Quran Garden

Session 330

Chapter 3

Verse 7

a continuation

It is He who has sent this Scripture down to you.  Some of its verses are definite in meaning- these are the cornerstone of the Scripture- and others are ambiguous. Those with deviation in their hearts eagerly pursue the ambiguities in their attempt to foster discord and to pin down a specific meaning of their own: only God knows the true meaning; And those firmly grounded in knowledge, they say, ‘We believe in it: it is all from our Lord’- only those with real perception will take heed- (Chapter 3: Verse 7)

Scholars have differed in explaining the phrase: “only God knows the true meaning; And those firmly grounded in knowledge, they say, ‘We believe in it: it is all from our Lord.’ Interestingly, the difference comes down to the punctuation. 

Some scholars read the verse as follows: ‘only God knows the true meaning’ then stop; Then they start a new sentence with: ‘And those firmly grounded in knowledge, they say, ‘We believe in it: it is all from our Lord.’  Hence, they explain that God alone knows the interpretation of the ambiguous verses.  As for those who are firm in knowledge and who are not tempted by personal desires, they say, ‘We believe in it: it is all from our Lord.’  Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: “The Qur'an was revealed free of contradiction.  Thus, implement whatever of it you understand and believe in whatever of it you do not understand." 

On the other hand, some scholars read the verse as follows: ‘only God knows the true meaning, and those firmly grounded in knowledge’ is read as one single sentence.  Hence, they explain that those who have been blessed with true knowledge from God understand the ambiguous verses.  And as a result of their knowledge and understanding, they say: ‘we believe in it: it is all from our Lord.’

Regardless of where you choose to stop as you recite, the meaning of the verse holds true.  Those who have knowledge and faith affirm their love to God and say, ‘‘we believe in it: it is all from our Lord.’ 

We believe and implement all verses, the ones we fully understand, and the ones we don’t because they are from our Lord and He knows the wisdom behind them.  Take the example of a soldier who receives a command from a higher ranking officer.  Does the officer have to explain the reasoning behind each command for the subordinate to implement it?  Of course not.  The soldier executes the command because it came from higher-ups who have more information, more experience and more wisdom than he does. 

Allah wants you to believe in Him.  He is your Creator, the All-Knowledgeable All-Wise.   If you demand to understand the reasoning behind every command before you do it, then you have no faith in God.  The true essence of faith is to trust your Lord even when implementing matters that you do not fully understand. 

God forbade the consumption of pork over fourteen centuries ago.  Nowadays, modern science tells us that pig meat is harmful, and some people have stopped consuming it.  Will they be rewarded for not eating pork? No.God’s reward is reserved for those who abstain from eating pork products because God has forbidden them.  The believer says: God created me, and He is best aware of which fuel is suitable for my body; thus, I follow His teachings even when I do not fully understand them. A person who abstains from drinking alcohol in obedience to God attains God’s rewards. But a person who abstains from Alcohol out of fear of liver damage will not be rewarded.  That is the difference between implementing an order out of reason and implementing it out of faith. 

Conflicts and wars often result from one person’s desires contradicting the desires of another.  Moreover, if you like something today and work for it, you may change your mind and dislike it next month.  God’steachings came to protect people from their whims, and align them with the All-Wise, All-Knowledgeable.  God says:

If the truth were to follow their whims and desires, the heavens and the earth and everyone in them would have been brought to ruin. No indeed! We have given them their Reminder, but they have turned away from it. (23:71)

Allah is the ultimate truth, and the truth does not change or bend to whims and desires.  Who is better than Him in setting laws for humankind? Historically, rule belonged to religious leaders.  For centuries, Europe was governed by the church.  Why did people abandon religious rule and turned to secularism? Why did the Roman, English, French and other laws prevail over religious law? This happened because people saw clergymen were twisting matters and issuing judgments that served their desires.  They were not upholding God’s teachings consistently.  People noticed that their priest would rule one way when dealing with the rich and powerful, and differently when dealing with the common man.  Greed and Desires became the basis of ruling; God was used as an excuse.  Thus, trust was lost, and the law came out of the hands of priests and the clergy and was transferred to others.  Sadly, the same corrupt path is taken by many Muslim Imams who change their rulings to suit the desires of kings and presidents.

It is interesting to know that the word ‘whim’ is translated from the Arabic ‘Hawa.’  Hawa shares its root with the word Haw’a which means air.  It also shares the root with the word ‘Yahwi’ which means to fall.  All these words: whims, air, and ‘to fall’ suggest that those who follow their desires are not steady.  Any small force causes them to change direction, and eventually plunge to the ground.  This is the exact opposite of someone who is well-grounded in knowledge.  God says: ‘And those firmly grounded in knowledge, they say, ‘We believe in it: it is all from our Lord.’

The verse ends with: “only those with real perception will take heed.’  Perception requires mindfulness and contemplation -the exact opposite of whimsical desires-.  The phrase ‘those with real perception’ is translated from the Arabic origin “Albab الالباب.” The root ‘lub لب’ means ‘the mind’ or ‘the core’:  God is informing you that your mind should examine the core of all matters, and should not be fooled by superficialities.

Let’s look at the example of theft:  God orders cutting the hand of the thief who steals for luxury, not out of dire necessity.  The representatives of human rights and compassion say: ‘this is brutal and cruel!  ’We answer that this is a superficial understanding of the law; the core of understanding says that the mere possibility of losing one’s hand is a very effective deterrent preventing anyone from stealing.  More importantly, this rule is only applied when the thief is not stealing out of hunger or out of dire necessity.  It only applies to those who make theft their profession.  Thus, the true purpose of the penalty prescribed by God is to prevent the act of theft from occurring in the first place.  The actual punishment is rarely prescribed.  A bus accident may result in more disfigurements of the face, limbs and hands than the number of people who lost their hands due to theft since the beginning of Islam. Do not assume that you are more merciful than God.  Allah wants to protect the movement of life among people and deter them from doing anything that harms society.  Look at the entire picture, not at how the punishment afflicts the sinner.  A thief can fear in an entire neighborhood.  When you deter people from stealing, you protect everyone’s safety. This is the core of understanding.  God says:

And there is life for you in Fair retribution, people of understanding, so that you may guard yourselves against what is wrong. (2:179)

The ultimate goal is for both: the crime and the punishment to disappear. Thus, you should know that laws and punishments are legislated not with enforcement in mind; rather, they are set with prevention in mind.  Let’s take a moment to talk about those who stand against fair retribution and the application of the death penalty.  Often, they claim it is inhumane or excessive.  We ask: what is it that makes you defend a person whose life might be taken justly over the victim who was murdered unjustly?  Again, keep in mind that the true purpose of the penalty prescribed by God is to prevent the heinous act of murder from occurring in the first place.  We implement fair retribution to protect the entire community from a killer who has no respect for the lives of others.  More importantly, we hope to protect the community from whoever may be thinking about committing murder.  God says: ‘And there is life for you in Fair retribution, people of understanding.’