3:191
They ( : those who possess intelligence) remember God while standing, sitting, and on
their sides, and they reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth.....
The Absolute Oneness
As we know from Quran, the first and foremost of God's
attributes is the Oneness of God; " Waahid ", the One, the Absolute. It is such
a fundamental attribute that the mathematical code of Quran and many of the fundamental
numbers in nature are based on its gematrical value, 19.
In contrast to the Oneness of God, there seems to be
polarity in all of nature. Only God is One, absolute and complete in and of Himelf,
everything else is created in pairs; needing something else to complete it, to enable it
to function; or even to have meaning. This does not refer to just to the concept of
male-female, it goes much deeper than that. In physics, for example, we have matter and
antimatter. Every elementary particle has its antiparticle. For the electron we have
anti-electron( positron); for the proton we have anti-proton and so on, with no exception.
None can exist without its counterpart. This concept is one of the most important
foundations of modern theories of physics, which means it is a fundamental of nature.
Ever thing and every entity in the universe, by itself
would have no meaning at all and needs something else to define it, to give it meaning;
night without day would have no meaning, north without south would have no meaning, dark
without light would have no meaning....
36:36 Glory be to the
One who creates all things in pairs; out of all that the earth produces, out of themselves
and out of that which they have no knowledge.
Thus it is only God that is complete in and of Himself,
needing nothing else to define Him, to give Him meaning, needing no definition, beyond
definition. To emphasize this concept of polarity in all created things, in contrast to
His own absolute Oneness, it appears that God has specially numbered the above verse with
a pair of numbers; chapter 36 verse 36.
This attribute of God not only is the most fundamental,
but it is most easily understood, as it is simple in concept. Furthermore, it is a Quranic
fact that we are born with this knowledge (30:30). Of all those who believe in the
existence of God, none, in principle claim that there are two or three gods. However, for
idol worshipers, their love for their idol is so great that they try to get around this
fact by claiming that their idol has some of God's power and glory. They attribute their
fabrications to God and thus commit another horrendous crime on top of that.
Lord and Sustainer of All
After the Oneness of God, a foremost attribute of God,
is what is called in Arabic "rabb":
1:2 Praise be to God,
Lord of the Universe.
The word " rabb" is usually translated to
English as lord, master, sovereign, or sustainer. But these are poor translation of the
original, simply because there is no equivalent word to convey the depth of its meaning.
The word "rabb" is derived from the
triliteral Arabic root r-b-b whose meaning can only be summarized as: "to have a
legitimate claim to the possession of any thing and consequently to have complete
authority over it, as well as to nurture, to sustain, to foster and to develop a thing
from its inception to its final completion." One of the most famous lexicographers of
the words of Quran, over 1000 years ago, long before the concept of modern science and
evolution, defined the word "rabb" as: "fosterer of a thing, who develops
it from one state into another until it attains completion according to a pre-plan."
So when we freely say " Praise be to God, Lord of
the Universe, " as we do at least 17 times a day when we read Surah 1 of Quran in our
daily prayers, we admit, we accept and we praise all these qualities of God present in the
word "rabb": one who plans, who creates, who sustains...
Notice that right at the beginning of the Quran God
calls Himself "rabb" , Lord of the Universe, of all the worlds, of all things,
things we do see and things we do not see. He is not just " rabb" of the
righteous people, He is also "rabb" of evil people, idol worshipers,
disbelievers...... It is in this capacity that He provides for them, as He does for the
believers. He nourishes them, He gives them the opportunity to grow, to prosper..... even
though they do not deserve a single blessing from God, even though they deserve to be
destroyed immediately.
Protector of Believers
God has given Himself the title " Lord of the
Universe," and therefore He is the Lord of both believers and disbelievers. But then
God says He treats believers very specially under His title " Mawla", Protector;
because he says He is " Mawla", Protector of believers only, exclusively. This
is another word that can not be translated with one or two words, we can only summarize
the meaning of " mawla" as " one who is in charge of one's affair, patron,
protector, protective friend, one who really cares ."
47:11 This is because
God is "Mawla" of those who believe, while the disbelievers have no
"Mawla."
So only sincere believers everywhere-God willing we
among them- have the right, the good fortune and the honor of calling God, Mawla;
Protector Friend.
2:286 Pardon us and
forgive us. You are our Mawla, so help us against the disbelieving people.
As our Mawla, God watches our actions with care, He
protects us from temptations, He reminds us, while disbelievers are left alone to ruin and
destroy themselves.
2:15 He leaves them in
their transgressions blundering...
How else can you explain when you see otherwise
intelligent people get emotional and cry when they hear the names of their idols:
Muhammad, Jesus, Ali.... Yet when they hear the most beautiful names of all, GOD, they do
not show any emotion, do not show any reaction, they become like stones. Why is it that
these people never cry, never fear, never tremble, never are in awe, never shake when they
hear the name God, when they hear the most beautiful names of God?
59:23 ... the King, the
Most Sacred, the Peace, the Most Faithful, the Supreme, the Almighty, the Most
Dignified...
Because they are truly idol worshipers and are not
satisfied with God, with the Lord of Universe and all that implies. Consequently, God
leaves them alone, leads them on the path they have chosen; in their blundering to destroy
themselves.
Everything Has a Purpose
As was pointed out, part of definition of
"rabb" is to control things, to plan things, to carry out. This makes God a
dynamic divinity who is involved in the day to day affairs of the Universe, of you and me,
One who does everything every day, every moment. He creates, He guides, He gives
provisions, He sends rains....God does all these things now and forever. He did not just
create and left everything to itself.
Another part of definition of " rabb" is
having purpose, one who carries out a plan toward a pre-determined goal.
3:19 ...Our Lord, you
did not create all this in vain...
Among the strongest arguments used in Quran for the
existence of God and the quality of "rabb" is the argument of teleology, the
existence of purpose in all of nature, the adaptation in all of nature toward a goal.
Perhaps you have heard the expression, and it is
literally true, that it takes the entire universe to grow a single blade of grass. Every
single part of the universe has to function in perfect harmony and coordination with every
other part, for this single blade of grass to grow. This is divine guidance, in its most
basic from, universal guidance.
It means that there is absolutely nothing in the
Universe that is left on its own to shift for itself, to move blindly and haphazardly
until accidentally it finds a suitable mode of existence. Every single part of the
universe from the smallest to the largest play an exact, a necessary and essential role.
Not only that, but each continues to grow in form and complexity, evolves and is guided by
God, Lord of the Universe toward that stage and that state and that final end that God has
designed for it.
So there is no blind struggle, there is no mindless,
pointless destruction. In fact, destruction is made a necessary step, it is only a means
toward construction, and it is construction which is the aim, the goal.
67:2 The One who
created death and life...
Therefore death is not just something that happens at
the end of life, rather it is an essential and created step. All individual life is born,
grows, decays and dies; but decay and destruction is as much a law of physical existence
as birth is, as growth is...and Quran repeatedly points this out :
6:95 ...He produces the
living from the dead and the dead from the living. Such is God; how could you still
deviate?
So the whole cycle of life and death is given as a sign
pointing toward a " rabb" who is preserver, fosterer and developer of values.
During the entire cycle of death and destruction , values are not only preserved but they
are enhanced.
Today we can analyze the tiniest bit of light , coming
from a distant star or galaxy billions of light years away. From this tiny light we can
essentially tell all the past and all the future of that star: how far it is, how old it
is, how many more years it has to live, what kind of death it will face, whether it will
be a violent death or a peaceful and quiet death, what it is made of, and thousands of
other pieces of information.
It is really extreme arrogance to claim that all this
happened accidentally. It is God, Lord of the Universe, who planned and programmed the
minutest detail of the life of each star many billions of years ago when He created it.
Since then every second of every day He has continued to move it toward its final stage,
toward its death. As a result of this, another star, another planet... is born, a star
that will be more complex, more evolved than the parent star. The parent star may have
been made up of only hydrogen and helium but the new born; the next generation star ( as
our Sun is, for example, ) will have a variety of elements necessary for life.
In exactly the same way, God has planned and charted
the entire life cycle of every single creature in the universe, including us:
6:98 He initiated you
from one being, and decided your path as well as your destiny...
No power can make the smallest change in God's plan. He
has already planned everything in conjunction with every other event. There is no accident
in God's Universe.
54:49 Everything We
created is precisely measured.
God's Greatness
Can we really appreciate the greatness, the glory and
the majesty of God?
How could we?
6:103 No vision can
comprehend Him but He comprehends all visions.
How could we?
112:4 There is nothing
that can be compared with Him.
How could we?
22:62 ..God alone is
the All Exalted, the All Great.
God is far greater ( more powerful, more generous, more
compassionate, more just, more...) than we could possibly imagine.
But God says He has given us the best of examples and
allegories in Quran so that we can appreciate some of His mercy, compassionate and
greatness.
17:24 And lower for
them (the parents) the wings of humility and kindness, and say " My Lord ( :Rabb)
shower them with Your mercy , for they have raised me (rabbayani) from infancy."
There appears to be a subtle play on words as both
"rabb" and " rabbayani" are used even though they may not have the
same verbal root. Raising an infant child takes the supporting care of the father and the
tender love of the mother. They both have total power over the child, yet they show tender
care and mercy toward the child and provide continued guidance for him.
All these qualities are present, but in infinite
degrees , in the word "rabb", and in the quality of being "rabb."
Therefore God shows far more mercy, far more compassion and far more care toward His
creatures than any parents ever possibly could. How foolish, then it would be even to
think that the all powerful God has created any creature of His less than absolutely
perfect for what He has planned for it, and for what that creature will have to face in
life.
32:7 He perfected
everything He created...
The smallest detail is taken into account so that any
creature is able to undergo what God has in store for it. This is true of stars, of trees,
of animals, of you and me. Each of us, black or white, tall or short... is an example of
absolute beauty and perfection for what God has planned for us. Only you could have gone
through what you went through because God only prepared you for that, no one else would
have been able to bear it.
It would be foolish to think that God, the most caring
of all parents, has created us less than capable of reaching the highest of the highs.
95:4 We created man in
the best design.
How could it be possible for God, the most merciful of
all parents, to create us and then deprive us of all that we need?
17:20 All of them,
these as well as those( believers as well as disbelievers) We provide from your Lord's
bounties, your Lord's bounties are not restricted (to any one group).
Of course God will provide, not according to our
foolish desires but according to His judgment, that of the wisest of the wise, the
absolute Wise.
How could it be possible for God, Lord of the Universe,
to impose upon us, to require from us any more than He has made us capable to bear?
2:286 God never burdens
any soul beyond its means: to its credit is whatever it earns and against it is whatever
it commits...
Submission to God's Will
It would really be extreme foolishness and arrogance
for us to wish to be something we are not, to wish to be somebody God did not create us to
be, to ask God for more of this, less of that because
24:19 God knows and you
do not know.
Because God says:
2:208 O you who
believe, you shall embrace total submission.
Total submission; to accept absolutely, wholeheartedly
with a smile , all of God's decisions which means all that happens everywhere, all that
you are given and all that you are not given. Who are we to question God's judgment?
All has been planned by the best planner. All has been
charted for us the same way God charted the life of that star, many billions of years
away, many billions of years ago. Whether we are to be rich or poor, die old or young, die
in a far away land, lonely or among friends, have many children or none... all has been
decided by God. Therefore we must not, we should not have any concern for this world and
our share of it. We must do the best we can. Our share will be given to us , and no one
else and no one's share will be given to us no matter how hard we try.
Our only concern , our only thought, our only worry,
our only occupation, our only preoccupation must be to make the right decision in the only
area that God has assigned to us; whether we decide to believe in God alone or not,
whether we decide to worship God alone or not.
All of our cries, all of our fears, all of our
trembling, all of our worries must be for fear of failing this test, for fear of deviating
from God's path, for fear of neglecting God, for fear of falling into the trap of idol
worship, under any excuse, any pretext, for fear of loving a hapless, powerless servant of
God instead of God. Now and forever we must ask ONLY GOD for help:
1:5 Only You we
worship, only You we ask for help.
What kind of help should we seek, what kind of help do
we need? The Most Merciful God, the only teacher of Quran, tells us immediately:
1:6 Guide us in the
right path.
Let us then ask God, our Mawla, our Protector for help.
3:193 Our Lord, we have
heard a caller, calling to faith that: " you shall believe in your Lord," and we
have believed. Our Lord forgive us our transgressions, remit our sins, and let us be among
the righteous when we die.
All praise belongs to God
- Hossein Kowsari
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