2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (continued)

God says

Q.2:2. This divine writ – let there be no doubt about it – is [meant to be] a guidance for all God-conscious*

*The conventionl translation of muttaqi as “God-fearing” does not adequately render the positive content of this expression – namely, the awareness of His all-presence and the desire to mould one’s existence in the light of this awareness; while the interpretation of some translators, “one who guards himself against evil” or “one who is careful of his duty”, does not give more than one particular aspect of the concept of God-consciousness.

This is the first of 2 to 5 verses of the second surah that are going to be presented in forth coming Fridays, inshaAllah. Prophet’s saying will appear at the end.

2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (to be continued)

God says

Consider those [stars] that rise only to set,*
and move [in their orbits] with steady motions,**
and float [through space] with floating serene,
and yet overtake [one another] with swift overtaking:***
and thus they fulfill the [Creator’s] behest! -- Q.79:1-5

*The early commentators differ widely in their explanations of verses 1-5 of this surah. The clearest and simplest interpretation is that advanced by Qataadah (as quoted by Tabari and Baghawi) and AL-Hasan al-Basri (as quoted by Baghawi and Razi), who maintain that what is meant in this passage are the stars – including the sun and the moon – and their movement in space: and this interpretation is fully in tune with many other passages in the Qur’an in which the harmony of those celestial bodies in their multiform orbits and graded speeds is cited as evidence of God’s planning and creativeness.
** I.e., passing from constellation to constellation (Zamakhshari).
*** This is apparently an allusion to the different speeds of the orbiting stars (Al-Hasan and Abu ‘Ubaydah, as quoted by Razi), as well as to the extent of their orbits in relation to one another.



Prophet said

“The believer, by his (good) conduct, reaches the position of one who stands up (praying) at night and fasts during the day” – H: Abu Daod. N: Bibi Ayesha.

InshaAllah, from next Friday will start presenting verses 2 to 5 of the second surah, “Al Baqarah” These openning verses include the basis for receiving much needed guidance from the Quran, and hence, needed to be well understood.

2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (to be continued)

God says

Consider the daybreak and the ten nights!* Consider the multiple of One!** Consider the night as it runs its course!*** Consider all this – could there be, to anyone endowed with reason, a [more] solemn evidence of truth?**** -- Q.89: 1-5
*The “daybreak” (fajr) apparently symbolizes man’s spiritual awakening; hence, the “ten nights” is an allusion to the last third of the month of Ramadan, in the year 13 before the hijrah, , during which Muhammad received his first revelation and was thus enabled to contribute to mankind’s spiritual awakening.
** Lit., “the even and the odd” or “the one”: i.e., the multiplicity of the creation as contrasted with the oneness and uniqueness of the Creator. The concept of “even number” implies the existence of more than one of the same kind: in other words, it signifies everything that that has a counterpart or counterparts and, hence, a definite relationship with other things (cf. the term azwaj in 36:36, referring to the polarity evident in all creation). As against this the term al-watr or al-witr – primarily denotes “that which is single” or “one” and is, hence, one of the designations given to God – since “there is nothing that could be compared with Him” (112:4) and “nothing like unto him” (42:11).
*** An allusion to the night of spiritual darkness which is bound to “runs its course”— i.e., to disappear as soon as man becomes truly conscious of God.
**** Lit., “a more solemn affirmation”: i.e., a convincing evidence of the existence and oneness of God.

Consider the human self, and how it is formed in accordance with what it is meant to be,* and how it is imbued with moral failings as well as with consciousness of God!** -- Q. 91:7,8
*…The reference to man and that which constitutes the “human personality”, as well as the implied allusion to the extremely complex phenomenon of a life-entity in which bodily needs and urges, emotions and intellectual activities are so closely intertwined as to be indissoluble, follows organically upon a call to consider the inexplicable grandeur of the universe – so far as it is perceptible and comprehensible to man – as a compelling evidence of God’s creative power.
** Lit., “and [consider] that which has inspired it with its immoral doings (fujooraha) and its God-consciousness (taqwaha)” – i.e., the fact that man is equally liable to rise to great spiritual heights as to fall into utter immorality is an essential characteristic of human nature as such. In its deepest sense, man’s ability to act wrongly is a concomitant to his ability to act rightly: in other words, it is this inherent polarity of tendencies which gives to every “right” choice a value and, thus, endows man with moral free will.


Prophet said

“Ponder over the creation of God. Don’t ponder over God…” – Ihya of Imam Ghazali. H: Abu Nayeem. N: Ibn ‘Abbas.

The wise and the foolish:
“A wise person is one who keeps a watch over his desires and passions, checks himself from that which is harmful and strives for that which will be of benefit after death; and a foolish person is one who submits to the cravings and desires of his self, and (then) ask God (for their fulfillment)”. – H: Tirmizi. N: Abu y‘ala bin Shaddad bin Aus.

2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (to be continued)

God says

And what could make thee conceive what hell-fire is? It does not allow to live, and neither leaves [to die]. Over it are nineteen (powers).* For We have caused none but angelic powers to lord over the powers [of hell];** and We have caused their number to be aught but a trial for those who are bent on denying the truth***…. Q.74:27-31
*Whereas most of the classical commentators are of the opinion that the “nineteen” are the angels that act as keepers or guardians of hell, Razi advances the view that we may have here reference to the physical, intellectual and emotional powers within man himself : powers which rise man far above any other creature, but which, if use wrongly, bring about a deterioration of his whole personality and, hence, intense suffering in the life to come. According to Razi, the philosophers (arbab al-hikmah) identify these powers or faculties with, firstly, the organic functions of the animal – and also therefore human – body (gravitation, cohesion, repulsion of noxious foreign matter, absorption of beneficent external matter, assimilation of nutrients, growth, and reproduction); secondly, the five “external” or physical senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste); thirdly the five “internal” or intellectual senses, defined by Ibn Sina – on whom Razi apparently relies – as (1) perception of isolated sense-images, (2) conscious apperception of ideas, (3) memory of sense-images, (4) memory of conscious apperceptions, and (5) the ability to co-relate sense-images and higher apperceptions; and lastly the emotions of desire or aversion (resp. fear or anger), which have their roots in both the “external” and “internal” sense-categories – thus bringing the total of the powers and faculties which preside over man’s fate to nineteen. In their aggregate, it is these powers that confer upon man the ability to think conceptually, and place him, in this respect, even above the angels (cf. 2:30; see also the following note).
** Since it is by virtue of his powers of conscious perception and conceptual thinking that man can arrive at a discriminating cognition of good and evil and, thus, rise to great spiritual heights, the powers are described here as “angelic” (lit., “angels” – this being the earliest occurrence of the term malak in the history of Qur’anic revelation). On the other hand, since the neglect or a deliberately wrong use of these angelic powers is the root of all sinning on the part of man and, therefore, of his suffering in the hereafter, they are spoken as “the lords (ashab) of the fire [of hell]”, which complements the expression “over it”.
*** This is apparently an allusion to the allegorical character of this passage, which “those who are bent on denying the truth” are unwilling to recognize as such and, hence, fail to grasp its real purport. By speculating reasons which allegedly induced Muhammad – whom they regard as the “author” of the Qur’an – to lay stress on one particular number, they tend to take the allegory in a literal sense, thus missing its point entirely.

Prophet said

“You must observe long silence because it scares away Satan and helps you in performing an act of your religion” – H: Shu‘ab Al – Iman. N: Abu Zarr.

“Pondering for an hour is better than divine service for a year” – Ihya of Imam Ghazali. H: Ibn Habban. N: Abu Hurairah.

2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (to be continued)

God says

Know that God gives life to the earth after it has been lifeless!*
We have indeed made Our messages clear to you, so that you might use your reason. – Q.57:17
*According to most of the commentators – and particularly, Zamakhshari, Razi and Ibn Kasir – this is a parabolic allusion to the affect of a re-awakening of God-consciousness in hearts that had become deadened by self-satisfaction and false pride.

Verily, man is born with a restless disposition.* --Q.70:19
*Lit., “man has been created restless (haloo ‘an)” – that is endowed with inner restlessness which may equally well drive him to fruitful achievement or to chronic discontent and frustration. In other words, it is the manner in which man utilizes this God-willed endowment that determines whether it shall have a positive or negative character. The subsequent two verses (20 and 21 given below) allude to the latter, while verses 22-25 (given below) show that only true spiritual and moral consciousness can mould that inborn restlessness into a positive force, and thus bring about inner stability and abiding contentment.
Q.70:20, 21: [As a rule] whenever misfortune touches him, he is filled with self-pity,* and whenever good fortune comes to him, he selfishly withholds [from others].
*I.e., combination of concepts of “lacking patience” and “and lamenting over one’s misfortune”, and is therefore contrary of sabr (Jawahari).
Q.70:22-25 : Not so, however, who consciously turn towards God in prayer* [and] who incessantly persevere in their prayer; and in whose possessions there is a due share, acknowledged [by them], for such as ask [for help] and such as are deprived [of what is good in life];**
*This, I believe, is the meaning of the expression
al-musalleen (lit., “the praying ones”), which evidently does not relate to mere ritual of prayer but, rather, as the next verse shows the attitude of mind and the spiritual need underlying it. In this sense it connotes with the statement in verse 19 that “man is born with a restless disposition” which, when rightly used, leads him towards conscious spiritual growth, as well as to freedom from all self-pity and selfishness.
** Sc., “but could not beg” – and this applies to all living creatures, whether human beings or mute animals (Razi), irrespective of whether need is of a physical or emotional nature.

Prophet said

“Be God-conscious wherever you may be; do a virtuous act if an evil act has been committed, as former will undo latter; and behave well with the people”.
– H: Tirmizi. N: Abu Zarr and Mua’z bin Jabal

2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (to be continued)

God says

The Most Gracious
has imparted this Qur’an [unto man].
He has created man:
He has imparted unto him articulate thought and speech.* -- Q55:1-4
*The term al-bayan – denoting “the means whereby a thing is [intellectually] circumscribed and made clear” (Raghib) – applies to both thought and speech inasmuch as it comprises the faculty of making a thing or an idea apparent to the mind and conceptually distinct from other things and ideas, as well as the power to express this cognition clearly in written or spoken language (Taj al-‘Arus): hence, in the above context, “articulate thought and speech”, recalling the “the knowledge of all the names” (i.e., the faculty of conceptual thinking) with which man is endowed.
The term ism (“name”), “implies, according to all philologists, an expression “conveying the knowledge [of a thing] … applied to denote a substance or an accident or an attribute for the purpose of distinction” (Lane 1V, 1435): in the philosophical terminology, a “concept”. From this it may legitimately be inferred that “the knowledge of all the names” denotes here man’s faculty of logical definition and, thus, of conceptual thinking. That by “Adam” the whole human race is meant here becomes obvious from the preceding reference, by the angels to “such as will spread corruption on earth and will shed blood”.
* The phrase: “the knowledge of all the names” is reference to 2:31: “And He imparted unto Adam the names of all things”.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?* -- Q55:13
*The majority of the classical commentators interpret the dual form of address appearing in this phrase – rabbikuma (“the Sustainer of you two”) and tukazziban (“do you [or “can you”] two disavow”) – as relating to the worlds of men and the jinn;
but the obvious explanation (mentioned, among others, by Razi) is that it refers to the two categories of human beings, men and women, to both of whom the Qur’an is addressed. The plural noun ala’ rendered by me as “powers”, signifies literally “blessings” or “bounties”; but as the refrain, which is repeated many times in this surah, not only bears on the bounties which God bestows on His creation but, more generally, on all manifestations of His creativeness and might, some of the earliest commentators – e.g., Ibn Zayd, as quoted by Tabari – regard the term ala’ , in this context, as synonymous with qudrah (“power” or “powers”).


Prophet said

“…Excessive talk without remembrance of God produces hardness of heart; and indeed the remotest man from God is the hard-hearted”– H: Tirmizi. N: Ibn Omar.

2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (to be continued)

God says

And so, set thy face steadfastly towards the [one ever-true] faith, turning away from all that is false, in accordance with the natural disposition which God has instilled into man:* [for,] not to allow any change to corrupt what God has thus created -- this is the [purpose of the one] ever-true faith; but most people know it not. – Q.30:30
*The term fitrah, rendered as “natural disposition”, connotes in this context man’s inborn intuitive ability to discern between right and wrong, true and false, and, thus, to sense God’s existence and oneness, Cf. the famous saying of the Prophet, quoted by Bukhari and Muslim: “Every child is born in this natural disposition; it is only his parents that later turn him into a ‘Jew’, a ‘Christian’, or a ‘Magian’.” These three religious formulations best known to the contemporaries of the Prophet, are thus contrasted with the “natural disposition” which by definition, consists in man’s instinctive cognition of God and self-surrender (islam) to Him. ( The term “parents” has here the wider meaning of “social influences” or “environment”).

He knows all that enters the earth, and all that comes out of it, as well as all that descends from the skies, and all that ascends to them.* And He alone is a dispenser of grace, truly forgiving. -- Q.34:2
* This definition comprises things physical and spiritual: water disappearing underground and reappearing; the metamorphosis of seed into plant, and of decaying plant into oil and coal: traces of old artifacts and entire civilizations buried in the earth and then reappearing within the sight and consciousness of later generations of men; the transformation of dead bodies of animals and men into elements of nourishments for new life; the ascent of earthly vapours towards the skies, and their descent as rain, snow or hail; the ascent towards the heavens of men’s longings, hopes and ambitions, and descent of divine inspirations into the minds of men, and thus a revival of faith and thoughts and, with it, the growth of new artifacts, new skills and new hopes: in short, the endless recurrence of birth, death and re-birth ( as mentioned above) that characterizes all God’s creation.

And [thus it is:] We have not created heaven and earth and all that is between them without meaning and purpose, as is the surmise of those who are bent on denying the truth: but then, woe from the fire [of hell] unto all who are bent on denying the truth!* -- Q.38:27
*I.e., a deliberate rejection of the belief that the universe – and, in particular, human life – is imbued with meaning and purpose leads unavoidably – though sometime imperceptibly – to a rejection of all moral imperatives, to spiritual blindness and, hence, to suffering in the life to come.

[And all this have We expounded in this] blessed divine writ which We have revealed unto thee, [O Muhammad,] so that men may ponder over its messages, and that those who are endowed with insight may take them to heart. -- Q.38:29

And In your own nature, and in [that of] all the animals which he scatters [over the earth] there are messages for people who are endowed with inner certainty. --Q.45:4


Prophet said

“He who is pleased to see people standing in his honour, should seek his seat in hell fire” – H: Tirmizi. N: Mu’aawiya.

Think of the reward!
“The believer, by his (good) conduct, reaches the position of one who stands up (praying) at night and fasts during the day” – H: Abu Daod. N: Bibi Ayesha.