Surah Ar-Rahman Part 3

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace

Like any good teacher, Ar-Rahman puts our understanding of what we learn to a test.  And to my mind, the rest of the Surah truly are a good test to my understanding of the Qur'an and my mastery of Al-Bayan.

The next two verses to be discussed are as follows:

الشمس و القمر بحسبان

و النجم و الشجر يسجدن

The sun and the moon according to a definite calculation

And the stars and the trees prostrate themselves

In my years of fascination with this Surah, I have wondered why God groups these together.  Like the game of what does not belong, the tree seems out of place in the celestial theme.  The various tafsirs that I have read did not really resolve the question of why the tree is included.  Other questions I had were: what does it mean that the stars and trees prostrate?  Why not the sun or the moon?

Listening to Nouman Ali Khan's lecture, it dawns upon me that the key to understanding these two verses is in using al-Bayan, i.e. in distinguishing the words.  For those who would like to listen to his inspiring lecture, subscribe to Bayyinah TV.  But here is my understanding of his lecture.

It is interesting that the Qur'an often uses reflections or mirror images as a literary device.  In Ayat al-Kursi, for example, or even Surah Ar-Rahman and Surah Al-Waqi'ah mirror each other in their topics.  Similarly, here there is a kind of a mirror imagery - the sun and the trees, the moon and the stars.  Why?  Nouman Ali Khan reminded us that the Qur'an was first revealed to the Arabs in the desert.  The two things of beauty were the trees during the day (when the sun is shining) and the stars (accompanying the moon) at night.  Therein lies the connection between the four.  And what a beautiful connection.

But it is more than that piece of connection.  The key is in two words other than the nouns: in the first verse, بحسبان which most translate as precise or definite calculation, is also used in Surah Al-Kahf as a calamity.  So there are several dimensions to understanding the verse.  Syed Qutb in his tafsir was eloquent in discussing how the precision of the celestial bodies helps to promote life on this planet.  Then there is the time dimension - the sun and the moon are the celestial bodies with which we calibrate our time.  Our calendars and seasonality depends on them as well as our sense of day and night.  But like a clock, ticking away, there is also a sense of impending end which is suggested by the use of the word "Husban".  That time is running out and the celestial clock is running down.  God is subtly reminding us that the Hour is ever closer with every passing cycle of day and night.

And then, when the Hour is nigh, those precious and beautiful stars and trees, so admired by the Arabs, will fall (into prostration).  If that is the case, could we hope to escape?  Basically, God is telling us that we need to prepare ourselves and gather our provisions before the Hour sets and there is no time left.

Surah Ar-Rahman Part 2

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace

Part 2

بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الرحمن

علم القران

خلق الانسان

علمه البيان

The Most Gracious,

He taught the Qur'an

He created Mankind

He taught him Al-Bayan

Earlier I reflected on the questions an what I learnt for the first 2 verses.  The next two verses are the continuation of the sentence where Ar-Rahman created mankind and taught us al-Bayan.

If the order is important, then the creation of Man is second to the teaching of the Qur'an.  A question that I have is why the creation of Man is stated in two places in the surah, albeit with more details in verse 14.  Another question is why the creation of Man is considered a mercy.  Next, what is Al-Bayan and its importance given it is again another thing taught by Ar-Rahman himself?  

These two are the next most important of God's favours to the Qur'an.  Let's tackle the first - why is our creation considered a favour and a mercy?  Looking at the state of the world today, one could very well be sceptical as to the mercy aspect to creating mankind.  In fact, one would not be the first to ask...the Angels asked God something similar before the creation of Adam a.s.  (Surah 2:30).  And God's answer was that He knew what they knew not.  

Syed Qutb said this about the above:

"It is true that man would commit corruption and shed blood, but even this apparently evil aspect of his function turns out to be for best.  It is a necessary consequence of perpetual progress and development, and the changes brought about a ceaseless endeavour in pursuit of better and higher things in this world."

Basically there is purpose to our creation and that purpose is fulfilled by our actions, good and bad, whether we understand it or otherwise, because there is a higher plan that neither we nor the angels are aware of.  Furthermore, there is a potential in all of us that God describes in Surah At-Tin as the "best of forms" which can be unlocked through the teachings of the Qur'an.  And that is the reason why the teaching of the Qur'an is mentioned before even our own creation.

The fulfillment of the purpose is why God taught us specifically Al-Bayan, something which is not taught to other creation.  Al-Bayan is actually linked to the concept of Names that God taught Adam a.s. (Surah 2:31).  Al-Bayan, which is often translated as speech, comes from the same root word as Baina (between) - which basically means to distinguish, separate, make clear.  More than just speech, Asad said that it:

"applies to both thought and speech in as much as it comprises the faculty of making a thing or an idea apparent to the mind and conceptually distinct from other things or ideas, as well as the power to express this cognition clearly in spoken or written language."

What are the "Name of All Things/Beings etc" that God taught Adam but in essence the ability to distinguish one thing from another.  Al-Bayan is a skill and ability that is uniquely inherent in mankind, a gift from Ar-Rahman.  It is also the basis of the languages that were/are spoken and written by mankind through time.  Nouman Ali Khan emphasised in one of his lectures that therefore all languages are revealed languages because Ar-Rahman taught them (by teaching Al-Bayan to mankind).  With languages, we are able to communicate and get to know one another as commanded by God (Surah Al-Hujurat).  This beautiful gift of Ar-Rahman needs to be fully appreciated and not abused as we seem to do nowadays - with all the meaningless and almost abusive chatters on social media and in real life.

And through this skill of Al-Bayan, do we come to understand the world around us and live up to our potential and responsibility of being care takers on this Earth on God's behalf.  It is through Al-Bayan, that discoveries are made and progress and development continues in various spheres of life.

And ultimately only with Al-Bayan do we come to understand the underlying messages of the upcoming verses of Surah Ar-Rahman.

The Illusion of Scholarship

It is once again time for Earth Hour, the first of many, I hope, in my own home (March 28th).  So I settled down armed with tea, candlelight and a book.  You know a book is good when before you know it, the hour is up and you're still engrossed in reading.  That's exactly what happened but I came across a passage in the book that got me thinking and I felt I needed to "pen" it down.

The book by Khaled Abou El Fadl is entitled "Reasoning with God."  Let me first share the passage here before exploring my thoughts:

",,,A broad movement started in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that rebelled against the centuries-old interpretive tradition that cumulatively defines Shari'ah.  In a sense, inspired by a dream of Islamic authenticity waiting to be realised, this was the ultimate deconstructive and reconstructive movement.  It thought to throw away the Islamic tradition and start fresh by reengaging and reinterpreting the primary textual sources of Shari'ah (the Qur'an and Sunna).  But with the institutions of learning and law being in poor condition, the original-sources school undermined the interpretive traditions of the past without offering an alternative that transcended the apologetics of the movement.  The egalitarianism of the original-source movement set the bar so low that any person with a modest degree of knowledge of the Qur'an and the traditions of the Prophet was considered sufficiently qualified to authoritatively represent the Shari'ah, even if such a person was not familiar with the precedents and discourses of the interpretive communities of the past.  The Islamic intellectual culture witnessed an unprecedented level of deterioration as the Islamic heritage was reduced to the least common denominator, which often amounted to engaging in crass generalizations about the nature of Islam and the nature of the non-Muslim 'other'."

While the passage mentions the nineteenth and early twentieth century, we can still feel the effects of this movement today.  In fact the movement is still alive in various parts of the Muslim world.  When I grew up in the 70s and 80s, my father, influenced by this movement, created quite a non-traditional Islamic environment.  While most of Singapore profess to be Shafi'i, we didn't follow a madhhab but instead espouse the idea of 'going back to the Qur'an and Sunna."  In my university days and after (in the 90s), this movement heavily influenced the Muslim student association in the university and other higher educational institution.

The idea behind the movement for me through these formative years was to be critical and to not accept what the 'authorities' say blindly, but to refer it back to the two sources.  That is still a fundamental make up of my thought process today and I still don't officially follow a madhhab.  But looking back over the years and what has happened in the world over the last two decades especially, I can see the point made by Prof Abou El-Fadl.

The danger of the "egalitarianism" as stated in the passage was to open the door for anyone to be seen as an authoritative figure by Muslims all over the world in this age of internet.  We no longer seem to have a criteria of who is capable to fulfill this capacity and who isn't.  While in the other domains, we have acknowledged experts who we know are qualified to be experts.  What the movement have done is to eliminate that qualification in the field of Shari'ah, in the eyes of many ordinary Muslims.  We no longer really question the qualifications of those who give out 'fatwas' because we no longer understand the criteria behind the qualifications.

I believe this opening of the door led to the rise of extremism in the last two decades as any Tom, Dick or Harry cropped up and started interpreting the Qur'an to their own biases and based on their own whims and fancies.  A friend who served in the US armed forces once mentioned how a man in Afghan (this was during the 2002 Afghan war) pointed to a verse in the Qur'an to justify the violence to women and another for justification for killing non-Muslims.  He asked me about these verses and I was taken aback.  The problem is that the man took the verses out of context and was not rooted in history that the interpretive tradition mentioned in the passage would have taken into consideration.  Today there are so many different 'Shaykhs' claiming to speak on behalf of Islam.  Some of these have influenced and shaped the current rhetorics and tension within the Muslim world as well as the relationship with the non-Muslims to the detriment of the Ummah.  Not just the extremists but also the conservatives, the puritans and the liberals.

I wonder therefore if the founders of the movement ever foresaw the far-reaching effects, both positive and negative, of what they set into motion.  Only time will tell if we can reconnect to the roots of our tradition and produce the calibre of scholars like those of past for this modern age.  The book asks:

"Is it possible to have an identity without a memory, and is it possible to feel empowered without an identity?  And in what ways is the future affected by the construction of memory and identity?" 

Gratitude on being alone

Tonight, chatting with a friend brought me to a realisation of the immensity of my buying a house here, far away from my family.  

Truly, it is therefore only my feeling that this is the best place for me and in developing my relationship with God that I am not in panic mode.  To fully realise that if anything happens, I have no one to turn to other than Him because all my support system a.k.a. my family are back in Singapore.  A friend once reminded me that even if I were to be in Singapore, I might not be able to rely on my family.  But still there is that illusion and state of presumption that your family will always be there.  Being alone on the other hand makes clear that I have no one and is dependent on His mercy.  Thus I am grateful for the people He has sent my way thus far.

More than that, I am grateful for this chance to develop my relationship with Him further.  Blessings are also the means by which He tests us.  The blessing of owning my own place, I realise is a test for me. May I always be amongst those who are always grateful and draw ever closer to Him.

Ameen

Reflection on the phrase "Indeed, from God and to God is the return"

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace

"Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un" (From God and to Him is the return)

An often used phrase amongst Muslim.  Where I come from, they use it when someone passes away.  In other parts of the world, they use it when they lose something or when calamity strikes.

But tonight as it is the last night of my stay in Shahidah's house and the beginning of another chapter in my life - that of a house owner, of putting down roots - it takes on a different meaning to me.  I actually have had the house for the past month and actually officially moved my things on the day of Hajj...three weeks ago.  I have just been dragging my heels at actually moving physically.

But why do I mention the Hajj?  It is because last year there was a lesson I learned that I need to remind myself of as I embark on this new journey.  That lesson was that I am in this world as a traveller and the best and fastest way to travel is to travel lightly...only gather the provisions that I need.  From God, I came and I am journeying to Him.  This world pulls at me...to linger and just stay a little longer to enjoy the comfort of the known.  Just like I lingered these weeks in part due to the comfort of the known instead of braving the unknown.  To be a traveller, this past year has taught me that I cannot continue to stagnate and luxuriate in my comfort zone but take the brave step towards the Unknowable.

How, you can ask, can buying a house and putting roots down equate to taking another step in my journey back to God?  It is because this time, I am completely dependent on Him for my shelter.  No longer do I depend on my parents' love and kindness to shelter me in their house nor my housemates' kindness to share the burden nor my landlords'/landlady's kindness to rent out the place.  No, this time, I have to depend on God to provide me with my rezk (provision) to pay towards the shelter.  It was not made lightly - it was and still is scary because if anything happens, my house can be repossessed and I will be homeless.  Therefore, a trust in God is vital.

It is also a form of a challenge - a traveller should travel lightly...I always thought it meant that I should own as little as possible so that I don't become attach.  Even though I know of the story of the sufi 'student' who was living in poverty in order to renounce the world and who bade a guest to give his regards to his sheikh.  The guest found the sheikh living in a palace and was puzzled.  To be 'zuhud' does not mean that you renounce the world but that world has no hold on you.

Can I then, even as I set up and own my own house and put down roots, still be that traveller on whom the world (in the form of the house and the roots) has no hold on?  Can I make use of the house to be instead a vehicle to advance me onwards on my return journey?

Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un now takes on a different meaning - that of an ongoing journey, a journey not in time or space but in that timelessness of the soul - a journey of experiences accumulated through each decision I take, exercising the only power that God has granted to me - my free will.  Each decision unfolds to a new experience which leads to a new understanding of my relationship with Him.  And as I stand on the brink of the next experience, the fruit of my decision to buy a house, I stand in wonder and in apprehension as to what new light will be shed on this relationship.  What I can be sure of is that the return to Him is constant and continuous...that every quantum of time, I am constantly returning to Him through the unfolding of the present.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un.