COMMENTS:
1. Yesterday’s Reading ended with a statement (addressed directly to Prophet Muhammad, peace upon him, and indirectly to us all) showing that, if ‘you’ were to follow them, most people on earth will lead ‘you’ astray; all they follow is Conjecture, and all they can do is guess. We continue today with verse 117, which forms an important CONCLUSION to that statement, in that, despite that Reality, God Alone Knows Best those who stray (verb) and those who are Guided.
2. The following verses might seem surprising:
“Eat then of that over which God’s name has been pronounced, if you indeed believe in his Signs!” (118)
But Asad explains in his note 104, “the reason why these two verses have been placed in the midst of a discourse on God’s transcendental unity and the ways of man’s faith…”
The reason for these two verses being mentioned here, is so that Believers would NOT make the observance of God’s commandments, an end in itself; ie.. we should keep our priorities straight: the ritual is NOT the goal.
Also, as Yusuf Ali explains (his translation and note below), we should not raise fresh scruples about this issue!
“Why should ye not eat of (meats) on which God’s name hath been pronounced, when He hath explained to you in detail what is forbidden to you - except under compulsion of necessity? But many do mislead (men) by their appetites unchecked by knowledge. Thy Lord knoweth best those who transgress.”
Ali’s note 944: “When a clear law has explained what is lawful and unlawful in food, it is wrong to raise fresh scruples and mislead the ignorant.”
I don’t quite agree with the term ‘appetites;’ I prefer the term ‘desires’ for ‘ahwaa, plural of hawa هوى.’
3. Verse 120 shows us that deeds of Hindrance, ‘ithm’ إثم– are two kinds: the ‘external’ or overt, and the ‘internal,’ or covert - ظاهر # باطن. The verse COMMANDS us all, to ‘drop/discard/let go of’ BOTH (for more on ‘Hindrance,’ put it, or put ithm in ‘search this site’).
Verse 121 relates to not eating of that on which God’s name was not mentioned. Commentators say this means that we should ALWAYS mention God’s name when we eat, and that we should NOT eat of anything on which we know that any name OTHER THAN GOD’S was mentioned. Such would be ‘fisq’ فسق- See verse HQ6:145, which explains this.
The last part of the verse is interesting, especially to new Readers who might not have read verse 112, and do not realize that ‘sheytaan’ here is a human deviant. Certainly there are many of such persons who would argue to convince us to do things different from what God has instructed, and if we obeyed them, we would be Associate-rs (although I prefer Ali’s simpler translation here, I don’t think ‘pagans’ is correct. I do not think Asad’s ‘evil impulses’ is correct either.)
Verse 122 seems to indicate that a person without an enlightened purpose in life, is virtually DEAD. Read Ali’s note 945, Asad’s note 108.
4. Verse 123 is a statement on the Nature of Human Society:
It is always so, that in any township, its most conniving citizens would be the highest-ranking ‘Evil-Earners,’ among them, those who would ‘cut off’ for themselves, or extract, the rights of others. But they only connive against their own selves without perceiving it! (I am searching for a good English word for ‘mujrim,’ which literally means ‘someone who cut off something, or drew it out of another.’ The root verb ‘jarama[i]’ is still in use today; we use it to mean ‘cut, or chop up’ especially when asking butchers to slice up the meat into pieces, so small, it would take about 1000 pieces to make a kilo! This is the origin of the measure جرام- English measure ‘gram,’ but again, as we see, Etymology does NOT show that:
“1790–1800; < F gramme < LL gramma a small weight < Gk grámma something drawn, a small weight.”
The following verse ends by specifying that those ‘akaabir’ أكابر- High-ranking folk, who committed such acts will be hit by ‘smallness’ صغار- Degradation, AND Severe Suffering because of their conniving.
Degradation, humiliation, and suffering to those of ‘high’ rank who made others suffer. Justice!
5. Verse 125 holds what some people call a ‘Scientific Miracle,’ by which they mean that the Qur’an cannot be the work of a human mind, because so many of its verses hold truths about our universe that were unknown at the time of Revelation. I agree to all of that, except the term ‘Scientific Miracle,’ which many rightfully consider an oxymoron – a self-contradictory term. Science, and Miracles (supernatural, inexplicable phenomena), cannot meet! Why this obsession with ‘miracles’ anyway?
The Qur’an certainly IS ahead of its time, and it DOES hold Precise Scientific Facts, many of which are far more surprising than this and can indeed be called ‘scientific marvels’.
Nevertheless, this verse says:
“So, whomever God wills to guide, He expands his chest/head ‘sadr’ to The Pure Reverence, and whomever He wills to let stray, He renders his chest/head ‘sadr’ constricted in distress as if he were laboriously scaling into the sky. That is how God brings about Turmoil upon those who do not believe.”
(‘Islam’إسلام in has been translated in earlier postings as Pure Reverence, and ‘rijs’ [ii] رجس as turmoil):
Readers may have guessed that the scientific fact here, unknown during the time of Revelation, is that the higher the altitude, the lower the barometric pressure, the less oxygen we can obtain per breath.. until… breathing becomes impossible once we start ‘scaling into the sky.’ But that is not what the verse is about!
It’s about people with open hearts/minds, versus people with closed hearts/minds. It is God’s ‘intent,’ His ‘design’ when He created us, that those of us who open our hearts/minds will feel elated when introduced to Pure Reverence to Him, while those of us who have closed our hearts/minds, will only feel uneasy, and wish to get ‘back down,’ so as to breathe freely again.
Dear Reader:
Both you and I know that we cannot label people who are uneasy about Islam today as being ‘closed-minded,’ not after OUR version of Islam has transmuted from the Pure Reverence it once was! Today, ‘Islam’ has become, to many people, a label that often holds unattractive and indeed, unworthy, components.
It is the duty of educated and dedicated Muslims to spare no effort in attempting to become worthy of this Standard of Accountability دين.
6. Verse 126 presents the Messenger with his Lord’s Straight Path.
It is here, for him and for us, in these detailed verses/signs for people who ‘receive admonition/take them to heart’ (Ali/Asad).
In Verse 127, persons who receive admonition and pursue the Straight Path, are promised ‘Daar el Salaam’ the Abode Of Peace’ with their Lord, and He is their Protector/Intimate as a result of the deeds were doing (in Life).
(Feel free dear Reader- no matter what ‘faith’ you belong to- to think or say: “Lord, grant ME to be among them!”)
7. Verse 128 is interesting, in that it narrates an exchange that takes place in the Hereafter after everyone on earth is assembled. The verse first addresses a community of ‘Jinn,’ regarding what had been going on in life between them and certain persons of ‘Ins,’ when these two groups of ‘wrong-doers’ ظالمين- were ‘making lengthy use’ of each other متع [iii].
In Verse 130 they are spoken to as a (single) community of ‘Ins’ إنس and ‘Jinn’ جن - and asked that, were not Messengers from themselves, sent to them to warn of this day?
Verse 131 concludes that this (sending Messengers) is because the Lord would not bring about the break-down of wrong-doing townships while their people are unaware.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
We have seen how the question was posed to them as one community, in the plural- NOT in the dual- مثنّى .
This may indicate what some commentators have said, that ‘jinn’ is descriptive of anyone or anything hidden, and as such, could indicate humans as well: Humans who were ‘incognito’ in life, living in the shadow of others and had not, in fact, sought to be seen or heard.
Others say that we should forget about today’s connotations and go to the time of Revelation, where the root-verb stood for many human things such as ‘the human heart/mind-‘qalb’ -janaan,’ ‘the human fetus -janeen,’ what goes on in the ‘human mind -junoon,’ also the person ‘buried in the grave- janeen,’ AND as seen below in our 1000 year-old lexicon, a term that stood for the ‘vast majority’ of persons!
وجَنَان النّاس مُعْظمُهم ويسمَّى السَّوَاد!!!!!
Dear Reader:
We are NOT negating the existence of ‘Jinn,’ or that God created 'Jaan' الجانfrom fire. Copy + paste the word in 'Tanzil' topmost image: you'll find that we are NOT given any description of 'Jinn' الجن- being created; only of Jaan. ie.. these two words are different and NOT synonymous.
Where 'Jaan' are creatures distinct from us, 'jinn' is merely a description of anything or anyone hitherto hidden or indiscernible, such as HQ6:76 which was describing Abraham being concealed by the 'blanket of night,' as well as other examples we'll see below. This also validates the argument in our Posting of March 28, in which we quoted an early 12th century lexicon, which said quite clearly: "Therefore all Angels are jinn (indiscernible), but not all the jinn (the indiscernible) are Angels…”
Whatever the Qur’an mentions of Gheyb (Unseen), IS a Reality, which we can only attempt to understand, and can never prove or disprove. But if we had a true will to understand Qur’anic intent, we should peel off all the preconceptions we have of this, and any other issue, and take each word back to its origin. Isn't it time?
Back to our research: See definitions below of ‘janna [iv] جنَّ ’ which simply denotes being ‘hidden,’ and ‘Ins’; from ‘anasa [v]’ to see, hear, find comfort, companionship and homogeneity.
But ‘Jinn,’ is only ONE opposite to ‘Ins!’ Many do not realize that the SECOND opposite to ‘Ins’ is ‘Wahsh.’ Whereas the verb ‘anasa’ denotes finding comfort in someone, the verb ‘wahasha وَحَشَ’ denotes the opposite: Apprehension.
(We still use the word to mean ‘beast.’ Its plural ‘wuhoosh’ is mentioned once in HQ81:5).
Let us take our time to reread the above verses, using what we now KNOW of the origin of these Arabic words. If we think ‘Hidden’ from now on, whenever we come across any word with the root verb ’janna,’ we would be drawing closer to the original, and putting a distance between us and all inherited misconceptions.
Enough said!
Our next Reading is from HQ6:132-142
Peace unto all!
[i] (جرم) الجرْمُ القطْع. ويقال لِصَرام النَّخل الجِرَام. وقد جاءَ زمن الجَرَامِ. وجَرَمْتُ صُوف الشَّاةِ وأخذته. والجُرَامةُ: ما سقطَ من التّمْرِ إذا جُرِم. ويقال الجُرامة ما التُقِط من كَرَبِهِ بعد ما يُصْرَمُ.. والجَرَام والجَريم: التَّمْر اليابس. فهذا كلُّه متّفقٌ لفظاً ومعنىً وقياساً. ومما يُردّ إليه قولهم جَرَم، أي كَسَب؛ لأن الذي يَحُوزُه فكأنه اقتطَعَه. وفلانٌ جَرِيمةُ أهله، أي كاسِبُهم.
وقال الراغب الأصفهاني: أصل الجرم: قطع الثمرة عن الشجر، وأجرم: صار ذا جرم ، واستعير ذلك لكل اكتساب مكروه، ولا يكاد يقال في عامة كلامهم للكيس المحمود.
[ii](رجس) يدلُّ* على اختلاطٍ. يقال هُمْ في مَرْجُوسَةٍ مِن أمرِهم، أي اختِلاط. والرَّجْس: صوت الرَّعد، وذلك أنه يتردَّد. ومن الباب الرِّجْس: القَذَر؛ لأنّه لَطْخٌ وخَلْط.
[iii] (متع) يدلُّ على منفعة وامتدادِ مُدّةٍ في خيرٍ. منه استمتعت بالشَّيء. والمُتْعة والمَتَاع: المنفعة في قوله تعالى: {بُيُوتاً غَيْرَ مَسْكُونَةٍ فيها مَتَاعٌ لَكُمْ} [النور 29].، ومتَّعت المطلَّقة بالشَّيء، لأنَّها تنتفع به. ويقال أمْتَعْتُ بمالِي، بمعنى تمتَّعت. ويقولون: حبل ماتِعٌ: جيِّد، ومعناهُ أنَّ المدّة تمتدّ به. ويقولون: مَتَع النَّهارُ: طال. ومَتَع النباتُ مُتُوعاً. ومَتَع السّرابُ: طالَ في أوَّل النهار مُتوعاً* أيضاً. والمتاع من أمتعة البيت: ما يستمتع به الإنسانُ في حوائجه. ومتَّع الله به فلاناً تمتيعاً، وأمتَعَه به إمتاعاً بمعنىً واحد، أي أبقاه ليستمتع به فيما أحب من السرور والمنافع.
[v] (أنس) هو ظهورُ الشيء، وكلُّ شيءٍ خالَفَ طريقة التوحُّش. قالوا: الإنْس خلاف الجِنّ، وسُمُّوا لظهورهم. يقال آنسْتُ الشيء إذا رأيتَه. قال الله تعالى: {فَإنْ آنَسْتُمْ مِنْهُمْ رُشْداً} [النساء 6]. ويقال: آنَسْتُ الشيءَ إذا سمعتَه. وهذا مستعارٌ من الأوّل.
[v] (جن) اهو السَّتْر والتستُّر. والجَنّة البستان، وهو ذاك لأنّ الشجر بِوَرَقه يَستُر. وناسٌ يقولون: الجَنّة عند العرب النَّخْل الطِّوَال، والجنين: الولد في بطن أُمّه. والجَنَان: القَلْب. والمِجَنُّ: الترسُ. وكلُّ ما استُتر به من السِّلاح فهو جُنَّة. والجِنّة: الجنون؛ وذلك أنّه يغطِّي العقل. وجَنَانُ الليل: سوادُه وسَتْرُه الأشياءَ.
وجَنَان النّاس مُعْظمُهم، ويسمَّى السَّوَادَ. والمَجَنّة الجنون. فأمّا الحيّة الذي يسمَّى الجانَّ فهو تشبيهٌ له بالواحد من الجانّ. والجنُّ سُمُّوا بذلك لأنهم متستِّرون عن أعيُنِ الخَلْق. قال الله تعالى: {إِنَّهُ يَرَاكُمْ هُوَ وَقَبِيلُهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لا تَرَوْنَهُمْ} [الأعراف 27]. والجناجنِ: عظام الصَّدْر.
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