Surah Al Hijr , 15...Epilogue

Was lurking the net last night and come across what  'celebrity' people thought about life on this earth. Their thoughts and philosophy , so alien to our Qur'anic view. Just listen to one of them, Stephen Fry, with his 'pseudo-intellectualization' of life, and his arrogance of the ignorant....a pity because if you follow the full interview, he is a nice bloke, despite his 'sexuality' .:-

Which reminds me of an article I wrote on 'Death and Dying' sometime ago:-
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2011/04/death-and-dying-revisitedsteps-to.html



We cannot but get back to our Divine Letters, to bring us back to sanity.........



Humankind is a marvel of divine creation. Made from "..potter's clay of black mud altered" [26] people die and return to earth and turn into dust again. But what makes them such distinguished creatures? What sets them apart from the rest of creation? The answer is the divine spirit which has been breathed into them, and which give them the qualities and status unique to humans in the divine world order. It was this streak of divine spirit which Iblis, or Satan, envious of man, causing him to refuse to recognize man's superiority. As a result, Satan vowed to seek revenge against Adam and his offspring. The surah informs us that Satan said:

"My Lord! Because Thou hast sent me astray, I verily shall adorn the path of error for them in the earth, and shall mislead them every one, (39) Save such of them as are Thy perfectly devoted slaves." (40) God said, "This is a right course incumbent upon Me: (41) Lo! as for My slaves, thou hast no power over any of them save such of the froward as follow thee. "(42)

The story of Adam and his arch-enemy, Satan, is recounted in the Qur'an on several occasions. In this instance, the main emphasis is om the very nature of the raw material from which man is made: potter's clay of dark mud altered.

This life is transient, a mere bridge to another world where everyone will receive his or her due reward in accordance with their performance in this life. The losers will be those who denied God's sovereignty and neglected His guidance. As Satan himself has no real power over human beings, those who allow themselves to be misled by him will only have themselves to blame for falling into error, as the saying goes, "ignorance of the law is no excuse." All Satan can do in this life is to tempt and mislead humankind through power of suggestion. Individuals who, having received ample warning of Satan's methods, choose to to listen to and follow his suggestions, will have no one to blame but themselves for the consequences. People have to be ever alert and vigilant, realizing that as long as God's laws are not abandoned, He  will be forgiving and generous, or otherwise His wrath can be overwhelming. The surah says: "Announce, (O Muhammad) unto My slaves that verily I am the Forgiving, the Merciful, (49) And that My doom is the dolorous doom." (50) 

This strong admonition is followed with an illustration involving an episode from the life of prophet Abraham. His wife, as the angels had told him, was pregnant and about to give birth to a son, and a town [ Lot's ], whose inhabitants engaged in the abhorrent practise of sodomy, would soon be destroyed. The Qur'an makes no mention of the Old Testament account of referring to God as eating at  a feast by Abraham, because this is an act which unbecoming of God, and ignoring the tale, the Qur'an strips it of credence. Prophet Lot's people were abominable and although he tried hard to dissuade them from their vile practices they failed to change. Sodomy and homosexuality are a curse and an affliction which spread as aresult of promiscuity and sexual depravity amongst mankind. Although legalized in some contemporary societies, these acts have always been considered in the past as morally unacceptable. However these have not been the only perversions that modern western civilization has legitimized through its legal system.

 We have already seen how the opening and closing statements of the surah skillfully complement one another, separated by passages relating episodes from the lives of the prophets Adam. Abraham and Lot to reinforce the principles conveyed by those statements and thereby enhance their impact. Thereafter the surah picks up the thread of giving further instructions to Prophet Muhammad, who has been honored by receiving God's revelation, on how to respond to that honor. "Strain not thine eyes toward that which We cause some wedded pairs among them to enjoy, and be not grieved on their account, and lower thy wing (in tenderness) for the believers. (88) And say: Lo! I, even I, am a plain warner " (89)

The surah then links this approach with earlier Israelite and Christian responses to revelation which had, on the whole, been schismatic and cynical: "Such as We send down for those who make division, (90) Those who break the Qur'an into parts "(91).  Israelite and Christian contemporaries of Prophet Muhammad treated the Qur'an in a manner similar to the way their predecessors had treated their own scriptures. [ ...and I am tempting to add , we present day Muslims  s well, but this my very private observation only , not  Muhammad al- Ghazali's ]. They accepted what suited them and refused to beleve in the rest. In the case of their own scriptures this had lead to them to tamper with their texts, altering some of the princples and rules which were expounded therein. The surah warns: "Them, by thy Lord, We shall question, every one, (92) Of what they used to do "(93). Meanwhile, God consoles Prophet Muhammad with the fact that his unbelieving detractors would not be able to thwart his mission for too long: "Lo ! We are sufficent for thee against the scoffers, (95) Who set some other god along with Allah. But they will come to know."(96)

During the early days of Islam, the Arabs of Makkah had staged a relentless campaign of mockery and ridicule against the Prophet as well as the revelation he was receiving. They spared no effort in widening their  campaign of psychological warfare, in an attempt to win over other tribes in Arabia over to their side. Naturally, this left the Prophet distressed and despondent. However, God directed him to pay no attention to the crusade and not allow it to dishearten him. 

The surah directs the following comforting words to the prophet: "Well know We that thy bosom is times oppressed by what they say, (97) But hymn the praise of thy Lord, and be of those who make prostration (unto Him) "(98). These closing words conveyed an implicit divine promise that Islam would prevail in the world. History has shown that this has been the case.



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


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Reflection and commentary by Imam Dr Yusuf Ziya Kavakci:-
part 3....

part4...

Surah Al Hijr , 15

Recitation of Surah Al Hijr by Shaykh Khaalid al-Jaleel :-


Part 1...

Part 2...

On gene, genome, character, souls and the divine decree.........


SCIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT THE HUMAN BODY is made up of the the same elements as the earth's soil. But how do flesh and bones turn into dust, and how does the dust turn back into flesh and bones? Genes carry hereditary information, but are they responsible for the design and the origination of that information, or for the human character that emerges as a result? Are we to believe that it is the human brain and other bodily organs, complex and ingenious as they are, which in fact determine man's character and destiny? With closer scrutiny, it becomes clear that these amazing organs are only  mean, or tools,  by which divine power is manifested enabling man to know God and acknowledge Him as the Giver of life and death and the Originator of creation. To God ,"...there is not a thing but with Us are the stores thereof. And we send it not down save in appointed measure "(21)

God's knowledge is instantaneous and comprehensive; all reality is totally and simultaneously accessible to Him.  Dimensions of time and space lose all their properties. God alone knows the 'hows', 'what' and 'when' of the future: "And verily We know who go forward among you and verily We know the laggards. (24) Lo! thy Lord will gather them together. Lo! He is Wise, Aware " (25).

The life-cycle of living organisms is a wonder to behold! Living creatures breed, multiply and die in endless numbers. A parasite feeding off the back of a larger animal may, in turn, become a meal for a bird. By eating the insect, the bird provides relief for the mammal. In this way the life-cycles of the animal kingdom are interlinked.

Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali
[ 1917 - 1996 ]


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Reflection and commentary by Imam Dr Yusuf Ziya Kavakci:-
part 2..

[ at 18 : 00 kavakci touches a wee bit on Yusuf Ali, the qur'an interpreter ] .........................


From " Pearls & Gem " :-
al-Qada' wal-Qadar [Divine Decree ]:  Shaykh Mokhtar al-Magrhaoui
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2011/01/divine-decree-qada-wal-qadar.html

Surah Al Hijr , 15...Prologue

Recitation by Shaykh Abdul Rahman al-Sudais:-

"ALIF, LAM, RA. These are the verses of the Book and a perspicuous Qur'an "[1]. God's revelation to humankind, referred to here as the Book, is written and communicated by words of mouth. The Arabic word, al-Kitab and al-Qur'an, are both used to identify God's revelation to Muhammad.

"It may be that those who disbelieve wish ardently that they were Muslims" (2). As the truth becomes clearer and God's words are fulfilled, the cynical and the negligent amongst humankind wish they had taken heed. But the Qur'an directs the Prophet to: "Let them eat and enjoy life, and let (false) hope beguile them. They will come to know!"(3). Pursuit of worldly pleasures has been a constant feature of human history. In today's civilization, however, it seems to have been elevated to the status of religion, and people have all forgotten about accountability  in the hereafter. But the Qur'an emphatically instructs the Prophet not to: "Strain not thine eyes toward that which We cause some wedded pairs among them to enjoy, and be not grieved on their account, and lower thy wing (in tenderness) for the believers "(88).

The interesting point to note here is that the surah opens with statements which are endorsed and echoed by similar ones towards the end of it. When talking about people who challenged earlier prophets and hampered their work, we read at the beginning of the surah: "And We destroyed no township but there was a known decree for it. (4) No nation can outstrip its term nor can they lag behind "(5). Further elaboration is given towards the end of the surah, with the citing of case histories such a sthose of the people of prophets Lot, Shu'ayb and Salih. Failures and mistakes of transgressor  nations grow and accumulate up to the point when divine punishment becomes inevitable and unavoidable. On the the instance of Lot's people, God says:

By thy life (O Muhammad) they moved blindly in the frenzy of approaching death. (72) Then the (Awful) Cry overtook them at the sunrise. (73) And We turned it upside down and We rained upon them stones of heated clay. (74) Lo! therein verily are portents for those who read the signs. (75) And lo! it is upon a road still uneffaced. (76)

Concerning prophet Shu'ayb's people, God says: "And the dwellers in the wood indeed were evil-doers. (78) So we took vengeance on them; and lo! they both are on a high-road plain to see" (79). then the surah talks of Salih's people, identified here as people of al-Hijr, a valley in south-west Arabia known today as the cities of Salih, which gives the surah its title. Salih's people:

..the dwellers in Al-Hijr indeed denied (Our) messengers. (80) And we gave them Our revelations, but they were averse to them. (81) And they used to hew out dwellings from the hills, (wherein they dwelt) secure. (82) But the (Awful) Cry overtook them at the morning hour, (83) And that which they were wont to count as gain availed them not. (84) 

These verses which appear at the end of the surah explain and complement the ones appearing at the beginning, starting with verse 10, which says: "We verily sent (messengers) before thee among the factions of the men of old. (10) And never came there unto them a messenger but they did mock him "(11).  The Arabs also scoffed  at the Qur'an and at Muhammad. They said: "O thou unto whom the Reminder is revealed, lo! thou art indeed a madman! (6) Why bringest thou not angels unto us, if thou art of the truthful?" (7). The Arabs were not alone in making this demand, for other nations before them had also asked for the same, but God had ignored such trivial and frivolous demands. These societies seemed to consider revelation as some kind of game in which the winner would be the crudest and the most vulgar. But God replies: "We send not down the angels save with the Fact, and in that case (the disbelievers) would not be tolerated. "(8)

At this stage God mentions that the Qur'an, as the final divine revelation, will be preserved for eternity and no matter what its detractors may do, they shall not succeed in destroying or obliterating its message. "Lo! We, even We, reveal the Reminder, and lo! We verily are its Guardian "(9), and: " We have given thee seven of the oft-repeated verses [ al-Fatihah] and the great Qur'an " (87). Some people reject the Qur'an out of prejudice and sheer pig-headedness. The more, and the stringer, the evidence they are presented with the more adamant they grow in their effrontery and opposition: "And even if We opened unto them a Gate of heaven and they kept mounting through it, (14) They would say: Our sight is wrong - nay, but we are folk bewitched." (15)

The surah also contains a fascinating account relating to the universe, its secrets and forces, which point to the power of its Maker. As one looks up up into the infinity of the heavens, one cannot help but be captivated by the multitude, distribution, and movement of the planets and stars in the vast universe which knows no boundaries. LIkewise, as one gaze at the wonders scattered all across the earth, both on land and sea, one is immediately amazed by how God sustains and provide for all the millions upon millions of creatures and living organisms that exist upon it. God says:

And verily in the heaven we have set mansions of the stars, and We have beautified it for beholders. (16) And We have guarded it from every outcast devil, (17) Save him who stealeth the hearing, and them doth a clear flame pursue. (18) And the earth have We spread out, and placed therein firm hills, and caused each seemly thing to grow therein. (19) And we have given unto you livelihoods therein, and unto those for whom ye provide not. (20)

While the surah goes no into some detail in the opening part relating to the wonders and marvels of the universe, it gives a statement of a more general nature towards the end:

We created not the heavens and the earth and all that is between them save with truth, and lo! the Hour is surely coming. So forgive, (O Muhammad), with a gracious forgiveness. (85) Lo! Thy Lord! He is the All-Wise Creator. (86) 

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





Reflection and commentary by Imam Dr Yusuf Kavakci:-
part 1....

[ tafseer surah al hijr starts at 48: 00 ]

Biodata

Born on June 22, 1938, in Hendak, Sekerya, Turkey. memorisedthe Quran at an early age of  8 and graduated from Hasircilar School with training in Tajwid, Qiraah, Arabic, Tafsir and Fiqh. When on to higher exams and susequently ordained and authorized to give fatwa  and eligious verdict in the Islamic field.

He worked as Muadhdhin (Professional caller to prayer, Hirka-i Sharif Mosque), Imam (Kara Ahmed Pasha Mosque in Topkapi), and Waiz in the governorships Fatih and Beyoglu in Istanbul.

Dr. Kavakci received a bachelor's degrees in Law from The College of Law of Istanbul University and also in Islamic Studies from the Institute of Higher Islamic Studies, got his Ph.D. in Islamic History and Culture from Faculty of Arts, Istanbul University. After working as Assistant Professor and as Associate Professor in the Institute of Islamic Research, Istanbul University, he helped to establish the first college of Islamic Studies in modern Turkey. The College of Islamic Studies is now a part of Ataturk University, Erzurum where Dr. Kavakci worked as senior faculty. He chaired Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh and other departments and got full professorship in Islamic Law and worked as Dean of the College. His professorship in Islamic Law was the first such position in Turkey after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. He was educated in the traditional Ottoman way of Islamic Studies as well as in modern methods of teaching in today's universities.

Currently a prominent member of ISNA [ Islamic Society of North America ]

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From " Pearls & Gem ":-
While on the question of 'Bala' let us see what 4 Kelantanese chaps had it going in their  rather irreversible, varying levels of 'PhD's.... [ 'permanent head damage' ]
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2011/03/of-libya-tsunamis-and-wrath-of-god.html