Introduction

NOTES ON THE QURAN

Volume III

(Ayat in The Quran)

Z F Khan

Dedicated to all those seekers of truth who are neither heedless, nor unjust, nor arrogant and whose ears hear, eyes see and hearts understand…

INTRODUCTION

Ayat is the plural of Ayah which means a 'sign' or 'token' that directs one to something important. In the Quran this word is used in four different senses. Sometimes it denotes a sign or indication – of the past, present or future. Signs for the present are held to refer to religious obligations as well as the moral guiding principles. In certain other places the phenomena of the universe, including human beings, are called the Ayat (signs) of Allah, for the reality to which the phenomena point is hidden behind the veil of appearances. At times the miracles performed by the Prophets are also termed Ayat since they show that the Prophets were envoys of the Sovereign of the universe. Lastly, individual units of the Book of Allah (the verses) are also called Ayat because they point to the ultimate reality, and because the substantive contents of the Book of Allah, its phraseology, its style, its inimitable literary excellence are clear tokens of the attributes of the Author of the Book. The sense in which the word Ayah has been used in a particular verse becomes evident from the context of its occurrence.

The Quran declares that the means to arrive at the truth about human creation & existence as well as belief & conduct is through following the revelations of Allah – given throughout human history to generations of mankind (and ultimately culminating and completing through Prophet Muhammad, pbuh). Allah says in the Quran in Surah 2 Al-Baqarah Verse 213:

كَانَ ٱلنَّاسُ أُمَّةٗ وَٰحِدَةٗ فَبَعَثَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّبِيِّ‍ۧنَ مُبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنذِرِينَ وَأَنزَلَ مَعَهُمُ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ بِٱلۡحَقِّ لِيَحۡكُمَ بَيۡنَ ٱلنَّاسِ فِيمَا ٱخۡتَلَفُواْ فِيهِۚ وَمَا ٱخۡتَلَفَ فِيهِ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوهُ مِنۢ بَعۡدِ مَا جَآءَتۡهُمُ ٱلۡبَيِّنَٰتُ بَغۡيَۢا بَيۡنَهُمۡۖ فَهَدَى ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لِمَا ٱخۡتَلَفُواْ فِيهِ مِنَ ٱلۡحَقِّ بِإِذۡنِهِۦۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَهۡدِي مَن يَشَآءُ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطٖ مُّسۡتَقِيمٍ [البقرة:213-213]

Mankind was one community and Allah sent Prophets with glad tidings and warnings, and with them He sent down the Scripture in truth to judge between people in matters wherein they differed…

And again, in Surah 5 Al-Maidah Verse 48:

وَأَنزَلۡنَآ إِلَيۡكَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ بِٱلۡحَقِّ مُصَدِّقٗا لِّمَا بَيۡنَ يَدَيۡهِ مِنَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ وَمُهَيۡمِنًا عَلَيۡهِۖ فَٱحۡكُم بَيۡنَهُم بِمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُۖ وَلَا تَتَّبِعۡ أَهۡوَآءَهُمۡ عَمَّا جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلۡحَقِّۚ لِكُلّٖ جَعَلۡنَا مِنكُمۡ شِرۡعَةٗ وَمِنۡهَاجٗاۚ وَلَوۡ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَجَعَلَكُمۡ أُمَّةٗ وَٰحِدَةٗ وَلَٰكِن لِّيَبۡلُوَكُمۡ فِي مَآ ءَاتَىٰكُمۡۖ فَٱسۡتَبِقُواْ ٱلۡخَيۡرَٰتِۚ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ مَرۡجِعُكُمۡ جَمِيعٗا فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمۡ فِيهِ تَخۡتَلِفُونَ [ المائدة:48-48]

And We have sent down to you (O Muhammad, pbuh) the Book (this Quran) in truth, confirming the Scripture (Books) that came before it and Muhaiminan (trustworthy in highness and a witness). So, judge among them by what Allah has revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging away from the truth that has come to you. To each among you, We have prescribed a law and a clear way…

Reaching the truth about the above clear way, however, requires that one should give up our preconceived prejudices and listen to the Message of those Messengers who claim that their information about the reality is based on knowledge and not on meditations, contemplations and abstract deductions. Then consider deeply the signs in the universe to which the Quran invites your attention. If these also point to the reality they claim to reveal, then there is no reason why one should deny the truth taught by those Messengers (finally completed through the Quran). This is the basis of the philosophy of Islam. And the Quran says in Surah 41 Fussilat Verse 53:

سَنُرِيهِمۡ ءَايَٰتِنَا فِي ٱلۡأٓفَاقِ وَفِيٓ أَنفُسِهِمۡ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمۡ أَنَّهُ ٱلۡحَقُّۗ أَوَ لَمۡ يَكۡفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُۥ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيۡءٖ شَهِيدٌ أَلَآ ٥٣ [فصّلت:53-53]

We will show them Our Ayat in the Universe, and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to them that this (the Quran) is the truth. Is it not sufficient in regard to your Lord that He is a Witness over all things?

The relationship between belief in Ayat and the truth has been recognized so much in the Quran that disbelief in the Ayat have been stated to be akin to denying the truth, as the Quran says in Surah 16 An-Nahl Verse 105:

إِنَّمَا يَفۡتَرِي ٱلۡكَذِبَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِ‍َٔايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِۖ وَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلۡكَٰذِبُونَ [النحل:105-105]

It is only those who believe not in the Ayat of Allah, who fabricate falsehood, and it is they who are liars.

It is these Ayat in the Quran which this book attempts to explore and elucidate; and through them put forward the reality of the message brought forth by Prophet Muhammad, pbuh. Taken together, these Signs consistently and emphatically impress upon man that he is neither without any God nor is he the servant of a multiplicity of gods. Rather, the only right course for him is to serve and worship the One True Allah. The Ayat also indicate that man has not been sent to this world as one who is absolutely free and unaccountable, as one endowed with the right to act as one pleases. On the contrary, after man completes the term of his worldly life, he will return to his Lord with the record of his deeds to face God’s reckoning. He shall, thereafter, be rewarded or punished in the light of his performance. An important postulate of the Quran is that belief is not completely blind. Reason and proof exist about majority of the belief systems held in the Quran. Actions, then, are outcome of the understanding of such proofs.

And the Quran says in Surah 40 Ghafir Verse 66:

۞قُلۡ إِنِّي نُهِيتُ أَنۡ أَعۡبُدَ ٱلَّذِينَ تَدۡعُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ لَمَّا جَآءَنِيَ ٱلۡبَيِّنَٰتُ مِن رَّبِّي وَأُمِرۡتُ أَنۡ أُسۡلِمَ لِرَبِّ ٱلۡعَٰلَمِينَ ٦٦ [غافر:66-66]

Say (O Muhammad, pbuh): ‘I have been forbidden to worship those whom you worship besides Allah, since there have come to me evidences (Bayyinaat) from my Lord; and I am commanded to submit (in Islam) to the Lord of the Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists)’.

The Ayat of Allah are quite pervasive and cover a pretty wide range. If one bears in mind the Quranic descriptions of these Signs (Ayat), one will find they fall under the following six categories:

1. The Signs found in the wide expanse of the heavens and the earth and in the overall system underlying the working of the Universe;
2. The Signs that manifest in man’s procreation, his structure, and his existence as a whole;
3. The Signs found in man’s intuition, in his unconscious and subconscious, and in his moral conceptions;
4. The Signs in the human experience of history;
5. The Signs manifest in the earthly and heavenly calamities that befall man, and
6. Finally, the Signs that Allah have sent down through the agency of His Messengers in order to apprise man, in a reasonable and persuasive manner, of the truths that are corroborated by these Signs.

The present book is an attempt to gather under one roof these stated categories of Ayat. The book has been divided into seven Parts – Part II to VII being the various aforementioned categories of Ayat in the Quran and Part I titled ‘Warnings/Significance of the Ayat’. The Quran throughout its discourse continuously speaks about the importance of the Ayat and also the warnings as well as punishments for disbelieving in them. All such verses are collected in Part I of this book so as to lead the reader to the importance of denying the Ayat, once they have been proven convincingly to them.

Part II of the book contains Ayat spread out in the functioning of the universe. These Ayat range from observational, rational arguments to concrete scientific discourses mentioned in the Quran. The Quran speaks substantially about the origin of life and the universe; however, most of the Ayat about the origin of Universe have not been included in this book (keeping only a few established ones) for the simple reason that the science of the origin of the universe is still nascent and the theories are continuously evolving. Some Verses of the Quran even add and elucidate on the presently accepted theories in this field. ‘Exploring the Scientific Miracle of the Holy Qur’an’ by Dr Mohammad N. Wagdi, Ph.D. is an interesting read for people who desire to know about the Quranic concept of evolution of universe and it’s functioning.

Part III of the book contains Ayat in the continuous experience of human history. History in this context has been held to mean the history since the beginning of human life with Adam and Eve, and therefore, this part contains verses detailing nations of previous Messengers and the scientific and anthropological evidence around their lives together with learning lessons from their attitudes and behaviors. This part also contains verses which predicted some future events in history.

Part IV contains Ayat in man’s own creation and in his physical constitution. These Ayat range from utmost scientific facts at one place and plain truths about his existence and livelihood at others. Time and again, Quran reminds mankind to observe the Ayat within his own being and how these Ayat lead one to truth.

Part V contains Ayat in man’s intuition and moral conceptions. The verses expounding these Ayat are perhaps the most emphatic of all the categories, for the simple reason that scientific facts and evidences or historical facts and learning are easily countered with arguments but the innate self of man always seeks the truth. In fact Allah has heavily relied on man’s intuitive knowledge while explaining to him the truth of human existence. This Part also details the various moral precepts brought forth by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) for the society which transformed the life and culture of the Arabs and placed a forgotten, ignorant region into the map of the world. The moral transformation sought by the verses and embodied in the followers of the Prophet (pbuh) is in itself a sign worth beholding.

Part VI contains Ayat found in the coming down of the earthly and heavenly calamities on man. An essential take away of these verses is the fact that nations which have denied the Ayat of Allah have faced complete destruction and utter ruin. Some past nations’ remnants serve as a testimony for this law of retribution. Archaeological evidences and scientific findings about the same have also been researched in this Part.

Part VII contains Ayat which Allah has sent through his Messengers to mankind. A very pertinent point here is to understand that in the nations gone by ‘evident’ signs have been accorded to their Messengers – miracles convincing enough to lead an ordinary mind to the truth. However, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was not accorded such ‘evident’ signs and the reason has been stated in the Quran in Surah 17 Al-Isra Verse 59: And nothing stops Us from sending the Ayat but that the people of old denied them. The miracle accorded to the Prophet (pbuh) is the Quran – with all its various subtleties and treasure house of ‘implicit’ Ayat. Certain miraculous aspects of the Quran – for example the mathematical miracles and facts indicated through sequence of letters in the Quran – have not been included in this book to keep the book easy for common readers. Interested readers can refer to ‘Miracles of the Quran Vol-3’ by Harun Yahya for the same. Likewise, the literary excellence and inimitability of the Quran has also not been dealt with in this book.

Each Part has been divided into A and B sections: A containing the verses wherein the word ‘Ayat’ or ‘Bayyinaat’ specifically occur, whereas B containing the verses which do not contain the word Ayat but which speaks about the same, nonetheless. At the end of each Part, several comments of various learned muslim and non-muslim scholars have been put to throw light on the way the Ayat mentioned in that Part have been received by them during the course of their study of Quran and Islam. The division of this book into seven parts is only notional.

It is very difficult to comprehend the complete impact of the Ayat in the absence of the contextual understanding of the pre-Islamic Arabia as well as the pre-Inspiration life of the Prophet (pbuh). To assist the readers a chapter at the very beginning has been kept titled ‘Setting the Context’ to ease the required understanding. During the discourse in various Parts also the context has been repeated wherever necessary for proper appreciation of the Ayat. It is expected that the readers have some understanding of the various Prophets and their stories mentioned in the Quran. A prior reading of Qasasul Ambiya (Stories of the Prophets) by Ibn Kathir and by Maulana Hifzur Rahman Seoharwy is highly recommended.

It is also worth mentioning that for all the Ayat mentioned in this book and their explanations as such, there are available counter explanations by various scholars trying to negate the convincing value of the Ayat or the facts mentioned. There are also available umpteen numbers of clarifications by Islamic scholars to these counter explanations pointing out the error in understanding by these scholars. Such discourse has not been included in this book for the sake of avoiding unnecessary and lengthy arguments. Interested readers can always do the analysis at length. Having said that it is important to throw light on two important aspects about the nature of the Ayat detailed in the Quran. First, about which the Quran itself declares in Surah 3 Al-Imran Verse 7-8:

هُوَ ٱلَّذِيٓ أَنزَلَ عَلَيۡكَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ مِنۡهُ ءَايَٰتٞ مُّحۡكَمَٰتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَٰبِهَٰتٞۖ فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمۡ زَيۡغٞ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَٰبَهَ مِنۡهُ ٱبۡتِغَآءَ ٱلۡفِتۡنَةِ وَٱبۡتِغَآءَ تَأۡوِيلِهِۦۖ وَمَا يَعۡلَمُ تَأۡوِيلَهُۥٓ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُۗ وَٱلرَّٰسِخُونَ فِي ٱلۡعِلۡمِ يَقُولُونَ ءَامَنَّا بِهِۦ كُلّٞ مِّنۡ عِندِ رَبِّنَاۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّآ أُوْلُواْ ٱلۡأَلۡبَٰبِ ٧ رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغۡ قُلُوبَنَا بَعۡدَ إِذۡ هَدَيۡتَنَا وَهَبۡ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحۡمَةًۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلۡوَهَّابُ ٨ [ آل عمران:7-8]

It is He Who has sent down to you the Book. In it are Ayat that are Muhkamat (entirely clear), they are the foundations of the Book; and others Mutashabihat (not entirely clear). So as for those in whose hearts there is a deviation (from the truth) they follow (only) that which is not entirely clear thereof, seeking Al-Fitnah (trial), and seeking its Ta’wil (its hidden meaning), but none knows its Ta’wil except Allah. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: “We believe in it; all of it is from our Lord.” And none receive admonition except men of understanding. (They say): “Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower.” 

Muhkamat Ayat (verses) are the Ayat (verses) that have only one meaning according to the rules of the Arabic language or else the meaning of the Ayah is clearly known. Mutashabihat Ayat are the Ayat that can have many meanings according to the rules of the Arabic language. Assigning meanings to these Ayat requires thorough thinking so that acceptable meanings are given to them. If meanings are assigned to them, this must be done in a manner that complies with the language and the religion, and does not contradict the Ayat that are muhkamat. Surely the Ayat of the Quran do not contradict one another. Quranic exegetes have held that the Muhkamat are the Ayat that explain the allowed, prohibited, laws, limits, obligations and rulings that should be believed in and implemented. As for the Mutashabihat Ayat, they include the abrogated Ayat, parables, oaths, and what should be believed in, but not implemented. We wish to state here that the same pattern appears also when we analyze the proof value of the Ayat (signs) throughout this book, wherein, some Ayat are absolutely clear and unambiguous while others which can have more than one correct meaning, and can therefore lead to Fitnah. It is important to appreciate this fact while reading the book. The second aspect is that the Quran has to be understood in its totality, it has to be read and seen as a whole. One may not be convinced of an Ayah (sign) at one place but others seem truly convincing. The reader should know and appreciate that the sheer number of the convincing Ayat that abound in one single Book is in itself an Ayah worth beholding. When seen with the context in the background, none can remain unaffected by its divine origin.

It is reported on the authority of Abu Sa’id Khudri: “We were sitting and writing what we were hearing from Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) that he turned his attention to us and said: ‘What is this that you are writing?’ We said, we are writing that what we are hearing from you. Whereupon, he said, ‘Are you writing another Book along with the Book of Allah? Keep the Book of Allah separate and make its text pure so that there may not be confusion in it’”. To prevent such confusion, the text of the Quranic Translation in this book is kept in Bold letters. Also the verses in Arabic in Full have been kept (with only theme-relevant part as English translations) so as to keep the text pure as directed by our Prophet (pbuh) in the mentioned Hadith. The word ‘Prophet’ wherever used, unless otherwise mentioned, refers to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and has to be understood as such. Also, it is pertinent to mention that there is no verse in this book from the Quran that would require prostration.

A lot of content of this book has been taken from works of various notable writers like Adnan Okhtar, Mustafa Mlivo, Z.R.El-Naggar, Dr Gary Miller, Prof. Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Badr Azimabadi and Yusuf Al-Hajj Ahmad; may Allah grant them their due.

Let us shed our prejudices and let us be sincere in our attempt at appreciating the Quran because Allah says in Surah 10 Yunus Verses 100-101:

وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفۡسٍ أَن تُؤۡمِنَ إِلَّا بِإِذۡنِ ٱللَّهِۚ وَيَجۡعَلُ ٱلرِّجۡسَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعۡقِلُونَ ١٠٠ قُلِ ٱنظُرُواْ مَاذَا فِي ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِۚ وَمَا تُغۡنِي ٱلۡأٓيَٰتُ وَٱلنُّذُرُ عَن قَوۡمٖ لَّا يُؤۡمِنُونَ ١٠١

It is not for any person to believe, except by the Leave of Allah, and He (Allah) will put the wrath on those who are heedless. Say: ‘Behold all that is in the heavens and the earth’, but neither Ayat nor warners benefit those who believe not.

CONTENTS

Chapter Page No.

Setting the Context 1

PART I: Warnings/Significance of the Ayat 12

PART II: Ayat in the expanse and working of the Universe 35

PART III: Ayat in the human experience of history 139

PART IV: Ayat in man’s procreation, structure and existence 203

PART V: Ayat in man’s intuition, consciousness and moral conceptions 250

PART VI: Ayat in earthly and heavenly calamities 321

PART VII: Ayat through Messengers 353

Closing Words 387

The End 389