In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful
Extract from Chapter 2 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:
164. Inna fee khalqi alssamawati waal-ardi
waikhtilafi allayli waalnnahari waalfulki
allatee tajree fee albahri bima yanfaAAu alnnasa
wama anzala Allahu mina alssama-i min ma-in
faahya bihi al-arda baAAda mawtiha wabaththa feeha
min kulli dabbatin watasreefi alrriyahi waalssahabi
almusakhkhari bayna alssama-i waal-ardi laayatin
liqawmin yaAAqiloona
164. Indeed, in
the creation of the heavens and the earth, in the contrast between the day and
the night, in the ship that sails on the sea with things beneficial to mankind,
in what Allah sends down of water from the sky bringing the earth back to life
after it was dead, in every kind of animals dispersed therein, in the winds
changing their directions, and in the clouds under divine control between the
sky and the earth, are compelling signs for people who make use of their
intelligence.264 to 268
264. A study of the Qur'aan reveals that the
Messengers, who came before Muhammad (peace be upon him and upon them all),
were given some extraordinary signs to convince people of the existence of an
absolute solitary Power controlling the entire Universe and also to convince
them of the Messengers being the really authorised ones from that Power. The
earlier Messengers came when the level of general knowledge among the people
was low. Their (people's) knowledge therefore needed to be supplemented by
divinely given 'miracles'. But the last Messenger, Muhammad, came at the
threshold of an era in which human knowledge would proliferate. The
proliferation of human knowledge, combined with the divinely endowed human
intelligence, became sufficient for people to recognise the Absolute Solitary
Power. The supplement of 'miracles' was no more needed. The people are now in a
position to recognize the Power from the signs that abound in Nature.
265. This divine exhortation made in this
Verse for study of Natural phenomena, moreover, imbibed the scientific spirit,
of reason and research, in the minds of the believers. Consequently, a number
of thinkers in various fields like medicine, mathematics, physics, astronomy,
literature etc. arose in the Muslim world, who were instrumental in laying the
foundation of the scientific renaissance that the world is witnessing today. It
was from the works of those great Muslim scientists and thinkers of the middle
Ages that the Western world got the basics to develop from. And it makes one
sad to think that while the Westerners built the scientific edifice of the
modern world on the foundation laid by the Muslims, the Muslim world itself
lost the scientific spirit with the weakening of their Faith in the Qur'aan!
266. 'The creation of the heavens and the
earth' is the first Aayat (Sign) referred to in this divine Verse. And
we have already seen in Chapter
Notes 20 and 21 how
the seven layers of the earth's atmosphere have been meticulously and correctly
designed to act as a protective shield and a provider of sustenance for all
living creatures on the earth. Only an unreasonable fool would dismiss this
wonderfully exquisite arrangement as a mere accident of nature. And then we
have this mind-boggling spectacle of innumerable heavenly bodies floating in
their respective orbits with such mathematical precision that they never bump
into one another accidentally. We cannot but marvel at the Power Who no doubt
made all this possible – consciously and purposefully. It would be irrational
and unscientific for anyone to think of it as a mere accident in nature.
267. As regards the other Signs mentioned
in the Verse, the night, following the day in every 24-hour cycle in time, is
an obvious provision made for rest, without which human life is impossible to
be sustained. Further, had it not been for the facility of navigation by sea,
transport of tonnes and tonnes of merchandise from one part of the world to
another wouldn't have been easy. Had it not been for the periodic rains, there
wouldn't be the recurring stock of vegetable products necessary for sustenance
of any kind of life on earth. One who ponders deeply can easily detect that
some Extraordinarily Intelligent Power is guiding the directions of the
cloud-bearing winds to bring rains to regions, as desired by that Unseen Power.
The sprouting of vegetation on dry earth after a rainfall, moreover, provides
an indication that human life could likewise be resurrected even after death.
268. With my limited knowledge, I have
barely touched on the immense significance of the Signs mentioned in this
Verse. Persons with adequate knowledge and resources could write volumes and
volumes on the significance – and on the sciences – of these Signs. All these
Signs, however, unmistakably point to the Hidden Hand of the Supremely Super
Power.
Friday, the 27th
of April 2018.
