اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ
24: 35 “God is the Light of the heavens and earth.”
Let us first ponder over these questions in relation to some keywords from the verse:
Is the universe consisting of only matter?
Is there any “Light” in the universe? Where is it? (Please note that we are not referring to physical light phenomena such as sunlight)
Comments: Light refers to “the truth of our reality”.
That is a good starting point, however, the verse does not say that God is our Light only but that of the heavens and earth. If we were to place this comment into the verse, it becomes “God is the truth of the reality of the heavens and earth”, and it makes sense. Let us combine “heavens and earth” as referring to the universe. The verse can now be read as ” God is the truth of the universe”. In other words, the reality of the universe refers to God. Furthermore, the universe is radiating light which exposes its reality that refers to God
Is God only “Light”?
Can we describe God as “Light”? We understand from the general context of the Qur’an that God cannot be likened to anything. The word “Light” is used with its figurative meaning, i.e. it is pointing to something and making a comparison (tamtheel in Arabic) between what the universe is radiating with what the universe is pointing to. What the universe points to is the qualities of its Creator i.e. God.
What does “Light” signify?
“Light” signifies the reality or truth that the universe is witnessing. We must remember that when we read the Quran, we must understand that the Quran is the Speech of the Creator of human beings speaking to human beings within their capacity. The Quran is expected to give examples to us, so that through these examples, we should understand what the reality of existence is all about. What is the reality of existence? For example, in the above verse, the Quran is speaking to us that you must see light coming out of the existence of this universe, and you will find your Creator within this aspect of the universe, which necessarily points to its Creator. That is to say, the reality of the universe points to its Source of Existence. We cannot imagine God to be light as we physically experience light coming from a fire, for example. The Quran is speaking to human beings to understand from the universe that whatever the universe emanates, it points to not itself but to its Source Of Existence.
Let us try to understand this with a practical example: a microphone is made by a human being, has a nice design, is a useful device, connects with other devices and fits our needs. All these qualities displayed in the microphone are purposeful. These qualities are not originating from the microphone itself, that is obvious, rather they are the qualities manifested from the qualities of its maker. These qualities displayed in the microphone are the “lights” pointing to its maker’s qualities. Similarly, if you want to understand the Creator, you must look at the “heavens and the earth” i.e. the universe. From the universe, you will see the qualities manifested in it, pointing to the qualities of its Creator because the component parts of anything in the universe are nothing but senseless substances.
Don’t we see that the Creator of the universe is introducing Himself to us with His work? Demonstrating His acts and at the same time explaining verbally to us who He is. That is, drawing our attention to look at the created beings where we see that they are introducing their Creator to us. In other words, God is introducing Himself to us by creating the universe, of which I am a part of. For example, I am created to introduce my Creator to you and invite you as a conscious being to pay attention to my existence. Similarly, as a conscious being, you are created to introduce your Creator to me.
This is a very convincing way to understand the existence of the universe by referring it to a point of reference, i.e. God.
In the example of the microphone, can it give existence to its qualities by itself? Although the maker of the microphone is not doing anything, the microphone is working properly. The physical body of the microphone shows that its maker is demonstrating her qualities in its existence. Similarly, when I use my human qualities, they are pointing to their Creator. I must use it in a way that I should not distort these qualities. The microphone does not have consciousness to claim that the qualities belong to it, for it is nothing but mindless matter. Human beings on the other hand have consciousness and free will, and we can choose to distort these qualities. Example: I am a very talented and wise person, this is my intelligence, I am smart, I accomplished this project, and I am always kind to others. With such language and understanding of the universe, I am distorting my human qualities by attributing these qualities to myself, rather than referring them back to their Creator.
This claim of mine extinguishes the “Light” manifested in me, rather than seeing and showing my Creator, I replace this Creator with myself. By declaring that these qualities belong to me, I become a mini-god. That is why the Quran mentions that people who deny God declare their own divine being, i.e. arrogant attitude where I falsely choose to declare the qualities of my Creator and appropriate them to myself.
We all manifest certain qualities, but how aware am I with what these qualities point to? Example: If I claim that I am the “light” of my own existence, I exist by myself or naturally I will be declaring that these qualities are originating from myself! This is called “shirk” in the Islamic literature, which means that if I say that the microphone is the source of the existence of its qualities, I am committing “shirk”. Let us investigate more practical examples with what we hear in mainstream culture: “The cell is adapting to its environment, the cell is choosing, the cell is trying to survive, and the cell is evolving for a better situation…” Can the component parts of a cell, which are not but only unconscious chemicals, have any consciousness of its own to function appropriately and fit to its environment? These are serious questions that we should be considering. A closer look into the functioning of this universe displays how everything is in continuous motion and changing. Similarly, as conscious beings, we are aware that we are subject to change. Can you stop yourself from aging? No. Who can guarantee their existence for tomorrow? No one. Tomorrow, you will be one day older. In ten years, you will be ten years older if existence is given to you. Look into your childhood pictures, don’t you notice a dramatic change?! How do you explain the agent behind such change?
Creation takes place with no gaps. It means that whatever is creating the universe is continuously creating it and not leaving you estranged, disengaged, and disconnected. In the case of the maker of the microphone, s/he, as a created being, leaves the microphone after creating it, but the Creator of the universe never leaves us aloof because there is always “Light” emanating from the universe. Hence, any part of the universe cannot sustain its existence for a second because we observe that everything is continuously changing. Everything in the universe is created to demonstrate who their Creator is. Aren’t’ we all parts of the same universe?! Again, we must be very careful not to be proud of anything that we have for they are all given to us!! As soon as I say that I am good or perfect, I must be aware that the goodness does not point to me, rather the perfection of anything experienced can only point to its Creator. We must ponder over this: “I am created perfectly but I distorted my perfect creation with my free will i.e. I did not use my free will in the right way, hence a distortion of human qualities.” When we tell lies, cheat others, harm people, these are perfect examples of how we can choose the wrong way, hence a distortion of human qualities. That is how we must understand the Quranic verse: “whatever bad happens is from you, whatever good is from Me.” (4: 79) The verse pinpoints to the fact that if I distort the way that I am created, then it is my fault and I misled myself. The fundamental problem of human beings is to be proud of our virtues. Aren’t all the virtues essentially from your Creator? I can be a bad person by misusing the virtues. Please reflect on this:
“When I use my free will in the right way, and function properly, can I say that I am perfect?” No, perfection doesn’t come from me, they are from their Creator. I can only be thankful to their Creator by not misusing them.
Creation of the universe, Speech of the Creator, and my human qualities are essentially declaring the same message. The Quran says: “I have created everything with Truth” (6: 73). This Truth or Reality points to its Creator. Going back to the verse (24:35) under study, when you observe the universe, it becomes easy to connect how the universe (with you and I in it) declares the qualities of its Creator. If we further reflect on creation under this perspective, then these messages are so convincing and satisfying to understand the message of the Quran, the reality of the universe, religion of Islam and the reality of the Prophet (pbuh). The Prophets struggled in their lives to spread this message and did not claim any ownership to conveying the message of God and neither did they claim to be scholars. We must be modest with our dealings with the universe. For example, when I produce or discover something, I say that I am knowledgeable. Rather, I should say that God gave me the talent and courage, and I am choosing to use it for the benefit of the society. Again, we should be mindful of not distorting God’s reflections on us. The message of the Quran mainly speaks to human beings but when it talks about the universe, it is still speaking to me to make me understand what my reality is.
مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ
24:35 “His Light is like this: there is a niche, and in it a lamp.”
What do “niche and lamp” represent in the universe?
niche= every single being
lamp= the qualities emanating from this being
In each being, there is a lamp emanating light.
Do you have a “niche” in your body and a “lamp” in it radiating “light”?
Comments: My heart is radiating light?
If someone is hard hearted, what does it mean? It means that they are rude and not compassionate. The heart represents the center of human feelings. In this heart, there must be a lamp which radiates light and as per previous phrase of the same verse (24:35), all lights point to God. This means that anything or the tiniest thing (smallest particle) that we notice in creation points to the fact that its Creator, God, is radiating its qualities to conscious beings.
How does it apply to us? For example, when I say that I love strawberries, what does it mean? Love is light coming from the lamp of my chest and connecting with the lamp of the strawberry both pointing to the qualities of their Creator. It means that God’s light is emanating in me, demonstrating that myCreator gave me this sense of love for strawberries. At the same time, God’s light is emanating in strawberries waiting to meet with the light of the sense of love created in me. When I love something, who is loving essentially? God is the One loving.
What is my function here, then? I am just not preventing the light in me connecting the light in strawberries, both celebrating their Creator. This is what exactly God created and all praise belongs to God alone. If I declare the ownership of the sense of love created in me I am cutting off this connection, turning the light into darkness for myself, and thus betraying the trust (sense of love) in me. That is why the verse of the Qur’an says “All that is good is from God” (32: 72). I cannot be proud of my good actions, but when I betray the reality I am the one who is the guilty (4: 79).
In creation while investigating the cell, it seems that it has consciousness or free will, but in and of itself, none of the component parts of the cell has any quality of knowledge or choice originating from themselves to fit to the environment. The fact is that, the cell is being created this way continuously that we fall into the trap of appropriating everything to the parts of the cell. Superficial or materialistic minded observers think that the cell is doing everything. Similarly, we think that I am doing things by myself rather than choosing. Just investigate the act of speaking, while speaking, do not forget that our existence is realized as a result of the continuation of the creative actions. That is, I am created continuously. If I am not given existence the next moment is there any reason for me to guarantee my existence the next moment? This point is extremely important because it makes us realize that my Creator cannot be limited, rather Absolute. We cannot comprehend the infinite Absolute Being, but He manifests Himself like Light makes everything known what they are. Our free will chooses within a limited space and therefore our experiences are taking place within that limited space. For example, when I do something, I follow a series of steps. But the creation of the result of my choices by obeying the orderly creation is brought into existence as if simultaneously. If there is no gap in creation, then creation is taking place continuously and constantly. It seems that I am producing and creating something when I follow a series of steps, but in fact, I am just choosing and obeying the way that the acts of orderly creation is taking place, and the result is created by the One who is creating the universe.
Comment: These verses are very practical, just as we cannot look at the sun directly, we need a means to benefit from the sun.
By definition, an Absolute Source cannot be comprehended by human beings. The sun example does not really help us much to understand the reality. God is communicating with me directly by displaying in me and the sun, the manifestation of His qualities. This is my Creator manifesting in me through my senses. If we understand that our spirit is directly given to us by God with no apparent reason, then we understand that there is no practicality involved here. To taste the food, I need to eat, there is practicality here. However, to communicate with my Creator, the spirit continuously reflects the qualities of its Creator, if only I am conscious of it. Although the Creator is in continuous and ceaseless communication with me, because my spirit continuously functions, I only realize that my Creator is communicating with me when I pay attention to my existence and feelings. As long as the spirit is in the body, it has the potentiality to communicate with its Creator. Our consciousness realizes this potentiality of our spirit to communicate with its Creator, but we have freewill to confirm or deny this communication with the Creator. Regardless, the spirit still functions. No one denies not loving something beautiful, because the feeling of love is continuously functioning. A conscious being realizes that their Creator gave them the ability to love something beautiful and they are just being conscious of it.
- When I am conscious of the feeling that God manifests with the existence of light, it is God communicating with me and I am aware of it.
- When I am not conscious of this reality, and do not refer the light to the Creator, I appropriate the feeling of love and the experience to myself, which is not my ownership, rather it is God’s property. As a result, I fall into “shirk” and claim that my spirit belongs to me, which ultimately means that I am the owner of my spirit. The Source of existence of my spirit is the One who gives me existence.
Comment: What about the things that I do with my freewill if everything good is from God?
Let’s say that you are playing with a baby, and you enjoy it. Do you own the joy created in you or did you find it? I find the ability to love in me. What do you love? The qualities manifested in the baby. Do you create loving qualities by yourself? What did your freewill create? You have chosen the love quality to function.
Let us take another practical example. If you turn off the switch of the electric lamp, is the power still available? Just because the lamp does not light up, it does not mean that there is no more power but the switch disconnected the lamp from the power source. That is how freewill functions. Your sense of love continuously exists. The baby’s loveable qualities continuously exist, and I just turn the switch on to function properly within a system that exists. What do I give existence to so as to claim that it is mine? I can only thank God for giving me the freewill which I used in the right way.
- We are only consumers, not producers!
Let us take another example, I enjoy an already created tangerine with the already created teeth, tongue, ability to chew and taste. I did not create my power to bite and chew up and down, it is a set system in existence, just like the electric switch example. What can I claim? The taste? Did I create the taste, or I used what is already created there? When I turn on the light switch, I do not create the act of turning on the switch, let alone give existence to light. When I do not turn the switch on, then, I do not let what God created in me to function. Shame on me and I must ask for forgiveness because I have distorted my qualities given to me! If I do something according to the way that I am created, I must be thankful, and I have to say Alhamdulillah to the One who created me with these abilities, for I just utilized them.
- Even with my conclusions (i.e. belief), I should say alhamdulillah, it is God’s blessings, because I did not deny the reality of the Truth. When we use our freewill in the right way, we must be thankful to God.
- We must be careful with how we use our feelings, so they function as a lamp.
Some people say that Science will solve all our problems with discoveries that will improve our quality of life, however, what is Science? The universe is Science, and we are discovering and consuming what exists in the universe. People who are known to be innovators in history are admired for using their human capital (intellect, time, and power) to the maximum. And if you are one of the discoverers, then you should be thankful for using your freewill in the right direction. Be mindful to not let worldly success get to your heart to the point of becoming proud of how you are using your freewill. If someone is proud of the qualities given to him/her by His Creator, then this person will never truly believe in God, although the tongue may utter alhamdulillah. Again, we must always be thankful to the Creator for the talents and skills that we are endowed with by our Creator. If people realize that they are only using the qualities existing in themselves, and the principles found in creation by discovering what already exists, then they will not be inclined towards appropriating anything to themselves. Going back to the microphone example, it is God’s blessing for us. The maker of the microphone has discovered the principle in creation, and we must thank them for their labor.
- The One who has created the universe in this way makes me discover the invention, is what we need to be proud of.
In the picture above, is the glass preventing the light from emanating?
الْمِصْبَاحُ فِي زُجَاجَةٍ
“The lamp inside a glass,”
Does this “lamp” in the universe and in ourselves have a glass?
What does the glass represent?
The lamp inside a glass refers to the universe radiating light, and the glass protects the light. That is how we should see ourselves and creation around us. The glass represents anything in creation that has a unique existence and thus reflects the qualities of its Creator individually.
Is it possible for anything which is created not to have a “glass” covering it?
If we observe things carefully, we notice that everything in creation comes with an outer layer in the form of a skin, just like the membrane of a cell. Similarly, we all have our own outer body form. Our eyes, nose, and toes, just to name a few items, have their special form which does not hide what is manifested in it (sense of seeing, power of sight, sense of touching), rather protects it. That is how everything is given a unique existence. A unique existence means that every particle has its own form, being the part of an atom. Every atom has its own form, being the part of a molecule, which has its own form. The heart has its own unique form, which is a member of the body having its own form. It seems that everything in existence has its unique form though they are within each other.
The universe and endless creation in it seem to be nested like Russian dolls, where every being must have its own glass. Each galaxy has its own form, similarly, none of the stars are the same. Each crystal form of snowflakes has its own form. No one’s fingerprint is the same. No one’s character is the same. No one’s feelings are the same. No one’s voice is the same at a given period. We can notice that a gradual change is happening to us. It is as if we are hopping in from one glass to another. Who is doing all this? That is why God is incomprehensible. The One who creates everything in such a way that there is no gap in creation, and everything has its form, can only be the work of an Absolute. We must say SubhanAllah! AllahuAkbar! There is no other way of explaining this Reality.
- We cannot be the product of random happenings!
When I say God, I should be in respect of a Mighty Stature, for I am sure that He exists, although I cannot comprehend His Essence. God is the owner of every moment and unique being continuously, therefore an Infinite and Absolute Being.
Do you think the verse may be speaking about our human qualities, such as spirit, consciousness, intellect, feelings…?
Everything created must have a glass and this glass is not covering the Reality, on the contrary, it demonstrates that this is an act of an Absolute Source of Existence. Everything is created uniquely where things may resemble each other but are unique beings. For example,Do I have a sense of love? Is it created within me? Is it the same as your sense of love?
Everyone’s feelings are unique to them. Don’t expect your loved ones to be exactly like you! We must understand how awesome our Creator is, even our senses are unique to ourselves. No two things are alike here at any time. God specifically designs you; you are a unique creature. Don’t be proud of it! Be thankful! Be modest and do not own it.