In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate Salaam and 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 with ayahs 27 and 28 of Surah Fatir:

 “Have you not regarded that Allah sends down water from the sky, with which We produce fruits of diverse hues; and in the mountains are stripes white and red, of diverse hues, and [others] pitch black?”

“And of humans and beasts and cattle there are likewise diverse hues. Only those of Allah’s servants having knowledge fear Him. Indeed Allah is All-Mighty, All-Forgiving.” 

In these ayahs, the Holy Qur’an again draws our attention to Monotheism or the indivisible Oneness of God Almighty by highlighting a new section of the book of creation to make us understand the undeniable facts and realities. This is a rationally irrefutable answer to the obstinate polytheists and the intransigent deniers of Monotheism.

In this beautiful section from the wonderful world of creation, the variety of inanimate things and the different beautiful features of life in the world of plants, animals and human beings have been referred to, and God has brought into being countless colours from the colourless water, and He has created some completely diverse beings from some defined and limited elements each of which is fairly more beautiful than the other. No skillful painter or a group of painters and artists, are capable of producing what the Almighty Creator has produced of the variety of colours and scenes that not just attract, but hold viewers spellbound.

This ayahs besides moving the curiosity sense of mankind, points to this fact that this matter is so clear and vivid that whoever looks at it sees that from the same water and land, one of which is colourless and the other has only one colour, there have been created these abundant different colours in various fruits, beautiful flowers, leaves and blossoms with diverse features.

The Qur’anic word ’alwaan’ for colours may refer to the apparent colours of fruits that even in a single fruit, like an apple, there exist different colours, let alone the diverse fruits. And it may refer to the differences in their different tastes, constructions, and properties, so much so that even in one kind of fruit you can find various sorts. For example, there are, perhaps, fifty kinds of grapes and more than seventy kinds of date. In continuation, the ayah refers to the variety of paths that exist in the mountains and these mountains cause the ways to be recognized from each other. From one side, this difference of colours gives a special beauty to the mountains and, on the other side, it is a cause for finding ways not being lost in the rugged and rocky pathways of the mountains, and, ultimately, it is a proof of the Power of Allah over everything. The Arabic word ‘sood’ is an emphasis upon the ‘intensely black’ colour seen in some mountain paths. The mountains with their diverse and completely different colours, from one side, and the rough and rocky pathways with various colours on the other side, are among signs for the Greatness, Power, and Wisdom of Allah which every moment appear in a form and every time decorate themselves in another clothing.

Ayah 28 refers to the variety of colours among human beings and in animals and birds. Yes, although human beings are all from one single pair of parents, Adam and Eve, geographical and climatic factors have split them into diverse ethnicities, as well as colours completely different. Some of them are as white as snow while some others are as black. Even in one race, there is also difference of colours.

If we look carefully of the twin children who have passed the different stages of foetus with together and have been in the bosom of each other from the beginning, they are not sometimes completely in the same form from the point of colour, though they are from one father and one mother and their life-germ has combined in a single moment, and they have fed from one kind of food.

Besides the outward features, their innate colours, their characters, their attributes and qualities, their talents and tastes may be completely different so that they all with together form a single unit with the whole needs. In the world of moving creatures, there are many thousands kinds of insects, birds, creepers, sea-animals, different desert wild animals that, with all their specialties and wonders of creations, each of them is a sign of the Power and Greatness and Knowledge of the Almighty Creator. After stating these signs of Monotheism in order to arouse awe among human beings, the ayah says: Only those of Allah’s servants having knowledge fear Him.

It means, from among all of Allah servants only dedicated, conscientious and pious scholars are those who gain the high rank of ‘awe and fear’, that is, the fear of responsibility accompanied with perception of the greatness of the position of their Lord. This state of ‘awe and fear’ is the result of contemplation on the signs of God in the world of creation, and awareness of the Knowledge and Power of Allah and the purpose of creation.

In short, the Infinite Power of God fills the hearts of the sincerely learned ones with awe and fear; while God’s Forgiveness, which is the sign of His unlimited Mercy, is the cause of their ‘hope’. Thus, these divine attributes keep the servants of Allah balanced between ‘fear’ and ‘hope’. It means the movement towards proper progress and development is not possible without with these two characteristics.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. The wonderful colour in the world of creation, such as trees, fruits and their flavours, flowers and their fragrance, mountains, animals, birds, soil and water, are irrefutable signs of the Wisdom and Power of the One and Only God.
2. It is the religion decreed by God for all humanity, that is, Islam, which presents the proper concept of beauty, in not only the physical world of mountains, plains, forests and seas, but the inner spiritual beauty of virtue, faith and abstinence from sins and vices.
3. Another proof of God’s Majesty is the skin-colour and facial features of the human beings, who although born of a single pair of parents, have split into ethnicities and races because of geographical and climatic factors, so as to understand each other on the basis of their common characteristics, the language spoken and the culture evolved.
4. Knowledge and awareness of the mysteries of the universe, coupled with piety and consciousness fill the hearts of believers with not only awe and fear of God, but hope in His Mercy, in contrast to the disbelievers who are trapped in ignorance and arrogance.

Now we listen to ayahs 29 and 30 of Surah Fatir:

“Indeed those who recite the Book of Allah and maintain the prayer, and spend out of what We have provided them, secretly and openly, expect a commerce that will never go bankrupt,”

“So that He may pay them their reward in full and enhance them out of His grace. Indeed He is All-Forgiving, All-Appreciative.”

This ayah refers to the fact that the words ‘prayer’ and ‘Book’ (that is, the holy Qur’an) have repeatedly been mentioned beside each, couple with the fact that prayer must be accompanied with the tendency to help the deprived. If the previous ayahs referred to the state of awe and fear of Allah in the hearts of the piously learned, the ayahs under discussion points to their state of ‘hope’, because, as we said, it is only by means of these two wings that man can fly high in the sky of felicity and pave the path of spiritual development.

It is evident that the act of recitation here is not a mere reciting of the holy Qur’an without contemplation and action. It is a reading which is the origin of thought, a reflection which is the source of righteous deeds, and an action which, on one side, joins man to Allah through prayer, on the other side, it connects human beings to each other. These factors become fully manifest while spending in charity, expending from whatever Allah has bestowed upon us, including: wealth, knowledge, wisdom, experiences, and to sum up, all merits that Allah has given. Sometimes this expending is done secretly as a sign of complete sincerity, and sometimes it is done openly in order to encourage others. And there are rewards in such practices from Almighty Allah for the benevolent, both in this world and the Hereafter, without every becoming bankrupt. In other words, this merchandise is free of destruction. It is a trade where there is no loss.

The next ayah speaks of the infinite bounties of Allah to those who good and the reward they receive. These are glad tidings that besides the ordinary reward, which itself is sometimes manifold of the deed done, even if multiplied by hundreds or thousands, it also increases divine grace of the All-Forgiving and All-Merciful Lord, to Whom we should be grateful. Out of His Grace he bestows peace of mind as well, free of the anxieties of life and its ups and downs.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Knowledge alone is not enough, and should be practically complemented with prayers and acts of worship.
2. The lucrative and lasting business is to use our capital in the path of God and help the people. These are actually our savings that bring manifold rewards in afterlife.
3. Spending in the way of God is not confined to wealth, but includes sharing our knowledge and experiences with the others.
4. Prayer without donation or donation without prayer are useless.
5. The hope of salvation must be accompanied with appropriate action; otherwise it is just wishful thinking.

FK/AS/SS