Welcome Friends: Ahlan wa sahlan!
If you have just joined our Blog readings, you will understand today’s Post better by going back a few Readings to get the correct terminology. A good strategy would be to put the search-word you need in ‘SEARCH’ (bottom left). Another is to copy the material into a word-document where you can easily search, but please do not circulate as this is copyrighted material.
Yesterday’s Reading ended with a QUESTION:
“أَفَغَيْرَ دِينِ اللَّهِ يَبْغُونَ وَلَهُ أَسْلَمَ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا وَإِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُونَ” (83)
“Do they then seek a Standard of Accountability other than God’s, even as all who are in heaven and on earth do surrender in pure deference to Him – (whether) in willingness or reluctance- and unto Him shall they be returned? (83)[1]
Today’s Reading continues along the same subject, addressing People of the (previous) Compilation.
COMMENTS:
1. The Messenger, peace upon him, is commanded here to state unequivocally the beliefs he and his followers hold, namely Faith and trust in what is being revealed to them, as well as what was revealed previously (to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac and Jacob) and what was delivered to Moses and Jesus and Prophets from their Lord, making no distinction between any of them. The verse ends with, ‘and unto Him are we pure in our reverence’ (ونحن له مسلمون).
The next verse states:
وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ ﴿٨٥}
“For whoever seeks a Standard of Accountability other than Pure Reverence, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be among the Losers.”
- Verses 86-89 ask important questions about what one has literally WITNESSED AS TRUE AND JUST (Haqq), and provide incentives to self-assessment and a return (to God). ‘Tawba’ literally means ‘to return,’[2] but it is well-translated as ‘repent’ because when we repent, we regret something, turn away from it, and make amends.
It is interesting to note that wrongdoing deniers who have witnessed the truth at one point and even tasted the sweetness of faith before rejecting it, will be banished from God’s Mercy, having earned not just His banishment/“la’nah/لعنة” but also that of the Custodian-Angels, and indeed, all Cognizant Humans!
3. In Verse 90 we note WHO the ones are who truly lost their way and misguided themselves الضالون – the ones we mention in our Opener/ Faatiha when we say ‘wala alDhaalleen.’ Verse 91 is self-explanatory, where we note that if Those Who Deny were to die as Deniers (having earned the title) no amount of wealth will do them any good on Judgment Day!
4. Verse 92 is a directive to listeners on how they should spend if they wish to attain the degree of ‘Birr,’ or Sincerity. ‘Birr’ from the root-verb ‘barra’ means being genuine, forthcoming, true to oneself and others (see Blog Post Day 14). If we wish to attain that degree, we have to give others what we actually cherish for ourselves! (Y. Ali, note 419, calls it the ‘test of charity’.)
5. Verses 93-95 continue discussing People of (earlier) Compilation, specifically the Children of Israel (Israel=Jacob), regarding the foods Jacob had made unlawful unto himself (M. Asad’s note 73-74), and encourage them to follow Abraham’s creed, peace upon him.
6. Verse 96 begins by saying: “Indeed, the first House placed (positioned) for Mankind is that which is in Becca …
· Most commentators say it refers to Mecca (pronounced and written ‘Becca’ here), and that Becca is another name for Mecca. Yusuf Ali and Muhammad Asad agree, Asad explains in note 75-76 that the sounds B &M are phonetically close and have sometimes interchanged as they evolved from older to more recent languages.
Some Muslims have wondered whether there might be a connection between this and the ‘Baca’ of the Bible, Psalms of David, 84:5-6, but this has been refuted by Christians, who see the word relating back to the Hebrew word for ‘weeping’ (which they forget is very similar to the Arabic بكى- يبكي- بكاء … a person who often weeps is even called بكَّاء…… ) [3]
· Others (such as historian Dr. Ahmad Daoud ) explain that this is related to the First House of Worship which was ‘positioned, or placed’ ( وُضِع means placed from above NOT ‘raised from below’) upon a very important site. This location or site was where God first united the Spirit and the Human Self, bringing into existence the Cognizant Human who thus united for earthly existence, worshipped The Creator. He tells us this interpretation goes back to the ancient language from which Arabic evolved, where ‘Ba’ means ‘Spirit,’ and ‘Ka’ means ‘Self.’[4]
· Others say that each sound in the Qur’an is there for a purpose, and that its purpose is to fulfill its role in the general DIVINELY inspired DESIGN that is the Qur’an. This Revelation, being the final one, is preserved by its Divine Design, which is a Unit of Precision. People have approached this Message and studied its numeric design, its scientifically-sound descriptions, its linguistic and phonetic distinction, and have always been awed by its precision. Where ‘sounds/letters’ are concerned, numerically or phonetically, ‘M’ is not equivalent to ‘B.’ The exchange (Mecca appearing here as Becca) has to do both with preserving Qur’anic precision of Design (as to the exact number of times each appears in it), as well as phonetic distinction. In this computer age there are many important findings related to this, and we’ll get to them in time.
Numeric and phonetic design is also considered one reason why, for example, we see the Arabic word ‘siraat’ (سراط)pronounced (and indeed written in the Qur’an) with the letter ‘sad’(ص=صراط) instead of the letter ‘seen .(س) We will be discussing phonetics/sounds, as this subject is VERY interesting and helps us understand why self-clarifying ‘Arabi’ is the Qur’an’s ‘tongue’ (lissaan Arabi Mubeen HQ26:195).[5]
Indeed, God’s word is Truth- May He guide us to its correct understanding.
7. Verse 97 is eye-opening in that God asks Humanity to be united in worshipping Him Alone, and He states that ALL Cognizant Humans owe themselves and owe God Pilgrimage to The House.
M. Asad: “…..Hence, pilgrimage unto the Temple is a duty owed to God by all people who are able to undertake it….”[6]
Y. Ali: “….Pilgrimage thereto is a duty men owe to God,- those who can afford the journey…”
In Verses 98-99 the Messenger ﷺ is told to ask the People of Previous Compilation “WHY ARE YOU DENYING GOD”S SIGNS..?” and “WHY ARE YOU BARRING OTHERS FROM GOD’S PATH…?” … questions which expose the grievous wrongs which some of them are committing even as they are witnesses that he is God’s Messenger! (See M. Asad’s note.)
Verse 100 closes that section and opens another, as Those Who Attained Faith are addressed and told NOT to obey a group from the People of Previous Compilation as that would cause them to return to Denial/Disbelief!
Congratulations are in order dear Readers!
What you have gained out of this experience parallels the effort you have been putting into it, God bless you all. Your efforts are paying off beautifully: We have just covered three ajzaa’, meaning 1/10th of the Qur’an today!
Make use of this once in a lifetime chance we are experiencing together.
Enough said!
Tomorrow’s reading is from HQ 3:101-115.
Peace unto all!
[1] This translation is tweaked slightly from yesterday’s; a more accurate rendering.
(يُرْجَعُونَ) is in a grammatical form called ‘mabni lil Majhool,’ where diacritical marks indicate a verb’s subject. In this case, the subject is ‘unknown’ (majhool) so they are NOT returning themselves, but indeed shall be ‘returned!’
[2] توب: كلمةٌ تدلُّ على الرُّجوع. يقال تابَ مِنْ ذنبه، أي رَجَعَ عنه يتوب إلى الله تَوبةً ومَتَاباً، فهو تائب. والتَّوْبُ التَّوبة. قال الله تعالى: (وَقَابِلِ التَّوْبِ( [غافر 3].
[3] Abu Bakr, one of the Prophet’s closest companions was known to be ‘bakkaa’ when he prayed and recited Qur’an, which irritated Qureish because people’s hearts were softening to Islam, so they asked their representative to tell Abu Bakr to worship his Lord inside his own home where no one can hear or see him!
“كان أبو بكر رجلًا بكاءً لا يملك عينيه إذا قرأ القرآن، ولقد أفزع ذلك أشراف قريش من المشركين، فأرسلوا إلى ابن الدغنة فقدم عليهم، فقالوا: إنا كنا أجرنا أبا بكر بجوارك على أن يعبد ربه في داره، فقد جاوز ذلك، فابتنى مسجدًا في فناء داره، فأعلن بالصلاة والقراءة فيه، وإنا قد خشينا أن يفتن نساءنا وأبناءنا فانهه.”
[4] “Although orientalists would sometimes call this language ‘Akkadian,’ ‘Babylonian,’ ‘Assyrian,’ or ‘Chaldean,’ it is proven to be one language, Old Arabic, in an Eastern Syriac dialect.” (Dr. Ahmad Daoud, ‘The Ancient History of Syria,’ Arabic, read or download PDF)
[5]وَإِنَّهُ لَتَنزِيلُ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿١٩٢﴾ نَزَلَ بِهِ الرُّوحُ الْأَمِينُ ﴿١٩٣﴾ عَلَىٰ قَلْبِكَ لِتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُنذِرِينَ ﴿١٩٤﴾ لِسَانٍ عَرَبِيٍّ مُّبِينٍ ﴿الشعراء: ١٩٥﴾
[6] Asad’s notes:
“v.97 : Lit., “in it [are] clear messages” – such as the messages relating to God’s oneness and uniqueness (symbolized by the Ka‘bah), to the continuity of mankind’s religious experience (“the first Temple set up for mankind”) and, finally, to the brotherhood of all believers (who, wherever they may be, turn their faces in prayer towards this one focal point).”