Welcome to our weekly program “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 7 of Surah Luqman.  

وَإِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا وَلَّىٰ مُسْتَكْبِرًا كَأَن لَّمْ يَسْمَعْهَا كَأَنَّ فِي أُذُنَيْهِ وَقْرًا ۖ فَبَشِّرْهُ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ

“And when Our signs are recited to him he turns away disdainfully as if he had not heard them [at all], as if there were a deafness in his ears. So inform him of a painful punishment.”

Last week, while explaining Ayah 6 of this Surah, we said people who use their assets for vanity and leading others astray by which they buy the wretchedness in this world and the next for themselves at a high price, by ignoring the Divine Ayahs and wisdom that Allah had given them without money. As is clear from the Ayah that we recited to you now, listening to idle talk removes the receptivity for accepting the truth, and such a person becomes so blind-hearted that he turns away disdainfully and completely heedlessly. Then the Ayah implicitly adds that not only does such a person not hear these ayahs but behaves as if he were deaf and heard no word. The punishment of such persons is also appropriate to their deeds. In the same manner that their deed was painful for the people of truth, Allah has decreed their punishment because of their turning away from truth and assuming themselves to be better and superior to the Prophet and the believers.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. Pride, arrogance and haughtiness hinders acceptance of truth and result in being led astray.
2. Listening to false and vain words clouds the minds and deprived it of positive thinking.  

Now we listen to ayahs 8 and 9 of Surah Luqman:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتُ النَّعِيمِ

خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۖ وَعْدَ اللَّـهِ حَقًّا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

“As for those who have faith and do righteous deeds, for them will be gardens of bliss,”

“To remain in them [forever] —a true promise of Allah, and He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.”

In this Ayah, Allah consoles the believers by giving them glad tidings of the bounties of Paradise, since Paradise is particular to the believers who do righteous deeds. The more important point is that, as clarified by the next Ayah, Paradise or the gardens of bliss are eternal for the believers and they will abide in them forever. And this is the promise of Allah, as reward for their faith, and doing of good deeds, by abstaining from sins and all sorts of evil.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Paradise is for those whose faith in the heart is practically demonstrated through righteous deeds and abstinence from evil deeds.  
2. Paradise is the place where neither boredom occurs nor do the believers ever feel fatigue, thirst, hunger, or any other need and want, since God has provided them everything in abundance without feeling the needs to which they were subjected in the world, as a form of trial to ascertain their fathe and righteous behaviour.
3. God’s promise is true, in contrast to false hopes given by Satan and devilish elements amongst the humans.  

Now we listen to ayahs 10 and 11 of Surah Luqman:

خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا ۖ وَأَلْقَىٰ فِي الْأَرْضِ رَوَاسِيَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَابَّةٍ ۚ وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَنبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ زَوْجٍ كَرِيمٍ

هَـٰذَا خَلْقُ اللَّـهِ فَأَرُونِي مَاذَا خَلَقَ الَّذِينَ مِن دُونِهِ ۚ بَلِ الظَّالِمُونَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ

“He created the heavens without any pillars that you may see, and cast firm mountains in the earth lest it should shake with you, and He has scattered in it every kind of animal. And We sent down water from the sky and caused every splendid kind [of plant] to grow in it.”

“This is the creation of Allah. Now show Me what others besides Him have created. Rather the wrongdoers are in manifest error!”

These Ayahs point to five signs of Divine Power in the world of creation. The firmness of the lofty heaven and galaxies without any visible pillars of support; the huge mountains to keep the earth firm and stable; the various types of animal species on land, in the air, and under the sea; rainfall that revives the seemingly dead earth, brings freshness to human beings and other creatures, and ensures supply of the elixir of life, that is, water; and finally the sprouting of diverse and beautiful plants, flowers and fruits. All these bounties on earth for the sustainment of life, are indicative of the infinite Power of the Almighty Creator, Who in the next Ayah asks the disbelievers to show what others have and could create. The Ayahs mean to say that no one shares power with the One and Only God, which means the wrongdoers, whether polytheists or atheists, are in manifest error. It is thus crystal clear that this Ayah on the wonders of creation, refers to some examples of the miracles of the holy Qur’an, which was revealed at a time when mankind could not even imagine the unseen pillars as the power of gravity that keeps planets in orbit, and ensures the orderly revolution on its axis, of the Earth around the sun. In other words, the power of gravity and centrifugal force, are the two forces that are the secret of the rotation of the planets in their orbits. Another miracle is reference to the mighty mountains which stabilize the Earth, and next miracle is the law of conjugality in plants. The variety of life forms is so abundant and varied that many minute insects cannot be seen with normal eyes. All these creatures need food, and that is the wisdom behind rainfall, which is a vital factor in sustaining life. The gist of this Ayahs is to arouse in mankind consciousness for monotheism and abstention from disbelief and polytheism.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. The billions of galaxies, stars and planets in the universe are signs of the Almighty’s Creator’s Infinite Power, and indeed miracles of the holy Qur’an which refers to the invisible pillars of gravity, that man could not think in those days.
2. We ought to ponder on the benefits of water, soil, animals, and the other bounties of nature, in order to behave with a sense of responsibility towards ecology and the natural environment, instead of destroying it.
3. Surely, no one else besides the One and Only Allah has created these wonders, including the human beings, to whom He gave the power of
   speech and intellect to create through science and technology, which itself is nothing but continuation of process of creation set in motion by the All-Wise God.

AS/MG/SS