Surah Al Araf , 7

.... We may ask ourselves: How many years does history span in the annals of time? My study of the subject leads me to estimate that Noah's Flood occurred about eight thousand years ago. The interval between Adam's arrival on earth and Noah;s Flood would not be much longer than that. The Qur'an does not say anything about the human generations that lived before Noah. This lead me to suspect the accuracy of archaeological and geological findings of a human skull tens of millions of years old. having studied the Qur'an very carefully, I find that history of earlier generations did not simply go through such mechanical phases of receiving God's warnings, ignoring them, and then being punished. The reality would have extended into successive gererations which inherited these phases, one after another. This is clear in these verses:



And We sent no prophet unto any township but We did afflict its folk with tribulation and adversity that haply they might grow humble. (94) Then changed We the evil plight for good till they grew affluent and said: Tribulation and distress did touch our fathers. Then We seized them unawares, when they perceived not. (95)

People  grew complacent and believed that what had befallen them was normal, since it had already happened to their ancestors. What had God to do with the cycle of history? The reply is:

And if the people of the townships had believed and kept from evil, surely We should have opened for them blessings from the sky and from the earth. But (unto every messenger) they gave the lie, and so We seized them on account of what they used to earn. (96)

Succeeding human generations should therefore learn from preceding ones:

Is it not an indication to those who inherit the land after its people (who thus reaped the consequence of evil-doing) that, if We will, We can smite them for their sins and print upon their hearts so that they hear not? (100) 

Thus the earlier inhabitants of Arabia and their contemporaries disappeared into history. God's revelation were then directed towards another Semitic branch, the Israelites. God says: "  Then, after them, We sent Moses with our tokens unto Pharaoh and his chiefs, but they repelled them. Now, see the nature of the consequence for the corrupters! "(103). The Israelites, descendants of Jacob, were originally Hebrew-bedouins who inhabited the Syrian desert. They went to settle in Egypt in response to a call by Joseph, a son of Jacob. Their way of life flourished for sometime and their numbers multiplied. Refusing to assimilate into Egyptian society, they held their own religious beliefs and observed their own religious practices which did not endear them much to Egyptians. They came into bitter conflict with the indigenous population, which lead to their being brutally persecuted at the hands of the Pharaoh.

After a long period of unrelenting suffering and perdition, salvation came in the hands  of the prophet Mosses who promised them: " They said: We suffered hurt before thou camest unto us, and since thou hast come unto us. He said: " It may be that your Lord is going to destroy your adversary and make you viceroys in the earth, that He may see how ye behave." (129). Moses seemed to fear the worst, and his premonitions were accurate. As soon as the Israelites, by the grace of God, were safe from Pharaoh's abuse and persecution, their first undertaking was to indulge in idol worship:
and We brought the Children of Israel across the sea, and they came unto a people who were given up to idols which they had. They said: O Moses! Make for us a god even as they have gods. He said: Lo! ye are a folk who know not. (138) Lo! as for these, their way will be destroyed and all that they are doing is in vain. (139)


Sadly they were captivated by paganism and idol worship, which seemed to have taken hold of all their senses and consciousness. Hardly had Mosses departed from them for prayer when they embarked on making a calf out of their women's jewellery, as an object of worship instead of God. God says: "  Lo! Those who chose the calf (for worship), terror from their Lord and humiliation will come upon them in the life of the world. Thus do We requite those who invent a lie."(152)

Excerpt from " A Thematic Commentary On The Qur'an "
Muhammad al-Ghazali 
[ 1917 - 1996 ]











Commentary and Reflection by Prof Quriash Shihab :

ayat 59 - ayat 72

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qezStUBrVNY

Part 2 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVOwnuootbA

Part 3 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia0AwBrKeP4


ayat 73 - ayat 84

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4G6dPFsC9I
              [ your silence is almost equal to consent...]

Part 2 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1SCwoZDtDk

Part 3 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwqJV2MpFCM
                 [..on homosexuality and lesbianism..]


ayat 85 - ayat 93

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0hXaZu8mXg
              [... on secular humanism...]

Part 2 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqxqDWufCqY
              [..as to who is right, in the final days, only God decide and we will finally come to know...]
                 [...on 'insyaallah'...]

Part 3 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcOGoeyngOA
              [ what is in a name? ..]


ayat 94 - ayat 99

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjMmbgt62bM
              [ God loves to hear His abdals asking for His favours and help..]
                 [ occasionally we behave like monkeys with long reigns ]

Part 2 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEKLZTkdRUw
              [ dont' ever equate material wealth as all blessing, it can be a test...]

Part 3 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxr532fQbjQ
              [ on justice...; ...on visiting the graves ]


ayat 100 - ayat 108

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ue1G-xURnc
               [ on hearts: 'open' and 'constricted' hearts....]

Part 2 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dJdmQsuLOM
             [ 'our mosque is the whole earth'..  ]

Part 3 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm1Qr35DmDA
             [ ..on repentance.... ]


ayat 109 - ayat 119

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OLipM8Xjc8
              [....." you will be my cronies and close associates "..]

Part 2 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhGmK2la33g

Part 3 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv-sRDuXjwk


ayat 120 - ayat 126

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prydp7LhH_U

Part 2 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZHiJFEQnSo 

Part 3 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dfdaaVp99I


ayat 127 - ayat 131

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29kjrOi7Gqs

Part 2 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot4e6OmNn4c

Part 3 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvFtz0iTzz0

Part 4 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sM8u3V_k7c


ayat 130 - ayat 137

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_sKccaYUsQ
             [ on 'systems' and wrath of god ]
Part 2 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTEV-2MlwjE
              [ more on wrath of god ]

Part 3 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3AxfF9StUk
             [ on pride or 'hasad' ; the state of Israel ]



ayat 138 - ayat 141

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7YcdXjbAQA
             [ on " iktikaf " ;  inertia of Bani Israel]

Part 2 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R_Ca2b4jOc
             [ culturization of religion ; 'apes' during mosses time ]

Part 3 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN24HR4GPd0
             [ 'jahiliyah modern' ; on 'modern apes' ]


ayat 142 - ayat 145

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOtsj7J1L18
             [ on 'munajat' and 'khalwah' ; mosses'dialogue with god ]

Part 2 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlPeeG-2E_M
             [ measure your 'wants' with your talents ; muhammad's dialogue with god ]

Part 3 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAAtGAQDbTU
             [ the pleasures of 'munajat' and khalwah' ; 'experiential islam' ]


ayat 146 - ayat 151

Part 1 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5V1EUaarzI

Part 2 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3aKdNnwjmM

Part 3 :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_mImzyjqek