Abu Musa narrated:
"The Prophet (SAW) said: "A faithful believer to a faithful believer is like the bricks of a wall, enforcing each other." While (saying that) the Prophet( SAW) clasped his hands, by interlacing his fingers." (Sahih Al-Bukhari)
I...
There are many ways in which you can fall in love with the Qur'an. The rhythm, the linguistics, the precise placements of words and of course, the lessons that it lays out in the open.
Love for anything depends on your knowledge of it. The deeper you study something, the more it starts making sense and the stronger its hold becomes on your heart.
This reflection is on one such verse!
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Honestly, the first time I read the translation, I did not understand it. The imagery is vivid but I was missing the point. When I read the tafsir of Ibn Kathir, I was mind blown. The mufassiroon were a gifted people, for sure.
It made me realize why the Quran asks us to reflect, reflect and then some. Because this is not a book for casual reading, it has the secrets of the world tucked in its intricate calligraphy. There are so many gems waiting to be searched for!
So getting to the verse:
The rainfall refers to the revelation that comes down from the sky. The darkness, thunder and lightning that comes down with the rainfall refers to the warnings, glad tidings, promises and hope.
This verse deals with the psychology of the hypocrites. They put their fingers in their ears trying to ignore the thunder that symbolizes warnings. In other words, when the going gets harder, they back off.
They close their ears for the fear of the warnings that are directed at them and the punishment that'll come with it.
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The truth of Islam, that is symbolized by the lightning is unseen by them because they have lost their sight due to hypocrisy. Whenever there is light, meaning whenever there is an easy command, they walk in it,or follow it. When there is darkness, meaning the difficult ones, they stop. This is because of the weakness of Iman and Allah warns them that He may take away their hearing and sight (the two things essential for obtaining guidance) if they continue with their behavior.
MIND=BLOWN. RIGHT?
The deeper lesson that comes with the decoding is a scary one, because this can apply to anyone of us. We are all struggling to be better each day, falling and scraping our knees on some days, nursing ourselves back to strength on some days but most of all, moving ahead nevertheless.
We are accomplishing things that we didn't think we would, getting rid of questionable habits that had felt like second skin and on this journey, we are emerging as new people, strong—both in character and Iman.
As we move forward and put our achievements on the shelf for us to feel proud of, let us also look back at the things we didn't do, things we thought were too hard for us to follow and make a constant effort to do it because why settle for mediocre when you can be the best?
We hasten to collect and carry achievements on our shoulders in this world, then why not the next?
The one thing that helps? Retrospection.
Because there really are 2 types of hypocrites : Ones who perceive themselves to be, and the ones who don't. Umar bin Al-Khattab RA himself would be scared for himself after he heard about the latter.
There are flaws in all of us and nobody is near perfect, let's just make sure we're always in a constant struggle to pursue them and mend them because really all that matters at the heart of it, is the intention and conscious effort.
May Allah make us of those constantly try to follow His commands. Ameen!
BONUS!
THE SCIENTIFIC MIRACLE OF THESE VERSES :
Source: miraculousquran.blogspot.in
The above Ayat draws our attention towards the link between rain clouds and lightning, darkness in the rain clouds and to the order of formation, information that parallels that discovered by science.
Darkness in the rain clouds
Rain clouds are tremendous masses covering 20 to 260 square metres (10 to 100 square miles) and reaching great vertical heights of 9,000 to 12,000 metres (30,000 to 40,000 ft.). Due to these extraordinary dimensions, the lower parts of these clouds are dark. It is impossible for
the Sun's rays to pass through them, because of the large quantities of water and ice particles they contain. Very little solar energy therefore reaches the Earth through the clouds, which is why the clouds appear dark to someone looking up at them.
Quran uses the plural form of the word darkness i.e. ظلمات.
Clouds containing Thunder and Lightning
The stages of the formation of thunder and lightning after that darkness are as follows:
An electrical charge forms inside the rain cloud. This comes about as a result of such processes as freezing, the division of raindrops and charge formation during contact. The accumulation of such electrical charges, when the air between becomes unable to insulate them, leads to a great spark, a discharge between the positive and negative fields.
The voltage between two oppositely charged areas can reach 1 billion volts. The spark can also form within the cloud, can cross between two clouds, from a positively charged area to a negative one, or be discharged from the cloud to the ground. These sparks form dazzling lightning strikes.
This sudden increase in the electrical charge along the line of lightning causes intense heat (10,000 degrees Celsius). As a result, there is a sudden expansion of the air, which in turn causes the loud noise associated with thunder. Dark layers, followed by the electrically charged sparks known as lightning, and then the loud noise called thunder, form within a rain cloud, as the Ayat tells us. Everything modern science has established about clouds, and has to say about the causes of thunder and lightning, is in complete accord with the descriptions in the Qur'an.
(Harun Yahya's book 'Allah's miracles in the Quran' Pg 122,123)
Allah encompasses the unbelievers
Allah further says," they put their fingers into their ears because of the thunder peal, for fear of death, and Allah encompasses the unbelievers". Allah is making the unbelievers realize that He has 'encompassed' them and if they don't act before it's too late they'll be doomed. Death will reach them and they won't be ready for it. One can not overlook the reality by closing his eyes or putting fingers into the ears. The hypocrites and the unbelievers put their fingers into their ears out of ear not realizing the fact that what they are fearing has already happened. Light travels faster than sound for this very reason we see lightning earlier than its sound (thunder). Similarly they are too slow in their preparation for the Hereafter.
