Introduction to the Qur'an.
Themes, Subjects and Characters.
Addressees, Language and Difficulties.
Verses, Surahs and Groups.
How to understand Qur'an. Mohammad Hassan Ilyas.
[Hassan Ilyas] Gratitude is only for the Lord of the worlds.
May peace and blessings be upon his Trustworthy Prophet, Muhammad
and his family, his companions and those who follow him.
I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Devil.
I begin in the name of Allah, most gracious, forever merciful.
Dear viewers, we are studying the Holy Qur'an.
This is the fourth session of the series.
In the previous session, we read and understood
the introduction and the text of Surah Al-Fatihah.
We tried to know the message that this first Surah of the Holy Qur'an,
which is also the preface or introduction of the Qur'an is giving.
We had learnt that this Surah is actually a prayer,
and a kind of summary whose details are to be explained in further Surahs.
It is the prayer, the answer to which comes under discussion in further Surahs.
What was that prayer?
That prayer was, "Ihdinas siratal mustaqeem."
Meaning, Oh God, the Lord of the worlds, Nourisher of the worlds,
Gratitude is only for You.
You are the one who created this world by virtue of His mercy.
You are the one whose compassion is eternal.
Your blessings in this world are perpetual, everlasting and eternal.
You are the one who gave us the ability to will and choose.
Hence, it is You who is the Master of the Day of Recompense.
We only worship You and from You alone do we seek help.
Show us the straight path.
What is that straight path?
And it had also been asked in that prayer that,
"The path of those upon whom You bestowed Your favor, not the path of
those people or nations who incurred Your wrath and those who went astray.
After Surah Al-Fatihah, the next Surah is Surah Al-Baqarah.
This should be kept in mind that these Surahs have been named by human beings.
As we will read further in this Surah,
there comes the mention of the nation of Prophet Moses [AS].
There is an apparent symbolic aspect of the 'cow' present in that mention.
Cow is called "Al-Baqarah" in the Arabic language.
The scribes who took down the dictation of the Holy Qur'an and memorized it,
they also gave these symbolic names to these Surahs for their own memorization.
And these are the names that have continued till now.
But when we will study Surah Al-Baqarah, it will be clear that the names
that Allah has named these Surahs, have been made part of those Surahs.
That is, either in the beginning of the Surahs,
or in other verses of some Surahs, these parts come under discussion.
Our method of studying the Holy Qur'an should be recalled in every session.
That should be up front.
And that method is that whichever Surah one begins to study,
the central theme of that Surah,
the context of the events under discussion in that Surah should be well known.
And the central theme or the grand topic of the Holy Qur'an around which all of its
Surahs and groups revolve, should also be remembered
that it is actually Prophet's [PBUH] account of warning to people.
That is, when He [PBUH] cautioned people after coming to this world,
the chronicle of that has been written in the Holy Qur'an.
Hence, it needs to be decided in every Surah now
that which stage of drawing people's attention or to caution them,
is under the discussion in the given Surah.
Surah Al-Baqarah and Aal-e-Imran are two twin Surahs.
We also had read that the Surahs in these seven groups arrive in pairs.
It is like having a message that one Surah describes about one nation,
and the same message or some other aspects of that message,
are described about that same nation in some other Surah.
Similarly, sometimes a nation is being addressed in a Surah,
and the matter is being brought to their notice.
And in its second twin Surah, its pair,
the same thing happens regarding the other nation.
We all know the effect of dividing the theme in this way.
Its effect is that one is able to convey one's matter in a focused manner.
That is, it is not the case that the address is happening
with everybody at the same time.
Rather one group is being addressed at one time from one aspect.
And the same group is being addressed from another aspect at some other time
or some other group is being addressed.
So Al-Baqarah and Aal-e-Imran, they both are twin Surahs.
They are a pair, they are joined.
The teacher writes that, "In terms of the subject matter,
both of these Surahs are twins."
That is, they have come in the form of a pair, they are twins.
"After the completion of God's proof on Jews in the first Surah,
and particularly on Christians along with Jews in the second Surah,
there is an announcement of the establishment of the new Ummah,
the Muslim Ummah, from the children of Ishamel.
Although the Prophet [PBUH] also has been tacitly addressed in them,
as well as the polytheists of the Arab,
however, the actual addressees of both the Surahs are the People of the Book,
and then the Muslims.
It is clear from the themes of these Surahs that they have been revealed
in Medina after the migration at the time
when the Muslim state had been formally established.
And the Prophet [PBUH] was completing God's proof on the People of the Book,
and was cleansing and purifying Muslims.
The subject of the first Surah, Al-Baqarah,
is the description of the completion of God's proof on the People of the Book,
an establishment of a new Ummah in their place and a description of their duties.
The subject of the second Surah, Aal-e-Imran,
is completion of God's proof on the People of the Book, especially on Christians,
an establishment of the new Ummah in their place,
and its cleansing and purification."
You may remember the discourse regarding the introduction of the Holy Qur'an,
that we discussed in the initial sessions.
In that, we had said that unless and until
one doesn't keep the theme of the Qur'an in one's mind,
one can't understand the context in which these Surahs
of the Holy Qur'an are speaking, or which nations are they conversing to,
or whose characteristics they are describing. We can't know any of this.
And these introductions are so important that if we will not know them,
then the consequence of this ignorance is so deadly and serious that
the biggest reason for people distancing themselves from the Holy Qur'an nowadays,
is to overlook this very aspect.
We will formally study the Surah.
This thing will also come under the discussion there, by implication.
But let me just initially clear this thing by an example so that during the study
of the Surah, this point stays up front with great consideration that
in what context is the matter being discussed,
who are being talked to, who are the addressees,
what characters are under discussion in it,
and what is the reason for bringing them under discussion?
This is because, if in this Surah, it will be said about some nation,
that 'This nation has gone astray now, it has deviated from the right path.
And for this reason, it has had to taste the torment of Allah.
And now you will have to distance yourself from them.
They cannot be your friends.
They can't be your helpers or well wishers.
They will not be satisfied until you enter into their religion.
And now, break up all relations and turn away from them.'
So unless and until we won't understand the context of this instruction,
we will describe it as a general or universal injunction.
And just imagine, when we say to our children and to the future generations,
about the Book of Allah in this day and age with full confidence,
that the last message of God is inscribed in this,
what message do we give to them?
If you look at the children, especially those who live in western countries,
when they study the Holy Qur'an, without understanding its introduction,
without determining its theme, its topic and its subject,
they fall victim to the dilemma, that does the Qur'an say the
same about their friends, those People of the Book having good character,
who are present all around them, that there can't be any friendship with them?
Does Qur'an say the same about them that
now they have to now taste the torment of God?
Does Qur'an instruct us to distance ourselves from them too?
So all these topics of discussion and all these issues,
will arise during the study of the holy Qur'an. They can arise.
This is the reason that the introduction of every Surah,
the stage at which a given Surah has been revealed,
the responsibility under which the Messenger [PBUH]
is speaking given his status and position,
and what He [PBUH] is speaking about and to whom, will come under discussion.
Here our teacher has told us that, in terms of the subject matter,
both of these Surahs have come in the from of a pair.
Jews have been addressed in the first Surah, and in the second one,
particularly Christians along with the Jews have been addressed.
And they are addressed in the context which we had also learnt earlier,
which is the basic theme of the first group,
that this nation which was given the responsibility, the children of Israel,
they didn't fulfill their responsibility.
Hence, the children of Ishmael, the descendants of Abraham,
are now being appointed.
The children of Ishmael are being established at a place
where the responsibilities which were once in charge of the children of Israel,
as well as in charge of the children of Ishmael.
But they didn't fulfill them.
So now a new Ummah is being appointed from them, a new group,
that has now to take on this responsibility to continue the
same mission as a nation in the world,
that the Prophets of God used to champion.
This point also got clarified from this introduction that this Surah...
And Surah Al-Baqarah is the longest and detailed Surah of the Holy Qur'an.
And that's why it is very important to know its context,
i.e, whom it has been revealed to and to address what?
It becomes clear from reading the Surah that it has been revealed in Medina.
This is because in the course of this Surah, after describing the mistakes
done by Jews and Christians, their rebellion, deviation and wickedness,
when Muslims are sanctified and purified, the commandments that they are being given
become clear by reading the Surah, that the relation of those commandments is with
an organised and systematic society.
That is, this is not possible that Muslims stand in Mecca at an individualistic level
and they are given the commandments regarding the society.
So this is quite clear that these Surahs have been revealed in Medina.
Let us begin the study of the Surah.
"Bismillahir rahman nirrahim.
In the name of Allah, who is wholly merciful, whose compassion is eternal.
This Surah is 'Alif-Laam-Meem'.
This is a Book from God and there is no doubt in it.
It is the guidance for these God fearing people,
who believe without seeing, and are watchful of their prayers.
And spend in the way of God out of whatever we have provided for them.
And who also believe in what has been revealed to You (Prophet Muhammad),
as well as in that what was revealed before You.
And who really believe in the hereafter.
These are the ones who are upon the guidance of their Lord.
And these are the ones who are going to be successful and saved."
This thing should also be in everyone's mind during our study of the Holy Qur'an,
that like the way we converse under normal circumstances,
the message that we want to communicate in that conversation,
if we communicate that by writing that down,
then that gets distinguished in the form of a paragraph.
That is, taking a topic from one point to another fixed point,
even though that topic is only a part in relation to the entire theme,
i.e. it is not completed.
However, the complete message is conveyed to a reader in that paragraph,
by the speaker who wants to convey it.
The same is the case in the Qur'an, that all these series of verses together
communicate a certain point to the people.
So as you may have noticed that when I read the translation,
I only translated from the first verse to the fifth verse of Surah Al-Baqarah.
This is because from the first verse to the fifth verse,
there is one paragraph, one complete topic that has been conveyed to the world.
We said that this Surah is 'Alif-Laam-Meem'.
And then we said that it is a Book from God and there is no doubt in it.
So what is this 'Alif-Laam-Meem'?
You may have noticed that when we Muslims are invited to study the Holy Qur'an,
to hold the Holy Qur'an firmly in our lives,
and to make it as the guide as it is the only wealth worth having.
And when we want to read the Qur'an and open it to read,
then just in the initial Surah, there comes some word whose meaning
does not happen to be mentioned in the translation of the Holy Qur'an.
A reader gets surprised, thinking that I had just opened the Book of God,
in order to benefit from it, to understand it,
to know what guidance or instructions are in it for me,
and to know about the warnings mentioned in it,
but it begins with something which if we say in plain and simple language,
are strange kind of words that come in the beginning of it.
'Alif-Laam-Meem'.
I mean, if you open some lexicon or ask some Arab,
or try to know the meaning of this word by examining the Arabic literature,
that if 'Alif-Laam-Meem' is any word?
If yes, then what is the meaning and connotation of it?
So we are told that these are "Huroof-e-Muqatta'at" (disjoined letters).
And their meanings and connotations are known to Allah alone.
So this question arises in one's mind that if only Allah knows the meaning of a word,
then what is the purpose of having that word in this Book (Qur'an)?
And that Book which will become the cause of your and mine guidance
till the Day of Resurrection,
why is a student or a reader like me put to this test as soon as he opens it up,
that a word has been written here and it is said that a human being cannot know
its meaning and connotation?
We will highlight these aspects during our study of the Holy Qur'an.
The aspects that create hindrance and resistance for an ordinary reader and
an ordinary Muslim to associate themselves with the message of the Qur'an,
with fervour and with real conviction.
That is to say that although a Muslim wants to make Qur'an a shining beacon
or guide of his life, but he encounters some aspects that
subconsciously prevent him from attaching himself to the Book (Qur'an).
This Surah is 'Alif-Laam-Meem', as I had said that the teacher
has written it in the translation. What does it mean?
You may have come across different views and opinions about this.
You can read about them in any of the translations or commentaries.
There are wide range of opinions about it.
But the thing that turns out to be most clear and correct,
and which is qualified by the discourse and its history itself,
is that these are the names of the Surahs.
We find this style in the Arabic language,
that when you have to decide the title of some discourse,
or write its name or decide its topic, you write it in a combination of letters.
These letters are separate, like 'Alif' is separate,
'Laam' is separate and so is 'Meem'.
The other languages of the world, for example, Chinese language,
or other languages like Hebrew langauge,
sometimes in those languages too,
these alphabets do not just simply represent some sound,
rather they also express the symbol of a given thing.
For example, if you see in the Hebrew language, then even today,
the shape that is drawn to describe a fish is like the letter "Nun".
You write the letter "Nun" like this.
A semi-circle and a dot at the center.
Actually when we wanted to communicate the shape or form of a fish to the people,
we did it by taking just one aspect of its shape.
For example, if you look at it from one aspect,
then that (letter Nun) describes the mouth and an eye of a fish,
and if you look at it from another perspective, then its tail is just like
the semi-circle of the letter "Nun".
So what human beings did in the beginning, when they wanted to communicate something,
for example, that 'I need a fish', they communicated it by the word "Fish",
or by the shape of a fish or by drawing an element of that shape.
So, these words refer to both sounds and symbols.
These words appear in more or less thirty Surahs of the Holy Qur'an,
and these are called "Haroof-e-muqatta'at" meaning "Disjoined letters".
So these letters are actually a kind of codes that indicate a given shape.
The Holy Qur'an itself makes this thing quite clear
in Surah Nun, by the letter Nun.
But since we know that the meaning of "Nun" is a fish,
so the story that is further discussed in that Surah,
is of Sahib-ul-Hut, Prophet Younis [AS]. And He was a fisherman.
So, this prominent aspect of this Surah was picked up and then
written by highlighting it in the form of a symbol.
This style started to fade over time.
And it also didn't last in that way even in the Arabic language itself.
This is the reason that we can say it about certain letters with full certainty
that whose symbols are they, what codes do they contain and what are they describing,
but we have no knowledge about some other letters.
It is not like that God has not given this knowledge to humans,
rather what happened was that a style that was normally in vogue,
did not continue in that way.
However, scholars are still researching on it.
And they are also making it clear to the world that which symbols or things
do these letters represent.
This aspect should also be kept in view that if we did not yet know that
what these letters as names represent or what their meanings are?
Then it wouldn't have made any difference if we can't even know the subjects
of a given Surah which is named by these letters.
This is because if my name is Hassan,
and if you don't know the meaning of the word 'Hassan',
then that doesn't cause any difficulty or trouble in knowing
the qualities and traits of my personality,
my knowledge, my views and my opinions.
So this is the first thing that every Muslim should keep in mind.
And let me say that the translations of the Holy Qur'an may be present
in your cupboards, so you can read them if you want to.
In this session, we will also try to know that as a young person, just like I read
and understood this Book (Qur'an),
and as persons inhabiting this modern era,
when other people read this (Qur'an), then what questions arise in their minds?
If you reflect, then the present era is the era of critical thinking.
The present era is the era of reason and argumentation.
The present era is the era of freedom and freedom of thought.
You cannot hand over the Book of Allah to your child and then expect that your child
doesn't ask the question such as what is meant by 'Alif-Laam-Meem?
Or if I do not know the meaning of it, then you are giving me such a Book of God
that I am unable to know!
So these questions will come before us.
Gone is that age when we used to shut down questions merely on the
emphasis of respect, literature, imitation and tradition.
This is the age when we need to consciously pass the knowledge
of religion to our children and future generations.
Therefore, we need to critically analyze things,
raise questions about them and understand them.
However, this should be kept in view that we have already accepted that
this is the Book of Allah.
This exercise of understanding things is for the better understanding of the Book,
and for our own confidence that we also understand the Book that we believe in.
When we will understand and know the Book, then it will also be easy to act on it.
So it was said that this Surah is 'Alif-Laam-Meem'.
Meaning 'Alif-Laam-Meem' is the name of the Surah Al-Baqarah.
"This is a Book from God and there is no doubt in it."
That is, it was made clear in the very beginning that all over the world,
different discourses, books, testaments and different media come into existence,
in order to communicate things.
But this thing should be kept in mind that there shouldn't be any doubt regarding
the Book of God in terms of its divine nature.
That is, if you imagine the time when the Prophet [PBUH] was reciting these verses
to His people, then what was He saying to them?
He was saying to them that these words are not My invention.
These words are not My creation or the result of My thoughts,
or the ideas that have evolved over a lifetime of thinking.
Rather, this is the word of God that I am reciting before you.
These are not My words but the words of God.
And these Surahs, consisting of these very words, these collection of Surahs
and this entire Book, i.e. the Book, by which is meant the Holy Qur'an,
is the Book of Allah.
So bear this in mind that this is a Book from God and there shouldn't be any doubt
in the fact that this is a divine book.
The teacher said, "This is the guidance for God fearing people,
who believe without witnessing (with their eyes)."
Guidance for God fearing people who believe without seeing.
We know that guidance is needed to walk on a given path,
as well as to find that path.
That is, we can ask someone to tell us how can we get to the right path?
Or which route do we have to take to start the journey?
So these inspired scriptures actually come to keep us on the guided path.
That is to say, that these scriptures show you the definite path.
They show you the definite way which you have to stick to.
They don't just guide you a pointer and then leave you free
to adopt a Shari'ah of your making,
or to create ways to relate with God through your own conceptions.
No! Rather the guidance that is required to walk on that path,
that complete guidance is given in the Holy Qur'an.
And all the inspired scriptures actually come for the same purpose.
So the teacher said, "This is a Book from God and there is no doubt in it,
A guidance for these God fearing people, who believe without seeing" (or observing)
For the God fearing people.
We had stated that the context of this Surah is that
Jews are actually addressed in it.
So what was then just said?
That is, those people who were standing in front of the Messenger of Allah [PBUH],
the companions of Prophet [PBUH], who had believed in Him,
they are being told who gets the guidance?
Only those get the guidance, who fear God with a sincere heart
after recognizing the limits set by Him.
In our culture, when you introduce God and His Book (Qur'an) to Muslims,
then an early and a very prominent objection comes to the fore,
that why is this fear being created with the concept of God?
Why is it often said that we should fear God?
Why is it not being said that we should love God?
Why doesn't the concept of a God comes as a compassionate Lord?
People who are in the initial phase of reading the Qur'an, especially the youth,
usually ask me this question that why we come up with a scary concept of dread,
anxiety, fear and pressure, in case of God?
And when we begin with the Holy Qur'an, then it also says that it is the guidance
for these God-fearing people, who believe without seeing (with their eyes).
So here this point should be kept in mind that we read in the beginning of the Surah
that God is merciful and compassionate.
Even Surah Al-Fatihah started with the same.
And this thing was also noted in its contents and text.
And then this Surah also began by saying that God is merciful and compassionate.
This is crystal clear that God doesn't want to oppress us.
That God doesn't want to frighten us. He doesn't want to make us afraid.
It is His attribute of being Merciful and an attribute of His compassion,
that He created this Universe, and He wants to make us the
citizens of His paradise by giving us an eternal life in His kingdom.
His whole scheme is based on love and compassion.
His whole scheme is not based on intimidation.
It is indeed based on love.
It is His kindness, just kindness!
Otherwise, God who is imperishable, unique, eternal and such a power
that has always been and always will be,
whether He would have created the Universe or not, that wouldn't have made
anydifference in His grandeur, status and greatness.
He actually had mercy on me that
after putting me to the initial test of fifty to sixty years,
he set up life of billions of years for me and such a life in which there is neither
the regret of the past nor the worry of future.
So it becomes clear from all of this that He is an absolute mercy.
His compassion is eternal.
He wants, "Walayn ardha libaadihi l kufr", that you don't go astray.
And He is more compassionate than seventy mothers.
There is this much of love in Him.
But what is the demand of this love?
The demand of this love is that as much as God wants me to come to Him,
this yearning, urge, desire, wish, longing and passion, should also be present
in a decent, rational, and believing Muslim after believing in God.
And this word that appears at various places in the Holy Qur'an i.e. "Mutaqeen",
it never refers to those people who fall victim to some dread or fear.
Rather it refers to those who are aware of the limits (set by God).
And they fear the seriousness of those limits, that if they transgressed them,
then their relationship with God will be affected.
So "These God fearing people who believe without seeing", refers to
those who know that God has been so merciful to them and after that
has shown them the definite path (of guidance),
so therefore if they strayed from this path now,
then God will be displeased from them.
So this is the fear of His displeasure.
This is the dread of His displeasure because of which a believer
obeys His commandments.
"A guidance for these God fearing people, who believe without seeing & are watchful
of their prayers and spend in our way out of what we have bestowed upon them."
When you hand over the Holy Qur'an to people,
and when you invite them to read the word of God,
then as I pointed out certain things in the very beginning,
for example, the discourse seems strange if one is not aware of the theme of it,
the characters seem strange.
Similarly, the 'Alif-Laam-Meem',
whose meaning is known to God and not to us.
Likewise dread and fear, that gets attached to the concept of God.
The same case happens in the next sentence.
And all of this actually being the description of that covenant and
the adverse attributes of the Jews who were present before that.
It is being described that they (Jews) do not fear God.
For them, the concept of God has become a ritualistic concept.
They believe in God.
They are also attached to the traditions of God's Prophets.
But do they really believe in God?
Do they really fear God?
You will further read that if the sign of being oblivious of God's guidance arises
in nations, after they believe in God, then what are those attributes and traits
towards which the Holy Qur'an points to?
That will later come under discussion in detail.
So when it was said that, "A guidance for these God fearing people.",
it was actually said about that covenant of Jews
and the adverse attributes of the Jews who were present before that,
to the companions of the Prophet [PBUH], that they (Jews) are not God fearing.
But you have to be God fearing.
And then it is said, "Allazeena yuminuna bil ghayb."
Meaning those who believe without seeing (with their eyes).
So this is the verse that when Muslims usually read it,
a wrong orientation of the whole religion gets created.
And then it is being said that see Allah Almighty has said, "Yuminuna bil ghayb".
Referring to those who believe in the unseen (blindly).
The translation that we did here is that,
"A Guidance to these God fearing people who believe without seeing."
Who believe without witnessing with their eyes.
We didn't translate it as, "Those who believe in the unseen".
What is the reason for this?
The reason for this is that when you ponder over the words of the Holy Qur'an,
then it becomes clear, and when one reads the very same
topics of discussions of the Qur'an further in the Surah,
in the light of the attributes of that nation, then it becomes even clearer
that what exactly is being negated or denied?
As I said that by this verse, it is usually understood
that all the commandments of religion,
all the guidance and instructions of religion,
actually need to be believed blindly.
To believe in what is unseen!
To believe in things that you can't understand.
Things that you can't even question.
Hence, it has an effect, that is seen in our Muslim culture and society.
And that effect is that when you go to the Muslim scholars and ask them a question,
and that question can be of any type.
That can be about the whole concept of religion,
or that can be about the existence of God,
or that can be about God's qualities or about the characteristics of His being.
So, the matter that is often presented is the very same verse of the Holy Qur'an.
Saying that see this whole religion is all about believing blindly in the unseen.
That one doesn't need to question, rather one needs to blindly believe,
because we believe in things that we can't see.
This verse of the Holy Qur'an is never ever saying this thing.
Rather the exact opposite thing is being discussed here.
What is that thing that is being described here?
The thing that is being described is that Allah Almighty did not just give man a
mere material existence like other animals.
Rather, man has been bestowed with an intellectual and a spiritual personality.
Man deduces the unknown from the known.
He infers fire from seeing the smoke.
If he is driving a car and a ball comes in front of him, then his intellect asks
him to slow the car, as a child could also be running after the ball.
So even the animals believe after seeing.
A Buffalo believes, a sheep believes, a dog also believes after seeing.
The difference between humans and animals is this very thing that humans infer.
They assess things, they deduce the unknown from the known.
Therefore, if your demand is, "Anara llaha jahra.",
meaning we won't believe until we see Allah outright,
then this is the answer to that which is being asked,
that why do you need to see God?
Is it because that you will then come to believe that there is a God?
And is it because that you will then have a firm faith or confidence
about the existence of the Creator of the Universe?
If so, then the question is that this whole Universe,
this greenery, these flowing streams, this sound of the waterfall,
these mountains, these valleys, these oceans, these gardens,
these galaxies, this colorfulness of the world, its diversity,
its wonders and variegation,
so can you believe that all of this got created all by itself, without a Creator?
Can you accept that the affairs of this creation after creating it ...
I mean it wasn't the case that the Sun and the Moon were just created randomly,
rather they come out at specified time and from specified places.
Do you ever see that the sun rise from the east on one day
and then from the west on the next day?
Or that everything happens all by itself?
So if you are a rational being and you have a spiritual personality,
and you assess things and deduce what was unknown from the known facts,
then what kind of a question is it that
we won't believe until we see God by our very eyes.
So Allah Almighty said to the companions of the Messenger [PBUH]
that some people asked this question.
And later on, this too shall be clear
that the purpose of the question was not to believe.
If the purpose of the question would have been to believe,
then for believing, there are way more stronger, convincing and greater proofs
which have been put in this Universe.
They are both in the Universe and in the human soul and nature.
So God gave a rational and moral understanding to a man.
And He gave him the aesthetic sense and created these wonders in the Universe,
so after all this, who can even question on the existence of the Creator?
So here it was not said that, "Those who believe in the unseen",
which is how it is usually translated.
Rather it was said that, "Those who believe without seeing".
"Bil Ghaybi", while it is in the Ghaib.
I mean those who know the Arabic language know that this letter "baa",
is used to denote 'capacity'.
So it is being said that if for example something is hidden from my sight,
then my human existence believes or recognizes that
only seeing is not the means of acquiring knowledge.
In fact what's so special about seeing as a form of knowledge?
If seeing and lifting of curtains is indeed what one wants,
then where is the test?
Not seeing is actually that veil and curtain behind which you need to
use your intellect and knowledge.
It is the knowledge and intellect that makes a human being, a human being.
Man decides all matters of his life in the light of rationality.
The concept of good and evil has been inspired in this nature and personality
of a man, under the light of which he decides all matters of his life.
So the question arises that why isn't the same thing being done in case of God,
which is done in all the other matters of life?
So the point here is to tell that man is not merely a material being.
Rather he is a rational and spiritual being.
So it was said that, "A Guidance for these God fearing people,
who believe without seeing"
Without seeing!
If we ponder over it, then when someone asks us that since you believe in God,
so where is God?
We become worried. We become afraid.
And we usually say that such questions shouldn't be asked as it is a sin.
Well, you can never stop this world from questioning.
So what we should be doing is that we should have such a strong and firm
belief, faith and confidence in the Book of god,
that we should expect this Book to give answers to the questions
that come in our minds.
So why do we believe in God?
If someone asks us that why do you believe in God when you can't see him?
Then we will reply by saying that He is even seen by blind people.
That is so because even if a person looses his eyesight,
his rational existence still remains. He still learns a language.
He still recognizes relations.
He still creates the basis for different skills within himself.
So it is an animal who believes only after seeing.
It is an animal that is not rational and doesn't have the understanding.
The greatest honor and distinguished feature of a man is that he discovers
facts by assessing things, by means of rational inference, induction,
and by getting the results from the given information by inferring things and
by deducing the unknown from the known.
And man in every field of the world,
advances his knowledge on the very same principle.
So why do we believe in God?
We believe in Him without seeing Him because God has clearly proved
His existence in every single atom in this Universe, by proving that
the Universe is a creation and hence needs a Creator.
When we say that we are the creation, that everything is created,
then what question does the human intellect and his spiritual being asks?
It asks that if everything is created, then who has created it all?
If a table is put before me, then I know that this table has been made,
that it didn't make itself.
Hence, I just recognized the Creator.
So Allah Almighty said that, "A guidance for these people who believe in the unseen
and are watchful of their prayers.
And spend in our way out of whatever we provided them.
The thing that the teacher clarified about the prayer in the translation here
is that they are watchful of their prayers.
I mean he didn't merely say that they offer prayers,
or are offering prayers.
No! He said that they take care of their prayers.
What does that mean?
It means that prayer is such a sensitive topic in their life,
that they are committed to it.
That they with all their efforts, strife, endeavor and complete faith,
stand by it in a very disciplined manner.
This is what the Holy Qur'an has termed as "Iqaamat-e-salaat".
And it also got clarified from this that when the Messenger of Allah [PBUH]
is saying to his addressees that the earlier nations did not have this
sensitiveness in them to express their relationship with God,
or to worship Him, meaning to pray.
So the mention of the word 'Prayer' made it clear that the concept of prayer wasn't
alien to the people of the Arab or to the nation of the Prophet [PBUH].
They knew about it as prayers were always offered in the religion of the Prophets.
Though some shortcomings were made in them, which Prophet [PBUH] then
corrected and made some additions in it and then passed it on to the entire Ummah.
So here the thing that we read to determine the subject of the Qur'an,
should also be kept in view that the guidance of Allah which was present
among all the Prophets, began with Adam and that Prophet Muhammad [PBUH]
is the last Messenger of that tradition.
So this also makes it clear that when it was commanded to offer prayers,
then people were aware of the concept of the prayer.
This word (Prayer) or any other term cannot be used
until its addressees are not aware of its concept.
Otherwise, in the very beginning of the Qur'an, it would have been said
that people who perform such and such act and then
the details of the prayer would have come under discussion.
But such isn't the case in the Qur'an.
Usually, this question is also raised by people that why isn't there a mention
of the prayer in the Holy Qur'an?
That is, why isn't it explained how to perform prayers?
The reason for this is that people were already aware of the prayers.
People used to perform prayers.
Yes, there were some shortcomings which were made in them.
But the Prophet [PBUH] is the only source of the religion.
Just like he conveyed Qur'an to us, he also renewed, reformed and
modified those practical aspects of religion,
and after that passed them to the entire Ummah.
So this is one thing that was said.
The second thing that was said is that they spend in the way of God.
"And they are watchful of their prayers and spend in our way
out of whatever we provided them."
That is, believers offer prayers to express their relationship with God.
What does God get from one's prayers, from one's bowing down,
from one's prostration and standing?
By performing these acts of worship in the world,
what would God, the selfless being, the one who doesn't need anyone,
get from these acts?
So actually one offers prayer to express one's own relationship with God.
So the relationship with the Creator is expressed by offering prayers.
And the relationship with the creation is expressed by spending on them.
So the teacher described these two very detailed qualities.
and said that the believers in Allah are actually adorned by these two qualities.
The same thing was also described in the previous scriptures.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ [PBUH],
also described the same thing in a slightly different style.
In that, it is written that, "And among them,
a scholar of exegesis asked in order to test him that,
'O teacher, which is the greatest commandment in Torah?',
and he replied to him saying, 'Loving your Lord and God with
all your heart, soul and mind, is the greatest and the first commandment.
And second one like it is to love your neighbour as yourself.
The entire Torah and the scriptures of the Prophets
are based on these two commandments."
Hence, it is stated everywhere in the revealed traditions that
these two qualities, i.e. relationship with God and love for God's creatures,
should be present in those who believe in God.
This subject of the initial paragraph of Surah Al-Baqarah is continuing.
The time for our session ends here.
"Aqoolu qawli haaza wa astagfirullah li wa lakum walisairil muslimin."