In the Name of Allah, the
Gracious, the Merciful
Extract from Chapter 24 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:
35. Allahu nooru alssamawati
waal-ardi mathalu noorihi kamishkatin feeha
misbahun almisbahu fee zujajatin alzzujajatu
kaannaha kawkabun durriyyun yooqadu min shajaratin mubarakatin
zaytoonatin la sharqiyyatin wala gharbiyyatin yakadu
zaytuha yudee-o walaw lam tamsas-hu narun noorun
AAala noorin yahdee Allahu linoorihi man yashao wayadribu
Allahu al-amthala lilnnasi waAllahu
bikulli shay-in AAaleemun
35. Allah is Light of the heavens and the earth. His Light is as if there were
a niche, inside the niche, a lamp and the lamp, inside a glass. The glass, as
it were, a bright star, fuelled by a blessed tree of olive, neither of east nor
of west, oil of which would glow forth even when no fire touched it! Light over
light! Allah guides to His Light whom He wills. And Allah makes use of
similitudes for mankind. And Allah is aware of everything! 9 to 13
9. "And
there is none comparable unto Him." [Verse 112:4] So Allah makes use of
similitudes or parables to convey to mankind some ideas about His unique Being.
Similitudes, in terms of things mankind knows of. At the time the verse was
revealed, over 1400 years ago, people had niches in the walls of their houses.
They placed lamps there. The white-washed wall in the background acted as
reflector to give comparatively better light to a room on a dark night. They
used olive oil as a fuel for the lamp.
10. But no lamp
then could be kindled without an external source of fire. And there was no
source of energy, available to mankind then, that could be made to glow forth on
its own. Allah therefore said that the source of His Light was unlike anything
known to human beings then ("neither of east nor of west"). But in
similitudes, references are made to things that are known to people. Why then
did Allah make references to things unknown, in the similitude He gave?
11. The
All-knowing Allah fashioned His last Book of Guidance in such a way that it
would be valid for all future generations till the Last Day. HE knew beforehand
then, of the generations that would be given the knowledge of a source of
energy - a fuel - that would glow by itself, 'even when no fire touched it'! No
marks for guessing that electricity is such a source of energy.
12. It is the
electric current that makes the electric bulb glow, without fire (as people, at
the time the Qur'aan was revealed, knew of it) 'touching' it. The reflector has
replaced the old-time niche for the modern-day 'focus' light. And the
fluorescent material of the glass cover, for the electric lamp, glows in addition,
producing the effect so aptly described as noorun alaa noor (light over
light) in the divinely given similitude.
13. It is thus
abundantly apparent that the similitude given in verse 24:35 was meant for
people raised on this earth after the discovery of electricity, rather than for
people living at the time of revelation of the Qur'aan. By giving the similitude
much before its time, the Almighty and All-knowing Allah has foretold the use
of electricity, by future generations, for generation of brighter light.
Friday, the 23rd
February 2018.
