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 Quran. Last week, after several episodes, we completed the explanation of Surah Saba, and today we start the next Surah, that is, Fatir.

This Surah was revealed at Mecca and contains forty-five ayahs. ‘Fatir’ is one of the attributes of Allah and it means ‘the Originator’. The name of this Surah is derived from its opening ayah in which Allah has been introduced as ‘the Originator of the heavens and the earth’. Like other Surahs revealed during the initial 13-year mission in his hometown Mecca of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), the main axis of discussion in this Surah is about Origin, Resurrection, and struggle against polytheism, and the uselessness of pantheon of deities of the idol-worshippers  

We start by reciting the first ayah of Surah Fatir:

“All praise belongs to Allah, Originator of the heavens and the earth, Maker of the angels [His] messengers, possessing wings, two, three or four [of them]. He adds to the creation whatever He wishes. Indeed Allah has power over all things.”

Similar to the Surahs: al-Hamd, Saba, and Al-Kahf, this Surah begins with “hamd” or the praise of Allah. His praise is acknowledgement of the Power and Wisdom of God in creating the vast universe from nothing. In other words, all bounties and the essence of existence originate from the Exalted Being of the One and Only Creator. The The Qur’anic word ‘fatir’ is derived from ‘futur’ originally means ‘to cleave’ and since the creation of creatures is like cleaving the darkness of nothingness and it is the appearance of the light of existence. The use of the word Fatir for the Pure Essence of Allah produces a new and clearer concept. Yes, we do praise Him for His creative Power, because whatever exists is from Him. And in view of the fact that for the orderly management of the universe, God created angels, the ayah immediately speaks about their creation and the power entrusted to them to carry out their duties.

Allah adds to the creation whatever His Will and His Wisdom require including wings and other things. In this regard, the ayah is absolute and it contains any kind of adding, irrespective of the size of the body, moderation in face, good intellect, and other merits. A point to note is that creation is not a thing of the past that has stopped. As a matter of fact, creation continues by the Will of God, and we are not aware of many ongoing development in the world of nature.

There are many ayahs in the Qur’an about the angels’ attributes, specialties, missions, and duties. God has considered the faith in angels, similar to faith in Prophets and heavenly scriptures. Since the angels are among the Unseen things, gifted with special prowess, they cannot be defined in material terms. Of course, angels are not superior to human beings to whom God Almighty granted the power of the intellect and the freedom of will to distinguish right from wrong, As is clear, God had commanded all the angels to prostrate to the structure of Adam on creation of the first human being from clay. And when God breathed His spirit into the clay structure of Adam to grant him life, the Father of the human race virtually became the teacher of the angels, on the basis of his God-given intellect, by  providing the correct answers to which the angels, whose creation by nature is devoid of emotions and material needs, had no clue. Since they are creatures of light without corporal bodies, when on mission to the earth, on the command of God Almighty, angels appear in the form of human beings.

To sum up, God Almighty has power over all things; He creates whatever He wants irrespective of the time factor, which is also His creation. In other words His creation is never ending because His power is eternal and everlasting.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. God has created the system of creation based on causes. Although He is Omnipotent, He has created angels and assigned them their specific duties in the world of creation.
2. Creation continues and depends on the Will of God the All-Wise, Who is better aware of all requirements.

Now we listen to ayah 2 of Surah Fatir:

“Whatever mercy Allah unfolds for the people, no one can withhold it; and whatever He withholds no one can release it after Him, and He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.”

While the previous ayah referred to God’s creation of the universe, this ayah talks about divine mercy, which is infinite and is the cornerstone of creation, since after creation, every created thing, animate or inanimate needs mercy to exist and flourish. If God were to discontinue His mercy from any creature, no one can provide it. Of course, the word "mercy" does not mean mercy in its emotional aspect, but includes all the blessings of life and divine favours. Everything that reaches the creatures, whether mankind or animals and insects, is God's mercy, irrespective of its being material, spiritual, evolutionary, and etc.!

Towards its end the ayah emphasizes two divine attributes: one, the infinite and invincible power of God, and two, divine wisdom, since all divine acts are based on power and within the framework of wisdom. Wherever He deems expedient, He creates and grants it the particular characteristics, and none have any say in these affairs.

In short, all of the keys of mercy are with Him, and whomever He deems eligible He grants as per divine wisdom. If all humankind were to gather to together to open whatever God has closed, they will never be able to do

From this ayah we learn that:

1. Divine mercy covers each and every aspect of the entire universe, include human life.
2. God’s mercy is in the framework of His wisdom, and He has power over all and everything.

AS/ME