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Saturday, 26 February 2022

9. The Rebellion of Iblees and the Reason Thereof


The Process of Creation

A Qur'anic Perspective
by Dr Israr Ahmad


9. The Rebellion of Iblees and the Reason Thereof

The mentioned seven places where Allah (swt) commanded the angels to bow down to Adam (pbuh), contain the assertion “except Iblees” followed by a number of slightly varying pseudo-explanations given by Satan himself. For example, we read in the verse 34 of Surah Al-Baqarah:

 “… they bowed down except Iblees; he refused and was haughty, he was one of those who reject Faith.”

Verse 61 of Surah Al-Isra contains a more explicit reason of Satan’s refusal to bow down to Adam (pbuh). It reads:

“…they bowed down except Iblees. He said: Shall I bow down to one whom Thou didst create from clay?”

A legitimate question arises here as to how a commandment of Allah (swt) addressed to the angels covered Azazeel who belonged to the created beings specified as jinns? The exegetes answer this question by opining that Allah’s order covered both angels and jinns but since angels were in majority, only they were addressed explicitly. Another reason already mentioned in this treatise was that Azazeel had joined the lower ranks of angels on account of his extraordinary, yet haughty, services and devotion to the Lord. On that account, he was bound to comply with the command of bowing down to Adam (pbuh). As mentioned earlier, the important question to be explored here is as to why Iblees refused to obey Allah’s commandment. The verse of Surah Al-Baqarah does not state any reason for the non-compliance. Verse 12 of Surah Al-A`raf however does give a reason for Satan’s disobedience:

“He said: I am better than he; Thou didst create me from fire and him from clay.” [7:12]

And in Surah Al-Hijr, we read:

“(Iblees) said: I am not one to prostrate myself to man, who Thou create from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape.”

Verse 12 of Surah Saad repeats verbatim the statement given in Surah Al-A`raf. The upshot of all the above  mentioned verses is that the real cause of Iblees’s refusal to obey Allah’s command was that, spiritually blinded, he was only aware of the animal/bodily part of Adam (pbuh) and, being made out of clay and mud, it certainly was inferior to jinns whose source or material of creation is fire --- a decidedly superior element to clay and mud. Being himself a creation of a`alam-e-khalq, he was quite familiar with the animal (physical) or apparently visible part of Adam (pbuh) (as it also pertained to the same a'alam-e-khalq), but he knew nothing about the sphere of amr (a`alam-e-amr) and, therefore, was quite in oblivion about the supreme dignity of the spiritual part of Adam (pbuh) --- his soul. And as already explained above, Allah’s “breathing into him of My spirit” made Adam (pbuh) the highest and noblest created being and only that justified his appointment as the Lord’s vicegerent and representative on earth. And it was on account of the spiritual soul --- the Divine spark in Adam (pbuh) --- that all the angels were commanded to prostrate and bow down before him.

In philosophical parlance, it can be said that Adam (pbuh) was an ontologically composite being --- consisting of an animal part which pertained to the realm of Khalq and a spiritual element or soul that belonged to the realm of Amr. And it is in this perspective that we can rightly understand verse 75 of Surah Sa`d in which Allah (swt) says that He created Adam (pbuh) with ‘His two hands’ (yadayya), insinuating the fact that Adam (pbuh) is a composite being of material/ physical body and a spiritual soul. The eminent Persian sage-poet Sadi has portrayed this very truth in a couplet which can be roughly translated as:

Man is a strange compound of substances. 
He has both an angelic part and a completely animal part.

Here the emphasis is on three points:

1.       The breathing of Allah’s spirit into man, i.e. the addition of substantial entity and faculty of metaphysical knowledge and will, which if rightly used, would give man superiority over other creatures.
2.      The origin of evil is arrogance and jealousy on the part of Satan who, spiritually blinded, saw only the lower side of man (the clay) and failed to see the higher side, his faculty brought in by the spirit of Allah.
3.      That evil only touches those who yield to it, and has no power over Allah’s sincere servants, purified by His grace.

The root cause of the contemporary godless, materialistic and satanic global civilization is the view that human beings are nothing but evolved animals. And this viewpoint has been given tremendous support and theoretical backing by Darwin’s evolutionary theory and its attendant social, moral and political implications. Just like Azazeel, modern civilization and mainstream dominant thought has also an eye only for the physical/material part of man, remaining in total oblivion of the metaphysical/spiritual component. This lopsided and one-eyed perception of the reality of man --- a consequence of scientism in contemporary epistemology --- has led to the present worldwide Dajjali (anti-christ driven) civilization. 
 
This materialistic philosophy has not remained confined to the academic circles and the intellegencia; rather it has trickled down to the common populace of both the West and the East. So much so that even a large majority of Muslim intellectuals and some leaders of Islamic revivalist movements also reject the view that the soul is a separate and ontologically distinct element of human beings. Renouncing the view of soul (presented above in detail) as a divine and spiritual ontological component of man, they identify the spirit or soul with earthly life alone, an essence of the realm of Al-khalq. And this, of course, is a highly misguided opinion, a travesty of truth, explicitly and unambiguously presented by the Qur`an. We can only regret this grave error committed by Muslim scholars and exegetes under the influence of materialistic and secularized Western scientistic thought. 

 to be continued  . . . .


Saturday, 19 February 2022

8. Completion of Adam’s Creation--- Appointment as Khalifah


The Process of Creation

A Qur'anic Perspective
by Dr Israr Ahmad


8. Completion of Adam’s d Creation--- Appointment as Khalifah

The Qur`anic theistic assertion of Allah (swt) as being the Creator, the Originator and the Fashioner renders all mysterious and enigmatic questions regarding the origin of this world and the appearance of man in it intelligible and satisfactorily resolved. Allah (swt) is not immanent in the cosmos in the Neo-Platonic sense; He is a transcendent and a personal Allah (swt) to which man can turn directly for guidance. Although Allah (swt) is transcendent, the creation is not detached from Him, rather it is an expression, effect or concretization of the Divine performative word of “kun”. The myriad forms of the created universe are differentiated in time and space, and are not part of the process of emanation. The following two verses of the Holy Qur`an clearly and unambiguously state that before the appearance of Adam (pbuh), his prefigured primates in the form of “bashar  were created by Allah (pbuh) through a long evolutionary process:

1.       “Behold! Thy Lord said to the angels: I am about to create man (bashar) from clay.” [Sa`d, 38:71]

2.      “Behold! Thy Lord said to the angels: I am to create man (bashar) from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape.” [Al-Hijr, 15:28]

The word bashar used in these verses can refer to Homo, the genus of primates of which, according to evolutionary theory, modern humans (Homosapiens) are the present-day representative. The genus Homo is believed to have existed for at least two million years and modern humans first appeared in the Upper Paleolithic. In this sense, bashar can denote hominid (or hominoid) --- a primate of a group that includes humans (only in the sense of living physical body prior to the breathing of Divine spirit into it), their fossil ancestors, and the bipeds. There is very strong insinuation in the Qur`an that Adam (pbuh) was one chosen bashar and he became Adam (pbuh) after Allah (swt) blew into him out of His spirit --- a primordial truth to which atheistic evolutionists turn a blind eye. The Qur`anic verses, which speak of selection of Adam (pbuh) from amongst a species of humans,  are the following:

i)                 “Allah did choose Adam and Nuh, the family of Ibrahim, and the family of Imran above all people.” [A`le Imran, 3:33]

ii)              “It is We who created you (in the plural) and gave you shape; then We made the angels: Bow down to Adam. And they bowed except Iblees; he refused to be of those who bow down.” [Al-A`raf, 7:11]

Adam’s (pbuh) being chosen by Allah (swt) and similarly creation of a multitude of human primates and crowning one individual with the title and status of “Adam (pbuh)” is quite significant. This essential difference is definitely due to the addition of spiritual soul --- a new and highest metaphysical element --- to the animal part of man. And this, of course, was the result of Allah’s breathing into him out of His own spirit and thus infusing in him the metaphysical element of soul. 
 
It is in this perspective that we can appreciate verse 75 of Surah Saad in which Allah (swt) says that He created Adam (pbuh) with ‘His two Hands’ (yadayya). This perhaps is a subtle allusion to the fact that as Adam (pbuh) is a composite being of material/ physical body and a spiritual soul i.e. both a`alam-e-Khalq and a`alam-e-Amr were fused together to constitute Adam (pbuh). The Adamic first man is none other than the primordial  man by virtue of his being made “in the image” (imago Dei) of a Divine Being. Adam (pbuh) is thus man in divinis, human in his element of khalq but reflective of Divine qualities and attributes as far as soul (the element of Amr) is concerned. And according to an authentic Hadith, a particular soul (which was kept in the repository of souls) is aligned by an angel to each and every embryo developing in the womb of its mother. Thus, the entire progeny of Adam (pbuh) too consist of both a corporeal and a spiritual element. It is this very spiritual element in man that makes him Allah’s representative and vicegerent on earth.

The crowning of Adam (pbuh) as vicegerent of Allah on earth was finalized by the Divine Commandment for all angels to prostrate before Adam (pbuh) thus submitting to his superiority as a deputy of the Lord on earth. This order was rejected and flouted by Azazeel (a jinn, included in the lower cadres of angels on the basis of his devotion and service). Verse 34 of Surah Al-Baqarah reads:

“And behold, We said to the angels: Bow down to Adam; and they bowed down. Not so Iblees, he refused and was haughty; he was one of those who reject Faith.” (2:34)

And in verse 50 of Surah Al-Kah`f, we read:

“Behold! We said to the angels: Bow down to Adam. They bowed down except Iblees. He was one of the Jinns, and he broke the command of his Lord.” (18:50)

The word “Iblees” in verse 34 of Surah Al-Baqarah is derived from the root idea of desperateness or rebellion whereas “Satan” conveys the idea of perversity or enmity. The Jinn Azazeel disobeyed the command of Allah (swt) and was denounced as Iblees and Satan. The importance of the episode of Adam (pbuh) and Iblees can be measured by the  fact that in the Qur`an it has been mentioned no less than six times in Makkan surahs and once in Madinese Surah of Al-Baqarah. Among the Makkan surahs which refer to this narration of Adam (pbuh) and Iblees are Al-A`raf, Al-Hijr, Al-Isra, Al-Kah`f, Taha and Saad. So in all it has been mentioned seven times, a sure proof of its extraordinary significance. From amongst the seven places, two from Surah Al-Hijr and Surah Saad, are of particularly great significance as they both mention, before the creation of Adam (pbuh), the creation (or evolutionary development) and taswiya of bashar. So in Surah Saad, we read:

“Behold, thy Lord said to the angels, I am about to create bashar from clay.” [38:71]

And in Surah Al-Hijr, we read:

“Behold, thy Lord said to the angels, I am about to create bashar from sounding clay from mud moulded into shape.” [15:28]

At both places, two verses which are literally identical in the two surahs follow:

“When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obedience unto him.”

The Arabic locution “taswiya” used at both places encapsulate the entire evolutionary process of the development of life on earth leading to the appearance of Homo sapiens --- the animal prototypes of human beings. And it was only after the infusion of Divine spirit in one such prototype that it became a full-fledged human being – Adam (pbuh). The spirit or soul of Adam (pbuh) was previously lying in slumber in the repository of souls and its dignity and excellence was highlighted by the fact that Allah, the Most High, relates it to Himself i.e. min ruhi (out of my own spirit). This ontological dualism involved in the creation of Adam (pbuh) is of utmost significance in the metaphysical worldview of the Qur`an, which is usually glossed over by contemporary modernist interpreters of the Holy Book. Addition and infusion of spirit or soul in the progeny of Adam is subtly referred to in verse 14 of Surah Al-Mominun where, first, the variegated stages of the development of human fetus in a mother’s womb are described in detail and then its formation on an entirely different pattern is stated --- viz. growing into a human being with a soul equipped with all its capacities and responsibilities. And when Allah (swt) commanded all the angels to prostrate before Adam (pbuh), everyone obeyed and executed the command as ordained. Indeed, the angels always act as commanded by the Lord as verse 6 of Surah Tahreem tells us:

“… Who (the angels) flinch not (from executing) the commands they receive from Allah. But do precisely what they are commanded.” [66:6]

The prostration and bowing of all angels before Adam (pbuh) was, in fact, a sign or symbolic expression of the angels’ acceptance of Adam (pbuh) as superior to them and Allah’s vicegerent on earth. Bowing of angels, in a way, represents the coronation ceremony of Adam’s  (pbuh) appointment as Allah’s deputy and his recognition as the cream of all created beings.

 to be continued  . . . .

Saturday, 12 February 2022

7. Dr. Rafi-Ud-Din’s Characterization of Evolution


The Process of Creation

A Qur'anic Perspective
by Dr Israr Ahmad


7. Dr. Rafi-Ud-Din’s Characterization of Evolution
 
Essentially, following ideas presented by Rumi in his poetical lines,                                Dr. Rafi-ud-Din has pointed out three stages of the long process of evolutionary developments viz., firstly physico-chemical evolution, secondly biological evolution and thirdly ideational or ideological evolution. This, in effect, means that the second stage of the descent of creation coincides with the first stage of evolutionary process. That is to say, as a result of the “Big Bang”, tiny particles appeared which synthesized together to constitute “atoms” which in turn collectively constituted “molecules”. Combination and recombination of these molecules in due course of time led first to the formation of inorganic compounds and then ultimately to the formation of organic compounds which represents the completion of the first stage of evolution. It must be noted here that we have characterized this stage also as the climax and completion of the third stage of the process of descent which has been expressed eloquently by Mirza Abdul Qadir Baydil in the words “two realms (of “khalq” and “amr”) consumed …” But since this third stage of the descent of creative impulse was also the first stage of evolution, biological evolutionary process started from this very phase.

As a matter of fact, the natural scientists have so far not been able to explain as to how the chemical compounds pertaining to the inorganic level acquired the altogether different and higher element/characteristic of “life”. This, in fact, is a perennially irresolvable issue because it necessarily relates to the working of Divine agency of “amr” which is beyond and outside the jurisdiction of the so-called scientific enquiry and method. Indeed, it is only on account of a word “kun” of Allah (swt) that dead and inert matter acquired the current and throb of life and was thus elevated to an ontologically different and distinct sphere. Post-Darwin researchers have conclusively proved that changes occur in the genes or DNA of a species and these cannot be explained at all on the premises of Darwin’s theory. 
 
In the miraculous birth of Hazrat 'Isa (pbuh), the role of the sperm coming from the father’s side was substituted by the word “kun” of Allah (swt). Similarly, the word “kun” was used by the Almighty Allah for bringing about change in the genes of all species of animal kingdom, thus creating a new variety of living beings. And this process of evolutionary change (under Divine creativity) continued till the appearance of beings known as “homo sapiens” in the terminology of modern Biology. We will come back to Dr. Rafi-ud-Din’s characterization of evolution in the form of three levels of evolutionary process --- particularly the human, intellectual and social evolution --- in the last subsection of this treatise.

 to be continued  . . . .