The thirty-fifth clip titled "Let's make our Thursdays Quranic" was released

We start from where we left you last week and here are ayahs 9 and 10 of Surah Roum:

أولمْ یسیروا فی الْأرْض فینظروا کیْف کان عاقبة الّذین من قبْلهمْ ۚ کانوا أشدّ منْهمْ قوّةً وأثاروا الْأرْض وعمروها أکْثر ممّا عمروها وجاءتْهمْ رسلهم بالْبیّنات ۖ فما کان اللّـه لیظْلمهمْ ولـٰکن کانوا أنفسهمْ یظْلمون

ثمّ کان عاقبة الّذین أساءوا السّوأىٰ أن کذّبوا بآیات اللّـه وکانوا بها یسْتهْزئون

"Have they not traveled in the land so that they may observe the fate of those who were before them? They were more powerful than them, and they plowed the earth and developed it more than they have developed it. Their Prophets brought them manifest proofs. So it was not Allah who wronged them, but it was they who used to wrong themselves."

"Then the fate of those who committed misdeeds was that they denied the signs of Allah and they used to deride them."

Last Friday we said God has censured those who do not ponder on the world of creation and its wonders in order to acquire proper cognizance of the purpose of life on the basis of truth. These ayahs say: Have they not traveled around the different lands and observed the fate that befell the nations of the past for their arrogant behaviour, and violation of the commandments of God despite the fact that they were powerful? There are lessons to be learnt by proper contemplation in this regard.

Compared to the polytheist Arabs of the days of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), the powerful civilizations of the past whose ruins dot the routes that the trade caravans plied, were more developed from the point of agriculture and had considerably progressed in constructing buildings. Yet, those nations, with all their power and abilities, when they rejected the Divine Revelations and belied the Prophets, could not escape from the grips of divine punishment. Then how can you escape? These painful punishments are the fruit and sequence of their own deeds. They themselves acted unjustly against their own selves and Allah never treats anyone unfairly. Unlike the school of humanism which says a person is free to do anything unless it annoys others, in Islamic culture, Muslims are not allowed even to harm himself. In fact, the greatest harm to oneself is to misuse the intellect and deny truth and realities of life and creation. So we ought to look at the fate and the end of the nations of the past, and not at their glories. The Prophet's 1^st Infallible Heir, Imam Ali (AS) says regarding the necessity of being familiar with the events in history and contemplating on them: “Though my age is not so old but I am familiar with the history of the past nations as if I have the lifetime of history.”

Explaining the meaning of the Qur’anic sentence “Have they not travelled in the land”, the Prophet's 6^th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja'far Sadeq (AS) said:

“The purpose of it is contemplation and study the history of the nations of the past (who are mentioned) in the Qur’an (in order to learn from their mistakes)”.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Visit to ancient sites for studying the history of the nations of the past and learning lessons from the fate that befell them because of their wrongs has been stressed by the holy Qur'an.
2. Historical developments require learning from the events of the past.
3. Prosperity and real glory of nations is not reflected in their mere material progress and development, but it is faith in God and following the teachings of the Prophets that ensures lasting glories, coupled with rewards in afterlife.
4. Insistence on committing sins brings a terrible fate since this is denial and ridiculing of truth.

Now we read and listen to ayahs 11 to 13 of Surah Roum:

اللّـه یبْدأ الْخلْق ثمّ یعیده ثمّ إلیْه ترْجعون

ویوْم تقوم السّاعة یبْلس الْمجْرمون

ولمْ یکن لّهم مّن شرکائهمْ شفعاء وکانوا بشرکائهمْ کافرین

"Allah originates the creation, then He will bring it back, then you will be brought back to Him."

"And when the Hour sets in, the guilty will despair."

"None of those whom they ascribed as partners [to Allah] will intercede for them, and they will disavow their partners."

As is clear in these ayahs, death brings mortal life to its end in this transient world, but the grave is the gateway to the other unseen world of which we are not aware, and this could be compared to the birth of a child, who while in the mother's womb had no idea of the outside world, and thought that this was the entire universe. These ayahs mean to say that creation and end of mortal life in the transient world is not in our hands, since our creation was the will of God and it is God's will when our life ends in the mortal world. And whether one likes it or not, every person will be brought back to life on the Day of Resurrection for judgement, which necessitates that we refrain from evil and disbelief by keeping steadfast on the path of faith in God, while engaging in good deeds. Do not attach yourself to this world since on the resurrection nothing and no one will help you. Those whom the polytheists associated as partners to God or worshipped idols, will not be able to intercede with God Almighty on the Day of Resurrection. The polytheists will realize on that day that they were in manifest error. Such persons who died in the state of disbelief in God will have no hope in divine mercy.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. The world of creation is the handiwork of God and returns to Him. In other words, origin and resurrection are all part of Divine Will. Negligence of this truth brings total disaster both in this world and in afterlife.
2. The apparent happiness and prosperity of the sinners and criminals in this world should not deceive them, for; on the Day of Resurrection they will be total loss.
3. On the Day of Resurrection the imagination of their minds that the polytheists worshipped will not be able to help them.