En invitation to_a_good_tidings

2. lnYitationto I
GoodTidings
From the book
"In the Shadeof Qur'an"
By:
Dr. Ibrahim S.Abu NaYYan
CarcGemerlolilcr tusllms
Te|; 2423OO8 Fax: 2423AOi
P.O.Box 41339 RiYadh l156l

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4. Invitation to a GoodTidings
Praisebe to Allah, the Lord of worlds;
peaceand blessingsof Allah be upon His
messenger Muhammad, the trustworthy
guide,and uponhis family, his companions
and those who follow his guidancetill the
Day of Judgment.The Holy Qur'an starts
with SurahAl-Fatiha, thegreatestsurah, and
is followed by Surah Al- Baqarah, which
classifiespeople into three general catego-
ries,asfollows:
l-The first categoryarethe believers,as
mentionedin four versesin the saidSurah
(Al-Baqara).
2-The secondone is the disbelievers,as
mentionedin two versesthereof.
3-The third one is the hypocrites,their
f-eaturesare mentionedin thirteenverses
thereof. Commenting on these said
verses,Al-Sheikh SayedKutub pointed
out in his book "In The Shadeof Qur'an"
that by mentioningthesethreecategories,

5. Allah orders mankind to select the
straightpath,which is totally pure(mono-
theistic), beneficial, ethical, successful,
and dutiful - this is the characterof the
righteous.
Al-Sheikh SayedKutub (-uy Allah
have mercy upon him) was exceptionally
skillful in interpretationof the Holy Qur'an
andwhenhe cameto theverse,"O mankind!
Worship your Lord. Who createdyou and
becomepious" ' which cameaftermention-
ing the threecategories,the believers,disbe-
lieversand hypocrites.The way to straight
guidanceandto gainknowledgeof the one-
nessof Allah andnotjoining othersin wor-
ship with Allah, as clarified in the verse
"...Thendo not setup rivalsunto Allah (in
worship) while you know tha! He alonehas
the right to be worshipped"'. A rival is a
contestantor emulator,this applieson every
'
SurahAl- Baqarah,verse(21)
2
SurahAl- Baqarah,verse(22)
2

6. illegalreligiousoffensive,basedon the type
of offensivewhichcouldbe asgreataswor-
shipingotherswith Allah, the Greatest.The
worshipingotherswith Allah comesin three
levels:Major,MinorandHidden.
Let the noblereaderwith the interpre-
tationof the clearversesbe guidedand di-
rectedto the straightway and explorefaith
throughwith sweetandbright interpretation
from the book "In the Shadeof the Qur'an".
Allah saysthetruth andHe guidespeopleto
thestraightpath.
Allah says, "O Manktnd! Ug$bip
your Lord rvho createdyou and thosewho
werebeforeyou sothatyou may becomethe
pious. Who has made thg-earth a resting
placefbr you. andthe sky as a canop)'.and
sent down rain from the sky and brogght
forth therewith fruits asaprovision for you.
Thendo not setup rivalsuntoAilah (in wor-
ship)while you know tbatHe Alone hasthe
rightto beworshipped"'
J
3
SurchAl- Baqarah,verse(21)& (22)

7. It is thecall to mankindasa wholeto wor-
ship Allah who has createdthem and those
who were before them. Allah and no other
god than He can create,so only He is to be
worshipped.The worshiphasits own goalto
bereachedandachieved.
"...So thatyou may becomethe pious"a
so
you becomethechosencategoryof mankind.
The categoryis of Allah'sworshippers,duti-
ful to Him. The worshippersmust observe
their duty to the Creator,they worshiponly
the Creator,the Lord of the presentandthe
past,andtheCreatorof mankind,providedto
them from the earthand sky without a rival
nor emulator.
"Whohasmadetheeartha restinqplace..." 5
: is an expressionwhichpointsto theeaseof
humanlife on this earthandpreparingit for
them to be a cornfortableresidence,a pro-
tectedasylumasa restingplace.Peoplefor-
getthe saidrestingplacewhich is duly pre-
o
Surah Al- Baqarah. verse(21)
5
Surah Al- Baqarah, verse(22)
4

8. pared by Allah as they get familiar with it.
They forget suchharmonywhich Allah has
establishedon the earthto facilitateearning
of living and inhabiting hereon.They also
forgot Allah furnishedit with meansof easy
andcomfortableliving.
Without this harmony,their lives would not
existon this planetwith sucheaseandcom-
fort. If one of the living elementswas miss-
ing from this planet,thosepeoplewould not
existwithout an environmentprovidingthem
with life. And if an elementwas excluded
from the known componentsof air, then
peoplewill find it hardto geta breathevenif
they aresupposedto live!-
"...thesk),as a canopy..."
u It hut u
durability and coordinationwhich relatedto
any regular structure.Happinesshas a firm
relationshipwith the lifb of peopleon earth
and with the easeof this life. The sky with
its heat, light, gravity, harmony and other
proportionswith the earthpave and support
6
SurahAl- Baqarah,verse(2)

9. life on earth. No wonder that this will be
mentionedrvhile remindingpeoplewith the
capability of the Creator and His favors
thereof,as well as the obligationof created
worshippershaveto worshipAllah.
". ..sentdown rain from the sky andbrought
forth therewithfruits asa provisionfor you."
leiiun mentionedthat sendingdown rain
from the sky and bringing forth therewith
fruits and repeatedlymentionedin many
placesin theHoiy Qur'an,in orderto remind
worshippersof the abilitiesand blessingsof
Allah. Furthe nore, the water sent down
from the sky is the main life-givingingredi-
ent for all creatureson the earth.Life in all
forms and at all ievelsoriginatedfrom water
"...And We havemaclefromwatereveryliv-'-
ttglbi4L". Whetherwater <iirectlycauses
growth of plantswhenit is mixed with soil,
or fresh water f,ormedboth rivers and lakes,
or.such freshwaterpenetratesthe layersof
1
SurahAl- Baquruh,verse(22)
o,SurahAl- Anbi,ya,r,erse{30)
6

10. earthforming undergroundwater,which ei-
ther erupts forming springs or wells are
drilledandwateris broughtby pumpsto the
surfacesoncemore.
That watercycle on the earthand its
role in people'slivesandthe dependenceof
life on water in all its forms and shapesis
undeniable.Thereforeit is enoughto irnply
aboutit and remind(people)with it in the
processof callingto r.vorshipof the Creator,
theProviderandtheDonator.
The call to worshipAllah follows two Is-
lamictheories:theonenessof theCreatorof
all creation,ashighlightedin "...who created
yAl41rd thosewho werebefu " and
the onenessof the universeas well as its
harmony among its componentsand its
friendshipwith lif-eandhumanbeings"Wh<r
andthe sky as a canoplr.andsentdown rain
from the sky and brought forth therewith
" SurahAl- Baqaruh,verse(21)

11. fruits as a provisionfor you..." tuThe earth
of this universeis pavedfor humanbeings,
and its sky is built with precision,provides
water with which fruits are grown and do-
nated to people,thanksto the only Creator.
"Then do not setup rivals unto Allah
(in worship) while you know (thatHe algne
h^ th. ,ight to b. *otthipp"d)."
ttof
course,you know that Allah hascreatedyou
and those who were before you and you
know that He has madethe earth a resting
placeandthe sky asa canopyandsentdown
water from the sky.He hasneitherpartnerto
help nor a rival to opposeHim. After know-
ing this,it is religiouslyunacceptableto wor-
shipotherswith Allah. As perthe Qur'an,ri-
vals mustnot be worshippedso asto puriff
thebeliefin theoneness(of Allah).Thewor-
shippingof otherswith Allah could be in a
naive form asdoneby the disbelieversin the
past, or take other hidden forms such as to
to
SurahAl- Baqarah,verse(22)
" SurahAl- Baqarah,verse(22)
8

12. begor fearothersthanAllah,or believeto be
benefitedor harmedby othersbesidesAllah.
Narrated on the authoritY of Ibn
Abbas,"Rivals originatedfrom worship oth-
ers with Allah as unheardas ants'stepsat
night.asto swearwith someone'slife or with
my own life. 'Unlessthere is a doq. the
thieveswill cometo rob our house'.'Unless
thereareducks.thethieveswill cometo rob
our house'.a man saysas 'Ailah and you
wishes!' a man says'unlessAllah and )'ou'
...thesesayingsareconsidereddisbelievers'
expressions.As in anotherhadeeth,a man
saidto the ProphetMuhammad,the messen-
ger of Allah (PBUH), "As Allah and you
wishes",the Messenger(PBUH) said,'You
mademea rival to Allah'.This is theway the
pretlecessorsof thisnationlookedat the hid-
den worshippingof otherswith Allah. We
look at where we are with high sensitivity
and how far arewe from the real greatone-
NCSS.

13. The Jewswere doubtful aboutthe au-
thenticityof themessageof theProphetMu-
hammad(PBUH), while the hypocriteswere
skepticalthereofandthesameappliedon the
disbelieverswho inhabited Makkah and
otherareas.In this context,the Qur'anchal-
lenges all these people by addressingall
mankind using factual,practicaland well-
establishedexperiences.
" And if you (Arab pagans.JewsandChris-
tians)arein doubtconcerningthatwhich We
havesentdown (i.e the Our'an)to our slave
Muhammad(PBUH). then producea szraft
of the like thereofand call your witnesses
(supportersan{helpers)besidesAllah. if you
aretruthful" 12
Sucha challengebeginswith
a valuablehint therein;the Qur'andescribes
the Messenger(PBLTI) as a siaveof Aliah
"And if you (Arab pagans.Jewsand Chris-
tians)arein doubtconcerninethatwhich We
havesentdown (i.e the Qur'an)to our slave
_ This description
t2
SurahAl- Baqorah.verse(23)
10

14. thereinhasvariousandcompleteindications:
First, it is an honor and a privilege to the
Prophet(PBtfD to be a slaveto Allah. This
denotesthat the slaveryto Allah is the high-
est,prestigiousplacefor peopleto be called
upon as well as Muhammad(PBUH) to be
called thereto.Secondly,it is affirming the
meaningof slaveryto Ailah in callingpeople
not to worship rivals but Allah. Here is the
FrophetMuhammad(PBLIH),in positionof
the revealer-thehighestplace,was calledto
be a slaveof Allah. which was an honorto
him.
The saidchallengewas focusedin the
beginningof the surah.The sentQur'anis
rnadeof the known Arabic alphabetwhich is
familiar to them.if they are skepticalof it,
then they areto producea suralt thereofand
call theil rivalsto witnessbesidesAllah. As
Aliah is the witnessof the truthfulnessof
Muhamrnad'smessage.
Suchchallengewas and is still unar-
guablypendingtiit thepresent.TheQur'anis
l i

15. still unique and distinguishablydifferent
from people'sspeechand it will be so, con-
formingwith Allah'ssaying."But if you do it
not. and you can never do it. then fear the
Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones.
preparedfor the disbelievers."t'The
chal-
lengementionedhereis amazing;it is con-
sideredcertainlyan unachievableone. If it
was deniable,they could not hesitateto en-
tirely disapproveit (theQur'an).Thereis no
doubt that the Holy Qur'an confinned the
said challengeand they (the disbelievers)
saw this challengeunmet as they admitted
and describedit as a uniquemiracle..There
was an invitation beforethem and if they
brought contrary evidence,then the Holy
Qur'anwould be provedfalse.On the con-
trary, this was and is, not the caseas this
challengewasto thepast,present,andfuture
generations.This is a final and historical
rvordot'separation(betweentruth and false-
hood).
'3
SurahAl- Baqarah,verse(24)
12

16. Whoeverhas a senseof speechPat-
terns, whoever has significant experience
with how people conceptualizebeing and
things, and whoeveris in touch with man-
made regimes,ideologies,psychologicaland
social theorieshasno doubtthatwhat is ex-
plained in the Holy Qur'an concerningall
thesematters, is somethingelsethat cannot
be madeby humanbeings.This doubt will
be madethrougheitherignorancethat is un-
ableto discriminateor falsepurposeshowing
factsas delusions,thereforeAllah threatens
thesedisbelieverswho neithermeetthe chal-
lengenor believein theHoly Qur'an:"But if
you do it not, andcanneverdo itJbg
theFire (Hell) rvhosefuel is menandstones.
prepal@'(13) Wecan
askotrrselveswhy Allah hasbroughtpeople
and stonestogetherin suchhorrible,terriff-
ing way?Hell is preparedfor disbelievers,as
recitedanddescribedin the beginningof the
suroh ; Allah said,"Allah hasseta sealon
theirhearlsandon theirhearing(i.e.theyare
l a
l - )

17. closedfrom acceptingAllah'sguidance).and
on theireyesthereis a covering." toAs
Allah
put the challenge before them and they
failed thereto,then they are in a human
form but as deaf as stones,that is why the
Almighty Allah hasgatheredstones(asreal
stones)andpeople(asdeafas stones)in the
mentionedverse.It seemsin this mentioned
gathering,thattheso-calledstonesin another
horrible scenegives an impressionto the
soul that the fire is eatingup stonesin the
saenecrowdedwith peopleandstonesall to-
getherin Hell. On theoppositesidethereis a
scene in paradise awaiting the believers
"And give gladthingsto thosewho believe
and do righteousgood deeds.thatfor them
will be gardensunder which rivers flow
(paradise).Everytime they will be provided
with a fruit therefrom.thelzwill say. 'This
what we were provided with before.'and
theywill be giventhingsin resemblance(i.e.
in the sameform but different in taste)and
ta
Surah Al- Baqarah, verse (7)
t +

18. they shall have therein purified mates oI
wives,andtheywill abidethereinforever.""
This givesa good impressionon how much
paradisehasof a wide varietyof blessings,
astonishingeveryone.In addition to pure
wives,alike fruitsmakesthemthink thatthey
have had it before.The apparentsimilarity
betweenthe fruits of this life and those in
Heaven,is probablyby nameor shape.Per-
hapsthis apparentsimilarity and internalva-
riety have an elementof surprisefor each
time (whenprovided).This similarityin ap-
pearancesandvarietyprovesAllah'screation
which makestheuniversebiggerin its reality
thanit looks.
Let'stakemanasa uniqueexampleto
revealthis greatfact. Peoplearethe samein
the aspectof creation:head, body, limbs,
flesh, blood, bones,nerves,two eyes,two
ears,a mouth,a tongueandliving cells.This
compositionhasa similarappearancein form
and materials.What is behindthesefeatures
'5
SurahAl- Baqarah,verse(25)
l5

19. andsimilarities?Thenwhat is the purposeof
their characteristicsand their capabilities?
The variationbetweenoneman and another,
althoughboth are similar,could be as far as
theearthandthe sky!
This Allah-made variation is beyond
comprehension;the variationin typesand in
species,the variation in forms and features,
and the variation in advantagesand in char-
acteristics-all are stemmedfrom one cell
similar in content and arrangement.Who
daresnot to worship Allah alonewhen any-
onecanseethis evidencein His creationand
the signsof His ability?Who daresto wor-
ship rivals to Allah when His miraclesare
apparentto everyone?His miraclesareevery
where,whethervisibleor invisible!
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