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 Quran.

We start from where we left you last Friday and here are ayahs 41 and 42 of Surah Ahzab:

“O you who have faith! Remember Allah with frequent remembrance;”

“And glorify Him morning and evening.”

These ayahs are self-explanatory. A hadith says the heart and the soul may rust like iron, and thus the remembrance of Allah is a means to polish them and to make them bright. Since the factors of negligence abound in our life and the arrows of the temptations of Satan are being shot from every direction, there is no way to defend ourselves except by constant cognition of Allah and His bounties. In other words, a true believer ought to be fully attentive to God the Omnipresent, Whose Ubiquitous Presence is everywhere, and Who is even aware of the thoughts that flash across our minds. Thus, in this ayah, the holy Qur’an enjoins all the believers to remember God in all cases. We must be fully cognizant of Him at the time of worship, and even afterwards during the work or leisure hours of our day, so as not to commit sins. If a fault occurs, we should immediately repent and seek forgiveness from the All-Merciful. We should remember God at the time of affluence of bounties and thank Him. We should also remember God at the time of affliction and calamity, for this will instill in us the spirit of patience and steadfastness.

The next ayah says we should always glorify God, whether in the morning or evening, for this will increase His bounties in addition to being a protection from waywardness. According to hadith, one of the best forms of glorifying God is recitation of the famous “Tasbih” of Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her). This was taught to her by her father Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). The “Tasbih Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her) consists of recitation of “Allah-o Akbar” or the Majesty of God 34 times; the recitation of “Alhamdo-lillah” or Praised be God 33 times; and the recitation of “Sobhan-Allah” or Glory to God, 33 times. It has been highly recommended to recite this “Tasbih” after every ritual prayer. In addition, the recitation of the Exalted Attributes of God Almighty, and His Most Beautiful Names, are forms of glorification of Allah in the morning, in the evening, and throughout the day. Thus, much remembrance of Allah and His glorification is like food and water for the human soul. An important point to note is that remembrance and glorification of Allah is not limited to the tongue, but is done by the mind and the heart through his constant cognition, without the moving of lips.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Remembrance of God polishes the heart and brightens the soul.
2. A true believer is always cognizant of God the Omnipresent, and this saves himself/herself from the temptations of Satan to commit sin.
3. Another sign of the true believer is seeking repentance and beseeching God the All-Merciful for forgiveness, for faults, shortcomings and the sins a person is likely to commit.
4. The Tasbih Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her) is among the finest forms of glorification of God Almighty.  

Now we recite to you ayahs 43 and 44 of Surah Ahzab:

“It is He who blesses you, and so do His angels, that He may bring you out from darkness into light, and He is Most Merciful to the faithful.”

“The day they encounter Him, their greeting will be, ‘Peace,’ and He holds in store for them a noble reward.”

These ayahs continue to remind us of the blessings of the Lord Most High Who also instructs the angels to bless mankind, and He provides ample opportunities to the erring to enable them to come out of the darkness of waywardness and sins, into the light of guidance and on to the straight path leading towards the bliss of paradise, since God is Most Merciful. If we might recall, in ayah 152 of Surah Baqarah, God says:

“Remember Me, and I will remember you,”

This means our proper cognition of our Loving Creator makes Him to be more merciful towards us. Among His mercy is the inspiration to the angels to seek forgiveness for the penitents and to beseech divine blessings for the faithful. It is Divine Mercy that helps us overcome the hardships of life and saves us from calamities and the plots of the mischief-mongers and tyrants. It is Allah Who brings us out of the darkness of ignorance, atheism, polytheism, and the like, and leads us toward the light of faith, knowledge, and piety, since He is Beneficent and Merciful and has also commissioned the angels to help us.

As the next ayah says, on the Day of Resurrection, the true believers enjoy special privileges and will be showered with special rewards, while their form of greetings is peace, which they exchange with the angels and with each other, as they dwell in peace and tranquility.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Without divine guidance, human intellect and knowledge are not sufficient to get out of the darkness of disbelief, ignorance, polytheism, atheism, and oppression.
2. Once a person thinks positively and searches for the right path, God Almighty definitely guides him/her towards the light faith and true belief.
3. The greeting of people of Paradise to each other will be Peace. In this world too, the faithful have been advised to use this interesting and meaningful term to greet each other, as is evident by the Islamic form of greeting Salaam Alaikum or peace upon you.

Now we listen to and read ayahs 45 and 46 of Surah Ahzab:

“O Prophet! Indeed We have sent you as a witness, as a bearer of good news and as a warner.”

“And as a summoner to Allah by His permission, and as a radiant lamp.”

Several ayahs of the holy Qur’an, including ayah 40 of Surah Ahzab, which we explained to you last week, speak of the universal mission of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). He is the Seal of Divine Messengers, which means no other prophet will come after him. These ayahs, directly addressing the Prophet of Islam, mean to say that God has sent him to the entire humanity as the most perfect human being with the most comprehensive message of Islam, so as to serve as the most excellent exemplar to mankind, as the witness from God, the bearer of good news for humanity, and the warner to the wayward for mending their erroneous ways. Glad tidings and warnings must go together, because half of the self of a human being is inclined towards benefits and seeking profit, while the next half is made up of avoiding harm and disaster. Thus, glad tiding is a motive for the former, and warning is a motive for the latter.

In the next ayah, God Almighty not just calls the Prophet of Islam as the inviter towards the divine path with the permission of the Lord Most High, but also the radiant lamp. This means, the Prophet’s personality dispels every kind of darkness, and the eyes and the hearts of those searching for truth are attracted toward him.  The presence of the Prophet in society is like the illuminating sun that removes the darkness of ignorance, polytheism, and paganism from the horizon of the sky of man’s soul, but the blind do not utilize the light of this guiding sun, like bats, who cannot bear seeing light and hide themselves. In other words, the obstinate blind- hearted ones have not utilized this light of the Prophet and his message and will not do.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Prophets are the emissaries of God to mankind, and guide humanity towards the path of paradise through giving of glad tidings as well as warnings of the consequences of sins, unbelief, and waywardness.
2. The Prophet of Islam is the witness from God over the whole Ummah, so we should be careful about our acts.

AS/ME