lnYitation to IGood Tidings

From the book"In the Shade of Qur'an"

By:Dr. Ibrahim S. Abu NaYYan

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Invitation to a Good Tidings

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of worlds;peace and blessings of Allah be upon Hismessenger Muhammad, the trustworthyguide, and upon his family, his companionsand those who follow his guidance till theDay of Judgment. The Holy Qur'an startswith Surah Al-Fatiha, the greatest surah, andis followed by Surah Al- Baqarah, whichclassifies people into three general catego-ries, as follows:

l-The first category are the believers, asmentioned in four verses in the said Surah(Al-Baqara).2-The second one is the disbelievers, asmentioned in two verses thereof.3-The third one is the hypocrites, theirf-eatures are mentioned in thirteen versesthereof. Commenting on these saidverses, Al-Sheikh Sayed Kutub pointedout in his book "In The Shade of Qur'an"that by mentioning these three categories,

Allah orders mankind to select thestraight path, which is totally pure (mono-theistic), beneficial, ethical, successful,and dutiful - this is the character of therighteous.

Al-Sheikh Sayed Kutub (-uy Allahhave mercy upon him) was exceptionallyskillful in interpretation of the Holy Qur'anand when he came to the verse, "O mankind!Worship your Lord. Who created you and

become pious" ' which came after mention-ing the three categories, the believers, disbe-lievers and hypocrites. The way to straightguidance and to gain knowledge of the one-ness of Allah and not joining others in wor-ship with Allah, as clarified in the verse"...Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (inworship) while you know tha! He alone hasthe right to be worshipped" '. A rival is acontestant or emulator, this applies on every

' Surah Al- Baqarah, verse (21)2 Surah Al- Baqarah, verse (22)

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i l legal religious offensive, based on the typeof offensive which could be as great as wor-shiping others with Allah, the Greatest. Theworshiping others with Allah comes in threelevels: Major, Minor and Hidden.

Let the noble reader with the interpre-tation of the clear verses be guided and di-rected to the straight way and explore faiththrough with sweet and bright interpretationfrom the book "In the Shade of the Qur'an".Allah says the truth and He guides people tothe straight path.

Allah says, "O Manktnd! \Ug$bip

your Lord rvho created you and those whowere before you so that you may become thepious. Who has made thg-earth a restingplace fbr you. and the sky as a canop)'. andsent down rain from the sky and brogghtforth therewith fruits as a provision for you.Then do not set up rivals unto Ailah (in wor-ship) while you know tbat He Alone has theright to be worshipped" '

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3 Surch Al- Baqarah, verse (21) & (22)

It is the call to mankind as a whole to wor-ship Allah who has created them and thosewho were before them. Allah and no othergod than He can create, so only He is to beworshipped. The worship has its own goal tobe reached and achieved."...So that you may become the pious" a soyou become the chosen category of mankind.The category is of Allah's worshippers, duti-ful to Him. The worshippers must observetheir duty to the Creator, they worship onlythe Creator, the Lord of the present and thepast, and the Creator of mankind, provided tothem from the earth and sky without a rivalnor emulator."Who has made the earth a restinq place... " 5

: is an expression which points to the ease ofhuman life on this earth and preparing it forthem to be a cornfortable residence, a pro-tected asylum as a resting place. People for-get the said resting place which is duly pre-

o Surah Al- Baqarah. verse (21)5 Surah Al- Baqarah, verse (22)

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pared by Allah as they get familiar with it.They forget such harmony which Allah hasestablished on the earth to facilitate earningof living and inhabiting hereon. They alsoforgot Allah furnished it with means of easyand comfortable living.Without this harmony, their lives would notexist on this planet with such ease and com-fort. If one of the living elements was miss-ing from this planet, those people would notexist without an environment providing themwith life. And if an element was excludedfrom the known components of air, thenpeople will find it hard to get a breath even ifthey are supposed to live!-

" . . . the sk), as a canopy..." u I t hut udurability and coordination which related toany regular structure. Happiness has a firmrelationship with the lifb of people on earthand with the ease of this life. The sky withits heat, light, gravity, harmony and otherproportions with the earth pave and support

6 Surah Al- Baqarah, verse (2)

life on earth. No wonder that this will bementioned rvhile reminding people with thecapability of the Creator and His favorsthereof, as well as the obligation of createdworshippers have to worship Allah.". . . sent down rain from the sky and brought

forth therewith fruits as a provision for you."leiiun mentioned that sending down rainfrom the sky and bringing forth therewithfruits and repeatedly mentioned in manyplaces in the Hoiy Qur'an, in order to remindworshippers of the abilities and blessings ofAllah. Furthe nore, the water sent downfrom the sky is the main life-giving ingredi-ent for all creatures on the earth. Life in allforms and at all ievels originated from water"...And We have macle from water every liv-'-

ttglbi4L". Whether water <iirectly causesgrowth of plants when it is mixed with soil,or fresh water f,ormed both rivers and lakes,or.such fresh water penetrates the layers of

1 Surah Al- Baquruh, verse (22)o ,Surah Al- Anbi,ya, r,erse {30)

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earth forming underground water, which ei-ther erupts forming springs or wells aredrilled and water is brought by pumps to thesurfaces once more.

That water cycle on the earth and itsrole in people's lives and the dependence oflife on water in all its forms and shapes isundeniable. Therefore it is enough to irnplyabout it and remind (people) with it in theprocess of calling to r.vorship of the Creator,the Provider and the Donator.The call to worship Allah follows two Is-lamic theories: the oneness of the Creator ofall creation, as highlighted in "...who createdyAl41rd those who were befu " andthe oneness of the universe as well as itsharmony among its components and itsfriendship with lif-e and human beings "Wh<r

and the sky as a canoplr. and sent down rainfrom the sky and brought forth therewith

" Surah Al- Baqaruh, verse (21)

fruits as a provision for you..." tu The earthof this universe is paved for human beings,and its sky is built with precision, provideswater with which fruits are grown and do-nated to people, thanks to the only Creator.

"Then do not set up rivals unto Allah(in worship) while you know (that He algneh^ th. ,ight to b. *otthipp"d)." ttof

course, you know that Allah has created youand those who were before you and youknow that He has made the earth a restingplace and the sky as a canopy and sent downwater from the sky. He has neither partner tohelp nor a rival to oppose Him. After know-ing this, it is religiously unacceptable to wor-ship others with Allah. As per the Qur'an, ri-vals must not be worshipped so as to puriffthe belief in the oneness (of Allah). The wor-shipping of others with Allah could be in anaive form as done by the disbelievers in thepast, or take other hidden forms such as to

to Surah Al- Baqarah, verse (22)

" Surah Al- Baqarah, verse (22)

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beg or fear others than Allah, or believe to bebenefited or harmed by others besides Allah.

Narrated on the authoritY of IbnAbbas, "Rivals originated from worship oth-ers with Allah as unheard as ants' steps at

night. as to swear with someone's life or with

my own life. 'Unless there is a doq. thethieves will come to rob our house'. 'Unless

there are ducks. the thieves will come to robour house'. a man says as 'Ailah and youwishes!' a man says 'unless Allah and )'ou'...these sayings are considered disbelievers'expressions. As in another hadeeth, a man

said to the Prophet Muhammad, the messen-ger of Allah (PBUH), "As Allah and youwishes", the Messenger (PBUH) said, 'You

made me a rival to Allah'. This is the way thepretlecessors of this nation looked at the hid-den worshipping of others with Allah. Welook at where we are with high sensitivityand how far are we from the real great one-N C S S .

The Jews were doubtful about the au-thenticity of the message of the Prophet Mu-hammad (PBUH), while the hypocrites wereskeptical thereof and the same applied on thedisbelievers who inhabited Makkah andother areas. In this context, the Qur'an chal-lenges all these people by addressing allmankind using factual, practical and well-established experiences." And if you (Arab pagans. Jews and Chris-tians) are in doubt concerning that which Wehave sent down (i.e the Our'an) to our slaveMuhammad (PBUH). then produce a szraftof the like thereof and call your witnesses(supporters an{helpers) besides Allah. if youare truthful" 12 Such a challenge begins witha valuable hint therein; the Qur'an describesthe Messenger (PBLTI) as a siave of Aliah"And if you (Arab pagans. Jews and Chris-tians) are in doubt concernine that which Wehave sent down (i.e the Qur'an) to our slave_ This description

t2 Surah Al- Baqorah. verse (23)

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therein has various and complete indications:First, it is an honor and a privilege to theProphet (PBtfD to be a slave to Allah. Thisdenotes that the slavery to Allah is the high-est, prestigious place for people to be calledupon as well as Muhammad (PBUH) to becalled thereto. Secondly, it is affirming themeaning of slavery to Ailah in calling peoplenot to worship rivals but Allah. Here is theFrophet Muhammad (PBLIH), in position ofthe revealer-the highest place, was called tobe a slave of Allah. which was an honor tohim.

The said challenge was focused in thebeginning of the surah. The sent Qur'an isrnade of the known Arabic alphabet which isfamiliar to them. if they are skeptical of it,then they are to produce a suralt thereof andcall theil rivals to witness besides Allah. AsAliah is the witness of the truthfulness ofMuhamrnad's message.

Such challenge was and is still unar-guably pending tiit the present. The Qur'an is

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still unique and distinguishably differentfrom people's speech and it will be so, con-forming with Allah's saying. "But if you do itnot. and you can never do it. then fear theFire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones.prepared for the disbelievers." t'The chal-lenge mentioned here is amazing; it is con-sidered certainly an unachievable one. If itwas deniable, they could not hesitate to en-tirely disapprove it (the Qur'an). There is nodoubt that the Holy Qur'an confinned thesaid challenge and they (the disbelievers)saw this challenge unmet as they admittedand described it as a unique miracle..Therewas an invitation before them and if theybrought contrary evidence, then the HolyQur'an would be proved false. On the con-trary, this was and is, not the case as thischallenge was to the past, present, and futuregenerations. This is a final and historicalrvord ot'separation (between truth and false-hood).

'3 Surah Al- Baqarah, verse (24)

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Whoever has a sense of speech Pat-terns, whoever has significant experiencewith how people conceptualize being andthings, and whoever is in touch with man-made regimes, ideologies, psychological andsocial theories has no doubt that what is ex-plained in the Holy Qur'an concerning allthese matters, is something else that cannotbe made by human beings. This doubt willbe made through either ignorance that is un-able to discriminate or false purpose showingfacts as delusions, therefore Allah threatensthese disbelievers who neither meet the chal-lenge nor believe in the Holy Qur'an: "But ifyou do it not, and can never do itJbgthe Fire (Hell) rvhose fuel is men and stones.prepal@'(13) Wecanask otrrselves why Allah has brought peopleand stones together in such horrible, terriff-ing way? Hell is prepared for disbelievers, asrecited and described in the beginning of thesuroh ; Allah said, "Allah has set a seal ontheir hearls and on their hearing (i.e. they are

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closed from accepting Allah's guidance). andon their eyes there is a covering." toAs Allahput the challenge before them and theyfailed thereto, then they are in a humanform but as deaf as stones, that is why theAlmighty Allah has gathered stones (as realstones) and people (as deaf as stones) in thementioned verse. It seems in this mentionedgathering, that the so-called stones in anotherhorrible scene gives an impression to thesoul that the fire is eating up stones in thesaene crowded with people and stones all to-gether in Hell. On the opposite side there is ascene in paradise awaiting the believers"And give glad things to those who believeand do righteous good deeds .that for themwill be gardens under which rivers flow(paradise). Every time they will be providedwith a fruit therefrom. thelz will say. 'This

what we were provided with before.' andthey will be given things in resemblance (i.e.in the same form but different in taste) and

ta Surah Al- Baqarah, verse (7)

t +

they shall have therein purified mates oIwives, and they will abide therein forever." "This gives a good impression on how muchparadise has of a wide variety of blessings,astonishing everyone. In addition to purewives, alike fruits makes them think that theyhave had it before. The apparent similaritybetween the fruits of this life and those inHeaven, is probably by name or shape. Per-haps this apparent similarity and internal va-riety have an element of surprise for eachtime (when provided). This similarity in ap-pearances and variety proves Allah's creationwhich makes the universe bigger in its realitythan it looks.

Let's take man as a unique example toreveal this great fact. People are the same inthe aspect of creation: head, body, limbs,flesh, blood, bones, nerves, two eyes, twoears, a mouth, a tongue and living cells. Thiscomposition has a similar appearance in formand materials. What is behind these features

'5 Surah Al- Baqarah, verse (25)

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and similarities? Then what is the purpose oftheir characteristics and their capabilities?The variation between one man and another,although both are similar, could be as far asthe earth and the sky!

This Allah-made variation is beyondcomprehension; the variation in types and inspecies, the variation in forms and features,and the variation in advantages and in char-acteristics- all are stemmed from one cellsimilar in content and arrangement. Whodares not to worship Allah alone when any-one can see this evidence in His creation andthe signs of His ability? Who dares to wor-ship rivals to Allah when His miracles areapparent to everyone? His miracles are everywhere, whether visible or invisible!

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