Islam Made Simple
Dr Osama Al-Azhari
Minister of Awqaf
(Charitable Endowments)
Dear viewers, Welcome to a new episode of your programme “Pearls and Coral.” The poet of the Nile, Hafiz Ibrahim, described the Arabic language in his famous masterpiece, speaking on its behalf:
“I am the sea, within whose depths pearls lie hidden.
Have they asked the diver about my treasures?
I encompassed the Book of Allah in both wording and purpose.
Nor did I ever prove too narrow for any of its verses or admonitions.
So how could I be too constrained to describe a machine?
Or to coin names for modern inventions?”
If the Arabic language is an ocean filled with pearls and coral, then how much greater is the Ever-Glorious Qur’an itself, for whose sake the language came into being in the first place – existing only to convey, contain, and strive to transmit its majesty and meanings to humankind?
So, allow us to set sail together through the lights of the twenty-fourth part of the Ever-Glorious Qur’an, exploring its meanings, values, etiquettes, illuminations, and divine guidance, and to see what pearls and coral we can draw from it.
Let our first point of reflection in this part be at the words of Allah Almighty: “Allah takes up the selves at the time of their death and the ones which have not died, in their sleeping. Then He holds back the ones against which He has decreed death, and sends (forth) the others till a stated term. Surely in that are indeed signs for a people who meditate.” [Qur’an 39: 42].
This noble verse from the All-Wise Remembrance (the Ever-Glorious Qur’an) draws our attention to Allah’s marvelous creation concerning death and sleep, between which there is great similarity: in both, man loses consciousness and draws near to a wondrous unseen realm.
If death marks the end of a person’s appointed term in this worldly life and the severing of the soul’s connection to the body, then the body returns to its origin of dust and decomposes as it did the first time, while the soul ascends to the realm of the Highest Assembly and passes on to the world of the Hereafter.
As for the realm of sleep, it is the “lesser death” or “minor death,” as the scholars say. It is a realm of profound strangeness and mystery in which physicians, philosophers, and physiologists have long been bewildered trying to explain the phenomenon of sleep – and even more so the phenomenon of dreams in human beings. In the writings of Freud, in the works of Muslim psychologists, and throughout our own history and heritage, we find astonishing insights about the world of dreams.
So what exactly is a dream? Is it nothing more than images stored in the depths of a person’s being that play out before him when he sleeps? Or can a human being, in sleep, rise to a state of elevation, transcending the limits of the human world, and take a portion of wisdom from the higher realm – so that there comes to him a true, inspired dream? He then sees a vision that is fulfilled in precise detail, as though the veil had been lifted before him.
In the noble hadith, our master the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “would see no vision except that it came like the break of dawn,” clear and true in its finest details, as if he had witnessed it before it occurred.
I have come across wondrous things in our own history regarding the study of dreams, visions, and the world of sleep. Scholars have written hundreds, even thousands, of works on this phenomenon. The most famous of them is Imam Ibn Sirin, who was one of the great interpreters of dreams; Imam al‑Dhahabi said of him that he was “granted divine openings in that field.” There are also Ibn Shahin, Ibn al‑Wardi, and others who authored books and poetic treatises on the interpretation of dreams.
By contrast, we also find charlatans and impostors who sell illusions to people and interpret dreams according to their whims, to the point that there are now shows broadcast here and there for “dream interpretation,” many of which are nothing but deceit, quackery, and a way to make money.
Yet the lesson we draw here is that this mysterious realm is itself a sign of the divine power and Allah’s management – Glorified and Exalted is He – of His servants’ affairs.
Ultimately, if you wish to see a true dream, or to have some degree of inner clarity in both wakefulness and sleep, then you must cling to truthfulness. Truthfulness illuminates the insight and leaves the heart pure.
Allah described Prophet Joseph (Yusuf) PBUH as the truthful one, He says: “Yusuf, (Joseph) O you (man) constantly sincere, pronounce to us.” [Qur’an 12: 46]. In the noble hadith: “A man continues to speak the truth and strive to be truthful until he is recorded with Allah as siddiq (a truly truthful one).”
Let’s move to another point of reflection in this part. Allah Almighty says: “Say: Is it true that indeed you surely disbelieve in (The One) Who created the earth in two days, and do you set up compeers to Him?” That is The Lord of the worlds. And He made therein anchorages (i.e., mountains) from above it, and He blessed it, and determined therein its nourishments in four days, equal to the questioners.” [Qur’an 41: 9-10].
The point I wish to pause at here is His words, exalted be He: “and determined therein its nourishments.” What does that mean?
Geologists and scholars of cosmology and astrophysics say that the age of our planet Earth is estimated at about 4.7 billion years. It is made up of an interior filled with molten rock (magma), which appears in the form of volcanoes, and of distinct layers that make up the planet, ending with the earth’s crust and what lies upon it of oceans, continents, and mountains.
Humankind has existed upon the face of this earth for a very long time. Then peoples, nations, cultures, civilisations, and human settlements arose – alongside millions of other living creatures: butterflies, birds, beasts, scorpions, and fish. All of these creatures need sustenance: they eat, drink, and are nourished.
How many billions of human beings? How many billions of birds? How many billions of animals? How many billions of livestock and poultry? How many billions of mosquitoes, flies, frogs, snakes, lions, elephants, and microscopic organisms?
All of them need provision. But from where do they receive this sustenance?
From the Earth, beloved ones! And the astonishing thing is that the earth, from the moment it was created and until the Day of Resurrection, does not receive anything from outside itself – except the light of the sun.
Some may ask: But does not rain fall from clouds? Yes, it does – but from clouds within the Earth’s own atmosphere. If you were to go beyond the atmosphere, four or five hundred kilometers above sea level, you would find nothing – only the void.
The space surrounding the earth has received nothing from outside it for 4.7 billion years – except the light of the sun.
Everything we depend on in our lives, and will continue to depend on until the Day of Resurrection, falls under Allah’s words, exalted be He: “and determined therein its nourishments.” – meaning that Allah placed within the earth, with precise measure, the provisions, resources, and wonders stored in it, sufficient for the flourishing of life and its being sustained until the Day of Resurrection.
The writer ‘Abbas al‑Tarabili authored a delightful book on the curiosities of foods and dishes he encountered around the world, in which he mentions amusing information about the astonishing variety of human culinary arts and types of food.
A final pause at Allah’s words: “And not equal are the fair deed and the odious deed. Repel with that which is fairest; then, only then, he between whom and you there is enmity will be as if he were an intimate constant patron.” [Qur’an 41: 34].
Our master and venerable teacher, Sheikh Muhammad Mitwalli ash-Sha’rawi – may Allah have mercy on him – said: “Our Lord says here: ‘Repel with that which is fairest,’ because when you repel an enemy with what is best, his heart softens, he feels ashamed before you, and after a while he begins to treat you kindly, so that the enemy is transformed into a friend.”
Then Shaykh ash-Sha’rawi pauses at Allah’s words: “Repel with that which is fairest; then, only then, he between whom and you there is enmity will be as if he were an intimate constant patron,” and says:
“If you resort to ‘that which,’ Allah grants you ‘the one who.’
So, what is the meaning of “that which?” It is “That which is best.”
And what is the meaning of “the one whom?” It means: “The one between whom and you there is enmity will be as if he were an intimate constant patron.”
Some poets summarised this in two lines:
O you distressed by the deeds of her and him,
Repel, dear one, with “that which is best” – until you see: “then behold, the one who.
That is: “O you who are bothered by the behaviour of a woman or a man, respond with what is best, until you yourself see how enmity is turned into friendship.”
Let us now move to another pause in the openings of Surah Ghafir, where Allah Almighty says: “The ones who bear the Throne, and the ones around it, extol with the praise (s) of their Lord and believe in Him, and they ask forgiveness for the ones who have believed,” [Qur’an 40: 7].
Who are those who bear the Throne? They are the angels, as Allah Almighty says elsewhere: “And upon that Day eight (angels) will bear above them the Throne of your Lord.” [Qur’an 69: 17].
The Throne is the greatest of Allah’s creations, vaster than galaxies, stars, universes. Yet despite the immensity of the Throne, the angels who bear it are never distracted from glorifying Him; rather, they seek forgiveness for the believers!
Indeed, they supplicate for them – for forgiveness and mercy – not only for the righteous, but even for those who repent after sinning, as Allah Almighty says: “So forgive the ones who repent and closely follow Your way, and protect them from the torment of Hellfire.” [Qur’an 40: 7]. This points to the vastness of Allah’s mercy and His care for His believing servants.
In conclusion, we pause again at: “And not equal are the fair deed and the odious deed. Repel with that which is fairest; then, only then, he between whom and you there is enmity will be as if he were an intimate constant patron.” [Qur’an 41: 34].
We ask Allah – Glorified and Exalted is He –to adorn us with the character traits of our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), by which we rise to the highest ranks of servitude and we attain Allah’s love.
Until I am honoured to meet again in a new part of the Ever-Glorious Qur’an, stay noble; stay safe.
