Quran Garden

Session 316

Chapter 2

Verse 285

The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and so do the believers; each one believes in God, and His angels, and His Books, and His Messengers: "We make no distinction between any of His Messengers." And they say: "We have heard the call to faith and obeyed.  Our Lord, grant us Your forgiveness, and to You is the homecoming." (Chapter 2: Verse 285)

             When you study this marvellous verse, you note that the first seed of faith in the One God started with our beloved Muhammad.  God says: ‘The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord.’  After that, faith moved to those who the Prophet enlightened with his knowledge as the verse states: ‘and so do the believers.’  Then the faith of the Prophet and believers became one.  God says referring to all: ‘each one believes in God, and His angels, and His Books, and His Messengers.’  So faith started with Prophet Muhammad who received it from his Lord, then he, peace be upon him, spread the message so he and all the believers would have one common creed. 

Here is an interesting fact.  It was not enough for our beloved Muhammad to be the first believer in God, he, peace be upon him, also had to believe that he is the messenger of God.  There were many occasions where Muhammad would joyfully say: ‘I bear testimony that I am the messenger of God.’?  Here is an example:

             The companion Jaber narrated: ‘There was a Jewish merchant in Medina who used to lend me money when I was in need.  We agreed to pay him back next season when I harvest dates from my palm trees.   That particular year, my trees had very poor yield.  And when the Jewish merchant came asking for his money, I explained my situation and asked if he can wait till next year’s crop.  He refused and became angry with me.  I felt trapped.  Prophet Muhammad heard about my situation from his companions.  He asked them: “Take me to Jaber’s land, maybe I can intervene and ask the merchant to give him another year.”  The merchant said to Muhammad: “O Abu Qasem, I cannot wait any longer for my money.”  The Prophet waited for a while and then asked the merchant again only to receive the same answer.  The Prophet came to me and said: ‘Jaber, show me which trees are yours?’ I did.  He, peace be upon him, continued: ‘Can you get me a few of your dates and show me a good place to rest in your land.’ So I did.  The Prophet ate from my dates and took a nap between my trees.  When he woke up, he went back to the Jewish merchant and asked again if he could wait till next year.  The merchant refused.  Prophet Muhammad looked at me and said: ‘Jaber, go back to your land and harvest your trees.’  I found my palm trees, that were bare earlier, overburdened with ripe dates.  I collected the dates, paid the merchant and kept the rest for myself.  I never had a better year.  When Prophet Muhammad saw me coming back with bags of dates, he smiled and said: ‘I bear witness that I am the Messenger of God.’ 

When you read the Quran, you find that God Almighty bears witness to His Lordship.  He says:

God bears witness that there is no god but Him, as do the angels and those who have knowledge. He upholds justice. There is no god but Him, the Almighty, the All-Wise. (3:18)

             So God bears witness to His Lordship, and the Prophet bears witness to God’s Lordship and to his own Prophethood, and then he delivers the message to the believers completing the chain. 

             Allah tells us about the different elements of belief.  He says: ‘each one believes in God, and His angels, and His Books, and His Messengers: "We make no distinction between any of His Messengers." And they say: "We have heard the call to faith and obeyed.  Our Lord, grant us Your forgiveness, and to You is the homecoming."’  Why these elements, you may ask? We answer that faith –by definition- cannot be in something that is seen or even perceived.  You cannot say I believe in my phone because you can see it and touch it. 

             Let’s take a moment to study the different elements of faith God listed for us:  God is unseen –you could not have known about Him had he not told you-.  You may have concluded that a vast universe had to have a creator, but there is no way to know who the creator or creators are.  Similarly, the angels are unseen.  Had God not told us that He created angels, we would never have known.  We know that Angels are magnificent obedient creatures who never disobey God.

             Now we come to the faith in Prophets, messengers, and heavenly books.  The first question that comes to mind: Well, Prophets and messengers were people, we could see them and touch them, the same goes for the Torah, Bible, and Quran, where is the faith in that?  We answer: Have you –or even the companions- seen the Quran physically descend on the Prophet?  Of course not.  The matter of revelations is unseen.

             The verse continues: "We make no distinction between any of His Messengers."  Should we hold all the messengers as equal? We answer that all the heavenly messages since the time of Adam shared the same creed: ‘There is no God but Allah.’  God says in verse 13 of chapter 42:

In matters of faith, He has laid down for you the same commandment that He gave Noah, which We have revealed to you and which We enjoined on Abraham and Moses and Jesus

             Heavenly religions differ in matters of social and economic teachings, but never in creed.  Each message was sent to address certain societal ills to certain peoples at certain periods of time.  Take the example of what Prophet Jesus said to his people -the children of Israel-:

I have come to confirm the truth of the Torah which preceded me, and to make some things lawful to you which used to be forbidden. I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. Be mindful of God, obey me (03:50)

Islam, the final message, holds within it the same exact creed as all the previous messages, but its social and economic teachings are for all people till the end of time. 

The verse continues: ‘And they say: "We have heard the call to faith and obeyed.’  To hear the call means to have properly received the message of Islam, and ‘to obey’ means to follow God’s teachings after hearing them.  

Allah wants you to follow His teachings in all aspects of your life.  Some people claim that religion is prayers and fasting, and that it is separate from daily living.  We answer that Allah gave you commands related to this world and commands related to the hereafter.  You should not take any of them lightly, nor pick and choose one over the other.  Listen to the following verses: God says:

O you who believe, when the call to prayer is made on the day of congregation, hasten to remember God, putting aside your business. ––that is better for you if only you knew––  then when the prayer is finished, disperse in the land and seek out God’s bounty. Remember God often so that you may prosper. (62:9,10)

Take note that God did not only order you to pray your Friday congregation prayers, but He also ordered you to go out and earn a living after the prayer is done.  Both are acts of worship and obedience to Allah.  Allah does not want you to be so involved in your business and worldly affairs that you come late or forget about your prayers.  Likewise, He does not want you to spend all your time in the mosque and ignore your needs and those of your family.  Allah brings balance to your life. 

Both, the first command: 'When the call is made for the Prayer on Friday, then move promptly to the remembrance of God, and leave off your trading,' and the second command: 'when the prayer has ended, disperse in the land and seek out God’s bounty ' are from our Lord, and we should give them equal importance. 

And just in case you forget about God’s teachings and throw your life out of balance, Allah teaches you to say: ‘Our Lord, grant us Your forgiveness, and to You is the homecoming.’