Let us remind ourselves with a recap of our study from Section Ya-Seen from where we last left off. The previous verses were describing the people who opposed the prophets and God “punished” them as they were questioning Resurrection and God’s warning upon which they were immediately destroyed. They had no time to make a will, nor could they return to their family. We also investigated another verse (28:59) describing that God does not destroy any town if a messenger has been sent to that community reciting the messages of God and the messenger is able to fulfill his duty. However, if the messenger is faced with difficulty, making it impossible to deliver the message to people and is chased away then the people cannot learn anything. There is no benefit in living for these people and they are destroyed.
We can relate this to our lives where if I don’t listen to the prophet then I keep him out of my being which means that I deserve to be destroyed. Historically, the destruction may have been in physical terms, but we should not take this destruction to be necessarily in physical terms. Practically, if I don’t have the prophet in my life, expel him, then my life will not have any meaning. I will have no hope of gaining guidance from anyone as I will be left with myself and the universe. Human questions cannot be answered by myself or anything in the universe but must be answered only by the Lord of the universe, the One who brought me here. The prophet is the connection between me and the Revelation of God. If I cut ties with the prophet, I am cutting my ties with the Revelation of God and my life will not be meaningful and satisfactory. I shouldn’t expect my body to be destroyed which is external but must take this warning seriously for my spirit. If my spirit is dead, what remains of me with just a body? It would be animalistic. To live in this world simply as a living being and not as a human being is worth nothing. These verses are letting me know that if I don’t take God’s guidance then I am not worth anything.
The reality is that when my body does not function anymore, the trumpet of resurrection will be blown.
We will continue with the following:
وَنُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ فَإِذَا هُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَجْدَاثِ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَنسِلُونَ
36:51 The trumpet of resurrection will be blown, and at once they will rush out of the graves to their Lord.
This trumpet being blown is popular in Islam as well as in other traditions including Judaism and Christianity. We should understand what the trumpet means. Do we hear the trumpet blowing in our lives? The trumpet being blown is mentioned in the Qur’an on various occasions. It is said that there is an angel called “Israfil” that will blow the trumpet and then the universe will be destroyed. Also described in tradition is that a second trumpet will be blown where people would be raised from their grave. What does this mean to me and how can I confirm this, is it possible to experience this? Have I heard of any trumpet blowing?
It is true that every moment is disappearing, and a new moment is created as in being resurrected. The trumpet blowing can act as a wake-up call, reminding me that my time is coming to leave this world. For example, the first time that one enters the stage of getting white hair, one wonders what’s going on: “I am not the same person anymore, continuously changing. I thought I would remain young forever. This change reminds me physically to pay attention to the fact that I am getting old, getting closer to leaving this world. This is how the angel Israfil is blowing the trumpet for me at every moment of my life.
Traditionally, we hear about the angel Gabriel who brought the message to the prophets. One should wonder what angel Gabriel is doing now, is he resting or doing some duty? How about angel Israfil, he must blow the trumpet twice in his life as is traditionally understood. How about angel Azrael, he must be the busiest angel of all as everyday thousands of people die, he must be busy. Traditionally we also hear about the angels Raqib and Atid referred to as “كراماً كاتبين” (honorable scribes) that record a person’s actions that are good or bad. The one on the left shoulder must be busy writing all the wrongs one has done. Whereas the one on the right must be resting as there is not much to write. These names of angels are all of Hebrew origin where the ending of “el” indicates “God” in the Hebrew language. It is the shorter form of “Elohim” meaning “God”. The angels’ names ending in “el” indicate that these beings belong to God.
The change and passing of time from one moment to the next is the trumpet blowing. A new creation takes place, and the trumpet is blown again. For example, a man dies, and the trumpet is blown. When a galaxy dies, the trumpet is blown. When a new star in the galaxy is born, the trumpet is blown again. When I die, the trumpet will be blown and this sequential creation will continue, that is God’s way of creating. In this world, God teaches us that He is operating on us continuously and we cannot interfere into His operation. The activities are ordered from God to the angels and transferred into material form, that is how we understand existence taking place in this world. However, does God need the angels to bring something into existence? Angels are not the helpers or executors; God is the executor. For me to understand how existence is taking place I look at the universe and conclude that the source of existence must be an Absolute Being. However, I cannot experience the Absolute Being so His qualities must be manifested in created forms. This transformation into created forms is referred to in the revelations of God as “angels” who are getting the order of existence from the Creator according to His will and transforming them into material, transient forms that I experience in this world. For example, I am existing with a body, have a certain height, weight. I can conclude that the qualities manifested in the way I am must be from the Will of an Absolute One. He located me within the context of the universe where I am connected to the rest of the universe. I can make sense of the existence of the universe; I can investigate the solar system and imagine the galaxies. That is why the angels are mentioned in Revelation to help me make sense of existence, they indicate to me by announcing God’s decree.
To understand the concept of angels we can look at an example of an artist and his art. How can I know the qualities of a talented painter? Only when he manifests his artistry in a limited form on a canvas. By looking at the art on the canvas, I conclude that only a talented artist can produce such art who has a completely different realm of existence from the canvas, oil, and paint. If I am part of the art and am conscious, I can only conclude that an artist exists, but I cannot imagine the essence or nature of the artist. The human artist in our example must take his brush and paint to demonstrate his qualities on the canvas. The human artist needs a means to transfer his qualities.
The Qur’an speaks to human beings in terms of their capacity to perceive creation and mentions angels are doing this transformation. Although things are transient, one can conclude that they come from a Conscious Real Being. That is how we can reason to conclude about the source of the existence of the universe.
There is a serious commentator on the Qur’an called “Qatadah” who reads this verse as “wa nufikha fi as-suwari” (Spirit is breathed into the body). It is possible to read this way, it is grammatically correct and is according to the context of the Quran. However, the general scholarship took the conventional way of reading the verse, but they did not deny or oppose Qatadah’s way which also makes sense. The diacritical symbols that we see in the Qur’an are not original to the Qur’anic text. They are added to make the reading and pronouncing the words easier for those who are not experts on Arabic language. What changes in Qatadah’s way which makes the phrase “the spirit is breathed into the body”? The meaning completely changes but essence wise is the same. In one, the trumpet of resurrection will be blown and in the other spirit is breathed into the body where a new body is given. The word “ٱلصُّور” which is the plural of “ ٱلصُّورة” is popular in some languages used by Muslim populations. The singular “ٱلصُّورة” is the external appearance of a thing. For example, by looking at me, you see only a body and flesh but to know me you must share experiences with me, share feelings with me, join in happiness and sadness with me to see what kind of person I am. Otherwise, one would only see my body. The word “ ٱلصُّورة” means the body as the outer appearance. The meaning of the body is from the spirit as translated “spirit is breathed into the body”. The universe is also like a body. However, the spirit of the universe is the meaning it transfers to us, i.e. the message of the qualities of its Creator manifesting in the universe is the spirit of the universe. The meaning of the universe corresponds with exactly what the Qur’an says. The scholar Nursi uses the statement “Qur’an is the spirit of the universe.”
قَالُوا۟ يَـٰوَيْلَنَا مَنۢ بَعَثَنَا مِن مَّرْقَدِنَا ۜ ۗ هَـٰذَا مَا وَعَدَ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ وَصَدَقَ ٱلْمُرْسَلُونَ
36:52 They will say, “How pitiful for us! Who has raised us up from our resting place? This is what the All Merciful had promised, and the Messengers told the Truth.”
The phrase “يَـٰوَيْلَنَا” translated as “How pitiful for us” meaning that we have done atrocious things that we are ashamed of and regret it now. Who has raised us up from our resting place? The phrase “مَنۢ بَعَثَنَا” translated as “who has raised us up”. It is as if we are waking up from our sleep which is a small miniature example of resurrection. The verse indicates that guilty feeling with one upon waking up from some place they deemed comfortable. Now realizing that this is what the All Merciful had promised and confirming that the Messengers had told the Truth.
What is our resting place? It is the time we spend in negligence. In our youth we may think that life will be eternal. I can entertain myself and will continue doing that. I did not consider the transient nature of this world. If something happens that wakes someone up from this negligence, then the person is woken up from their resting place. Some life changing event or disease can make one realize that someone is waking me up. We should be pleased to get a wakeup call. I can easily lose myself in my youth and think that life will always go on the same way and I need to wake up.
Why do the deniers say when they are raised “The Merciful had promised” though they did not believe in God while in this world? When one goes into a life changing event, it is a merciful reminder. Otherwise, I would never realize that I am going to die; am I getting ready for the destination that I am headed to? I am in a school of the universe where I must learn my reality. I must wake up from my resting place, it is a Merciful action. Troubles in life, illnesses, events that disturb us must be understood as Merciful actions.
Even those who did not believe in God understand upon being raised up that the one who raised them up is a Merciful One who reminded me on many occasions: “It is unfortunate that we did not pay attention to His warnings.” The Qur’an mentions that “you must pay attention to My warnings which are out of My Mercy. You were sent My messengers who also reminded you.”
After one realizes the truth, they understand that this is a merciful reminder. I was very energetic, successful in my life and never thought that my life would have an end. After realizing the truth, I can say that the undesired events in my life were a merciful warning. I am not the one who decides for my life, but my Owner decides. I am here to know who I am and who my Lord is. How can I be self-sufficient? I have nothing in my power, I am just using the things that are given to me. Only God is self-sufficient and everything else is dependent on Him. I must be thankful to the One who gives me all these things that I am using. This Being is the Merciful One who gives me things that I may find unpleasant from time to time to remind me. If there is a reminder for the truth, am I not thankful to be reminded of it? For example, if I am walking on the road and didn’t pay attention to cars running and someone pulls me aggressively to save my life. Wouldn’t I be thankful to this person for pulling me back even if I get hurt and feel pain from that pull? Isn’t that a merciful pain?
Another example, negligent students know that they are neglecting their assignments assigned by the teacher to pass the class. At the end when they fail the class they will say “How pitiful of us to be negligent of the assignments. The teacher was being merciful by begging me to work on the assignments, but I didn’t listen to her.” At resurrection, everyone will realize the truth. All the reminders we receive while living in this world is nothing but out of mercy.
This verse is speaking to me telling me that don’t wait until I am resurrected to realize the truth as the deniers are doing. This is an example for me where I will be resurrected now by realizing the truth. The Qur’an speaks within the context of eternal life. I must wake up to the warnings that I get and see them as merciful reminders. I must pay attention to what the Merciful One is telling me and also the message of the prophets while I am living in this world.
Imam Ali and Ibn Abbas read the above verse as “min ba’thina” where the diacritical symbol is different. This translates to “How” rather than “Who” in the event of being raised up: “How terrible for us now that we are raised up from our resting place.” This means that the disbelievers would have preferred to stay in their negligence. We can see how these diacritical symbols can delicately alter the meaning we get from the verses but still staying within the context of the message of the Qur’an.