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The first five verses of the second chapter (Sura Baqara) in the
qur'an read as follows:
"In the name of Allah, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful
1. Alif. Lam. Mim.
2. This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those
who fear Allah;
3. Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend
out of what We have provided for them;
4. And who believe in the Revelation sent to thee, and sent before thy
time, and (in their hearts) have the assurance of the
Hereafter.
5. They are on (true) guidance, from their Lord, and it is these who
will prosper."
The words "Bismillah alRahman alRahim" (In the name of Allah, the most
Compassionate, the most Merciful) are above every sura except the ninth
sura (sura 27 verse 30 has two Bismillahs as if in compensation) and
are a sign that God's mercy presides
over everything. His Lordship over all things is not due to domination
by violence or subjugation but to the two forms of compassion (Rahman
and Rahmin) which manifest, nurture, support, surround, and enter into
all
things.
Sura Fatiha (the first sura of the qur'an) uses Rahman and Rahim twice.
The first time it is linked with
God's essence through its occurence after the name "Allah" - the second
time it is linked with God's Lordship over all existence through its
occurrence after the word "Rabb".
So God, is merciful in His essence and in His interaction with the
universe (that is, in
His Lordship - Rabb denotes a very close relationship with the created
world of
existence. Rabb indicates both ownership and mastery as well as nurture
and support for something that is totally dependent. The ownership is
not like owning something independent of you but like ownership of
something that cannot even continue to exist without you. For example,
your hand is an integral part of you and is dependent on you, or an
image formed consciously in your mind is dependent on you for its
moment by moment existence - you are
its Rabb. Allah is Rabb in a similar sense - everything is poor
towards Him, dependent on Him, and He is the Rich, the Independent -
so both in His essence and in His Lordship Allah is Merciful.
It is important to keep this defining quality in mind (for He, Allah,
has placed it as a guard over the suras and as a precursor to them) -
it
is important to keep this
in mind as one reads through the verses of the Qur'an many of which
will
speak of punishment and wrath - yet we should never forget that mercy
stands over and precedent to the wrath - we should not lose or become
forgetful of this context as we read and reflect on the verses.
As Imam Zain-ul-Abideen (a.s.) has said "It is astonishing that anyone
perishes as he perishes given the scope and extent of God's mercy"
Now, let's take a brief look at the remaining verses remembering that
what is said here is simply a brief and cursory look at these ayats.
1. Alif-lam-meem
These are called the Huroof-e-Muqatta'at (letters of abbreviation).
These letters form part of the suras in which they occur, but
interpretation of them is left alone as any interpretation that is not
from the Prophet is strictly guesswork. There has been much
speculation about the possible meanings of these letters but for the
most part it is just that - speculation. Without a sound
foundation for interpretation, there is a great possibility of
mis-interpretation. Unless and until there is a firm context on which
to build an interpretation anything said is largely a wild guess.
2. Thalika alkitabu la rayba feehi
hudan lilmuttaqeena
"That is the book, in it is
guidance sure, without doubt, to those who are muttaqi (truly
conscious, pious)"
Literally "Thalika alkitabu" means "That is the book". Thalika is used
perhaps to
indicate reverence and respect for an object that is near physically
but elevated in status.
Here it is made clear in a single powerful statement, that this book
has no doubt in it. In one bold statement we are told how we should
approach and regard this revelation, this guidance which
has come down to us.
The concept of a book is one of the key concepts expounded in the
Qur'an and
hadith. In many places the qur'an speaks of a book or books. For
example, the
Jews and the Christians are "people of the book", the revelation sent
down
is called a clarifying book, then there is reference to the mother of
the book which is with God, the universe (and all existence) is
referred to as a book), and the human soul (nafs) is referred to as a
book.
So book has several connotations:
- revelation in general and the Qur'an in particular
- the book of the Universe or existence (Kitab al-tawkeeni)
- Mother of the book - which is in Allah's presence
- the book of our life - our actions - our substance - our true form
- what
we are, of our soul
Each of us is also busy writing the book of our lives and after we die
these books will be measured against the book of the Qur'an. And
depending on how closely (or not) the book of our life corresponds to
the book of Allah, we will receive our books (these are books
delivering judgement on the content of our souls) in our right hand (if
we were successful), our
left hand (if we were unsuccessful), or behind our backs.
From this verse onward, the remainder of the Qur'an is an elaboration
and
clarification of the guidance mentioned in this verse and a pointer to
what we ourselves must do in order
to benefit from this guidance, from this book in which there is only
certainty and no trace of doubt.
"...in it is guidance sure...."
There are two types of guidance - one is the innate nature, the innate
guidance with which every human is endowed, the innate abilities and
intelligence which can guide him through this world. But this guidance
is subject to distraction, deviation and error, it's subject to
passion, to ignorance, to corruption through desire or self-interest or
self-protection, it's subject to fatigue and error and to the
influences of the environment around it and the impulses within it. So
the guidance of religion is meant to "grant steadfastness to our innate
intelligence and abilities, to show the good and evil in
relationships, in every aspect of one's life and works. Because the
revelation has been brought down through the Prophet, it is not subject
to the wishes of the recipient as is our own innate intelligence. The
guidance of the revelation is to keep us from error, to bring our own
innate intelligence and abilities to perfection, to make it steadfast
and to make our weak and tentative understanding a full and
experiential understanding.
"...to those who are muttaqi (pious)"
According to Al-Mizan, piety, taqwa "is a comprehensive virtue that
runs through all the ranks of the true faith." It exists in some form
or the other, to some extent or the other in all believers although the
degree or rank or intensity of this piety, this taqwa varies according
to the sincerity, knowledge, and station of each believer.
Allah guides them to this taqwa, and once they have taqwa, then the
qur'an becomes a powerful guidance for them. "There are two guidances,
one before they became muttaqi, the other after it. The first guidance
made them muttaqi; and thereupon Allah raised their status by the
guidance of His Book."
The Arabic term mutaqqi refers to those who have the quality of taqwa.
Taqwa in turn indicates the act of shielding oneself, of being on
guard. As such it indicates a wakeful vigilance, a guarded
consciousness, an alertness, awareness, a careful state of observation
and readiness, a sensitivity. It is frequently translated as fear but
the stress is more on vigilance rather than fear (or perhaps on a
cautionary fear, a fear of letting down ones guard). So the sense is
more of a consciousness, a wakeful alertness towards God along with an
alertness to avoid that which would deaden this alertness. So egoism,
injustice, and the myriad passions which overtake us and make us
forgetful towards God must be guarded against.
The consciousness which the term taqwa encompasses is, in a way, like
the consciousness of a student towards an admired teacher, or your
consciousness towards a person whose word carries an extraordinary
weight and importance for you, or one's consciousness towards someone
with whom they are deeply in love. When you are in the presence of such
a person you are very conscious of every word you say, of every action
you take, of every aspect of your behaviour and conduct. If this person
even hints that they want you do something, you rush to do it, and you
strive to do it in the best, most complete, and most pleasing manner.
And you suppress those qualities, those tendencies and behaviours
within yourself that may be displeasing towards that person. Taqwa
implies a similar vigilance, awareness, and consciousness. But Allah is
not visible before us as a person would be. So a further level of
consciousness is necessary - we have to awaken an aspect within
ourselves which will result in consciousness of that which is
unseen.
As such taqwa is a loaded term and the person who has taqwa (who is
mutaqqi) must be striving to overcome many internal weaknesses as these
act as noise which distract from what is important and which cover over
or drown out our awareness and consciousness of God. It is said that
God manifests himself in the silences of the soul - so one who is
always distracted and busy with the internal noise of desires,
passions, distractions, egotism etc. will never be truly conscious of
God. In order to listen, in order to hear, one has to be silent. If a
person never stops talking, they will never be able to properly listen
to another - they will be distracted with their own outpourings, their
own opinions, their own ego. They will never reach a point of internal
quietude (of peace) and thus that which is subtle will never be
experienced. And the qur'an describes God as "The Subtle, the
Aware." One has to cease talking, and then cultivate an alert but
calm attentiveness in order to see deeper than the surface. Just as the
depths of a pond become invisible when the surface water is in constant
rough motion, our own depths become invisible when we are in constant
agitation.
Now the Qur'an tells us "He (Allah) is with you wherever you are."
(57:4) So He is not absent, He is not missing, rather our
consciousness, our awareness, our taqwa of Him is absent, missing. He
is with us but we are unconscious of this fact, of this incredible
mercy (of Him being with us) which is waiting for us to awaken to it
since we are told that He manifests His signs in the horizons and
within our own souls (41:53).
"Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them;"
Yu/minoona is derived from "al-Iman". "Al-iman (= faith, to
believe) is consolidation of belief in the heart. It is derived from
al-amn (= safety, to feel safe). The believer, by his belief and faith,
gains safety from doubts."
What is iman? Although translated as faith, iman is not faith in the
commonly held sense of the word. Rather it incorporates two different
aspects in its definition.
The Qur'an says:" Say not that You have iman, rather say that you are
Muslim, for iman has not yet entered your hearts."
Here it is defining being a Muslim and having iman as two separate but
overlapping circles. First there is the wide circle of being a Muslim,
and inside that circle is the circle of iman - a smaller less inclusive
circle. A circle within a circle - the relationship is like the heart
within the Body, the interior within the exterior. But at the same time
iman (an interior state of the heart and mind, has an external aspect.
The interior belief must manifest itself in certain external
behaviours. These behaviours have to do with a nobility of behaviour, a
quality of behaviour, and a depth of knowledge and understanding. Iman
lifts rituals and actions beyond simple external rites and obligations
into a force that has a profound spiritual effect on the individual and
the societal level.
Iman is not then an existentialist fact (since it had not yet entered
the hearts of most Muslims) but a potential waiting to unfold. What
does this mean? It means that it has no reality until it is brought
into being through a.combination of forces. One force is within the
human being - this is the process through which an individual shapes
his being. The other force is external to him - this is the Grace and
baraka of God and the guidance provided through His book. And the iman
must manifest in certain external ways since "those who believe" are
commanded to behave in a certain manner.
Faith has many grades and levels. Sometimes one is certain of the
object of faith - through knowledge, intellect - and this certainty has
its effects in action. The certainty can intensify till it enters the
"heart", the centre through which all the varied streams of
consciousness pass. It can intensify further till the "belief" arises
not out of a will or desire to believe but through experiencing a
Reality that makes it impossible not to believe. So belief and
believers are of various grades.
"Al-Ghayb" (= the unseen) is opposite of "the perceived. It is
used for Allah, and His great signs, including the revelation, which is
referred to in the clause, "And who believe in that which has been sent
down to thee and that which was sent down before thee". Also, it
includes the hereafter. But in these verses, the beliefs in the
revelation and in the hereafter have been separately mentioned.
Therefore, "the unseen" has likely been used for Allah only."
4. "and they are sure of the
hereafter"
Instead of only hoping for the hereafter, they are sure of it. There is
an indication here that one cannot be pious, cannot guard oneself
against evil, until he is certain of the hereafter - a certainty that
does not let him forget the reality of it even for a short time. This
necessitates a connectedness, an awareness and consciousness that one's
own reality has an integral link with a higher, more intense level of
reality and that what one does here ripples and reverbrates there. If a
person experiences their own self, their own being, as conjoined with
realities more vivid and essentially real than those of this world of
matter, then their actions in this ephemeral world will be done with a
view to the impact and effects on this deeper self. The character,
traits, and actions of the person will reflect this depth and
discernment.
5. "These are on guidance from their
Lord and these it is that shall be the successful ones"
Such people have connected themselves in an essential and real way (not
simply through emotion and vain hope) to deeper levels of existence.
Guidance flows to them in the manner that signals flow to one's hand -
it moves and does what you wish without your conscious command.
Guidance comes to them in the manner that images and thoughts flow from
one's mind. These people take their direction, their orientation, their
course, their "color" from their Rabb - beneficial guidance flows from
Him to them. They realize the insubstantiality and poverty of those who
deem themselves independent and who think, speak, and act in this world
on the basis of this imagined independence. They connect themselves
with a Reality that is greater and more comprehensive than physical
reality and thus receive a flowing and effulgent "guidance from their
Rabb."
- Irshaad Hussain
Imam Jaffar Sadiq (a.s.) teaches that the human form is the Book which God has written with His hand.
"The human form is the supreme evidence by means of which God testifies to His creation. It is the Book He has written with His hand. It is the temple He has built with His wisdom. It is the coming together of the Forms of all the universes. It is the compendium of the disclosed knowledge of the Lawh mafuz (the guarded tablets). It is the visible witness, answering for all that is invisible. It is the guarantee, the proof opposed to all who deny. It is the straight way between paradise and hell."
This is a reference to the perfect humans, exemplified by the Prophet and the Imams and to their true form which is the form of their souls and spirit, of their essential selves, not the changing form of the material body.
The book of the qur'an is a perfect and
protected book of guidance
- and the Prophet and the Imam's are like the qur'an in human form, a
clarifying book of
guidance demonstrating through action what the qur'an conveys through
words and letters. After the Prophet brings the book, the Imams become
keepers of the book, technicians
of the Qur'an, a living parallel to the book and demonstrators of its
power and its effectiveness.
Each of us is also busy writing the book
of our lives and after we die, our books, the essential content of our
"selves", will be measured against the book of the Qur'an.
Anyone who reads the Qur'an is likely to be struck by the unique
nature of its construction, its unusual and constantly shifting rhythms
and the sudden transmutations and displacements in its subject matter.
At first this ever changing literary terrain seems an obstacle to
understanding, but the more time one spends with this book, the more
organic, the more natural the flow of its words feel. It is almost
like flying over an ever-changing landscape - rolling valleys
punctuated by jagged rocks, forests and plains giving way to upthrust
mountains, high plateaus broken by deep lakes, deserts sprinkled
with oasis' and cleft by canyons. Despite the variety of the forms,
despite the startling contrast of adjacent features, a complex organic
beauty underlies and unites all the various elements. These "tafsirs"
emerged from numerous brief scattered notes made while reading the
qur'an (along with numerous commentaries and the works of various
scholars) and reflecting on its content. As well, for a number of years
I have participated in a hallakha, a qur'anic study circle, and the
tafsirs presented here were originally researched for presentation at
that forum.