Qur'Anic Reflections

8/12/2019 Qur'Anic Reflections

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Quranic Reflections

Introduction:

I have selected the following paragraphs from a series of Quranic

reflections which I kept discussing via the e-Communication network

with a group of my students at Jeel At-Tarjeeh Academy and several

young men who wanted to join us during Ramadan. The idea of this topic

was essentially based on enjoining one another to reflect on the Quranic

verses which the imam (prayer leader) recites during the Taraweeh (Night

Prayers). Each night I would pick one of the verses recited by the imam

with the purpose of trying to come up with new thoughts and meanings

that were not emphasized, addressed or approached by the Quran

commentators from the same angle as viewed by me. The participants

would start to post and add their comments so as to evaluate the topic

while making use of the information they obtain from different Quran

commentaries and any topic-related ideas that may strike their minds.

When I reviewed what I wrote on the topic, I came to realize that much

of it goes in line with the message of the Research Center for Islamic

Legislation and Ethics (CILE). Therefore, I picked some material which I

thought would be suitable for my first article to be published on the

Centers website. Each topic was given a title which highlighted the

message of ethics upon which Islam was built and for which the Center

was established.

Revelation, Reason, Iron, and Justice

Almighty God says [what translates]: Indeed, We have sent Our

messengers with clear signs, and sent down with them the Scripture

and the Balance that people may administer in justice. And We sent

down iron, wherein is great strength and benefits for mankind, that

God may distinguish those who support Him, though unseen, and


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His messengers. Indeed, God is All-Powerful and Exalted,

Almighty.[Chapter al-Hadid: 25)

The above Quranic verse portrays a wonderful way of life wherein God

shows how people lead their lives on this earth. God (Glory be to Him)did not leave humankind go unguided after having appointed them as His

vicegerents on earth. Rather, He sent to them messengers who lived

among them and who addressed them using a wide diversity of clear-cut

and conclusive arguments. God endowed them with two yardsticks with

which they are able to remain guided after the messengers pass away. One

yardstick is represented in the heavenly scriptures, the last of which was

the Noble Quran which God had vowed to preserve. The other yardstick

is the Balance which includes each and every toolreason coming on top through which true facts are reached and appropriate systems are

discovered. These systems are in perfect harmony with the natural and

social laws with which God had kept the universe in an orderly fashion.

God then makes it clear using the Arabic letter lam indicating

objective that the ultimate goal and wisdom behind this [i.e., sending

messengers, divine books, and the Balance] is to uphold justice amongst

people. The above verse plainly indicates that a society where any form of

oppression prevails or where any of its individuals is treated unfairly is infact standing far away from the guidance of the Quran and the Balance of

Reason even though it may claim to be following that guidance. The

context of the verse denotes that justice cannot be not administered on

earth by merely revealing and clarifying the truth to the people,

particularly in view of the fact that the majority of them are ungrateful to

God. On the contrary, justice stands in need of a mighty power that

preserves and protects it. The symbol of such power is iron which has not

been created on earth as has been affirmed by modern science. Rather,God sent it down from heaven like He sent down the heavenly books.

The context of the verse also shows that administration of justice is

achieved by fulfilling the needs of the people and providing them with

benefits, most of which are acquired through the better use of iron. The

same applies to the different walks of human life. This wonderful divine


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directive is followed by a portrayal of the message directed to those who

believe in Gods heavenly scriptures and messengers. God informs those

believers that they must not pay lip service to their faith in unseen

matters. Rather, they must continue to struggle in order to support God

through making maximum use of iron in times of war and peace. The goal

is to contribute to the making of the renaissance of humanity and

safeguard it in accordance with the one and only message brought by all

prophets, which culminated in the message brought by Prophet

Muhammad (May Gods Peace and Blessings be upon him). Whosoever

acts accordingly will bring benefit to his own self as well as the milieu in

which he lives. This is because God is All-Powerful and Exalted in Might.

Woe to Those Who Give Less in Weight and Measure Unless They

Maintain Justice

Almighty God says [what translates]: Woe to those who give less in

weight and measure! Those who, when receiving measure from

people, exact in full; but when they give measure or weight, they

give less than due. Do they not think that they will be resurrected

for a mighty Day? The Day when mankind will stand before Lord ofall creation.[Chapter Al-Mutaffifin: 1-6]

The above Quranic verses speak of a common unlawful practice which

people deem to be trivial though it is most serious in the sight of God. It

was because of this unlawful practice that God annihilated a whole nation.

The meaning of the above verse is not confined to material cheating in

trading as some may think. Rather, it extends to include both material and

immaterial cheating that spoils all aspects of peoples life. This practicebecomes the root of an array of evil manners which we notice at all levels

of our daily life. These include egotism, cheating, oppression, aggression,

evil plotting, slanderous accusation, miserliness, betrayal, deception, and

other such evil manners which diminish mans resolve and degenerates his

status. If we would want to paint a picture of a trade cheater in our minds,


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there would appear before our eyes the image of a swindler whose heart

ailments are clearly noticed on his face. If he were to acquire an amount

of wealth by working as a merchant or a politician or by being appointed

in any social position, he would rush headlong to get it like a hungry wild

boar which carelessly ravages everything around it. He would not allow

his desire to go ungratified even if this would endanger the lives of those

around him. If someone else were to get something from that swindler, he

would cheat him, defraud him of his property, and strive hard to drain

him of his wealth. He would seize all his property or at least the largest

possible amount thereof by employing all means of betrayal, deception

and lying. He may seek the aid of wicked people of his sort who would

bear false witness against others out of grudge or in anticipation of

gaining some benefit from that swindler. Due to the fact that people

underestimate this abhorrent practice [referred to in the verse], God has

used the word woethat echoes hard in their ears so that He may draw

their attention to the seriousness of the matter. Then God used the

interrogativeformula indicating the magnitude of what is thought to be

insignificant. God reminds those swindlers that their act of cheating in

this life will be severely punished on the Day of Resurrection when people

will be gathered naked and uncircumcised and will be bridled in sweat up

to their ears. God will show mercy to others whom He will shelter in His

shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His. O God! Have

mercy upon us.

The Message of Life

Almighty God says [what translates]: Blessed is He in Whose Hand is

the dominion, and He has power over all things. Who created death

and life that He may test you, which of you is best in deeds. He is

the Almighty, the All-Forgiving.[Chapter Al-Mulk: 1-2]

The above verse speaks about the essence of mans existence and the

reason why God gave him life after he was lifeless and that He will cause


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him to die and then gives him life again. While man tries to provide his

sustenance, he is not required to make this life his ultimate concern. God

is the creator and owner of this life and the only one capable of running

its smallest and greatest affairs. Therefore, man must be aware that he will

not be able to gain more than what has been given to him by God, the

Most High and the Lord of Infinite Bounty. Man will remain under the

test of watching over himself ever since he comes to this life and until he

passes away. Therefore, he must do only good deeds so that he may attain

felicity after death. If he does his best in doing so, he should not be

worried about those minor mistakes which he commits from time to time.

The reason is that his cautiousness to do only righteous deeds is a sign

that his nature is more prone to good than to evil. The Ever-Watching

and Irresistible God will forgive him those minor mistakes because He

alone knows about his good will and sincere intentions.

Dear fellow Muslim! I hope that you might have noticed that the above

Quranic verse lays more emphasis on the quality of deeds than on their

quantity. It speaks of a righteous deed that no other deed would seem

better, more beautiful, more perfect, more beneficial, more lasting, or

greater in effect than it. So the verse encourages man to do good deeds

followed by better deeds and so on. O God! Let the purpose of ourcreation be our ultimate concern, bestow Your grace upon us, and grant

us Your pardon. You are the Omnipotent, the Almighty and the All-

Forgiving.

Following Ones DesiresLeads to Misguidance

Almighty God says [what translates]: ODavid! We have made you asuccessor on the earth, so judge among the people with justice and

follow not your desires lest they mislead you from the Way of God.

Surely those who go astray from the Way of God shall have a severe

torment because they forgot the Day of Judgment.[Chapter Sad: 26]


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Whenever we come across this Quranic verse, our minds start to think of

those issues relating to power and appointment of successors. Here we

notice that God is delivering a strong-worded message to rulers even if

they happen to be prophets. They are commanded to judge among people

with justice and weigh matters with an even balance and adhere to the

truth while doing so. They are also commanded not to allow their souls to

drag them into following their whims or succumbing to the temptations

of power which may take hold of the ruler. This will lead such ruler to

believe that he will remain seated on the throne of power and forget the

fact that God has appointed him as a successor on His dominion which

He bestows on whomever He wills and takes away from whomever He

wills. Anyway, I would like to reflect on a deeper and more

comprehensive issue that can be deduced from the above verse, namely,

the issue of being misled from the Way of God and ignoring the truth as a

result of the heart being obsessed with desires. Indeed, the greatest favor

which God bestows on His believing servants is to guide them to realize

and discern the facts and realities of matters. That is why the Messenger

of God (May Gods Peace and Blessings be upon him) used to invoke

God with His Most Noble Attributes that He may guide him by His

permission to the truth regarding disputed matters. This he would do

during his most beloved times when he would stand up in prayer at night

according to a Hadith narrated by Imam Muslim. This verse clarifies an

issue of great importance in the sight of God (Glorified and Exalted is

He) and one of equal importance to people as well. It explains the reason

for being misled from the straight path of God by using the Arabic faa

as-sababiyyah which indicates presentation, rapidity of action and

relatedness and follow not your desires lest they mislead you from

the Way of God. This means that a person is hindered from knowingthe way leading to abiding by the laws of God and attaining His pleasure

when they obey their self and succumb to its desires, temptations and

devilish thoughts which cause them to forget about their fate in the

Hereafter and taste the torment of the Hellfire. May God protect us from

this!


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Truthfulness Leads to Steadfastness

Almighty God says [what translates]: From among the believers are

men who have been true to their Covenant with God. Some of them

have been martyred and others still wait, but they never changed

their determination in the least. That God may reward the truthful

for their truthfulness and punish the hypocrites if He wills or turn to

them in mercy. Indeed, God is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

[Chapter Al-Ahzab: 23-24]

In the above Quranic verse God praises a type of believing men who are

characterized by truthfulness and steadfastness. Their being steadfast isbecause they are essentially truthful. Had they been untruthful, they would

not have remained steadfast. That is why God makes truthfulness a

justification for the great reward which He grants to the truthful ones in

this life and the life to come. This is emphasized by the fact that the word

truthfulness has been repeated three times in a single verse (using

different derivatives of the word). The occasion on which the above verse

was revealed shows that a person is not to blame if they fail to do a

certain good deed so long as their intentions were true and sincere. Therewill come a time, no matter how far it may seem, when the truthfulness of

that truthful person will be established. The case of Anas ibn An-Nadr is a

good example to give in this respect. Though he did not participate in the

Battle of Badr, he made a promise to God that he would perform a

remarkable feat during the following battle. Because he proved to have

been true to the covenant he made with God, God (Glory be to Him)

rewarded him by granting him martyrdom and immortalizing his mention

in the Quran. There are many other people, including men and women,

who fell martyrs after they had fulfilled their promise to God. The great

memories of some of them are engraved in our minds and our hearts are

constantly longing for seeing them. There are others whom we do not

know, yet they are well known to God. There are still amongst us many


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people of their sort who continue to remain steadfast on the path of

inviting people to Islam, exalting the Word of God, and serving the

common interest of the Muslim community. They never changed or

altered their determination because they made a truthful choice from the

very beginning. They did not allow the trials of good and evil to spoil

their determination. Rather, they keep waiting faithfully for the fulfillment

of Gods promise. As for those whom God will punish if He so wills,

their punishment is not due to a physical feebleness for which they

avoided confronting the Confederates but because they had hidden

intentions and concealed ambitions other than those flimsy excuses which

they gave to the people. Some of them would collaborate secretly with the

wicked Jews and polytheists. However, Gods mercy is so all-

encompassing that it would guide those hypocrites to becoming faithful to

their promises when they restore a lost relationship with the righteous

ones. Indeed, God is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Speaking the Truth Blesses Ones Deeds

Almighty God says [what translates]: O believers! Fear God and speak

the truth that He will bless your deeds and forgive your sins. Andwhosoever obeys God and His Messenger, has indeed achieved

great success.[Chapter Al-Ahzab: 71]

The above two verses have stimulated my mind to reflect and ponder on

their meanings so as to come up with new interpretations which I believe

I have not noticed or read before. These two verses fall among the

concluding verses of the chapter Al-Ahzab which speak of some

important events that took place during Prophet Muhammads lifetime.The main theme of the verses revolves around the foul words spoken by

hypocrites, hinderers, rumormongers and those whose hearts are diseased.

These two verses serve as a prelude to an important verse with which the

chapter is concluded, namely, mans burden of the great trust which the

heavens and the earth refused to assume. This Quranic chapter paints a


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picture of the great suffering, serious harm, and violent unrest caused by

the evil tongues found amongst the Muslim community during the state

of war against the Confederates and the state of peace in Medina as well

as the different social affairs that have been underlined throughout the

chapter. These events might have kept the believers away from

completing the basic mission of assuming the trust of vicegerency on

earth and setting aright the conditions of life. It was feared that the

believers would join the ranks of the rumormongers or at least be

wrapped up in the rumors that circulated round Medina. In order to

prepare the Muslim community to burden the trust they are tasked with,

God has set up for them an integrated system whereby they can achieve

success in this life and the life to come. This system is based on fearing

God, standing in awe of Him, and guarding against His wrath and

punishment. The generality of Gods command to fear Him has been

specified by another important command, namely, to be mindful of ones

tongue regarding all affairs. The goal is to guard the tongue against telling

lies, slandering, spreading false rumors about others, or hindering the

performance of any righteous deed. Therefore, the verses encourage the

Muslim to use the right words in the right place and to employ those

words in a way that produces positive results rather than negative ones

and in a manner that leads to unity rather than disunity. The Muslim must

speak a word of truth with the intention of attaining the pleasure of God,

a word of truth that is not meant to flatter an oppressor or to guard

against a tyrant. Those who exert maximum efforts to watch over their

tongues will manage to steer clear of the atmosphere of turmoil, unrest,

and confusion which obstructs the performance of beneficial deeds. They

will bring themselves into an atmosphere of tranquility of soul, alertness

of mind, clarity of thought, and soundness of heart. In this atmosphere,they will be able to summon up those physical powers which assist them

to achieve success.This interprets the meaning of Gods promise to bless

the deeds of the believers as stated in the verses above. The meaning of

the verse, thus, applies to the case of a straightforward man whose great

good deeds are not affected by his small misdeeds. He is able to recognize


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his shortcomings easily and does his best to set them aright so as to

receive the forgiveness of God, the Creator and Judge. He devotes his

whole life to obeying God and abiding by the Sunnah of His Prophet

(May Gods Peace and Blessings be upon him). He achieves success in

this life by getting involved only in important matters and assuming the

trust which the heavens and the earth refused to burden out of

fearfulness. He will continue to make successive achievements until he

meets with God Who will be well-pleased with him and Who will grant

him the great success. God will admit him to His gardens where he will

join the company of the elect, Muhammad and his companions. Speaking

the truth is the only way to the attainment of success. Nothing is more

injurious to the soul than a malicious tongue. That is why Prophet

Muhammad said: Is there anything that topples people on their

noses into the Hellfire other than the harvests of their tongues.

This noble Hadith has been recorded by At-Tirmidhi.

How Weak Are the Relationships of Convenience!

In last nights Taraweeh Prayer, the imam recited the following passage

from chapter Al-Ankabut: The similitude of those who takeprotectors other than God is that of a spider which builds itself a

house. And surely the flimsiest of all houses is the house of a spider,

if they but knew. [Verse: 44]

Word Meaning: The Arabic word awliya is the plural form of wali

which refers to a person who loves you, a friend of yours, or a supporter

(Refer to Al-Qamus al-Muheet (The Complete Dictionary)). The Arabic

word bayt refers to ones place of residence and is used figuratively torefer to a persons wife and children (See: Al-Mujam al-Wasit (The

Intermediate Dictionary)).

When commenting on the meaning of the above verse, early Quran

commentators always stress the abasement and lowliness of those people


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who take protectors other than God. They support those protectors, love

them and ask them to grant them sovereignty and establish them in the

land. The commentators liken their condition to that of the house of a

spider. The point of comparison is the state of weakness and failure to

resist the blows struck against both. Moreover, modern science has

attracted the attention of those who reflect on the Quran towards

another type of weakness in the social structure of a spiders house: The

nation of spiders is the flimsiest of all nations in terms of relatedness and

unitedness. Relationships between its members are based only on

safeguarding mutual interests. This is clearly manifested by the fact that

the female spider meets with the male only during the mating season.

When the mating is over, some species of female spiders start to attack

the male to kill it. While some species wait the baby spiders to hatch out

before they kill the males, others kill their mothers. The same is the case

with those relationships which are not established on the principles which

God loves and is pleased with. Such relationships are lost the very

moment the interests are met and may develop into a painful and

unbearable conflict. May God protect us from this!

When Creativeness Forces the Heart to Surrender

Almighty God says [what translates]: Then she was told: Enter the

palace. When she saw it, she thought it was a pool of water, so she

bared her leg. Solomon said: Indeed, it is a palace paved with slabs

of glass. She said: O my Lord! I have indeed wronged my soul.

And I submit myself along with Solomon to God, the Lord of all

creation. [Chapter An-Naml: 44]

In the chapter An-Naml, the Noble Quran relates the story of Balqis, the

Queen of Sheba and how she came to embrace Islam following the

dialogue she had with Prophet Solomon (Peace be upon him). The

dialogue depended on manifestation of power and superiority with the

purpose of impressing and convincing the other party. The scientific


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power with which Solomon was gifted reached its peak when he set up a

palace paved with slabs of glass to the powerful queen beneath which

water flowed. She could not notice the glass barrier and, therefore, bared

her leg so that her clothes may not get wet. When Solomon told her the

truth about the palace, she was filled with great amazement. At that point,

the invitation to believe in God extended by Solomon to the queen

touched her heart and caused her to submit herself along with Solomon to

God, the Lord of all creation. The point that needs to be stressed here is

that scientific achievements, artistic innovativeness as well as academic

superiority constitute one of the best means of calling people to believe in

God. When the invitees are filled with amazement, their minds hasten to

accept the invitation even before their hearts do. They hold genuine faith

in God and start to submit themselves to Him along with the inviting

person. They do not submit themselves to the inviting person while being

heedless of God: And I submit myself along with Solomon to God, the

Lord of all creation.

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Qur'Anic Reflections