Session 6 Notes
We have been exploring our engagement with the Qur’an by having the correct definition to match what we are looking to get out of the Qur’an relating to our purpose of existence. We last looked at the Qur’an being the translator of the silent speech of the universe and also the interpreter of the universe. What is the universe declaring in its existence? There are many verses in the Qur’an asking its readers to pay attention to the signs in the universe. The word “آية ” (ayah/sign/verse) has a few meanings based on the context, such as verses of Revelation, signs in creation, and miracles given to the prophets. But the various root meanings of the word “ayah” (sign/verse) found in the Qur’an must be understood by linking them together. For instance, the signs within creation also bear witness to the meanings of the Qur’anic verses. The miracles of the Prophet testify both to the source of the signs manifested by the universe and to the source of the content of the Qur’anic verses.
Many verses refer to the creation and ask us to look at them as “ayat” signs.
Apart from those there are direct references that the creation needs to be read as a Book or listened to as a Speech
Everything existing in this universe is a sign to help us understand who the Creator of that thing is. For example, one is walking on their street and sees a plant with colorful flowers, those plants and flowers are demonstrating the qualities of their Maker. The elements of the universe and the pieces of the plant do not have any quality to be the source of the existence of either the plant or the flowers. The plant and the flower are both full of art, beauty, smell, etc., perfectly decorated for us, conscious human beings. The plant and the flowers are witnesses, they are the signs pointing to the qualities of their Maker. The elements of the universe, soil, water, sun are all given existence with their qualities, acting as signs to their Creator. These elements have no quality to give existence to the plant. I can comfortably conclude that the One who made the plant with the flowers, must have a sense of beauty, harmony, artistry, compassion, mercy, etc. This creator must be the All Powerful One. The existence of the plant and flowers are declaring these qualities of their Maker. This is the aim of the Qur’an, to teach us to observe the universe and see His qualities manifested there. The Qur’an always encourages us to look at the signs of the creation in the universe pointing to the One presenting them to us.
Throughout our life in this world we always interact with creation, there is no escape from it. Even if one sits at a place for a long time thinking that he is not doing anything, he is breathing by interacting with air, his brain is working, consciousness knows that he does not want to move his body, he is seeing the things around, hearing any noise around, his body organs work perfectly in harmony, he will get hungry at some point which prompts them to look for food. When we find something to eat, usually our first reaction is: “wow, this is delicious and fulfilling, who cooked this food, compliments to the chef”. The Qur’an reminds us, hold on, wait a few seconds to look at the food that you are eating. How does it exist with many qualities that you enjoy? What do these qualities refer to? Realize that they are all signs introducing your Creator to you.
Who is this Creator? The One who gave existence to your feeling hungry, and provided the food for you. The One who created it to satisfy your taste and so that you get pleasure out of it. All these qualities in the food are specially created by Him. Food is created to feed you and you are created to be in need of it; they compliment each other. The Qur’an gives a lot of examples of fruits, and describes Paradise with fruits as well. Our only effort is to pick up fruits from the trees. They are completely prepared, adorned and packaged by their Creator, for us to enjoy with barely any human interference. Furthermore, the seed inside—acting much like a manufacturer’s warranty, guarantees that future fruit will be created from it. It is as if to say: “Do not think that once you eat this, it will be gone forever and you will never find it again; simply enjoy it.”
There are verses in the Qur’an pointing to other creations such as mountains, honey bees, human beings, women, cattle, camels, spiders, ants, elephant etc. indicating that they are deliberately created to be read as books. For example, one is looking at an apricot, what is written in the existence of the apricot? The qualities manifested in the apricot is the book that we must read. Those specialized in lab work are writing research papers on the qualities that they discover in the apricot. Those studying the cells find further qualities to be read. Who prepared the beautiful fruit of apricot with its delicate pinkish flesh, the soft meat inside it and a hard shell seed in there? The seed is ready to grow to become another tree. How come the seed has the potential to be a tree? Does the plan and all detailed information regarding a building—whether drawn on paper or loaded onto a computer—contain within itself the power, the volitional agency, and the capacity to gather and meaningfully arrange the materials necessary to transform it into a physical building? The seed is only a promise from the One who made it. He is promising me something, don’t worry, by eating the apricot, it is not the end, the seed is only the document prepared by the Creator to let us know that He knows what He has created and what He is going to create another tree for us. Every created being is created with the promise of satisfaction for our future, extending into paradise. We must take every being as a book to be read.
Another aspect of “ayat” signs is silent speech that we see in the expressions of a baby for instance. They don’t have to speak the language we understand but in their creation, they express their hunger or their need to be cleansed by making certain faces. Without the baby saying anything, everyone understands that the baby needs some help.
We must thus pay attention to the creation out there and listen to it as the Creator of the universe is speaking to us. This way, we can realize that we are always in the presence of our Creator. He is speaking to us right now while we are breathing, seeing the sunlight, in the shades of the clouds, experiencing the fresh air, etc. Every created being around us is speaking, even a stone we may think is inanimate, is speaking to us.
We understand that some human beings find difficulty in expressing their feelings. What do they do? They get some flowers to express their love. The flowers speak out to express the feelings of the person. We can take the universe as a flower expressing what God is disclosing to us. The universe with its wonderfully, decoratively created and arranged different types of galaxies is speaking to express the love of God and His Absoluteness to us.
Let’s study the following verse related to the topic we are talking about now:
ٱلَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ قِيَـٰمًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَـٰذَا بَـٰطِلًا سُبْحَـٰنَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ
“Those who remember God standing, sitting, and lying down, who reflect on the creation of the heavens and earth: ‘Our Lord!, You have not created all this without meaning and purpose; You are far above that! So protect us from the torment of the Fire ” (3:191)
Remembering God is not just our ritualistic prayers; we don’t have to wait for sunset or sunrise to make our remembrance of God. We can also remember God while sitting, typing, eating, standing, running, lying down, etc. In every situation one can reflect on their Lord by observing the creation of the heavens and earth. One must simply pay attention to His work, what He is presenting to us. With this reflection, one can easily conclude that the universe is created with meaning and purpose, it is not in vain. This verse is so sweet, giving us the good news that we can always be in the presence of our Lord, 24/7.
Our Lord is continuously communicating with us, presenting Himself to us so that we get to know Him. Nothing created being presented to us is purposeless. The phrase “سُبْحَـٰنَكَ” (You are far above that), everything is meaningfully created and presented to us. We must pay attention to His presentation so that we can live in His presence.
We must practice this presence of our creator in our living. The concluding phrase of the verse is to “protect us from the torment of the Fire”. Although it is an expression of a prayer, it also encourages us that we must not ignore the signs introducing our Creator to us, that is the only way to be protected from the torment of the Fire. If one ignores this reality, they would find themselves deprived of blessings, living a meaningless, purposeless life. How can one stand such a kind of living where you think you are going to rot away one day? This is the torment of the Fire the verse is referring to. When one does not pay attention to the signs in creation, they are devoid of the Creator of the universe and thus torture themselves with meaninglessness. The spirit suffers tremendously with such an understanding and suffers from the torment of the Fire here. Paradise represents when one sees the signs and finds themselves in the presence of their Creator. Hell is the representative of the spiritual sensations that arise from denying the fact that those signs point to their Creator. These sensations manifest both in this worldly life and in the subsequent stage of creation known as “death,” which occurs when the human body ceases to function. In this life, we are getting ready, preparing for either Paradise or Hell.
There are many scientists who study the universe as a whole or different parts of the universe but miss out on the signs pointing to their Creator. In order to have a carpet, one has to measure their room, and get the carpet according to those measurements. When it comes to the universe they study, they completely ignore the perfect measurements in creation. Can it be randomly happening? Is it naturally happening? Examine the universe and see how it is perfectly measured where things are connected to each other. How come it is arranged in this way? Does matter have any quality of doing this? Unfortunately, these brilliant materialist scientists publish papers and declare: look this universe works perfectly. They never wonder how it is continuously brought into existence and sustained in this very moment. Observing how a system works never explains the ongoing mystery of its perpetual renewal. It’s like living in a house for over 10 years and never questioning the architect, the builders, or the active human interferences constantly maintaining it. The continuous current in the electrical grid, the steady fuel in the heating system, the unceasing pressure in the plumbing are never questioned.
If we describe the house by detailing only its static features, like counting the rooms, measuring the dimensions, sizing the windows, or mapping the exact length of the electrical wires. Does any of this meticulous description truly explain how the house is being given existence and sustained from one moment to the next?
We are just using all these facilities. Have we ever thought about the architect of the house that we are living in? When something breaks, we start complaining about “the bad architect”. Similarly, when the summer or winter is harsh, or there is some storm that ruins our plans, we start complaining: “why is God treating me like this?”, criticizing God, the Creator of the universe. Our life is such that when we are happy, everything is fine, we forget about our reality. We might simply call this “natural” or give it no thought at all. It is only in trouble that we question many things and start remembering God. When we are in a beautiful garden or a forest, or when we swim in warm seas and bask in the sun, we often forget the joy of our own existence and do not ask, “Why is God treating me this way?” Materialist philosophers, in particular, ask the question: “If God exists, why do disasters or injustices occur?” They overlook the fact that human beings possess free will and are faced with the necessity of choosing between options. For multiple options to exist, there must be diversity in creation; only then can a choice exist. In making choices, we learn what is right and what is wrong. This is a process of learning. People improve themselves through learning. That is how we were created. No one questions why we go to school to learn; we choose to learn rather than remain ignorant. Is this a bad thing? Scientists conduct research to utilize the universe for the betterment of human lives. Is it a bad thing for us to discover and learn about the magnificent way the universe was created? Is conducting scientific research an evil act? If there were no diversity in creation, there would be no choices to make, and everything would be the same to us. What kind of life could we enjoy in such a state? If we never felt hunger, we would never be able to savor delicious food. We must get out of this neglectful attitude. In a way God reminds us that He knows that we are neglectful, so take this reminder of the Revelation seriously to refresh your hearts, feelings and mind.
This next verse is related but is shocking; we need to be alerted to this message:
وَمَا خَلَقْنَا ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا لَـٰعِبِينَ مَا خَلَقْنَـٰهُمَآ إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
“We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in mere idle play. We created them with Truth, but most people do not comprehend” (44:38-39)
We must wake up to this reality and pay attention to the existence of this world. Here God is speaking to me not only through the Qur’an but also speaking to me through the creation of the universe. One must simply pay attention to both of the speeches of the Creator in their living.
Every being is created with the truth, pointing to the Absolute Truth. Every single being has uncountable signs in their creation pointing to this Absolute Truth. This is the reason why we are given so many human qualities where we are able to read the meaning in the existence of being. When we don’t use those human qualities for the purpose of finding the truth, then we leave this world empty handed.
In Sufi tradition, there is a saying that: “We came to this world naked. We will go out of this world naked.” They say that the shroud will have no pocket, meaning that you do not take anything material with you upon death. All human qualities are given to us to see the truth in the creation, see the truth in the speech of God and to conclude that the Absolute Truth is the one who created this world.
Let’s examine the following verse:
وَلَوْ أَنَّمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مِن شَجَرَةٍ أَقْلَـٰمٌ وَٱلْبَحْرُ يَمُدُّهُۥ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ سَبْعَةُ أَبْحُرٍ مَّا نَفِدَتْ كَلِمَـٰتُ ٱللَّهِ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
“If all the trees on earth were pens and the sea [were ink], with seven more seas added to it, still the words of God would not run out: God is almighty and all wise” (31:27)
We have been using the analogy that the universe is a book to be read. In this verse, the Qur’an is teaching us allegorically that the words and speech of the Creator of the universe have no end, they are infinite. The universe is a huge commentary on the Qur’an, they speak the same language. The words of God never end, the meaning of the Qur’an never ends. Based on the emergence of new needs, we get new meanings answering to those needs. Every single thing is a “word of God” speaks to us demonstrating the signs of God in its existence.
Another related verse:
وَمَا خَلَقْنَا ٱلسَّمَآءَ وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا بَـٰطِلًا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ظَنُّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ۚ فَوَيْلٌ لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلنَّارِ
“We have not created the heavens and earth and everything in between without meaning and purpose. That is what the disbelievers assume. How they will suffer from the Fire” (38:27)
Similar to the earlier verse, this verse reminds us again to pay attention to the signs in the universe, which has been created with meaning. When the verse says “everything in between”, at every moment the universe is changing, every being in that universe is changing they are all signs for us. This is described here as the disbeliever’s attitude of ignoring the signs in the universe, which is frightening and considered a big crime. These verses are reminding us, inviting us to pay attention to the signs in the universe and realize the source of their existence, the Creator of the universe with all His qualities.