Salaam and welcome to another episode of our weekly series titled “Path towards Enlightenment” which is an endeavour to make you and us familiar with an easy and fluent explanation of God’s Final Scripture to all mankind, the holy Qur’an that was revealed to the Last and Greatest of all Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

As you know, last week we completed explanation of “Surah Najm” and from this Friday onwards we embark on explanation of the next Surah, that is, “Surah Qamar”, which is number 54 in the serial order of compilation of the holy Qur’an.

It was revealed in Mecca and has 55 Ayahs. It opens with the cataclysmic sign of the end of the world coming and the Moon having split apart. It takes its name from the opening Ayah which mentions “the Moon” (or Qamar), that here serves as a reference to the Day of Resurrection. The Surah deals mainly with the punishment dealt out to the previous generations of disbelievers. These were presented as a warning to the pagans of Mecca – and are also relevant to the disbelievers of all times – with the refrain “is there anyone who will be admonished?” running throughout the Surah. Finally the treatment of the disbelievers on the Day of Judgement is contrasted to the everlasting bliss the believers will enjoy in paradise. An interesting feature of this Surah is that all 55 of its Ayahs end with the letter R.

A narration from the Prophet of Islam, says: “Whoever recites Surah “al-Qamar” and perseveres, will enter the Plain of Judgment in splendour on the Day of Resurrection on condition of having acted upon Qur’anic Injunctions.”

Let us start with Ayahs 1, 2, and 3 of Surah Qamar:

“In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful – The Hour has drawn near and the moon is split.

“If they see a sign, they turn away, and say, ‘An incessant magic!’

“They denied and followed their own desires, and every matter has a setting [appropriate to it].”

The opening Ayah which mentions the drawing near of the Hour is a reference to the inevitability of the Day of Resurrection as the most significant alteration in the world of creation that after death and revival opens a new life in the Hereafter. It is a realm whose greatness and extent are indescribable and unintelligible to us because of attachment to the materialistic world. In other words, Resurrection is close to us. It is a constant reminder that life of the mortal world is transient, which means we ought to be attentive and prepare for the provision of the Hereafter. The opening Ayah ends with the Arabic words “Shaq al-Qamar” or splitting of the moon, which is a reference to a famous miracle of the Prophet of Islam recorded in several eyewitness accounts, and is an undeniable proof of Divine Omnipotence over all things. It was performed at the insistent demand of the Arab pagans and the Jews. At night the Prophet performed prayer and prostration to God and supplicated, at which to the amazement of the onlookers the full moon was cleft asunder. The Jews who had read in the Torah how God made the sun and the moon stand still for Prophet Joshua the successor of Prophet Moses (peace upon them), accepted the truth of Islam on seeing this miracle, but Abu Jahl, the leader of the pagan Arabs of Mecca, refused to believe and called it magic, as Ayah 2 says “If they see a sign, they turn away, and say, ‘An incessant magic!’

The splitting of the Moon was not any deception of the eyesight of the onlookers in Mecca, since this phenomenon was witnessed by travelers to Syria and was also visible in far off India as testified by inscriptions on monuments in Kerala, where King Chakrawati Perumel of the Malabar region, seeing this strange sight and later on learning that the Last Prophet had appeared in the Arabian Peninsula, made a journey to Mecca and became a Muslim. A scientific proof of this miracle is the deep scar or rift discovered on the Moon and photographed by NASA astronomers in the US which is further proof of such a phenomenon occurring in the past. According to exegetes, when Resurrection draws near, the moon will also cleft asunder.

As is clear by Ayah 3 it is the habit of obdurate disbelievers to belie the truth of the prophetic call, of miracles, and of the inevitability of Resurrection, because they follow their concupiscent desires – without realizing that everyone receives the reward and recompense of their own deeds, since nothing shall be effaced in this world.

These Ayahs teach us that:

1. The Day of Resurrection will certainly occur no matter the disbelievers deny the truth, including the universal mission of the Seal of Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).
2. The miracles are not a matter of surprise since everything, including the wonders of nature, is in the Power of the Almighty Creator, Who granted the Prophet of Islam several miracles, of which the greatest and the eternal is the Holy Qur’an, whose flawless eloquence and timeless wisdom no one has ever been able to match.
3. Obstinate persons call miracles “a magic” and deny the manifest truth, because of their immersion in carnal desires.

Now let us listen to Ayahs 4 and 5 of the same Surah:

“There have already come to them (the disbelievers) reports containing admonishment;

“(and representing) Far-reaching wisdom; but warnings are of no avail!”

The account of the ancients and the Divine Wrath that struck them for their abominable sins and unpardonable crimes against humanity, are mentioned in the Holy Qur’an as admonishment for all in order to desist from falsehood, but the intransigent disbelievers never heed these far-reaching or profound words of wisdom. In other words, the fate that befell the past nations ought to open our eyes, since the apparent triumph of tyranny and evil is short-lived, and it is truth that eventually triumphs. There is inevitable reckoning on the Day of Judgement.

Ayah 5 points out that the Holy Qur’an is wisdom par-excellence. The opponents of truth are aware of the fate of the misled nations of the past; yet they continue their evil deeds and denial of facts and realities, thereby bringing destruction upon themselves, despite the long respite the All-Merciful God has given for repentance and reform. The Ayahs of the Holy Qur’an, which are for all time and all places, thus seal the argumentation so that people hear the truth, ponder upon it, and decide to take the course of action.

These Ayahs teach us the following points:

1. Reflection on the history and fate of the nations of the past help us discover the truth and the causes of destruction of the ancient civilizations.
2. The message of the Holy Qur’an is based on wisdom and logic.
3. Prophets proclaim the truth in order to seal the argumentation for mankind, since facts cannot be forced upon anyone and there is no compulsion in their acceptance, as the Almighty has given us the intellect to discern between good and evil, which eventually determine reward or punishment.

In conclusion of this week’s episode, let us listen to Ayahs 6, 7, and 8 of Surah Qamar:

“So turn away from them! The day when the Caller calls for a dire thing;

“With a humbled look [in their eyes], they will emerge from their graves as if they were scattered locusts, scrambling toward the Summoner.

“The faithless will say, ‘This is a hard day!’”

Ayah 6 addresses the Prophet of Islam and means to say that when disbelievers refuse to believe even after witnessing such great miracles, you leave them to their fate, without taking more trouble in the hope of removing their ignorance, but convey the message that when the day the Divine Caller calls people towards a horrible thing, that is, the Resurrection for the Final Judgement on the basis of the record of everyone’s deeds, they will have no clue to what awaits them.

As the next Ayah means to say, the humbling of eyes is a token of intensity of fear or shamefulness of the disbelievers and sinners. The similitude of disbelievers and sinners on the Day of Resurrection to scattered locusts reflects their perplexity and astonishment upon coming out of graves, and hastening hither and thither on witnessing the torment on that Day. In other words, when they leave their graves upon the Call, they protrude their necks toward the calling angels out of the intensity of fear. It is but natural that when a horrible sound is heard, people immediately protrude their neck and then turn toward its source, hasten toward it, and have no other choice but to make their presence at the Divine Tribunal.

As Ayah 8 means to say, the horror of the hard incidents of that Day encompasses them all, since all the things cause fear in sinners. May God Almighty bestow His Mercy upon His servants! On that Day, there shall be neither fear nor grief for the believers.

From these Ayahs we learn that:

1. On sealing the argumentation, the faithless should be left to their own fate, to accept the truth or to deny it, since God has given the freedom to choose reward or punishment.
2. The scenes of the Day of Resurrection are extremely horrible for the faithless and the sinners; unimaginable consequences indeed.
3. Resurrection is physical and all mankind will be brought to life in their original shape for the Final Judgement.

RM/AS/SS