Surat Al-Baqara {Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindleth fire, and when it sheddeth its light around him Allah taketh away their light and leaveth them in darkness, where they cannot see, (17)} 28 Allah the Almighty wants to bring closer the characters of being torn inside the hypocrites to our understanding and that is why He gives us proverb in the plural sense is something similar to the actual situation and or matter and gives us wisdom and proverbs are one of the main doors of Arabic Classical language. A proverb is when you bring something that had taken place and it was described in a short yet effective and expressive saying and people took it and used it for every similar situation. And we may give an example on that, a king wanted to get engaged to an Arab woman so he sent a lady to carryout the engagement and her name was Isam and to see the prospective bride and ask about her then to inform him. So when she returned he asked what is up with you Isam (i.e what news have you brought Isam)? This question was then used by anyone who wants to find out news even of the person being asked is not called Isam and is not a woman! Such proverbs are used to make understanding actual situations that we are unable sometimes to see with our won eyes closer to reality bringing the meaning closer because you are making it similar to a tangible matter that you are able to understand and see. Allah the Almighty used proverbs in the Holy Qur’an in more than one place to bring closer to our understanding unseen and hidden matters that we do not know anything about nor are we able to see. That why he gave us proverbs on the pinnacle of faith and the ones of Allah the Almighty and gave us a proverb on His light the Almighty that we are unable to see because it is hidden from us. He also gave us proverbs about the disbelievers 29 and the hypocrites so that we may know their corrupt belief and how to be alerted to it and gave us proverbs in what disbelief can do when one does not appreciate the various blessings and tyranny in what is just and other proverbs and examples. Allah the Almighty said: {And verily We have displayed for mankind in this Quran all kinds of similitudes, but most of mankind refuse aught save disbelief. (89)} Surat Al-Israa (17) Allah the Almighty gave us various proverbs in the lifetime and in the hereafter, in the accuracy of the creation and the pinnacle of faith and in spite of that people do not pay attention to the wisdom behind such proverbs, disbelieving in them even when the Almighty gave them to us so to bring the meaning closer and picturing them in material matter that we can see in our day to day life. It ought to have been the case that such proverbs would have increased faith in people because it brings closer to them meanings that are hidden from them, instead they increased in disbelief!! And before we deal with this Verse (Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindleth fire, and when it sheddeth its light around him Allah taketh away their light and leaveth them in darkness, where they cannot see) we talk about some of the proverbs mentioned in the Holy Qur’an so to witness how Allah the Almighty talked to us about hidden unseen matters using worldly matter: 30 Allah gave us a proverb on the pinnacle of faith and that is That There Is No Deity But Allah and how this was a mercy from Him the Almighty on which He is to be thanked because there is in it protection to us from hardship and in spite of that Allah the Almighty wants mercy upon His creation but some people want to suffer hardship so they associate partners with Allah the Almighty and instead of taking the easy path of belief, he takes the path of disbelief and association of partners with Allah who owns everything in the lifetime and in the hereafter. Allah the Almighty says: {Allah coineth a similitude: A man in relation to whom are several part- owners, quarrelling, and a man belonging wholly to one man. Are the two equal in similitude? Praise be to Allah! But most of them know not. (29)} Surat Al-Zumr (39) With this tangible picture that we can see, with which no two can disagree, Allah the Almighty wants to bring to our minds the picture of a person who is a worshipper of Allah alone. And the picture of someone who associates partners with Allah and gives us an example of a slave who is owned by a number of partners, ten partners for example, and those ten partners are not in agreement but they are in disagreement and troublesome and another man who is owned by one single person which one of them lives in comfort and in mercy? Well of course the salve who is owned by one master is living in comfort and mercy because he follows one advice and one order and one prohibition and submits to one God and asks for the satisfaction of one master. As to the person who is owned by partners even if they were in agreement there will be for each of them an order and a prohibition and for 31 each one of them a request so how is it if they were in disagreement? One of the partners would order him to come to him and the other says do not. One of the partners would order him to do something and the other would give him an order that contradicts the other, therefore he wonders which one to make happy and which one to anger? And that is how his life becomes a discomfort and full of contradictions. Allah the Almighty wants to bring the picture closer to us in a matter that is the pinnacle of certainty and that is the belief in the oneness of the one, He wants us to experience this picture in an example that we see and we witness so that we may see the wealth of mercy of Allah upon His creation. Allah the Almighty continues to draw our attention co to contemplate a little in an example that the Holy Qur’an provides us with: {And Allah coineth a similitude: Two men, one of them dumb, having control of nothing, and he is a burden on his owner; whithersoever he directeth him to go, he bringeth no good. Is he equal with one who enjoineth justice and followeth a straight path (of conduct)? (76)} Surat Al-Nahl (16) Allah the Almighty in the above Verse asks us to contemplate a material and tangible example, asking who is better? The statutes that the disbelievers worship that can bring no good or harm at all because he cannot bring good to himself so how is he able to bring good to others rather he is a burden on all those who take him as a deity as they must carry him from one place to the other if they wanted to change their place of worship or wanted to travel 32 and if he falls and is shattered to pieces then they must bring those pieces back together. So despite the fact that he brings them no good he is in fact a burden on them and brings them hardship and requires attention and care. So is the worship of such statute is good? Or is it that the worship of Allah the Almighty who has all the blessings and all good and the One who orders justice to be performed and does not favour one of His creation on the other and gives His creation the straight path that has no bends and one that ends with paradise in the hereafter. Allah the Almighty in this example explains the stupidity of the disbeliever’s thinking those who worship statutes and leave the worship of Allah the Almighty. And that is how these two examples give us a clarification on the issues of oneness and deity, then Allah comes with another example gives us an example this time on His own light that light of a Deity which illuminates this life and the hereafter, so it illuminates the hearts of the believers He wants to give us an example of this light from something material and tangible so He says the Almighty: {Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The similitude of His light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is as it were a shining star. (This lamp is) kindled from a blessed tree, an olive neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself) though no fire touched it. Light upon light. Allah guideth unto His light whom He will. And Allah setteth forth for mankind similitudes, for Allah is Knower of all things. (35)} 33 Surat Al-Noor (24) It is just like Allah the Almighty wanting us to come to know an unseen matter in making similarities with a tangible one, that Allah’s light is like a (Mishkah) and a Mishkah is the hole found in a villager’s house and we place a lamp in that hole therefore the lamp in not all over the whole of the room rather its light is concentrated in that hole so it becomes very strong in that narrow space however, the lamp is in a glass container so it protects it from the air coming to it from all sides so the light becomes stronger clear without any smoke. Also the glass reflects some of the light so it increases its concentration and that glass is not ordinary but is emanates light itself as if it is a shining star its fuel is a blessed tree filled with light neither western nor eastern in that it is filled with light from the centre and it comes out pure and its oil is lit itself without touching any fire so it is light upon light so would any part if that narrow hole have any darkness? Or would it be filled all over with that powerful light? And that is not the light of Allah the Almighty but it is merely an example to closer to our minds the reality it is like Allah’s light illuminates every corner and every place and does not leave any dark patches so it is light upon light. It was very usual in old times that poets would praise a leader by likening him to a famous excellent person of good character. The courage of Amro in the generosity of Hatem In the patients of Ahnaf and the intelligence of Iass 34 (Poetry) And all those that the poet used to give and example were famous for their noble characters as Amro was famous for being courageous and brave, and Hatem was famous for his generosity, and Ahnaf was infamous for patients and Iass was a beacon of intelligence. It was only then that another of those present who heard the poet recite his poetry and recited an even better piece of poetry so the leader was impressed and gave him double his due reward. And Allah the Almighty gives us an example of what the believers will see in paradise and the Almighty says: {A similitude of the Garden which those who keep their duty (to Allah) are promised: Therein are rivers of water unpolluted, and rivers of milk whereof the flavour changeth not, and rivers of wine delicious to the drinkers, and rivers of clear-run honey} Surat Mohammed (47) That is not paradise, however this is a mere example that Allah the Almighty brings the picture closer to us by using things that can be found in our lives. That is because the brain of a human cannot comprehend more than this and in paradise there are things that were never seen or heard of before or even thought of by any human being, therefore there are no names to express what can be found in paradise, read Allah the Almighty’s words: {No soul knoweth what is kept hid for them of joy, as a reward for what they used to do. (17)} 35 Surat Fussilat (41) So if the soul does not know then there are no words to express what can be found in paradise and when a proverb is commonly used by people it is made an example. Therefore if you found someone who was proud of his strength and you wanted to make him know that you are stronger than him then you would say “if you are wind then I have encountered a hurricane” no wide or hurricane took place between the two of you rather this was only said to bring forward the wanted meaning without being restricted the words. Allah the Almighty wants to give us a picture of what is inside the hearts of the hypocrites from disturbance and hesitation in receiving the curriculum of Allah and at the same time what happens inside the hearts cannot be seen by us and Allah wanted to bring closer the meaning of this by saying: (their example is the same example of that who lit a fire) in that he tried to lit a fire and anyone who tries to light a fire he must have an objective that objective may be to keep warm or to cook or for lighting or other reasons the important thing is that there is an aim behind lighting the fire. And when Allah the Almighty says: (and when it sheddeth its light around him Allah taketh away their light and leaveth them in darkness, where they cannot see) that because they are in the state of wondering that has filled their hearts they had heard from the Jews that the time of the new Prophet ahs come so they decided to believe in him, however, their belief was not based on a desire to believe but it was their attempt to gain a worldly belief. 36 That is because the Jews were warning them by saying that the time for a new Prophet has come in whom we will believe and we will fight you in the same manner as Ad and Aram, so the hypocrites wanted to avoid this fight that the Jews were promising them so they though that if they declare, hypocritically, that they believed in that Prophet they would achieve security. Allah the Almighty gives us this picture, that they have it a fire so that it may give them light in order to be able to see the path of faith and when that light arrived instead of taking this light they turned away from it and when that happened Allah the Almighty took away their own light so nothing was left in their hearts from the light of faith. It was they who asked for the light of faith to start with and when Allah answered their call they turned away from as if corruption is within them and it is as if they who started with corruption and once they did that Allah took away the light of faith and belief away from their hearts. Here we can observe that accuracy of the Qur’anic expression in Allah the Almighty’s saying: (took away their light) and did not say took away their bright despite the fact that they had lit the fire so that they may achieve brightness so what is the difference between light and bright? If we read Allah the Almighty’s saying: {He it is Who appointed the sun a splendour and the moon a light, (5)} Surat Younis (10) 37 We find that splendour is stronger than light, splendour comes from a self illuminating subject and the sun is self illuminating however, the moon receives illuminate and reflects light and before the sun rises you do find that the universe is illuminate however light comes after the sun rises and had the Almighty said He took away their light it would have meant that Allah took away whatever light is reflected but he left for them light. However, Allah’s saying: (Allah took away their illuminate) means that He left them with nothing no light no illuminate, it is as if their hearts are full of darkness and that is why the Almighty said after that: (left them in darknesses they do not see) so that we may know that there is no illuminate or light of faith in their hearts. All this happened because of their injustice and their turning away from the illuminate of Allah. We note that the Almighty sis not say that he left them in darkness but said: (in darknesses) i.e lots of darkness combined darkness that they cannot escape away from it, so where did these darknesses come from? It came from wanting this life and not the hereafter and when the light of faith came to them they turned away from it so Allah turned away their hearts. For example if we consider the story of the leader of the hypocrites Abdulllah Bin Ubai, we find that the Prophet [PBUH] entered Madina and their people were ready to Crown Abdullah Bin Ubai as its King and when the Prophet [PBUH] arrived the people turned away from Abdullah Bin Ubai to greet the Prophet [PBUH] so the Prophet’s [PBUH] arrival made Abdullah lose the opportunity. He could have believed and take from the light of the Prophet [PBUH] and had he believed he would have gained an eternal Kingdom in the hereafter that by far exceeds what he would have 38 gained in this life, but because in his heart there is this life and not the faith and because he wanted the highness of this life and does not want paradise of the hereafter vindictiveness has filled his heart so it became like darkness, envies filled his heart so it became like darkness, regret filled his heart to it became a darkness, hatred and loathness filled his heart so it became darkness. Therefore it is a number of darknesses. And that is how in the heart of the hypocrite there are a number of darknesses. The darkness of vindictiveness against the believers and the darkness of hatred towards them, a darkness that wishes for faith to be defeated, a darkness that wishes for harm and evil to come to them and the darkness and being torn and in pain and the effort that he exerts in pretending to be a believer whilst in his heart there is nothing but disbelief all these darknesses so do not try to use ordinary human comprehension in understanding it that is because the example given is one that is bring the meaning closer, and that is if you read Allah’s the Almighty’s words: {And when thou recitest the Quran we place between thee and those who believe not in the Hereafter a hidden barrier; (45)} Surat Al-Israa (17) How could a barrier be hidden? As we know a barrier is what bars or hides something from another, however Allah the Almighty wants us to understand that despite the fact that a barrier bars or hides something from another that the barrier itself is hidden and cannot be seen and some of the scholars have said that the word “Mastoor” (i.e hidden in Arabic) is used as 39 a noun that is in the receiving end of the act itself and it is a verb coming from “Hides” we say no and you may read Allah the Almighty’s words {Gardens of Eden, which the Beneficent hath promised to His slaves in the unseen. Lo! His promise is ever sure of fulfilment - (61)} Surat Maryam (19) The word “fulfilment” comes as a as a receiver of the act and as a verb of “fulfil” and some people say that the receiver of the act was placed instead of the verb itself and we say such people did not understand. Is it that Allah is insistent on calling the salve or is that the slave is insistent by way of his own actions as if he is going towards Him, the person who is in receipt of the promise is the benefactor not the promise itself. Therefore it is the accuracy of the Holy Qur’an that wants to alert us to the fact that the receiver of the promise is the one who is striving to meet the giver of the promise. And it is not the case that the giver of the promise is the one who wants to meet the benefactor of the promise so that the noun verb is used. So when Allah the Almighty says (left them in darknesses that they cannot see) He denied them the light and light has no connection with hearing, smelling nor touching but is subject to the laws of sight. Observe the accuracy of the Qur’anic expression that if light is denied then sight is also denied, in that the eye does not see by itself but it only sees by the reflection of light onto subjects and its direction towards the eye. 40 You may also read Allah’s saying: {And We appoint the night and the day two portents. Then We effact the portent of the night, and We make the portent of the day sight-giving (12)} Surat Al-Israa (17) It is just like, the Qur’an expressing, that what makes the eyes see is light or brightness and is the light is lost then sight is also lost and that is why you are unable to see in the dark and that is one of the miracles of the Qur’an which as discovered well after its revelation. ___________________
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 06:11:02 +0000
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