God says
Are, then, they who are bent in denying the truth not aware that the heavens and the earth were [once] one single entity, which We then parted asunder?*—and [that] We made out of water every living thing? Will they not [begin to] believe?** -- Q.21:30
* It is, as a rule, futile to make an explanation of the Quran dependent on “scientific findings” which may appear true today, but may equally well disapproved tomorrow by new findings. Nevertheless, the above unmistakable reference to the unitary origin of the universe – metonymically described in the Quran as “the heavens and the earth” – strikingly anticipates the view of almost all astrophysicists that the universe has originated as on entity from one single element, namely, hydrogen, which became subsequently consolidated through gravity and then separated into individual nebulae, galaxies and solar systems, with further individual parts progressively breaking away to form new entities in the shape of stars, planets and the latters’ satellites.
** The statement that “God made out of water every living thing” expresses a most concisely a truth that is nowadays universally accepted by science. It has threefold meaning: (1) Water – and, specifically, the sea -- was the environment within which the prototype of all living matter originated; (2) among all the innumerable – existing or conceivable – liquids, only water has the peculiar properties for the emergence and development of life; and (3) the protoplasm, which is the physical basis of every living cell – whether in plants or in animals – and represents the only form of matter in which the phenomena of life are manifested, consists overwhelmingly of water and is, thus, utterly dependent on it. Read together with the preceding statement, which alludes to the unitary origin of the physical universe, the emergence of life from and within an equally unitary element points to the existence of a unitary plan underlying all creation and hence, to the existence and oneness of the Creator.
Did you, then, think that We created you in mere idle play, and that you would not have to return to Us?* -- Q.23:115
*Lit., “that you would not be brought back to Us”, i.e., for judgment.
On the Day of Judgment, God will say this to the doomed sinners.
We are continuously returning to God is the truth we should recall every day. The only way to prepare ourselves for the Day of Judgment is to be concerned about it! Then, simply to follow God’s guidance: the Quran, that guides throughout this life into afterlife.
“Will they not ponder over this Quran? – or are there locks upon their hearts” God says in 47:24 about those ‘in whose hearts is disease’.
Study of the Quran has to be taken seriously. Doing it every day (so many things we do every day, don’t we?); pondering over even if it is just one verse. Using commentary/explanatory notes will prove helpful.
(Please also refer to the Friday Post of May 14, 2010).
Prophet said
“Recite the Qur’an morning and evening,* recite in a good voice and reflect upon it,** so that you may be rewarded” – H: Mishkat. N: Ubaidah.
* This seems reference to morning prayer, after-sunset and night prayers in which recitation is voiced, as noon and afternoon prayers are offered in silence. (Al- Hadis)
**The Tradition is directing us to learn the meanings of what we say when we perform our prayer because it is only then we can “reflect” upon it. This will be in the direction of performing the prayer in communion with Him.
