Welcome to our weekly programme "Path towards Enlightenment" in which we present you a fluent and easy-to-understand explanation of the ayahs of the holy Qur’an. We start from where we left you last Friday and here is ayah 9 of Surah Zumar:

"Is he who supplicates in the watches of the night, prostrating and standing, apprehensive of the Hereafter and expecting the mercy of his Lord … ? Say, ‘Are those who know equal to those who do not know?’ Only those who possess intellect take admonition."

Last week, we dealt with the characteristics of persons of weak faith, which border on total disbelief and ingratitude, as is clear by their actions of turning away from God, after the Lord Most High to Whom they had appealed in times of crisis, had saved them.

The ayah which we recited to you now presents the example of the devout believer, who in contrast to the disbeliever, is completely resigned to the Will of God, and in apprehension of the consequences of afterlife, never neglects the acts of worship by regularly prostrating and spending parts of nights in devotion, with full confidence in the Mercy of God, however adverse the circumstances.

Certainly such truthful persons cannot be equated with the faithless, and only those who awaken their conscience to facts and realities, are open to admonition and realize the path of truth.

It is interesting to note that among the characteristics of Divine Leaders and Godly persons, is waking up at late midnight to perform prayers and supplication as well as recitation of the holy Qur’an.

Towards its end the ayah means to say that the wise and conscious persons cannot be compared with the ignorant, the arrogant, and the intransigent.

The gist of this ayah is that the true believers neither regard themselves secure from punishment during times of comfort nor do they ever lose hope in the Mercy of the All-Merciful Lord in times of hardship.

Contrary to what the ignorant imagine regarding religion as the opium of people, the most fundamental calls of the Prophets emphasized on gaining knowledge in order to rationally understand faith and be fully equipped to answer the questions raised by the doubters.

But worship ought to be based on faith from the depth of the heart, since mere performance of rituals or recitation of the holy Qur’an without contemplation upon Divine Wisdom, might turn out to be self-destructive.

Once, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS) was passing a street of Kufa along with his disciple Kumayl ibn Ziyad, who heard the pleasing voice of a man reciting the holy Qur’an, especially this very same ayah of Surah Zumar:

“Is he who supplicates in the watches of the night, prostrating and standing, apprehensive of the Hereafter and expecting the mercy of his Lord”.

Imam Ali (AS) told Kumayl: “Do not be pleased by this man’s voice. He is among the people of the Hell! I will inform you of that later!”

Kumayl was taken aback since Imam Ali (AS) had been able to read his mind and besides, he had informed him of the place in Hell of what seemed to be a pious man reciting the holy Qur’an.

Before long, Khwarej or the Renegades, detached themselves from the main body of Muslims and started an armed rebellion against Imam Ali (AS), who succeeded in crushing the sedition. Among the dead bodies of renegades from Islam was this very same person whose recitation of the ayahs of the holy Qur’an, had impressed Kumayl. Imam Ali (AS) then recited ayah 9 of Surah Zumar to point out to Kumayl that mere recitation of the Qur’an without faith from the depth of the heart and without contemplation on Divine Words, does not guarantee salvation, but could end in the fires of Hell for disobedience of God’s commandments.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. For a devout believer, night besides being a time of rest and sleep, is a good opportunity to wake up in the late midnight hours for prayers and supplications to God Almighty.
2. True belief requires conscientiousness with contemplation on Divine Words.
3. We should never lose hope in Divine Mercy, whatever the circumstances, but without the false notion of being safe from punishment in times of erring.

Now we listen to or read ayah 10 of Surah Zumar:

"Say, ‘[Allah declares:] “O My servants who have faith! Be wary of your Lord. For those who do good in this world there will be a good [reward], and Allah’s earth is vast. Indeed the patient will be paid in full their reward without any reckoning.”

This ayah points to several characteristics of the true believers. The ayah points at piety as the chief characteristic, and means to say: Among the signs of the true believers is awe of God, which prevents us from indulging in sins and unpleasant things. But virtue alone is not enough; goodness is also necessary. Piety is like a brake that keeps us from the dangers and landslides, while good work is like a powerful engine that propels us towards the proximity of God Almighty.

Goodness in speech and behavior is a requirement of faith. So whoever claims to believe, but is not good in his words, his claim is questionable. The claim of such a person is not accepted in the Divine Court and will not entail a reward in the Hereafter.

The ayah then refers to the readiness of the believers to migrate for the sake of God and in the cause of religion, either to safeguard their faith, or spread it to other lands and nations.

Here the ayah means to say that the Earth is vast and migration to other places should not be a problem for the sake of preserving faith. Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) set a personal example in this regard, when he migrated to Medina from his hometown Mecca. Earlier, some of his companions, including his cousin, Ja’far ibn Abi Taleb, had migrated from Mecca to Abyssinia (or present day Ethiopia) for safeguarding their faith in the face of acute persecution by the Arab infidels.

God Almighty promises good rewards for the patient and the pious who tolerate hardships for the sake of safeguarding their faith.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. Faith, piety and goodness are related to each other, and without any of them, a person will never achieve prosperity in its real sense.
2. If the need to maintain faith requires migration then the believers should migrate and tolerate the resulting hardships for the sake of attaining Divine Rewards.
3. The firmness of faith results in both individual and societal perfection, and elevation of the community.

AS/ME