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, we have taken up explanation of Surah Hadeed”, which is number 57 in the serial order of compilation of the holy Qur’an and mentions the heavy metallic element called Hadeed or “Iron” as being sent down by God to endow the earth itself with mighty force, and provide humanity with the many benefits of its structural strength, as well as all the great tests of faith that arise from this. The Surah presents several Divine Attributes, then proceeds with the grandeur of the Holy Qur’an, the state of believers and hypocrites on the Day of Resurrection, accounts of the past nations, and spending in the way of Allah for establishment of social justice. It criticizes monasticism and social seclusion, and mentions the response received from the public by the previous prophets,

We continue from where we left you a fortnight ago, and here are Ayahs 16 and 17:

“Is it not time yet for those who have faith that their heart should be humbled for Allah’s remembrance and to the truth which has come down, and to be not like those who were given the Book before (that is, the Jews)? Time took its toll on them and so their hearts were hardened, and many of them are transgressors.

“Know that Allah revives the earth after its death. We have certainly made the signs clear for you so that you may apply reason.”

If you might recall, in our previous episode of this series a couple of weeks ago we said the light of faith will guide the faithful toward paradise on Judgement Day, while those who did not come out of the darkness of ignorance, polytheism, atheism, and hypocrisy will remain in darkness in the Hereafter, People are rewarded or punished according to their deeds not acquaintance, which means a life of disbelief and sins entails the punishment of hell in the Hereafter, and there won’t be any ransom or rescue on Judgement Day for the disbelievers and hypocrites.

The Ayahs that we recited to you now are a warning to the believers against arrogance or hardening of their hearts despite being guided by the Prophet and the teachings of the Holy Qur’an, which insists that the believers should always remember God and be humble towards Him. In other words, true believers should not be like the nations of the past, including Jews and Christians, who despite the revelation of heavenly scriptures, neither followed the letter and spirit of these holy texts, nor were loyal to the teachings of the Prophets.

It is thus crystal clear that if believers remember God Almighty from the bottom of the heart, ponder upon the Holy Qur’an, and heed the Prophet’s explanation of its Ayahs, their hearts will naturally be softened and humbled, and they will not drift away from religion and spiritual values by being immersed in worldly affairs.

Ayah 17 refers to the revival of the seemingly dead earth by the Almighty Creator through rainfall in order to awaken the hearts of the believers who ought to reflect upon the signs of the world of creation, and should soften their hearts through remembrance of God Almighty and recitation of the Holy Qur’an by contemplating on the meanings of the Ayahs.

A narration from the Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), the Prophet’s 7^th Infallible Heir says: “God Almighty gives life to dead hearts through the light of wisdom, the same manner that He gives life to the earth by sending down blissful rains on it.”

From these Ayahs we learn that:

1. God’s remembrance softens the heart and makes believers to be humble.
2. Passage of time and long life may cause many believers to drift towards worldly pleasures and be negligent of religious values, but remembrance of God removes such danger.
3. We should not consider ourselves to be superior to others, since Divine Revelations is for the guidance of all human beings, and not any particular nation.

Now let us listen to Ayahs 18 and 19 of the same Surah:

“Indeed the charitable men and charitable women, and those who send Allah a good loan - it will be multiplied for them, and there is a noble reward for them.

“Those who have faith in Allah and His prophets - it is they who are the truthful and the witnesses with their Lord; they will have their reward and their light. But as for those who are faithless and deny Our signs, they will be the inmates of hell.”

Men and women are equal in achieving moral and spiritual virtues through obedience to the Prophet and expending their possessions in the way of Allah, which this Ayah likens to a loan and says their rewards will be greatly multiplied out of Divine Grace although whatever we possess actually belongs to the Almighty Creator.

Ayah 19 makes mention of sincere believers who are always cognizant of God Almighty and the practice and behaviour of the Prophet, and thus mold their life according to these dynamic values. Such people live according to truth and they will be rewarded for their righteous deeds and their light is the reward of their sincere belief, in contrast to those who deny Divine Signs and belie the Prophets, and as a result will be cast into Hell.

These Ayahs teach us that:

1. Charity towards the needy is the sign of honest faith.
2. Any kind of help for the less fortunate is considered a loan to God, Who will reimburse it with multiple rewards.
3. The transient life of the mortal world is not the end, but is a passage towards the Hereafter and Resurrection for the Day of Judgement, on which the believers will be rewarded and the disbelievers condemned to eternal punishment.

In conclusion of this week’s episode of Path towards Enlightenment, here is Ayah 20 of Surah Ḥadeed:

“Know that the life of this world is just play and diversion, and glitter, and mutual vainglory among you and covetousness for wealth and children - like the rain whose vegetation impresses the farmer; then it withers and you see it turn yellow, then it becomes chaff, while in the Hereafter there is a severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and His pleasure; and the life of this world is nothing but the wares of delusion.”

This Ayah refers to various periods of human life. Since love for the mundane world is the origin of all sins and the springhead of all errors, this Ayah presents a telling depiction of the worldly life, its different stages, and the motives dominating each stage by pointing to the cycles of human life which consist of neglect, amusement, luxury, boasting, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children. For instance, childhood is spent in neglect, ignorance, and amusement. Adolescence is spent in playfulness and escaping from serious issues to amusement. Youth is spent in lust, love, and luxury. Then a person reaches the next stage and is inclined toward prestige and boastfulness. Finally, the last stage of life begins when a person becomes preoccupied with gaining more possessions and having more children and grandchildren.

In other words, this Ayah clarifies how each period of an average life of 60 or 70 years makes the human being busy. It then goes on to draw a similitude with the life of plants which complete their cycle of growth, flowering, fruition, and finally withering, within a period of several months or some years. We should thus reflect upon this reality in order to strive towards the satisfaction of our Beloved Creator and the benefits of the Hereafter, rather than being deceived by our own transient life and its unending desires, which are nothing but delusion.

This Ayah teaches us the following points:

1. Proper cognizance of the world and its characteristics make us immune from the dangers of disbelief and sins.
2. Excessive attachment to the materialistic life of the transient world is nothing but drifting away from truth and realities of creation.
3. Life without faith in God and observance of spiritual values is just a childish play.
4. It is true that all human beings enjoy the life of the world to varying degrees, including as gifts of God Almighty, but the real bounties are those of the Hereafter where bliss is achieved through faith and good deeds, while disbelief and sins mean permanent punishment.

RM/AS/SS