2017 07 The Light July 2017

July 2017 The
Light 7
cave of Hira when he heard the angel Jibreel announce
to him Iqra - Read! He said: Fa qoel toe
maa annaa bi qaari ‘I am not one who can read.’
Again Jibreel said Iqra - Read! and again he said:
Fa qoel toe maa annaa bi qaari ‘I am not one that
can read.’ And a third time the Angel Jibreel said
Iqra - Read! and again he said: Fa qoel toe maa
annaa bi qaari ‘I am not one that can read.’
Then Jibreel revealed the following words to
the Holy Prophet (s):
Read in the name of thy Lord Who creates-
Creates man from a clot,
Read and thy Lord is most Generous,
Who taught by the pen,
Taught man what he knew not – (96:1-5) 1
It is indeed noteworthy that these very first
verses revealed to the Holy Prophet (s) do not mention
anything about worship but instead appeal to
the human intellect and draw attention to man’s
creation from an insignificant clot of blood. Instead
it contains the command to ‘read’ the Divine
Wisdom of which unfolds as we proceed through
the Holy Quran and we come to realize that worship
amounts to nothing if not accompanied with
true understanding and knowledge of a Superior
Being, that we cannot see with our physical eyes.
It thus becomes imperative to study and observe
the works of our Creator and study His nature and
attributes as manifested in the world we find ourselves
in, to attain (haqqal yaqeen), absolute certainty
of His existence. We are commanded to read
with the assistance of our Rabb, the One Who
nourishes and sustains us through various stages of
evolution to perfection. So, our Rabb is our Guide
along the path to perfect knowledge and absolute
certainty of His existence. This is the foundation
on which we are commanded to build our faith in
Him. Without such a solid foundation of true divinely
guided knowledge, our faith will be like the
roots of a tree, which are so weak that. the slightest
occurrence of a severe
storm will eventually cause
it to topple. Sure,
knowledge of our Rabb, on
the other hand, strengthens
the roots of our faith in Him and renders us capable
to weather all storms of opposition with solid arguments
in His defence and serves as a shield for
us against sin.
This revelation indeed brought about a revolution
of light and learning in a dark world. Therefore,
its timing is called ‘Lailatul Qadr’ the Night
of Majesty. The night refers to the moral and spiritual
darkness the Arabs, the Jews, and the Christians,
nay civilization found itself in at the time.
The revelation on that majestic night sort of unleashed
a ‘Big Bang’ of spiritual awakening that
brought about a flurry for knowledge tempered
with a deep spirituality never experienced before.
As the Holy Quran says:
Tannazalul malaai katoe wa ruhu feehaa bi
idhni Rabbi him min kulli amr
The angels and the Spirit descend in it by the
permission of their Lord — for every affair.
Although the revelation of the entire Quran
took twenty-three years, the euphoria and majesty
that accompanied the first revelation that came to
the Holy Prophet (s) on the night of Lailatul Qadr
was more glorious than any other time and that is
why the Holy Quran says, ‘it is better than a thousand
months.’ A thousand months means a very
long period of about 83 years which is approximately
the average life span of a normal human being
on earth. 83 years is also approximately the
timing when spiritual revolutions occur in the universe
with the advents of Mujaddidiyya or spiritual
Revivers of the Faith raised by Almighty Allah
Himself. With the advent of a Mujaddid which
usually coincides with an age of dark nights of corruption
and irreligion, we again find a spiritual resurgence
on a large scale. Therefore, it is said that
when the souls of such holy persons are enlightened
the ‘angels and the spirit’ again descend on
the earth like rain by which humble and sincere
souls, not
Do men think that they
will be left alone on saying,
We believe, and will
not be tried?
blinded by ego
and pompousness,
are inspired
1 There is consensus amongst most scholars that the
last two verses were also part of the first verses revealed.
I Shall Love All Mankind.