Living The Quran Through The Living Quran

On Day 5 of Ramadhan, we review the theme of humility and humbleness - traits of the righteous people.

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Commentary

NUMBER 5: The story of the People of the Cave is perhaps one of the most mysterious and at the same time, fascinating ones in the Quran. 

A relatively short narrative about a group of young men who fled from the corruption and sins of their society and sought refuge high in the mountains, they are presented as the archetype of what ends a person must go to in order to seek Allah and not be influenced by a deviant society. 

Although they experienced a miracle by Allah in that they secluded themselves in a cave, and fell asleep for hundreds of years - to the extent that later on their clothes and currency gave away the fact that they were not from that generation, however we can still learn lessons from their story about how we should live in contemporary secular societies. 

We understand when we read their narrative, that they were believers living in a non-believing country and environment. When they found that their faith was being threatened, they decided to leave their city and go into the caves to preserve their faith. 

Allah put them to sleep and when they woke up hundreds of years later, they found that the people of their previous city had become believers, and although they may have wished to go back home, they knew that they could not, and so they ended up secluding themselves back in the cave, and according to some narrations they are still there and will awaken to be with Imam al-Mahdi.

The significance of this story is that when a person puts their belief and trust in Allah and strives to please Him, then Allah will come to their assistance and help them in times of difficulty. 

We see that in our era, our faith is put to test on a daily basis and although our responsibility is NOT to run away to some mountain, however we should always try and make a spiritual migration away from our sins – and remove ourselves from a bad situation that we find ourselves in – whether it be a gathering of impermissible music, mixing of the genders, consumption of alcohol, etc… we must not ever be in such places.

Point of Reflection

There are times when we should engage in debate, but there are times when we should just humble ourselves and recognize the fact that we do not know. Rather than trying to nitpick at certain things, it is sometimes better to look at the bigger picture and the greater good, and focus on that and move forward.

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Quran audio files courtesy of: http://everyayah.com 

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Day 4 of Ramaḍān

وَاللَّهُ   خَلَقَ كُلَّ دَابَّةٍ مِنْ مَاءٍ فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَمْشِي عَلَى بَطْنِهِ وَمِنْهُمْ   مَنْ يَمْشِي عَلَى رِجْلَيْنِ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَمْشِي عَلَى أَرْبَعٍ يَخْلُقُ   اللَّهُ مَا يَشَاءُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ٤٥

And Allah has created every animal from water. Some of them   move upon their bellies and some of them move upon two feet and some among them   move upon four. Allah creates what He pleases. Verily, Allah has Power   over all things.[1] 

NUMBER 4: In this verse which speaks about the creations which Allah has put on the earth, another sign of His Oneness (tawḥīd), is pointed out - the life which He has given to various creations. 

He begins by one of the scientific realities of creation and tells us that He has created everything from water. It is interesting that NASA’s motto in the hunt for extraterrestrial life has been “follow the water” – if there is water, there is a good chance that life exists. However from water - this one source of life - it is amazing how diverse the creations are that Allah has gifted us with. 

In this verse, He shows us that some of His creations crawl on their bellies – creatures like the snake which have no arms or legs or appendages; then Allah tells us that some creatures have two feet like us human beings; and lastly the All-Knowing tells us that some animals move about on four feet. 

It should be noted that there are many animals which are NOT mentioned here – there is no talk about the birds which fly; and nothing about the sea creatures, or insects with tens if not hundreds of ‘legs’ - so is this verse incomplete? 

The point of such verses is not to give us a detailed explanation of the entire animal kingdom – for we could do that by going outside and exploring nature, but rather, as He says at the end of the verse, Allah creates whatever He wills – and He cannot be controlled or stopped in His workings. In summary, there is much more out there that He did not speak about … but then the Quran is not a book of zoology or an encyclopedia of what exists on Earth. 

At the end of the verse Allah says that He has the power to do anything that He wants, so we must submit and accept the fact that there is much more out there that we have not discovered yet, or that He has not informed us about.

If we as human beings are not on the road of discovering Allah, treading the path of spiritual elevation or proximity to the Creator, and are not trying to become better humans, living up to our fullest potential, then we are no better than the animals which He creates.

[1] Quran, Sūrah al-Nūr (24), Verse 45.

Commentary

NUMBER 3: The Quran is quick to speak about deviations which the past communities went through – not to mock them, but to let the Muslims know that we are not immune from the same thing, and we must be vigilant to ensure that we do not allow our faith to become corrupt with inaccurate teachings. 

The point which the Quran mentions in this verse is the erroneous belief of the majority of Christianity – then and even now - claiming THREE Gods – God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit – but somehow this math of 1+1+1 is still equal to ONE! In this verse, and this is repeated many times in the Quran, Allah shows us those who say that Allah is one of the three in the godhead (trinity in unity) are actually in a state of disbelief in God. 

What is this doctrine – simply put, “The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (Latin: Trinitas, lit. ‘triad’, from Latin: trinus “threefold”) holds that God is one God, but three coeternal consubstantial persons or hypostases - the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit—as “one God in three Divine Persons”. The three Persons are distinct, yet are one “substance, essence or nature (homoousios).” 

At the First Council of Constantinople (381), the Nicene Creed was expanded, known as Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, by saying that the Holy Spirit is worshiped and glorified together with the Father and the Son (συμπροσκυνούμενον καὶ συνδοξαζόμενον), suggesting that he was also consubstantial with them: “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of the very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; (...) And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets (...).”

The Quran, which came over 600 years after Prophet Jesus ascended into the heavenly realm, sought to eradicate this erroneous belief and educate the Christian nation that there is no god which you should worship other than the ONE God and that this notion of “three in one” is invalid. 

In conclusion, Allah clearly tells those who believe in the trinity that if they do not desist in this belief – obviously after being educated and taught that this is not a correct understanding of God, then those who continue in disbelief will face a painful punishment in the world to come.

Islam, as the final religion, and the Quran as the final testament to humanity, speaks about the ideologies of other groups that came before it and comments and critiques them and is not afraid to call out the previous dispensations when they have deviated.

يَا   أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا شَهَادَةُ بَيْنِكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ   حِينَ الْوَصِيَّةِ اثْنَانِ ذَوَا عَدْلٍ مِنْكُمْ أَوْ آخَرَانِ مِنْ غَيْرِكُمْ... ١٠٦

O you who believe! When death comes to one of you (and you wish   to make your will) let there be present among you, at the time of making the will,   two just persons from among you or two others from among the outsiders,   in case you are journeying in the country and the calamity of death overtakes   you… [1] Quran, Sūrah al-Māʾida (5), verse 106.

NUMBER 2: Due to contemporary laws in many secular countries and the fights and arguments which can result after the death of a loved one, we are required to write a will and ensure that things are spelled out as clearly as possible to our inheritors. 

Islam has made it well-defined by way of the Quran and the aḥādīth of the Ahlul Bayt on how to write a will, who gets what and how one’s estate must be divided. 

One major benefit of writing a will is that we are able to personally direct 1/3 of our estate and indicate where we want it to be used - either to tie up loose ends in our life that we did not complete, such as missed prayers or fasts, which charity to donate to, and for other purposes which we feel most passionate about – with the goal of continuing to receive a reward long after we have passed away. 

This verse makes it clear that even when we are about to die, we still have an opportunity to make our last will and testament and that death is a reality which we will all encounter. The verse also shows us to what precision Islam regards the laws that we need to have TWO witnesses to corroborate the will – but not two ordinary people, rather they must be JUST and FAIR. 

The verse also shows us that to be fair and truthful are requirements that are necessary throughout our lives, and that even if wealth or family come in the way and try to get us to break the laws, people of integrity will never let others influence their decision making process. 

The benefits of having a will go far beyond gifting others with property, in fact the traditions tell us that when we have a will, Allah will actually use this in our favour and we will be granted a longer life, and that if we are fair in the division of our estate, then we will get the reward as if we donated all of our wealth in charity while we were alive!

With all of these benefits, it only makes sense to do the right thing and write our will.

Since death is a reality that we will all face, young or old – and a cursory glance at our community graveyards is a clear indicator that death knows no age, we must always be ready to meet our Creator AND ensure that we have fulfilled our responsibilities to our loved ones in the way of writing our last will and testament. 

يَا   أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ   وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًا كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاءً وَاتَّقُوا   اللَّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ   رَقِيبًا١

O people! Take as a shield your Lord Who created you from one   being. The same stock from which He created the man He created his spouse, and   through them both He caused to spread a large number of men and women. O people!   Regard Allah with reverence in Whose name you appeal to one another, and (be regardful   to) the ties of relationship. Verily, Allah ever keeps watch over you. (Surah   al-Nisa (4), Verse 1)

NUMBER 1: In the first verse of the chapter of The Women (al-Nisāʾ), a chapter which speaks about many of our societal rights and responsibilities, Allah addresses humanity with the phrase “يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ” – “O humanity!” as He wants to address everyone generally, to know that this topic transcends religion, colour, and all other differentiators, not just Muslims. 

Allah begins by reminding us to have taqwā or an active consciousness and awareness of Him in our lives because through this, we will be in a better position to fulfill the societal obligations to those around us. 

Allah then goes on to remind us that He is the One who created all of us – black, white, brown, yellow, etc. and that we all come from one source and so any thoughts of racial supremacy or discrimination make absolutely no sense, since we all come from ONE being. 

Our father and mother are one – Adam and Eve, peace be upon them both. From these initial two, the verse goes on to show us that from them, all of humanity has endured until the present day and will continue until the end of time. 

In order to drive home the point of our inter-connected lives and relationships, God once again repeats the order to have taqwā and reminds us that we must also have this God-consciousness in regards to our womb-relatives. This shows us the importance which the Quran places about maintaining family ties such that God takes an oath by the womb-relatives, after taking an oath upon His own self. 

We also understand that our taqwā must extend to everyone – all of the children of Adam – as we are all from “one womb” – Eve – and that we must regard one another as being children of the same parents.

In closing, the Almighty reminds us that He always keeps watch over us and all of our actions and intentions are constantly being witnessed by Him – and obviously, we will be evaluated on the Day of Judgement.

This chapter is entitled, The Women (al-Nisāʾ), and the first verse of it focuses on the important role of taqwā in our lives – meaning that the foundational pillar of the spousal and family relationship must be that of God consciousness which everyone must maintain.

In this the final episode of the commentary of Surah al-Najm, we review  the concluding verses which speak of the power of God and conclude with the obligation to  prostrate to God upon reading the Arabic of the final verse of this  chapter. 

In this portion, we review verses 50 to 56 and review the outcome of some of the previous nations and the punishments which they faced due to their own negative actions.

In this session of the commentary of Surah al-Najm, verses 45-49, we review SOME of the powers and abilities which God has - such as His creation of the human being from 'nothing' to the creation of the stars in the galaxies...

 In this section we review the theme of "The True Lord" - this is the  same God which has sent previous prophets like Abraham and Moses and He  is the same one who deputed the likes of Noah, Jesus and Muhammad -  prayers of God be upon them all. In this brief review we look at the  topic of God "controlling" or better yet, being the "source" of human  emotions and feelings... 

 In this, part two of the discussion, we complete the topic of "What You  Deserve" - in the meaning that we all get what we deserve and we are not  held accountable for the sins of others. If we strive and work hard, we  do so for ourselves and no one else and if we are lazy and lethargic,  well, we are doing so at our own detriment.