The   Fourteenth clip titled "Let's make our Thursdays Quranic" was released

We start from where we left you last Friday and here is ayah 64 of Surah Naml:

أمّن یبْدأ الْخلْق ثمّ یعیده ومن یرْزقکم مّن السّماء والْأرْض ۗ أإلـٰهٌ مّع اللّـه ۚ قلْ هاتوا برْهانکمْ إن کنتمْ صادقین

“Is He who originates the creation, then He will bring it back, and who provides for you from the sky and the earth… ? What! Is there a god besides Allah? Say, ‘Produce your evidence, should you be truthful.”

If you might recall, similar to the previous ayahs that we explained to you last week on God’s posing of questions to mankind by referring to the wonders of creation, His help in distress when all hopes seem to have been lost, and His signs of guidance which are all around us, this ayah also asks the doubters to contemplate on the wonderful origination of life, on how sustenance is provided from the sky and the earth, and on the replenishing of resources. All these are proof of the indivisible Oneness of the Almighty Creator, Who has no partners and Whose Majesty is absolute, as is evident in the orderly functioning of the universe. They how come the polytheists ascribe partners to Him and worship idols, which are nothing but the creation of their own hands and the imagination of their warped minds. Towards its end, the ayah asks the disbelievers to provide evidence of the reasons for their lack of faith or perverted faith, if you are truthful.

If we ponder more closely on this and other ayahs of the holy Qur’an, we begin to realize the undeniable fact of Resurrection, since the Source of life and existence Who fashioned this universe our of naught, is capable of restoring the dead and the long decayed – even if bones have become powder – to their original shapes and sizes. Thus, Islam is logical and while inviting others to the path decreed by God for the salvation of mankind, it refers to realities and not illusions, and wants those who dispute its truth, to provide rational answers for their reason to stick to their disbelief or lack of belief, instead of trying to ridicule the true believers.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. Be just in dealing with others and debate on the basis of facts and realities, whether, without antagonism, because Islam is the religion of logic and rationality, and seeks proofs from the unbelievers for their reasons of rejection.
2. The bounties of God are all around us; in the air we breathe, in the light of the day, in the darkness of the night, in the rains that fall from above, in the vegetation that grows on earth, the food we procure, the houses which we build, and the clothes and other necessities that we produce.

Now we listen to ayahs 65 and 66 of Surah Naml:

قل لّا یعْلم من فی السّماوات والْأرْض الْغیْب إلّا اللّـه ۚ وما یشْعرون أیّان یبْعثون

بل ادّارک علْمهمْ فی الْآخرة ۚ بلْ همْ فی شکٍّ مّنْها ۖ بلْ هم مّنْها عمون

“Say, ‘No one in the heavens or the earth knows the Unseen except Allah, and they are not aware when they will be resurrected.”

“Do they comprehend the knowledge of the Hereafter? No, they are in doubt about it. Rather they are blind to it.”  

Throughout history those who lacked faith and those who had clouded their beliefs through worship of idols, could not comprehend resurrection and life after physical death. Such persons would indulge in irrational arguments with the Prophets and the true believers, by asking them in a ridiculing manner, as to when the dead will be resurrected. In response to such questions, these ayahs mean to say that only the Almighty Creator of life and existence is aware of the time of Resurrection, and besides Him no created thing knows about the unseen or the events to unfold. This is further proof of the fact that failure to comprehend a happening or lack of awareness of a matter, does not mean that it will not take place. For example, before our birth, none knew why and when we would be born, but all of us are certain that one day, sooner or later, we will die and that none can escape death. In view of these facts, Resurrection is a reality, which cannot be denied, even if we are unaware of its timing.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Doubts arise due to ignorance or evil intentions, and are spread amongst the simple people either because of unawareness of facts or through deliberate mischief by devilish-minded disbelievers, who, as part of their propaganda tirade against truth, indulge in distortion of realities, include creating skepticism about the Day of Resurrection. It is here that the logic and rationality of Islam frustrates such designs through providing of proofs.
2. Faith in the Resurrection, similar to faith in God, requires sincerity of heart and proper use of the intellect – facts that cannot be comprehended by the limited scope of the five human senses.

Now we listen to ayahs 67, 68 and 69 of Surah Naml:

وقال الّذین کفروا أإذا کنّا ترابًا وآباؤنا أئنّا لمخْرجون

لقدْ وعدْنا هـٰذا نحْن وآباؤنا من قبْل إنْ هـٰذا إلّا أساطیر الْأوّلین

قلْ سیروا فی الْأرْض فانظروا کیْف کان عاقبة الْمجْرمین

“The faithless say, ‘What! When we and our fathers have become dust shall we indeed be raised [from the dead]?”

“Certainly we and our fathers were promised this before. [But] these are just myths of the ancients.”

‘Say (to them), ‘Travel over the land and then observe how was the fate of the guilty.”

These ayahs mean to present to us examples of the absurdity of the argument of the faithless about the Day of Resurrection and the failure of their retarded minds to understand how the dead whose bones have become dust will be raised to life. The faithless, unable to comprehend the Power of the Almighty Creator, because of their inability to make proper use of their God-given intellect, mockingly say that what they and their forefathers have been told about Resurrection are unfulfilled promises and thus nothing but myths of the ancients.

The response of the holy Qur’an’s is clear to such illogical reasoning in view of the fact that God Almighty Who created mankind out of clay and gave human beings different shapes and sizes, is capable of resurrecting and restoring them to their original form. Ayah 69 tells the deniers to travel around the world and see what terrible fate befell the disbelievers of the past whose intransigence towards truth and their rejection of the clear teachings of the Prophets, exposed them to divine punishment, especially after the long respite they had been given by God to repent, rectify their wrongs, reform themselves, and return to the fold of believers.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. It is a cardinal sin to view the Revealed Words of God as myths of the past, as is the habit of the arrogantly ignorant disbelievers of our own times, who despite the progress of science and technology fail to use their intellect in the proper way.
2. The holy Qur’an invites us to study the various aspects of the civilizations of the past, and to contemplate upon the fate that befell the tyrants and the unrepentant sinners.
3. Preserving the works of the predecessors enables posterity to heed the lessons.