| Surah Aal Imran, 190-194
"Surely, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are signs for the people of wisdom, [190] who remember Allah standing and sitting, and (lying) on their sides, and ponder on the creation of the heavens and the earth (saying:) "Our Lord, You have not created all this in vain. We proclaim Your purity. So, save us from the punishment of Fire. [191] Our Lord, whomsoever You admit into the Fire, You have disgraced him indeed. And for the unjust there are no supporters. Our Lord, We heard a herald calling towards Faith: 'Believe in your Lord.' And We believed. [192] Our Lord, forgive us, then, our sins, and write off our evil deeds, and take us unto You with the righteous. [193] And our Lord, give us what You have promised us through Your messengers, and do not put us to disgrace on the Day of Doom. Surely you do not got back an Your promise."[194] (3:190-194)
Verse 189 appearing immediately earlier particularly and strongly stressed upon Tauhid, the Oneness of Allah. So, the verse (190) which follows here, presents the proof of Tauhid and, along with it, mentions the merit of those who act strictly in accordance with the dictates of Tauhid and, by implication, it also motivates others to do the same.
In addition, the earlier mention of pain caused by the disbelievers bears congruity to the verses appearing presently. This can be understood in the background in which the disbelievers, out of hostility, requested the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him that he should turn Mount Safa into solid gold. Thereupon, this verse was revealed indicating that there were so many proofs confirming the Truth all around them - why would they not deliberate in them?
As for the reality of their request to the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, it was not motivated to find out the Truth. Instead, it was out of hostility - so, they would have still not believed, even if their request was granted.
Commentary
The Background Of Revelation
Commenting on the background of revelation concerning these verses, Ibn Hibban in his Sahih and Ibn 'Asakir in his History have reported that the Companion 'Ata ibn Abi Rabah Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him went to Sayyidah 'A'ishah Radhi-Allahu Anha: Allah be pleased with her and said to her: 'Of the things about the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, tell me what you saw as most unique out of the many states of his life.' Thereupon, Sayyidah 'A'ishah said: 'Which state are you talking about? In reality, everything about him was unique. Yet, I would tell you about one very unique event. It so happened that the noble Prophet, may Allah bless and protect him, came to me one night and entered into the comforter with me. Then, he said: 'Allow me to worship my Lord.' He rose from the bed, made Wudu and stood up for Salah. And in this standing position of Qiyam, he wept, so much so that his tears trickled down his blessed chest. Then, he bent down for Ruku' and there too he wept. Then he did his Sajdah and kept weeping in the Sajdah very much like before. Then, he raised his head and continued weeping until came the morning. Sayyidna Bilal radiallaahu anh came in and informed him about the time of the Fajr Salah.
Sayyidna Bilal radiallaahu anh says: I submitted: 'my master, why do you weep like that? Isn't it that Allah Almighty has forgiven you all your past and future sins?' He said: So then, should I not continue to be a grateful servant of Allah? And in offering this gratitude of mine, why should I not shed tears, specially tonight when Allah Almighty has revealed this blessed verse to me:
'Surely, in the creation of the heavens and the earth...' (190)
After that, he said: "Ruined is the person who recited these verses but failed to deliberate therein."
So, in order to deliberate into this verse, let us begin by answering some questions first.
What does 'the creation of the heavens and the earth' mean?
Since Khalq is a verbal noun which signifies creation or origination, it means that there are, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, great signs of Allah Almighty. Therefore, all those Divinely created beings and things in the heavens and the earth also get to be included therein. Then, among these created beings there are kingdoms after kingdoms - each having different types and states - yet each and every such created being is comprehensively pointing out to its Creator. Then, going a little deeper, one would discover that 'the heavens' is inclusive of all heights and 'the earth' covers all lows. Thus, high or low, all dimensions owe their existence to Allah Almighty.
The different forms of 'the alternation of the night and day'
Let us now determine the meaning of 'the alternation of the night and day'. The word 'Ikhtilaf translated here as 'alternation' is derived from the Arabic usage: (Such and such person arrived after such and such person). So, the Arabic expression translated as the alternation of the night and day' means that the night goes and the day comes and when the day goes, night comes.
The word Ikhtilaf translated here as 'alternation' could also be taken to mean increase or decrease. For example, during winter, the night is long and the day is short; while during the summer, the order is reversed. Similarly, the difference between the night and day is also caused by the difference in the geographical location of countries. For example, countries closer to the North Pole have longer days as compared to areas farther away from it. So, it should not be difficult to infer from each such phenomena the essential proof of the most perfect power of Allah Almighty.
What is the meaning of the word, Ayaat?
Ayaat is the plural of Ayah and is used to express more than one single meaning. Miracles are known as Ayat. It is also applied to the verses of the Holy Qur'an. It is also used in a third sense, that of proof and sign. Here, in the present context, this very third sense is what is intended - meaning that, in these manifestations, there are great signs of Allah, and the proofs of His power.[/color]
Wise are those who believe in Allah and always remember Him
To determine the meaning of the expression 'ulul albab , we look into the word 'albab' which is the plural of lubb. Lexically, it means the essence. Since the essence of everything is its sum-total and the key to its nature and uses, therefore, human wisdom has been called lubb, for wisdom is the essence of human nature. Thus, 'albab' means 'the people of wisdom'.
Now the problem before us is how to identify the people of wisdom because the whole world claims to be wise. Not even a moron would be ready to admit being devoid of wisdom, reason or sense. Therefore, the Holy Qur'an has told us about some signs which are, in fact, the most sound criterion of wisdom. The first such sign is Faith in Allah. Think of the knowledge which comes from the senses such as hearing, seeing, smelling and tasting and communication, something also found in non-rational animals. Now, it is the job of wisdom or reason, to arrive, through signs, circumstantial evidence and proofs, at a particular conclusion which is beyond sense-perception and through which it may become possible to grasp the final link of the chain of causes.
Keeping this rule in view, just think about this universe around us. It should not be too difficult to realize that this wonderfully organised system - comprising the heavens and the earth and containing the whole of creation in between them which is further streamlined by the most deft management of everything, big or small, existing therein - certainly points out to a special Being that has to be the highest and the foremost in terms of Knowledge, Wisdom, Power and Authority. A Being who originated and fashioned all these components with the wisest of consideration and under Whose intention and will this whole system keeps operating. That Being, as obvious, can only be that of the most-exalted Allah. How well some spiritual master has put it in a few words:
Every blade of grass sprouting from the earth
Says: He is One; there are no partners in Him.
That human intentions and plans keep failing everywhere all the time is a matter of common experience. These cannot be called the prime movers and operators of this universal system. Therefore, the outcome of the deliberation into the creation of the heavens and the earth and into what has been created in them is, as wisdom dictates, living to know, obey and remember Allah. Anyone unmindful of it does not deserve to be classed as wise. Therefore, the Holy Qur'an has given the following sign of the wise:
That is, the wise are those who remember Allah - standing and sitting and (lying) on their sides (191).
In other words it means that they are engaged in the remembrance of Allah under all conditions and at all times.
From here we find out that the thing which our modern world takes as the criterion of reason and good sense is simply a deception. Catering to greed, some people take accumulation of money as their ideal of intelligence. There are others who love to equate human intelligence with scientific inventions and electronic applications and for them, these are the power. But, real good sense lies in the message brought by the prophets and Messengers of Allah Almighty, for they, proceeding through knowledge and wisdom and advancing from the low to the high in the chain of causation, skipped the intermediary stages. Granted that human beings moved from raw materials to machines and science gave them access to power through utilization of energy generated in many ways. But, higher intelligence demands that human beings take that real giant step farther ahead so that they can discover that the main agent of human accomplishment is certainly not the water or clay or iron or copper or some other material, not even the machines that generate power. This function was accomplished by none else but the One who created the fire, the water and the air through which human beings were enabled to control technology and energy:
Spreading the scent of musk is the function of Your tresses
But, those who love You have, out of expediency, ascribed the credit to the Chinese deer!
Let us understand this through the commonplace example of an ignorant dweller of some distant jungle who reaches a railway station and notices that such a huge railway train stops at the flash of a red flag while it starts moving at the flutter of a green one. Then, should he say that these red and green flags must have super power as they can stop and move such a powerful engine of the big train. Obviously, all sensible people would dismiss the ignoramus telling him that no power is vested in these flags. Instead, power rests with the person who is sitting in the engine room and stops or moves the train by watching these signals. But, someone smarter might reject the assumption that the engine driver had any instrinsic power to move or stop the train. His strength had nothing to do with it. He will go a step farther and attribute this power to the mechanical parts of the engine. But, a scientist would bypass cold mechanics of the engine and ascribe the real power to the steam which has been generated in the engine through heat and water. But, that is as far as the so-called scientific thinking goes.
At this point, comes the thinking of the prophets, may peace be upon them, who would be telling these tyrants of their intellect: If the ignoramus who took the flags or the driver or the engine parts as the respository of power was in error, so are those who take sources of energy powerful by themselves - intellectually, they too are in error! The prophets would ask them to take yet another step forward so that they could lay their hands on the lost end of this tangled ball of string. May be, by doing so, they could have access to the final link of the great chain of caused things and there they could find the answer that the ultimate master of all power is none else but the One who created all forces which were harnessed to achieve human models of power.
It is not difficult to deduce from what has been said here that those who get to know Allah and remember Him at all times and under all conditions are the only people who deserve to be called 'the wise'. It is for this reason that the Holy Qur'an has defined the 'People of Wisdom' : "... those who remember Allah standing and sitting, and (lying) on their sides.'
It is on this basis that Muslim jurists have answered the case of a deceased person who, before his death, made a will that his property be given to the wise. As to who will be given this property, they have ruled that those who will deserve this are abstaining scholars who do not seek unnecessary material resources and are averse to the blind pursuit of the worldly, for they are the wise ones in the real sense, (al-Durr al-Mukhtar, Kitabul-Wasiyyah)
Also worth attention at this point is the fact that the Shari'ah of Islam has not enjoined abundance in any other mode of worship except Dhikr. But, about Dhikr, the command is: (Remember Allah remembering abundantly). The reason is that all modes of worship, other than Dhikr, have some conditions and rules without observing which those acts of worship are not considered to have been duly performed. This is contrary to Dhikr which can be performed at all times and under all conditions whether standing, sitting, lying, with or without wudu. Perhaps, this verse is indicative of this element of wisdom.
The second sign of the people of wisdom given in this verse is that they deliberate in the creation of the heavens and the earth:
And ponder on the creation of the heavens and the earth - 191.
Here we need to determine the meaning of this act of 'pondering' and the level at which it operates.
The Arabic words, Fikr and Tafakkur, literally mean to ponder, to deliberate and think about something which is an effort to arrive at its reality. From this verse we find out that this act of pondering is also an act of worship and very much like the Dhikr (Remembrance) of Allah. The difference is that the objective of Dhikr is the remembrance of the Being and Attributes of Almighty Allah while the objective of Fikr and Tafakkur or thinking and deliberation relates to His creations. This is because the perception of the reality of the Divine Being and the Attributes is beyond human reason. Deliberation of this aspect results in nothing but wonder. The great poet, Rumi said:
Expert watchers of the Court of the Being of the Covenant Found out nothing but that He is.
In fact, this is an area of inquiry where excessive deliberation in the Being and Attributes of Almighty Allah could, at times, cause one's imperfect reason to stray into error. Therefore, the greatest among spiritual masters have emphatically advised:
Deliberate in the signs of Allah, but do not deliberate in Allah.
It means that there are signs in what Allah has created. One should think about these signs. But, one should not deliberate into the very Being and Attributes of Almighty Allah for that is beyond one's reach. One can see everything in the light of the sun. But, should one wish to see the sun itself, his eyes would get dazzled. Who is Allah? What is He like? These are questions all wise thinkers and spiritual masters have answered by suggesting:
You do not have to mount an assault on every field of inquiry
For, there are places where you should simply surrender.
However, thinking about creation inevitably leads one to realize the presence of its Creator. Look at the enormous expanse of the sky above us with the sun, the moon and the many planets and stars bound with the solar and lunar system under firm and pre-determined laws working so well for thousands of years without being serviced or refurbished in some workshop. Then, there is this earth of ours, its rivers and mountains holding many marvels of creation, the trees, animals and hidden minerals, and the air that circulates in between the heavens and the earth and the rains that come and the electricity generated therein. This whole system so elaborately set up leads every sane person who is willing to think and understand that there is some special Being which is far ahead of everyone in power and control. This is what Ma'rifat is, the stage of knowing, realizing. So, this kind of deliberation which leads to the discovery of the Divine is an act of worship, a great one indeed. For this reason, Hadrat Hasan Basri rahimahullah said: (Ibn Kathir) which means: An hour spent in thinking about the signs of Allah is better and far more useful than a whole night standing in worship.
Hadrat 'Umar ibn 'Abdul-'Aziz has characterized this deliberation as a superior act of worship (Ibn Kathir).
Sayyidna Hasan ibn 'Amir Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him said that he had heard from many noble Companions that deliberation is the light of faith.
Hadrat Abu Sulayman al-Darani said: When I go out from my house, everything I cast my glance on makes me realize that it contains one or the other blessing of Allah for me and that in its presence I have a good source of learning my lesson (Ibn Kathir). So, the knowers of the secrets of the self have always maintained:
Every blade of grass sprouting from the earth
Says: He is One and in Him there is no partner.
Hadrat Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah has said: Reflection is a beam of light entering your heart.
Hadrat Wahb ibn Munabbih said: One who thinks a lot will understand reality, and who understands will arrive at sound knowledge, and who has sound knowledge is bound to act accordingly (Ibn Kathir).
Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him said: A pious man saw an ascetic sitting at a spot with a graveyard on one of his sides and a garbage dump on the other. The passing pious man remarked - You have two treasure troves before you, one of them is the human treasure known as graveyard and the other is the treasure of wealth and property turned into refuse and filth. These two treasures are enough to learn your lesson. (Ibn Kathir.)
Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him used to go out of the city into some wilderness with the express purpose of training and teaching his heart. When he reached there, he would ask the spot of land: Where are those who lived here? . After that, he would answer his own question by saying: Everything must perish save the presence of His being . (Ibn Kathir). This was how he summoned and preserved the remembrance of Afterlife in his heart.
Haclrat Bishr al-Hafi said: If people pondered over the greatness of Almighty Allah, it would have become impossible for them to remain sinful and disobedient.
Sayyidna Isa (A.S) said: O you who were created weak, fear God wherever you are. Live in the world like a guest. Make prayer places your home. Let your eyes weep fearing God. let your body remain patient and let your heart keep reflecting. Used to this, worry not about tomorrow's bread.
It is this kind of thoughtfulness and concern that these verses identify as the superior quality of wise people. Pondering over the creation of Almighty Allah, such people get to know their Creator and are personally convinced of the temporality of the physical world. This is a superb act of worship resplendent with the light of faith. Similarly, those who'see and experience the signs of Almighty Allah yet get entangled with the superficial glamour of what has been created - as a result of which they fail to know their real master - is rank heedlessness and very much juvenile. Sages have warned that whoever fails to learn a lesson from the universe before his eyes will find that the ability of his heart to realize the truth has corroded in proportion to his heedlessness. The eager protagonists of scientific progress all too engrossed in their breakthroughs fail to pay heed to their own ultimate fate. Consequently, the speed with which developments in scientific inquiry unfold the secrets of Allah's creation is also the speed at which they are receding farther away from reality and God. Commenting on the post-industrial revolution thinking, Akbar of Allahabad, poet, humourist, said:
Europe has forgotten the Father in the Heaven
For them, electricity and steam are as good as God.
It is about such visionless people with the dead weight of education and culture on their backs, the Holy Qur'an says:
And there are so many signs in the heavens and the earth which these people pass by with faces turned askance paying no heed to them - 12:109.
Now, as we move to the last part of this verse (191), (Our Lord, You have not created all this in vain), we can clearly see that this is the outcome of pondering over the signs of Allah's power. It means that there is nothing purposeless in Allah's creation. On the contrary, there are thousands of wise considerations behind it. Things have been harnessed to serve human beings with man being the user of resources in the whole universe. This should make human beings see that the universe has been created for their benefit and in their interest. Likewise, every human being has been created to obey and worship Allah. This is his or her purpose of life.
Further on, from verses 192 to 194, there appears a set of pleas and prayers from such people, people who realized that this universe is no exercise in futility and that is is brimming with open proofs of the great power and wisdom of its Creator. So, once they knew their Creator and Sustainer, they submitted before Him.
1. The first request they make is: : Save us from the Fire.
2. The second request is: Save us from the disgrace of the Hereafter for whoever is condemned to the Fire stands humiliated before the whole world. Some scholars have said that humiliation on the plains of Ressurection will be so disgraceful a punishment that one
would wish to be cast into the (fire of) Hell but that the multitudes present on that fateful day do not get to hear about his or her misdeeds.
3. The third request is: 'We have heard the message given by the herald sent by You, that is, the message of the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, and we believed in him. So, forgive our major sins and expiate our shortcomings and misdeeds and give us death in the company of the righteous, that is, make us a part of their group.'
These three requests were aimed at safety against punishment and pain and loss. The fourth request is about promised blessings, the blessings of Paradise promised through the noble prophets. This prayer for blessings is being made with the added request that there be no disgrace on the Day of Judgment. In other words, the request is to be excused from the torturous procedure of accounting (for all of one's deeds), disgrace (as a result of misdeeds) and then forgiveness (on account of Allah's mercy). The prayer is for outright forgiveness for Allah does not go back on His word. What is the purpose of this submission and re-submission? The purpose is to say: O Allah, enable us to become deserving, and a beneficiary of this promise (made by You), and enable us to remain steadfast so that we breath our last in this world with faith in our heart (Iman) and busy doing what is good in Your sight. [Ma'ariful Qur'an]
See also:
Excellence Of The Remembrance Of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى - http://www.muftisays.com/forums/du-aas-supplications/5126/the-excellence-of-the-remembrance-of-allah.html
Du'a (Supplication) - http://www.muftisays.com/forums/virtues/5129/du-a-%28supplication%29.html?p=24346
» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 30th January 2012
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