Surah Fussilat.......ayat 1 to ayat 12

muhammad al ghazali [ circa 1917 - 1996], as a preamble to surah fussilat, wrote the following in his opus magnum, 'thematic commentary of the qur'an':


"......A revelation from the Beneficent, the Merciful, (2) A Scripture whereof the verses are expounded, a Lecture in Arabic for people who have knowledge, (3) Good tidings and a warning. But most of them turn away so that they hear not. (4)

revelation originates with God, the spring of mercy, as guidance to humankind and protection against the evil of their thoughts, desires, prejudices, and deeds. it is the source of all the goodness and justice in this world.

in the early days of islam, the arabs were reluctant to embrace it, with some of them showing tremendous resistance to it. prophet muhammad had to work very hard to persuade them to identify with islam., defend it with their lives and wealth, then proceed to overrun some of the most tyrannical and powerful empires in history.

today's arabs have inherited two of the most vile characteristics: the traditions of their forefathers during the decline of islamic civilization, and the habits and illusions of today's materialistic and pleasure-seeking western culture.

there is nothing worse than an agnostic arab.
they are most irrational, bigoted and unjust.

the surah could not be more accurate when it quotes their ancestors, saying:

And they say: Our hearts are protected from that unto which thou (O Muhammad) callest us, and in our ears there is a deafness, and between us and thee there is a veil. Act, then. Lo! we also shall be acting. (5)

nevertheless, allah has chosen them and their language for the unigue honour of conveying HIS message to the world:


And if We had appointed it a Lecture in a foreign tongue they would assuredly have said: If only its verses were expounded (so that we might understand)? What! A foreign tongue and an Arab? - Say unto them (O Muhammad): For those who believe it is a guidance and a healing; and as for those who disbelieve, there is a deafness in their ears, and it is blindness for them. Such are called to from afar. (44)  ......"

if i am allowed to hazard a guess, if hypothetically shaykh muhammad al ghazali is still alive today in 2017, his conclusion would be different.

the agnostic  malay would have beaten the arab for that singular distinction.
he is not only irrational, bigoted and unjust , but he is also feudal.

just look around us the clowns and bigots playing centre stage today!
mashaallh!

small wonder we ' still have rain and breeze yet under our skies because of the animals grazing in the forest and a few souls here and there doing zikrullah'.
otherwise we would have followed the path of the people of ad', thamud and lot!

we are the laughing stock of the world now.
what an overhaul awaiting us in our society now....we need one from top to bottom.
before it is too late.



........................................................



recitation surah fussilat, ayat 1 to ayat 12  ,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeIzerAV4Lg

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Ha. Mim. (1) A revelation from the Beneficent, the Merciful, (2) A Scripture whereof the verses are expounded, a Lecture in Arabic for people who have knowledge, (3) Good tidings and a warning. But most of them turn away so that they hear not. (4) And they say: Our hearts are protected from that unto which thou (O Muhammad) callest us, and in our ears there is a deafness, and between us and thee there is a veil. Act, then. Lo! we also shall be acting. (5) Say (unto them O Muhammad): I am only a mortal like you. It is inspired in me that your God is One God, therefore take the straight path unto Him and seek forgiveness of Him. And woe unto the idolaters, (6) Who give not the poor-due, and who are disbelievers in the Hereafter. (7) Lo! as for those who believe and do good works, for them is a reward enduring. (8) Say (O Muhammad, unto the idolaters): Disbelieve ye verily in Him Who created the earth in two Days, and ascribe ye unto Him rivals? He (and none else) is the Lord of the Worlds. (9) He placed therein firm hills rising above it, and blessed it and measured therein its sustenance in four Days, alike for (all) who ask; (10) Then turned He to the heaven when it was smoke, and said unto it and unto the earth: Come both of you, willingly or loth. They said: We come, obedient. (11) Then He ordained them seven heavens in two Days and inspired in each heaven its mandate; and We decked the nether heaven with lamps, and rendered it inviolable. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Knower. (12) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oECe4gA-FJg

[ commentary by ustaz  datuk shamsuri ahmad..........in ' bahasa '  ]

Before We Move On to Surah Fussilat.......'reflection on the beautiful names of god'.

friends, dato and tansri,

i have  very few 'living' guru to speak off.

tuan guru nik aziz, if a few visit can be considered as such, has gone on to join the realm of the beloved.
shaykh ninowy ,due to his  very international commitment and travel, i have not met for the past 2 years.
tuan hj lokeman of subang jaya, is more of a friend to lean on, rather than a tok guru. he is 20 years my junior.

'virtual tok gurus', i have many.

imam abu hamid al ghazali tops them all.
his 'mukhasyafatul qulub', translated into 'bahasa', is phenomenal and very readable.
his 'ihya', still in indonesian can be an overdose of spiritual sleeping pill if one does not have  strong stamina and resolve.
tj winter's of cambridge treatment of 'ihya' into english is more comforting!

i can count on prof 'hamka' as my most definitive 'virtual tok guru'.
i read his voluminous 'tafsir al azhar' , all about 10,000 pages in all in my early 30's.
he was the 'seed' of my present 'permanent head damage , phd!

shaykh abdal qadir al jilani, many lazy malays i am afraid, just remember him for his alledged ability to 'walk on water'.
little do they care to read his almost subliminal writitngs such as 'futuh al ghaib'[ revelations of the unseen], 'utterances', 'sublime revelations' etc and etc, all thankfully translated by the late prof mukhtar holland. his 'secrets of secrets', translated by one one turkish sufi master. al jerahi, is also very readable.

the late shaykh abdal qadir isa's writing also are contemporary writings that one must get their hands on. his 'realities of tasawuf' is superb reading for the beginners .

i must confess that having read all these 'virtual tok gurus' , have spoilt my appetite for having 'living tok gurus'. it is just like having driven ferraris and porshes, the rest become mundane and just 'myvi'.

but having said that, of the current living ones whom i would love to meet one day , i would count shaykh hamzah yusuf, shaykh al yacoubi of syria and shaykh mokhtar al magrhaoi as the ones topping the list.

before we move on to surah fussilat let us visit shaykh mokhtar al magrhaoui of al madina institute, usa. 

shaykh moktar hails from morocco, currently domiciled in irving, usa.
has a double phd in physics and electronics.

here, his tazkirah is on 'reflection on the beautiful names of god', if you focus and listen carefully, is almost subliminal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u755g3fu6w

ya fatah, ya razak, ya  wahab, ya ghoniy, ya mughniy, ya qadim, ya daim, ya wahid, ya samad, ya rahman , ya rahim, ya hayyu, ya qayyum, ya rabb, ya zaljala-liwalikram,

ya ghaniy, ya hamid, ya mubdiu, ya muid, ya rahim, ya wadud.

ya latif, ya salam.........



PS:  ...and  before we part, friends..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWEApW8R4l0

...the most powerful statement in the whole universe is not POTUS or PUTIN.
it is , ' subhanallah wal hamdullillah wala illa haillallah huwallah huakbar. wala haula  wal kuwwata illa billa hil aliyul azim'.
POTUS and PUTIN can both go and fly kites!


mashaallah, it is very liberating....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYl6LwPk_mk

this is the believer's secret weapon!
try it. initially, i must warn , you can get a splitting headache, but it will get better and better.
sooner than you expect, finally you get 'addicted'.

in my day to day life i have tried.
my 'experimentation' started some 10 years ago.
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.my/2009/03/exercise-mixing-profane-and-sublime.html

Surah Ghafir........Epilogue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INGfK3Eyw1M


friends, dato and tansri,

as surah ghafir started with an advisory about the need to travel, allah ends surah ghafir with "..have they not travel..?.''

the cadence, divine subliminal messages, and poetic beauty of the qur'anic arabic has no equal!
some 10  years ago i started several times to, learn arabic, but after several failed attempt due to the reduced 'circuitry at my age ' and the brittleness of my neurons , i have come to term with the fact that i would not reach that level of sophistication needed.....i am settled with the humble realization that there are hundreds of great teachers outside there.

my job is to bring them together under one website: this i am almost 2/3rd done.



Have they not travelled in the land to see the nature of the consequence for those before them? They were more numerous than these, and mightier in power and (in the) traces (which they left behind them) in the earth. But all that they used to earn availed them not. (82) And when their messengers brought them clear proofs (of Allah's Sovereignty) they exulted in the knowledge they (themselves) possessed. And that which they were wont to mock befell them. (83) Then, when they saw Our doom, they said: We believe in Allah only and reject (all) that we used to associate (with Him). (84) But their faith could not avail them when they saw Our doom. This is Allah's law which hath ever taken course for His bondmen. And then the disbelievers will be ruined. (85)

it would be appropriate for me to end surah ghafir with the late shaykh muhammad al-ghazali's [ 1917 to 1996; chairman of international institute of islamic thought in cairo; doyen of islamic scholarship during his time ] concluding remark on this surah:

"many people in the west who profess to be religious detest islam for the only reason that their fathers and forefathers had opposed it. but how genuine is their belief in moses or jesus? do they really believe in life after death and judgement in the hereafter? they are the product of a materialistic civilization that believe in the here-and-now, and belong to a society that is founded on a morality of permissiveness, injustice, and the superiority of the white race over the rest of mankind.

there is no denying that the muslims have neglected their heritage and noble mission in this world, but they should do better than to allow themselves to be led blindly into the abyss by this ungodly, heedless civilization"

allahualam.

dr nik isahak wan abdullah

Surah Ghafir..........ayat 77, 78, 79, 80 and ayat 81

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSMm7iwg6Gk
[  commentary ayat 76, 77, and 78  ]



Enter ye the gates of hell, to dwell therein. Evil is the habitation of the scornful. (76) Then have patience (O Muhammad). Lo! the promise of Allah is true. And whether we let thee see a part of that which We promise them, or (whether) We cause thee to die, still unto Us they will be brought back. (77) Verily We sent messengers before thee, among them those of whom We have told thee, and some of whom We have not told thee; and it was not given to any messenger that he should bring a portent save by Allah's leave, but when Allah's commandment cometh (the cause) is judged aright, and the followers of vanity will then be lost. (78) Allah it is Who hath appointed for you cattle, that ye may ride on some of them, and eat of some - (79)  (Many) benefits ye have from them - and that ye may satisfy by their means a need that is in your breasts, and may be borne upon them as upon the ship. (80) And He showeth you His tokens. Which, then, of the tokens of Allah do ye deny? (81)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPnON0GARp8
[  commentary ayat 78  ]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAtsd6Uskhw&t=618s
[  commentary ayat 78, 79 and 80  ]



"Allah it is Who hath appointed for you cattle, that ye may ride on some of them, .............." - (79)

http://drnikisahak.blogspot.my/2014/11/the-horse-whisperer.html

PS :
a friends asked me years back, " doc, how you can be on a horseback for over 12 hours, not sleeping nor resting, controlling the beast of power as well, not losing your focus, and not losing your way on the hills and track....? "

" well, most of the competition distance were only about 105 to 120 km,  so it is convenient for me to do zikr using asma al husna, one name for one kilometre, to take away the pain and fatigue.

but by 120 km , some of of us would pee frank blood, have aches and pain in all the sinews of the body, and still have 40 km to cover....endurance riding is all about 'mind over matter', beyond some distance. it may be less when you are young but at 50 plus, my age that time when i hit the international circuit, it was very much 'mind over matter'.

in all endurance world cup it has to be 160 km. at jerez, spain, the race was for 160 km. i ran out of names,.....and i wanted to do well too much, towards the end of the race, i was stuck at ya mutakkabir for too long...strong name for resolve and sheer grit, i thot!... i should have stick to ya latif, or ya rahman or ya rahim longer towards the end...ya mutakkbir, too strong a name..........allahualam!"

at my age now i still missed the endorphin highs of a 160 km international rides.
it is high octane endorphin highs all the way from start to finish.

Surah Ghafir.....ayat 70 to ayat 74.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wth5HRv0dUM

[  commentary of ayat 70 to  ayat 74   ]



Hast thou not seen those who wrangle concerning the revelations of Allah, how they are turned away? - (69) Those who deny the Scripture and that wherewith We send Our messengers. But they will come to know, (70) When carcans are about their necks and chains. They are dragged (71) Through boiling waters; then they are thrust into the Fire. (72) Then it is said unto them: Where are (all) that ye used to make partners (in the Sovereignty) (73) Beside Allah? They say: They have failed us; but we used not to pray to anything before. Thus doth Allah send astray the disbelievers (in His guidance). (74) (And it is said unto them): This is because ye exulted in the earth without right, and because ye were petulant. (75)


friends, dato and tansri,

'these people', they talk about multiple universes, god particle , higg's bosom etc and etc.

I can only believe the Big Bang to the extent of the evidence available for it. There is convincing evidence of the Big Bang, from the residual cosmic microwave background, plus Edwin Hubble's telescope detection of the red-shift (a Doppler effect on light, as the galaxies speed away in all directions after the Big Bang). And, of course, Einstein's theory of relativity which has been fully supported by the data. 

dr nik, .....what i cannot calculate, speculate or extrapolate, it cannot be there!

aahhh! the sheer arrogance of the 'uneducated' pseudo- scientific minds!
'uneducated' in the field of adab.

Faith, in this 21 st century requires the study of divine revelations and the 'ayats' around us ...the universe. if we are humble and honest enough to accept our lack of knowledge and certainty, insyaallah, one can accept islam.

dr nik isahak


http://drnikisahak.blogspot.my/2008/07/not-so-pearls-gem-kaffarah.html

ps:  someone just now what app me asking whether hrh sultan of terengganu really did slice 3 hours off the previous record of endurance riding in the sea games.
my answer was yes!! he did.

without taking the pudding out of his stupendous victory, he and the current team are miles ahead from when i and dato awang started endurance in 2002 sea games.

both of us were the prime movers of the sport.
we were riding mini-clubmen, while now the 'boys' drive ferarris!

i  think i started hrh on the endurance game and i am proud of that!
it was 2003, i recall..

i was walking on the batu buruk beach after a brief stopover at primula before hari raya .
it was late evening, myself walking alone on the desolated beach while waiting for the buka puasa.

" ngongeng ngongeng ngongeng" i heard conversation in the back ground.
then i saw two riders passed me on the beach.
one young , and another elderly[ whom i came to know later, dato, pa, hrh late father's riding kaki..]

i asked a mat rempit on the beach, " awae, budok kampong mano tu naik kudo? "
" cik, tu lah sotang kite, sotang teganung hok baru! tok kang lah demo tok kena...sotang mizang!..tok lamo lagi nok gi kalo lupo nok jadi agong!", surprised that i could not recognise his newly installed sultan, who  was about to be installed as  agong that same year!

when the two riders came back on their return journey, i stopped them in their track and apolgised profusely...

''.........tueku, kalu tueku tok main polo, tok main dressage dan tok main jumping...tueke baik pick up endurance.... tueku can put teganung in the world map! "

the rest was history.
simple short conversation like this with some people can map events in the future!

Surah Ghafir....ayat 67, 68 and 69

dear dato H,

you are an 'evolutionist'
you think the universe starts with the big bang.
i have no argument with that as well, on the basis of science that we so far know.

we only differ on the substance of the big bang.
you insist that the big bang is the big bang...there is nothing before the big bang.!
in your physics, time does not exist   before the big bang.


i insist that the big bang has an owner!
time is relative....and even time has an 'owner'.

ya qadim, ya daim, ya hayyu, ya qayyum
he is the owner.

that dato, is our basic, fundamental difference.
and omg! what difference it is.
one is destined for no posterity.
the latter, a posterity that transcends eternity.

i do not apologise for that 'smugness'.
it is in the book!
i don't need stuart mill's ' essay on liberty ' to come to that conclusion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acHnO1rivNA&t=738s

[  commentary ayat 67  ]

He it is Who created you from dust, then from a drop (of seed) then from a clot, then bringeth you forth as a child, then (ordaineth) that ye attain full strength and afterward that ye become old men - though some among you die before - and that ye reach an appointed term, that haply ye may understand. (67) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ey9i1EJjtk

[   commentary ayat 68  ]

He it is Who quickeneth and giveth death. When He ordaineth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is. (68) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ggMnWkBWkM&t=42s

[  commentary ayat 69, 70, 71  ]

Hast thou not seen those who wrangle concerning the revelations of Allah, how they are turned away? - (69) Those who deny the Scripture and that wherewith We send Our messengers. But they will come to know, (70) When carcans are about their necks and chains. They are dragged (71) 



...........................................................................................

---

From: h
Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2017 5:41 PM
To: Nik Isahak Abdullah
Subject: Re: Fw: surah ghafir......ayat 67, 68, 69 and 70.

 

Dear Dr. Nik,

I have read the commentry in your blog. On the basis of your summary, l really doubt that we can agree even on that. My comment below would complete the narration in your blog.

I can only believe the Big Bang to the extent of the evidence available for it. There is convincing evidence of the Big Bang, from the residual cosmic microwave background, plus Edwin Hubble's telescope detection of the red-shift (a Doppler effect on light, as the galaxies speed away in all directions after the Big Bang). And, of course, Einstein's theory of relativity which has been fully supported by the data. 

You will agree that the evidence for the Big Bang (Fred Hoyle had come up with the jocular term in its early days when the idea was not taken seriously) is now strong and the science is credible. It would perverse not to accept it today.

But you go a step further, doc, into the realm of metaphysics - on the "ownership" of the universe, and a benign guiding hand. Where is the hard evidence for it?  

You can say that you personally believe in it: That is fine: it is your right of belief in a free society. But you have to add the caveat that it is a belief, not a claim that it is a fact based on openly accesdible evidence. You cannot muddle up fact with belief. They are not the same thing.

(At one time people believed that the earth was flat. Such a belief did not make the earth round. The fact that the earth is round changed belief, and we all abandoned the false 'earth-is-flat' belief, and turned to fact as the basis of reality.)

Salam.

H.

.............................................................................

dato h,

i think we have to agree to disagree here.
but on a different plane but still closely connected to our fundamental dis agreement, though i have to make a confession here.

i used to spend sleepless nights before thinking about my role or rather lack of role in trying to 'salvage' all my close friends, and mostly patients [ and most of my patients are 'technically on death row' ],and acquintances who are overtly secular and agnostics. the current rules of social engagement and political correctness does not allow me to even mention 'ugama'

the last few verses, the tafseer of it especially, if you care to listen carefully, obviate that unnecessary anxiety and guilt feeling of mine.

allah , in no uncertain terms, says, ' enough warning and admonition have been given to the unbelief, in the course of their lives. be they at the ripe old age of 80 or 20, if the unbelief remained adamant , it is their funeral...'

or something to that effect.
allahualam.

dr nik

Surah Ghafir.....ayat 64, 65 and 66.

friends, dato and tansri,

islam is very liberating.
unlike the trinitarians, although one is encouraged to do selawat on the nabi, the whole day and night if one like, we are not allowed to put muhammad on the pedestal, like what they did to isa alaihisalam.

in a well known tradition, umar al khatab asked prophet whether it is enough that he selawat for him half of the time.
'a little more would be better', nabi replied.
' three quarter of the time?'
'a little more would be better...'
'all the time..?'

'that would be best!'

there is this current trend emerging from the nejd desert to ' disenfranchised ' nabi from the ugama.
so afraid are they that  people elsewhere accord divinity to nabi like  what 'christianity' did to isa alaihisalam, they turn a whole 180 degree.

his makkah house became a public toilet at a public bus station near the haram.
they almost moved his grave out of masjid nabawi.
any semblance of mahabah to the nabi is frowned upon.
etc etc and etc.

these blinkered simpletons from the nejd desert think all people simpletons like them.
beyond their narrow 'confines' all others are bidaah , bidaah and bidaah.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMtqVGtHIYI
[  commentary ayat 64, 65 and 66  ]

Allah it is Who appointed for you the earth for a dwelling-place and the sky for a canopy, and fashioned you and perfected your shapes, and hath provided you with good things. Such is Allah, your Lord. Then blessed be Allah, the Lord of the Worlds! (64) He is the Living One. There is no God save Him. So pray unto Him, making religion pure for Him (only). Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds! (65) Say (O Muhammad): I am forbidden to worship those unto whom ye cry beside Allah since there have come unto me clear proofs from my Lord, and I am commanded to surrender to the Lord of the Worlds. (66) 
 translation by pickthal


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW208tA6bgs&t=535s
[ commentary by assoc prof halis aydemir, ayat 65  ]



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE5nCQpAzY8&t=247s
[   commentatry ayat 66   ]





http://drnikisahak.blogspot.my/2009/01/pearld-gem-cancer.html
[  my ??'prophecy'  about oneamgedebe in 2009  ]

Surah Ghafir.....ayat 50 to ayat 59

friends, dato and tansri,

we travel by the 100 % chino'-benua-made ecrl [ east coast railway ] from gombak itt to tok bali station, this time to listen to tok ayoh man of tok bali to listen to his commentary of ayat 50 to ayat 59.

i am a frequent user of the terengganu east coat highway for the last three years. almost monthly plying its route.....very  very little traffic to the point the r and r cannot even attract petronas or shell or caltex to put up petrol pump station along the route.

perhaps ecrl, by the time of its inception in 2024, at a totally inflated cost well beyond 100 billion rm, if inclusive of land acquisition and interest etc etc, will by that time be able to generate  enough kerepok lekor and nasi dagang business between the east and west coast of malaysia to support its inception.

our children and grandchildren will be deeply in debt up to their 'scrotum'.
no! sorry, 'eyeballs' would be more appriopriate.

ya allah, what is this country heading to in these foreseeable future with pea brain leaders and ardent die-hard followers!

all saying and insisting they are following the dictates of the ugama in governance and running their daily lives!

ugama to these people is just reading a few surah from the qur'an, prostrations and do'a..

our country is going to the dogs...or has it already gone?

dr nik isahak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqGkGHQnnjo

They say: Came not your messengers unto you with clear proofs? They say: Yea, verily. They say: Then do ye pray, although the prayer of disbelievers is in vain. (50) Lo! We verily do help Our messengers, and those who believe, in the life of the world and on the day when the witnesses arise, (51) The day when their excuse availeth not the evil-doers, and theirs is the curse, and theirs the ill abode. (52) And We verily gave Moses the guidance, and We caused the Children of Israel to inherit the Scripture, (53) A guide and a reminder for men of understanding. (54) Then have patience (O Muhammad). Lo! the promise of Allah is true. And ask forgiveness of thy sin, and hymn the praise of thy Lord at fall of night and in the early hours. (55) Lo! those who wrangle concerning the revelations of Allah without a warrant having come unto them, there is naught else in their breasts save pride which they will never attain. So take thou refuge in Allah. Lo! He, only He, is the Hearer, the Seer. (56) Assuredly the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of mankind; but most of mankind know not. (57) And the blind man and the seer are not equal, neither are those who believe and do good works (equal with) the evil-doer. Little do ye reflect! (58) Lo! the Hour is surely coming, there is no doubt thereof; yet most of mankind believe not. (59) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqGkGHQnnjo

ps :

[....and even at the ugama, 'scholarwise', in comparision with elsewhere, we are still at the 'kerepok lekor and nasi dagang' phase. our treatment of ayat very superficial, if tok guru go a wee bit deeper, the student got all lost. oftentimes the tok guru are superficial. ]

but we have to make do with what we have, my dear.

Surah Ghafir...ayat 43

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boR_pUzftM4


friends, dato and tansri,

ayat 43 surah al ghafir wraps up islamic monotheism with this short succinct sentence:


Assuredly that whereunto ye call me hath no claim in the world or in the Hereafter, and our return will be unto Allah, and the prodigals will be owners of the Fire. (43]

who are the prodigals?...... the owners of the hell-fire?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boR_pUzftM4

Surah Ghafir.......ayat 37 to ayat 42

friends, dato and tansri,

mu'min,  the believer amongst pharaoh's  family, a rare breed then, continued his discourse with his people :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEXsSyZHNls&t=68s
[  commentary ayat 37 to ayat 39 ]


The roads of the heavens, and may look upon the God of Moses, though verily I think him a liar. Thus was the evil that he did made fairseeming unto Pharaoh, and he was debarred from the (right) way. The plot of Pharaoh ended but in ruin. (37) And he who believed said: O my people! Follow me. I will show you the way of right conduct. (38) O my people! Lo! this life of the world is but a passing comfort, and lo! the Hereafter, that is the enduring home. (39) Whoso doeth an ill-deed, he will be repaid the like thereof, while whoso doeth right, whether male or female, and is a believer, (all) such will enter the Garden, where they will be nourished without stint. (40) And, O my people! What aileth me that I call you unto deliverance when ye call me unto the Fire? (41) Ye call me to disbelieve in Allah and ascribe unto Him as partners that whereof I have no knowledge, while I call you unto the Mighty, the Forgiver. (42)  
 translation by pickthal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UIJuzpGVbw

[  commentary ayat 41 to ayat 42  ]

in the 21st century, from within the muslim ummah itself, we have a spectrum of varying level of 'belief', rather than 'unbelief'

just take a look at a sample in this malaysia boleh:

percolating at the bottom level, the 'pak mat nyadap' class, uneducated, manual and agricultural workers who have to toil 15 hours a day seven days a week for a mussel there a mussel here, who missed practically every friday prayers, and do not observe ramadan , and only pray occasionally;

to the ex ambassador class, who profess to be muslim but does not need the qur'an but wants to be consulted in how we run the country....no syariah please!!;

to the activist ex lawyer ex ngo big wig who proposes to defend secularism in malaysia but insist to be doing this in the name of islam

to the neurosurgeon who still prays a little occasionally when the need arise, but thinks 'sure something is wrong with islam as it cannot totally explain evolution';

to the top educationist who blames islam for all the negativism, otherwise 'how come we are all heaped at the bottomomst of the peeking other;

to the academicians, the whose who of business, the professor chendols, who think all these current goings on in in malaysia are ok, need to be supported as it is 'non islamic' not to support a leader, however errant he  or she is;

to top them all,  the numero uno who, after finishing billion rm of the national coffer now and for generations  to come, in a hare-brained scheme, still whistling in the dark, and selling further the country to the highest bidder, to offset his failings.

all of them are not in a state of  ''unbelief'.

they have at some point in their lives, said the shahadah.
almost 100 % pray, celebrate eid and do their ramadan and their social umrah.

but somehow they think 'they will not be called to explain'.

in short, the day of yaumiddin, to their minds, may not be there.....

dr nik isahak