2017 07 The Light July 2017
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<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Light</strong> 7<br />
cave of Hira when he heard the angel Jibreel announce<br />
to him Iqra - Read! He said: Fa qoel toe<br />
maa annaa bi qaari ‘I am not one who can read.’<br />
Again Jibreel said Iqra - Read! and again he said:<br />
Fa qoel toe maa annaa bi qaari ‘I am not one that<br />
can read.’ And a third time the Angel Jibreel said<br />
Iqra - Read! and again he said: Fa qoel toe maa<br />
annaa bi qaari ‘I am not one that can read.’<br />
<strong>The</strong>n Jibreel revealed the following words to<br />
the Holy Prophet (s):<br />
Read in the name of thy Lord Who creates-<br />
Creates man from a clot,<br />
Read and thy Lord is most Generous,<br />
Who taught by the pen,<br />
Taught man what he knew not – (96:1-5) 1<br />
It is indeed noteworthy that these very first<br />
verses revealed to the Holy Prophet (s) do not mention<br />
anything about worship but instead appeal to<br />
the human intellect and draw attention to man’s<br />
creation from an insignificant clot of blood. Instead<br />
it contains the command to ‘read’ the Divine<br />
Wisdom of which unfolds as we proceed through<br />
the Holy Quran and we come to realize that worship<br />
amounts to nothing if not accompanied with<br />
true understanding and knowledge of a Superior<br />
Being, that we cannot see with our physical eyes.<br />
It thus becomes imperative to study and observe<br />
the works of our Creator and study His nature and<br />
attributes as manifested in the world we find ourselves<br />
in, to attain (haqqal yaqeen), absolute certainty<br />
of His existence. We are commanded to read<br />
with the assistance of our Rabb, the One Who<br />
nourishes and sustains us through various stages of<br />
evolution to perfection. So, our Rabb is our Guide<br />
along the path to perfect knowledge and absolute<br />
certainty of His existence. This is the foundation<br />
on which we are commanded to build our faith in<br />
Him. Without such a solid foundation of true divinely<br />
guided knowledge, our faith will be like the<br />
roots of a tree, which are so weak that. the slightest<br />
occurrence of a severe<br />
storm will eventually cause<br />
it to topple. Sure,<br />
knowledge of our Rabb, on<br />
the other hand, strengthens<br />
the roots of our faith in Him and renders us capable<br />
to weather all storms of opposition with solid arguments<br />
in His defence and serves as a shield for<br />
us against sin.<br />
This revelation indeed brought about a revolution<br />
of light and learning in a dark world. <strong>The</strong>refore,<br />
its timing is called ‘Lailatul Qadr’ the Night<br />
of Majesty. <strong>The</strong> night refers to the moral and spiritual<br />
darkness the Arabs, the Jews, and the Christians,<br />
nay civilization found itself in at the time.<br />
<strong>The</strong> revelation on that majestic night sort of unleashed<br />
a ‘Big Bang’ of spiritual awakening that<br />
brought about a flurry for knowledge tempered<br />
with a deep spirituality never experienced before.<br />
As the Holy Quran says:<br />
Tannazalul malaai katoe wa ruhu feehaa bi<br />
idhni Rabbi him min kulli amr<br />
<strong>The</strong> angels and the Spirit descend in it by the<br />
permission of their Lord — for every affair.<br />
Although the revelation of the entire Quran<br />
took twenty-three years, the euphoria and majesty<br />
that accompanied the first revelation that came to<br />
the Holy Prophet (s) on the night of Lailatul Qadr<br />
was more glorious than any other time and that is<br />
why the Holy Quran says, ‘it is better than a thousand<br />
months.’ A thousand months means a very<br />
long period of about 83 years which is approximately<br />
the average life span of a normal human being<br />
on earth. 83 years is also approximately the<br />
timing when spiritual revolutions occur in the universe<br />
with the advents of Mujaddidiyya or spiritual<br />
Revivers of the Faith raised by Almighty Allah<br />
Himself. With the advent of a Mujaddid which<br />
usually coincides with an age of dark nights of corruption<br />
and irreligion, we again find a spiritual resurgence<br />
on a large scale. <strong>The</strong>refore, it is said that<br />
when the souls of such holy persons are enlightened<br />
the ‘angels and the spirit’ again descend on<br />
the earth like rain by which humble and sincere<br />
souls, not<br />
Do men think that they<br />
will be left alone on saying,<br />
We believe, and will<br />
not be tried?<br />
blinded by ego<br />
and pompousness,<br />
are inspired<br />
1 <strong>The</strong>re is consensus amongst most scholars that the<br />
last two verses were also part of the first verses revealed.<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.