human conscience that helps me distinguish between right and wrong.  Similarly, the spirit of the bird functions by using the compass in its body.  Again, the spirit cannot function without the body, just like the Qur’an cannot function without the body of the universe, i.e.the universe has no meaning if I do not use the Verbal guidance of its Creator.  That is why, the universe’s spirit is the Quran, and we cannot separate it.  We must be watchful of two extremes, on one side rejecting the guidance from the Creator (materialist view) and on the other side not witnessing the universe with the guidance from the Creator.  That is the reason we must combine the Quran and the universe together and read the meaning of the universe through the guidance of its Creator.

وَسَخَّرَ لَكُم مَّا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا مِّنْهُ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

45:13 “And He has subjugated to you all that is in the heavens and on the earth; a blessing from Him.  There are signs in this for people who reflect.”

We must think and reflect on the signs in the creation.  There are signs in the creation of everything that we benefit from, it is as if the Creator has employed and subjugated creation at our service for our benefit (to be used in the appropriate way).  We are using the universe in our 

daily interactions.  Can we function without gravity?  No.  Can we function without the proper atmosphere?  No.  Do we need sunlight?  Yes.  Even our spiritual sides require acknowledging the beauty of the universe and benefitting from the way that the things are created. This leads the way for me to appreciate the Creator of the universe. The most important thing is to consciously communicate with the universe to start the process for anything we want to be created. We should be fully aware that while doing all our activities on earth we are asking the Creator of the universe to create for us what we want.

The way the things are functioning and arranged is a conscious deliberate subjugation set up by its Creator.  The Creator asks me to reflect on this arrangement that I am communicating with.  I must reflect on the way things are created.  I must think and take the meaning of these things seriously.  

• Whatever happens in the Earth and heavens is nothing but “signs” for us to reflect on.  

For example: We are drinking water.  We are expected to reflect on how the relationship between my body, my feelings and the universe relate to each other?  Who is arranging this communication?  Is the water recognizing me?  Does my body recognize water?  Do my feelings recognize water?  What is recognizing the need for water in me?  Materialist interpretation says that is how we have developed.  Is this a satisfactory explanation? How does “unconscious matter” which needs to be given existence choose to develop? Is there any quality in it existing by itself to do all of these activities by communicating with the rest of their environment? Even I, as a conscious being, cannot have any freedom but obey the way the creation of the universe has been realized by its Creator. 

• • There is not only a universal connection between my spirit and the universe, but also all my feelings are directly related to whatever exists in the universe.   For example, my relationship with water is not accidental. Although the material parts of my body do not recognize how to communicate with the water, my spirit does  for me to  benefit from it.  Furthermore, how can I say that the billions of different interactions within the universe perfectly relating to each other are the result of accidents or resulting from nothing?
• We must SERIOUSLY reflect on this!

Unfortunately, we have divorced our belief in God and the Hereafter from the universe.  We have just taken belief in the Hereafter as information obtained from the Qur’an.  For example, I need a Hereafter, and the Quran says that I have created for you an Eternal Life (which is correct), but how can I live in this world with the belief in the existence of a Hereafter happening RIGHT NOW?  

Belief in the Hereafter is not something to be experienced after we die, it must be experienced RIGHT NOW.  Similarly, belief in the Angels must be experienced RIGHT NOW.  How do we do that?  There must be an aspect of the universe which witnesses the necessity of the existence of Angels, the Hereafter, and next life. Only then can I communicate with the witnessing side of the universe to these belief matters and make sure that my practical life is related to my belief in the Hereafter or angels, for example. 

The Quran brings the news about the purpose in the creation of everything.  This is a reminder for us that we must recognize our human qualities to understand why we are here and what is expected of us here.  Alas, we usually only reduce religion to rituals, i.e. if we perform the religious duties, we are fine.  However, our lives must be supported by the satisfactory conclusion that what I am doing makes sense to me, and that is why I am doing it.  It means that even while we are performing our religious duties, we must have the confidence of the purpose and reason behind why we are doing them:  Only if we witness evidence in the universe can we say, “Yes, that is why I am doing this!”

We must reflect on the way things are created.  Every verse is a witness for me to conclude that the Creator of the universe is my Lord, that is what the Quran encourages us to do in this section we are studying.  Everything in the universe says that: “I am the creature of your Lord who subjugated me to you.  You must appreciate everything that you encounter.”  At least, we must keep this consciousness that whatever happens in my life that I experience, it’s a sign for me to reflect on and benefit from.

قُل لِّلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ یَغۡفِرُوا۟ لِلَّذِینَ لَا یَرۡجُونَ أَیَّامَ ٱللَّهِ لِیَجۡزِیَ قَوۡمَۢا بِمَا كَانُوا۟ یَكۡسِبُونَ

45:14 “Tell the believers that they should forgive those who do not look forward to the Days of God as it is He alone who will fully pay everyone for whatever they have earned.”

What do we earn in this world?  Besides paying the religious dues (charity, prayers and fasting…), the understanding of my reality in this world is mainly involved in this subject. Our lives do not consist of physical religious duties only, rather my consciousness of my realization of living in this world is the real deal. 

The “Days of God” is argued by most scholars, but mainly the most important events experienced by one  are referred to as the “Days of God”.  For example, you experience a beautiful sunrise today, a miraculous event indeed.  This event was exceptional for you.  Whatever happens in this world, when something small attracts my attention, then that small thing must be a sign from my Creator.  That is “God’s Day” for me, which means that God is specifically speaking to me, letting me know what my reality is.  I must take it seriously, in terms of whatever attracts my attention.  For example, we are waiting for Spring to arrive in the Northeast.  One day I notice a tree blossoming which had been dead for the past 3 months, I get excited looking into the flowers. I even want to capture the moments, the first signs of Spring with pictures.  That is the “Day of God” for me, because it attracted my attention.

The Day of God is anything that attracts my attention.  Try to make everything meaningful for yourself.  Do not wait until the last day to see one of the “Days of God”.  Even when you are looking at a video of a galaxy, that is the “Day of God” for you, who is demonstrating His Grandeur to you, His power is endless, and you cannot get to the end of it.  

People who do not take notice of anything of this universe as the demonstration of His qualities where He is introducing Himself to us are losing much for themselves.  We must remind each other as much as we can; at the end of the day, we must mind our own affairs.  For example, there is a needy man that needs to be taken care of.  If I notice the needy man and act to help him, that is good for me.  If someone ignores the needy man, then that is not my concern.  My concern is to perform my duty and take care of my responsibilities.  If the materialist view does not pay attention to the reminders, ignore their interpretations and try to get the meaning for yourself.  That is, mind your business and make everyday a Day of God for you because every day there is always something catching our gaze!  

Example: Do you respect the book that has the Quran written on it (mushaf)?  Yes.  Why do you respect the paper, ink, and the book cover?  You are respecting the knowledge inscribed in the book.  Can you show me the knowledge in the book, or the speech of the Creator written in it?  Not physically, because if you pay attention to it, you make sense of it and that knowledge is not of physical existence.  Similarly, every piece of the universe has the meaning of what the Speech of God says.  Why don’t we treat the universe/creation the same way as we treat the “mushaf”?!  Unfortunately, the universe is not sacred for us, but the “mushaaf” is.  We must work on treating creation as a “mushaf” because the knowledge that it brings to me is as meaningful as the knowledge that the speech of God written in a book form (mushaf) brings to me.  We need to revive respecting the universe and utilize the universe as much as we should.

If you have a book and do not study to engage with it, what happens?  Someone takes it, reads it, and interprets it as s/he wants by diverting/changing the meaning in any way they want.  Similarly, if the believers do not benefit from the Quran to understand the universe and share it, some people may interpret the Qur’an and the universe as they want.  Rather than getting furious about it, own up to your personal duties by studying and understanding the Quran and the universe.  Furthermore, if someone burns the “mushaf”, is there any reason to get angry and retaliate by burning cars for example?  No.  However, if someone burns parts of the universe for any reason, do people react the same way?  No.  That is our sad reality, we do not take much notice of the universe as we should.

Comment:  We like to experience multiple Days of God.  When I realize that I have not experienced the Days of God as I should have, then I need to ask for forgiveness for myself.

Another aspect of understanding this verse is to tell my believing side to ask for forgiveness for my disbelieving times (the times that I disregarded creation and did not take notice of it) and continue doing what is right to do. Do not keep yourself busy with moaning about it. 

People say that only matter exists, and there is no meaning in the existence of the universe.  These are all insults to creation!  If someone says that the universe is nothing but matter on its own, they are insulting the Angels of God.  The Angels of God are receiving the will of the Creator and transferring it in the material form of this universe and presenting it with what my God has sent to me.  (An Absolute, as we discussed in parts 4-6, is not expected to present Himself to you in an Absolute form but in a limited form within the universe. Hence, He employs Angels/creation on His behalf for us to witness His Absolute qualities manifested in a created form.  The transferring process of creation of the universe is explained through Angels).  

• When we deny the signs/will of the Creator manifested in the universe, we are insulting the Angels.  Example: if you give hot chocolate to someone, and they snatch it from you without acknowledging your presence and being, don’t you feel insulted?  Yes.  Similarly, denying the meaning in the existence of the universe is insulting the Angels.  (This is an important subject that can be discussed at some other time).

Finally, take notice of your responsibility, and do not pay attention to people who provide wrong interpretations about the existence of creation.  

مَنْ عَمِلَ صَـٰلِحًا فَلِنَفْسِهِۦ وَمَنْ أَسَآءَ فَعَلَيْهَا ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكُمْ تُرْجَعُونَ

45:15 “Whoever does righteousness, it is to their own benefit.  And whoever does evil, it is to their own loss.  Then to your Lord you all will be brought back.”

All good deeds are for my benefit i.e. “Amal Salih” (i.e. good deed in Arabic) is a well-known verse among believers. “Salih” means, right, virtuous, appropriate,  good, “صَلِح” (Sulh) means having a peaceful relationship with something.  Spirit is the meaning written in it.  

If you do a good action by respecting the “mushaf” but are not benefiting from what it says, is it a righteous deed?  No.  The action will lack spirit in it, just like a dead body.  Does your body mean anything without the spirit in it?  No.

If I do an action claiming that it is my action, and not reflecting the way it is created, what happens? It becomes a dead action.  What makes an action a righteous deed is its spirit.  That is, if I relate it to the Creator, and say that it is God’s creation, I am just asking for it to happen.  Do you create anything or are you just asking for the result to be created?  This is the mystery of creation that we should take seriously!

Think about it, we cannot give existence to the next moment.  My intention is to obey the orderly creation that I learned from creation, and the result is created.  Since t my action in following the order and the result happening is so closely related as if it is connected to each other, but in fact not, that we think that we are doing it.  In fact, they are created, and we just use our free will and wait for the result to be created. This is because the creation is being renewed with no  time gap. But if we think of our obedience of the orderly creation the result is created in the examples such as we sow the seed and wait for the result to be created in the next season, we understand that it is not us who is able to create the plant. Some people relate this act of creation of the plant to a part of a cell of the seed which is  called a DNA molecule where the information of the previous versions of creation is recorded. Human beings cannot give existence to what they choose but these people claim that the unconscious material of the cell is creating the result. In fact, they are created in such an orderly manner that the misconception is taking place there as human beings think that they are creating the results of what they choose by obeying the orderly creation.   

If I do not acknowledge the Creator’s qualities manifested in it, then it cannot be a righteous deed, rather an action which has no “spirit”, i.e. a dead action.  For example, when I help someone, I have to understand that the result is created by God.  I want to help by using my free will which is just like sowing the seed in the soil.  Did I grow the plant?  No, but the plant is created.  We must understand that the spirit of my action (if I take notice of its creation) is the manifestation of the Creator’s qualities in it.  If I do not acknowledge it, then it is not pure, rather polluted because I claimed ownership of it.  If I have polluted my spirit then my actions become polluted as well.  I must realize that I wanted to help and this feeling was imparted to me by my Lord , and He created the action of helping.  In this creation, I see God’s Power, Knowledge, Compassion … manifested in the actions.

(The word “Amal” (deed, act) in the Quran is used for “Salih” (pure) actions.  The word “Fi’l” also means “act” but these “acts” are mostly related to God’s direct creation without the involvement of human free will.) 

The phrase from the verse  ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكُمْ تُرْجَعُونَ “Then to your Lord you all will be brought back” means that I am expected to bring it back to the right owner of my action.  We are not used to thinking in this way which is why it may seem complicated to understand this.  Example, when you do a good action and help someone, we must say Alhamdulillah i.e. God gave me the consciousness to understand the reality of creation, the power to help is an opportunity to acknowledge God, and the ability to see the needy man. I have pity on him, and I want to help him; the result is created by God, not me.  Thus, when I return the action to the Real Creator of the action, that is what I bring back to God and will receive payment of a reward from Him alone”.  If I return the action to myself without spirit, like a dead body, then I will die and it is not returned to eternity but buried with my body in the grave.