Welcome Friends: Ahlan wa sahlan!
How are you doing with your Readings? Isn’t it wonderful to be together on this journey, attempting to fulfil God’s command ‘Iqra’ together?
Some Readers already sense great positivity in themselves, while others have yet to make a Priority of their daily Qur’anic reading with the rest of us. All it takes is time set aside for this -even if only 15 minutes or so every day.
Time is an integral component of this IQRA! project, our daily gains measured in imperceptible increments. When well-used, Time is a Friend rather than an Opponent.
COMMENTS:
1. Our Reading today begins with the verse we referred to when the topic of intoxicants first came up in our Reading of HQ2:219. Readers will note that this, below, is my explanation/translation of meanings:
“O you who have attained Faith! Indeed the intoxicants, and easy-gains, and icons/idols, and divination-tools, are but sullied Turmoil of the work of the Deviant/Sheytaan, therefore steer clear of it, so that you might succeed (90)
It is but the the Deviant/ Sheytaan’s objective to position/place hostility and hatred between you through the intoxicants and easy-gains, and to prevent you from the remembrance of God and from the Communion. So, will you then not abstain/desist?’ (91)
Some aspects of this translation might be new, such as the word ‘sullied Turmoil’ for (Rijs- رجس). ‘Rijs,’ as described in the Lexicon, [1] is a kind of confusion (physical and mental) which is also expressed by the sound of thunder, and is also about something that is sullied.
We already discussed intoxicants in Blog Post Day 17 and Blog Post Day 18.
Verse 91 continues to address Those Who Attained Faith telling them/us to put an end to (abstain/desist from ينتهوا) both their pastimes of gambling and taking intoxicants –and history tells us that they did –pouring out all such beverages onto their streets saying, ‘We’ve abstained, our Lord! We’ve abstained!- انتهينا! انتهينا يا ربّنا)
This call for abstention is not theirs alone; it is a Timeless call, to be best received by a listener who has faith in God and His message, with the response, “I ABSTAIN.”
Note that whenever God asks a question in the Qur’an He gets an immediate RESPONSE which is: …………………………..! That’s because whatever we do, we would in fact, be responding, with silence being quite an eloquent response.
Then we read the next verse (92). Coming immediately after the question, it underlines the fact that whoever does NOT abstain has in fact turned away from obedience to God and to His Messenger:
Furthermore, obey God, and obey the Messenger, and beware. But if you were to turn away, then you must know that upon our Messenger is only (the obligation of) an explicit delivery.” (92)
(For persons believing wholeheartedly in God, but STILL unconvinced of the seriousness of His verses regarding abstention from intoxicants, please consider the similarity of this call (verses 90-92), to Blog Post Day 60, the word ‘desist’ –‘yantahu’ ينتهوا)) in verse 73:
“Indeed, they have denied, those who said that God is the third of a Trinity, while there is no God except One God, and if they do not desist…”
and the interrogation at the end of verse 74:
“Will they not turn to God in repentance and ask his forgiveness…?”
Please note the similarity in both commands, the same word was used and the same INTERACTIVE sentence form, a question after which persons (who ‘placed’ God in a Trinity) will respond, either by silence, or by saying: “You Are One, Unlike any other: I turn to You O God, in repentance, and seek Your Forgiveness!”)
2. Verse 93 mentions three times the need for Those Who Attained Faith to maintain Awareness in what they are eating and drinking (literally ‘in what they are savoring;’ طعموا).
Knowing now of the harm hidden in foodstuffs, we realize how amazing it is that these verses were revealed more than 1,400 years ago.
Traditionally, this verse is thought to relate to those who died before the verses( on the prohibition of certain meats and the abstention from intoxicants) were revealed, but there are commentators who say that it is for all time (Yusuf Ali is of the first opinion while Muhammad Asad is of the second).
Those Who Attained Faith should enjoy of what God has put at their disposal (except the unwholesome substances mentioned in HQ5:3; HQ6:145), as long as they are AWARE THREEFOLD and doers of good deeds.
Researching Readers will notice that HQ6:145 describes the forbidden Meats as ‘Rijs’ (sullied turmoil) just like today’s description of gambling and intoxicants, but perhaps with meat the emphasis would be on it being ‘sullied,’ impure.
3. Verses 94-95 discuss the ban on hunting for whenever Those Who Attained Faith happen to be ‘Hurum.’ ‘Hurum’ means being in a state of ‘IHraam,’ a sacred, inviolable state of reverence in which many common acts of daily life are not to be indulged in.
We have a good example of IHraam in the 5 daily prayers: IHraam starts with ‘Allaahu Akbar’ and ends with ‘salaam,’ with a certain set of actions in between; every state of IHraam has its rules.
This verse however is about the IHraam for pilgrimage, when hunting is prohibited. This is related to what Yusuf Ali considers being ‘in the Sacred Precincts or in pilgrim garb,’ and Muhammad Asad considers the ‘state of Pilgrimage (see Blog Post Day 53).
Verse 95 offers a means for atonement, although ‘severe suffering’ awaits transgressors who hunt during those times or in that place. Those Who Attained Faith cannot hunt anywhere while in Pilgrims’ garb, and hunting is always prohibited in the ‘Haram/ حَرَم; the Sacred Precinct of Mecca.
Verse 96 allows the hunting of water-game.
On a different note: To get an idea of how modern usage of Arabic terms has evolved -deviated actually- from the original, look at the word ‘sayyaara/’سيّارة meaning ‘travelers,’ from the root-verb ‘saara’سار – ‘walk,’ to go. Today ‘sayyaara’ is neither about travelers nor about their caravan, but rather, it refers to an automobile.’
4. Verse 97 mentions the status of the Sacred House, the Ka’ba or Cube, described by Yusuf Ali as ‘an asylum of security,’ and by Muhammad Asad as the ‘Inviolable Temple, a symbol for Mankind.’ Read Asad’s note 117 in which he speaks of its simple form.
Verse 98 is a statement describing God Who is severe in meting out consequence, and is Oft-Forgiving, Unceasingly Merciful; this description stirs our hearts and then stills it.
5. Verse 99 is related to verse 92 in its description of the Messenger’s sole obligation, telling us here that, despite the Messenger’s limitations, GOD KNOWS WHAT WE REVEAL AND WHAT WE HIDE.
6. Verse 100 is related to perception; when we see something widespread, or see it often, we get conditioned to its acceptance, even if it is bad. ‘Ulul albaab’ (أولوا الأباب), or the ‘Insightful and Dedicated’ should be aware of that, and will reject such harmful matters as they continue on their path to success (see definition of Ulul-albaab Blog Post Day 38).
7. Verses 101-102 call the Those Who Attained Faith, telling them NOT to rush (to God’s Messenger) with questions, but rather, to wait for the Qur’an to be revealed and the answers to gradually appear. Yusuf Ali, in his note on Verse 101 speaks of ‘secrets wisely hidden from us,’ while Muhammad Asad in his note connects it directly to verse 99 and says that we should not ‘deduce additional laws from the injunctions’ revealed, adding burdens to ourselves as earlier peoples had done: “ie, by leaving certain matters unspoken, God has left them to man’s discretion, thus enabling him to act in accordance with his conscience and the best interests of the community.”
It is interesting to note that the call, ‘O you who have attained Faith!’ is one we heard 4 times today, appearing 16 times in this Chapter/Sura alone!
Enough said!
Our next Reading is from HQ5: 103-112
Peace unto all!
[1] رجس: أصلٌ يدلُّ على اختلاطٍ. يقال هُمْ في مَرْجُوسَةٍ مِن أمرِهم، أي اختِلاط. والرَّجْس: صوت الرَّعد، وذلك أنه يتردَّد. وكذلك هَدِيرُ البعيرِ رَجْسٌ. وسَحابٌ رَجّاسٌ، وبعيرٌ رَجّاس. وحكى ابنُ الأعرابيِّ: هذا رَاجِسٌ حَسَنٌ، أي راعِدٌ حَسن. ومن الباب الرِّجْس: القَذَر؛ لأنّه لَطْخٌ وخَلْط.