The Possibility of Satan Turning into a Human Shape

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God says, “Nothing exists, unless it is with Us and We bring it down to you as much as needed.”‌ This shows that everyone and everything in this world is linked to God. This also shows that our world is not the only existing world and that we are leaving in the lowest world of all.

God has said that man could have all the worlds in hands. This proves that no creature from another world could control man, unless it establishes a reasonable relationship with him.

No matter how strong Satan is, man is stronger. Satan could only deceive man by temptation. Satan is not a simple creature as we imagine; it has different ways to deceive human man beings. But it should be mentioned that Satan could only give one an idea. Man himself extends that idea in such a way that it even amazes Satan.

We think that Satan is a simple being, but according to traditions, whenever Satan faces a problem in deceiving man, he summons all satans, infidels and jinns and tests different ways to deceive human beings.

We may not be having a clear picture of the tricks of Satan, while the late Ayatollah Bahjat used to say: human beings must be very careful as if they have entered a field where bullets are shot at him from six sides. Human beings can overcome Satanic forces by relying on their divine nature and divine traditions whose objective is guidance of human beings.

Another point is that as man is above all the other creatures, his being controlled by Satan can only happen at his own will. Therefore, in order to stop Satan, one should try to be more sensitive towards what is right and what is wrong and to make his will stronger.

There are two sides to the primordial nature of man; one is to gain perfection with love and affection towards sublime beings, and the other one is passion for perfection by detesting imperfection or imperfect beings, like Satan. Hating Satan helps one move towards perfection faster.

Satan can appear in different forms. In regards to the prophets, Satan could never deceive them by temptation, and the only way he could confront the prophets is to appear in a worldly form.

Some people believe that Satan cannot incarnate into a human form, but there are verses that reject this belief, like, “Remember Satan made their (sinful) acts seem alluring to them, and said: No one among men can overcome you this day, while I am near to you: But when the two forces came in sight of each other, he turned on his heels, and said: Lo! I am clear of you; lo! I see what ye see not; Lo! I fear Allah. for Allah is strict in punishment.”‌ (Al-Anfal: 48)

Some believe that people cannot see Satan as God says in the Qur’an, “O ye Children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you, in the same manner as He got your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of their raiment, to expose their shame: for he and his tribe watch you from a position where ye cannot see them: We made the evil ones friends (only) to those without faith.”‌ (Al-A’raf: 27)

Maybe this just means that Satan cannot be seen by man in its real form, but it is visible to man if it incarnates in a human (or another worldly) form. Satan can turn into many different forms, but he can never turn into the form of Prophet Muhammad or other prophets.

According to Prophet Muhammad, “Whoever sees me in a dream is actually seeing me; because Satan could never turn into me.”‌
Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi

The Secret Number, Forty, in the HOLY Qur’an

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Forty, in the HOLY Qur’an

In Religion
Number Forty is a special number in the religious and Islamic culture.
The significance of the age of forty is undeniable, as Prophet Muhammad said, “When one gets forty God tells his two guardian angels, ‘From now on, be strict on him and note every small and big deed he does.’”‌ This shows that one’s personality is formed before he becomes forty years old and every inner change will become harder after that.
In Mysticism
Muslim scholars, especially mystics, consider forty as a significant number in the fields of self-purification, finding one’s talents, and reaching moral heights.

In the Qur’an
The number forty has been mentioned with three different virtues in the Qur’an:
1. We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: In pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth. The carrying of the (child) to his weaning is (a period of) thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full strength and attains forty years, he says, “O my Lord! Grant me that I may be grateful for Thy favor which Thou has bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and that I may work righteousness such as Thou mayest approve; and be gracious to me in my issue. Truly have I turned to Thee and truly do I bow (to Thee) in Islam.” (Al-Ahqaf: 15)
2. Allah said: “Therefore will the land be out of their reach for forty years: In distraction will they wander through the land: But sorrow thou not over these rebellious people. (Al-Ma’ida: 26)
3. “And remember We appointed forty nights for Moses, and in his absence ye took the calf (for worship), and ye did grievous wrong.”‌ And “We appointed for Moses thirty nights, and completed (the period) with ten (more): thus was completed the term (of communion) with his Lord, forty nights. And Moses had charged his brother Aaron (before he went up): Act for me amongst my people: Do right, and follow not the way of those who do mischief.”‌ (Al-Baqara: 51)

The Interpretations
There are different interpretations of the above mentioned verses concerning the number forty.
Verse 15 of Al-Ahqaf Surah could be related to the perfection of man at the age of forty. However, most interpreters believe that a man gains perfection at thirty three.
Imam Sadiq believed that man gains perfection at the age of thirty three and he will remain the same till he gets forty.
Anyway, many others believe that one’s mental ability is perfect at the age of forty, as Muhammad was appointed the prophet of God in the same age.

What is the Secret of Forty?
Some scholars like Sadr-al-Motalein Shirazi maintain that only Prophets and messengers of God know the secret of the number, forty.
There are some sayings indicating that God has made Adam out of soil in forty days. It took man forty days to turn from what it is to a divine creature. Therefore, in order for one to get back to his divine nature, one needs forty days of time.
Prophet Muhammad also said, “Whoever memorizes forty sayings in regards to religion, will be considered as a sage on the day of judgment.”‌

Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi

Why aren’t the Imams’ names clearly mentioned in the Quran?

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We must know that first: the names of the Imams’ have been mentioned in the words of the prophet of Islam (pbuh), especially Imam Ali’s name that was mentioned by the prophet as his successor many times. One of these occasions was at the beginning of his prophetic mission, when he conveyed his message to his tribe and relatives, where he said: “The first person that believes in me will be my Wasiyy (vicegerent), minister and successor.” And no one but Imam Ali responded in the affirmative. Finally the prophet said to him: “After me, you will be my wasiyy (vicegerent), wazir (minister) and my khalifah (successor).”[1]
Another example is the hadith of Ghadir in which the prophet clearly states: “من کنت مولاه فعلى مولاه”[2] which means: “Whoever that I am his master, Ali is his master.” There is also the hadith of “Manzilah” (position/station) in which the prophet said to Imam Ali: “انت منى بمنزلة هارون من موسى ،الاّ انه لانبى بعدى”[3] Most of the prophet’s ahadith in regard to Imam Ali’s Imamate and Caliphate are Mutawatir (recurring so much from different narrators that one becomes totally sure that the hadith can’t be made up) and most Sunni and Shi’a books have mentioned this fact.[4] In another hadith, when speaking to Jaber Ibn Abdullah Ansari, the prophet names the Imams from Imam Ali to Imam Mahdi.[5]
Therefore, we must keep in mind that even though the Imams are not named in the Quran, but the prophet, whose words and sayings are all true and revealed to him[6], has mentioned their names and emphasized on their Imamate and Caliphate.
Second: Despite the fact that the Quran does not mention the name of Imam Ali, but his Imamate has been pointed out in Quranic verses. The majority of Quranic commentators from among Sunnis and Shi’as admit that verse 55 of Surah Ma’idah was revealed in regard to Imam Ali and that this verse is solely speaking of him.[7] The verse is as follows: “انما ولیکم الله و رسوله و الذین آمنوا یقیمون الصلاة و یؤتون الزکاة و هم راکعون” which means: “Only God, His Messenger, and the true believers who are steadfast in prayer and pay alms, while they kneel during prayer, are your guardians.”
Knowing that in Islam there is no specific guideline about paying Zakaat during Ruku’, it is obvious that this verse is pointing out an incident that only took place once. This incident transpired when Imam Ali was performing Ruku’ and a needy person came to his presence and asked for help. The Imam pointed to his finger and the poor man came and took his ring and left.[8] This is why the verse says: “Only[9] God, His Messenger, and the true believers, are your guardian” and no one else has authority over you.”
Up to this point we explained that the names of the Imams have been mentioned in the words of the prophet and the Quran has equivocally mentioned the Imamate of them in such a way that if a fair researcher is seeking the truth, he will understand, through the least research and inquiry, that the prophet’s opinion in regard to caliphate and imamate after him, was for Imam Ali and his children to be his successors.
As far as why the Imams have not been named in the Quran, there can be two reasons:
1- The Quran tends to mention different issues using general terms and explain them in general rules and principles, not to explain every little issue and detail as this method has been employed by the Quran when explaining many Usul (pillars of religion) and Furu’ (branches of religion).
This answer is expressed in a hadith from Imam Sadiq,[10] and to back his explanation, the Imam gives three examples. The first example is Salat (prayer). The Quran has mentioned the concept of prayer in a general manner and has not expounded how each prayer is performed. However, the prophet explained for the Muslims how prayers should be performed and how many Rak’ats each of them consists of. The second example is Zakaat which the Quran only mentions as a general principle in Islam. Once again it was the prophet that explained what things Zakaat applies to and what the Nesab (taxable limit) of each is. The third example was Hajj which has solely been considered wajib in the Quran, and it was the prophet that explained exactly how to perform it.[11]
Therefore, to expect the Quran to mention the details to every issue, no matter how important, is not reasonable, and when observing the issue of Wilayah and Imamate, if the names of each of the Imams are not mentioned in the Quran, this cannot constitute a reasoning to reject the school of thought of the Ahlul-Bayt, the same way one cannot perform Dhuhr prayer with two Rak’ats just because of the excuse that the Quran does not mention that it is comprised of four, or to not perform Tawaf (circumbulation) because the Quran does not say it should be done seven times in Hajj.
2- In regard to controversial issues like this (Imamate) to which there is a great possibility of objection and opposition, it is better for the Quran to explain the issue equivocally, because there is great chance that the dispute in regard to the Imamate of Imam Ali would lead to a dispute about the Quran, and this is definitely not in the best interest of the Muslims. Of course, we must remember that when Allah says in the Quran: “انا نحن نزلنا الذکر و انا له لحافظون” (We Ourselves have revealed the Quran and We are its Protectors)[12] that one of the ways of protecting the Quran from alteration is to choose its words in a way that hypocrites among the Muslim community would lose their motives to alter the Quran, so that if a group or individual has a great motive to oppose Islam due to his desires, he would not change the Quran to what he desires. This way the value and sanctity of the Quran would remain preserved.[13]
The following are Shahid Mutahhari’s words when explaining the abovementioned answer: “The question about why the Quran has not mentioned Imam Ali’s name in regard to his Imamate and authority, can be answered in the following ways; first: The Quran tends to mention different issues using general principles second: Allah and his prophet did not want this issue, which carnal desires play a role in the outcome of, to be mentioned in this form; for they (the hypocrites) even tried to change and explain away what the prophet had said and claimed that he meant something else, meaning that even if there was a verse that would unequivocally state such a thing (mention Imam Ali’s name), they would still explain and interpret it in a different way. The prophet stated clearly that: هذا على مولاه How clearer and more unequivocal can the prophet say it?! However, there is a great difference between neglecting the clear statement of the prophet and neglecting a clear and straightforward verse of the Quran a day after the prophet’s demise. This is why I have mentioned this story in the introduction of my book “Caliphate and Wilayah” that during the time of Imam Ali, a Jew wanted to scold the Muslim community for the incidents that took place at the beginning of Islam’s inception (and it was truly a great means of scold and scorn); he said to the Imam: “ما دفنتم نبیکم حتى اختلفتم فیه” (You hadn’t even buried your prophet that there was a dispute about him among you). Imam Ali responded: “انا اختلفنا عنه لا فیه و لکنکم ماجفت ارجلکم من البحر حتى قلتم لنبیکم: اجعل لنا الها کما لهم آلهة. فقال: انکم قوم تجهلون” (We did not have a dispute about him, but rather about his command, however, your feet had not become dry from passing the sea before you asked your prophet to compromise your most fundamental belief of Tawhid and build you idols like the ones the inhabitants of the desert had.) Therefore, there is a great difference between what took place for us and what happened for you. We did not have a dispute in regard to the prophet himself, but rather our dispute was about his command and order. These two are very different in the eyes of those looking at Islam from an outer perspective; to say that after the prophet, they (those who denied Imam Ali’s (as) successorship) did so because of a misinterpretation (although this misinterpretation was deliberate) of the prophet’s words rather than saying they did so out of neglecting and disobeying something that the Quran had directly and explicitly ordained.[14]
In light of what was said, one can say that the main reason why the Imams’ names or at least Imam Ali’s name was not mentioned in the Quran was to protect the Quran from alteration, as the verses of Tat’hir[15], Tabliq[16] and Wilayah[17] are situated among verses related to the prophet’s wives and other rulings or commands of not befriending the People of the Book, verses which seemingly have nothing to do with the successorship of the Ahlul-Bayt and Imam Ali. However, a fair researcher with the least scrutiny can understand that these parts of the verses are separate from the rest of the verse and they have been placed in their respective locations for a specific reason.[18]

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[1] Ibn al-Bitreeq, Al-Umdah, pp. 121 and 133; Seyed Hashem Bahrani, Ghaayat al-Maraam, pg. 320; Allamah Amini, Al-Ghadir, vol. 2, pg. 278.
[2] This hadith is Mutawatir and has been transmitted in Sunni and Shi’a books. The narrators of this hadith from the first to the fourteenth Hijri century have been mentioned sequentially in the book of “Al-Ghadir” and the most notable of them are 60 of the prophet’s companions that have narrated this hadith in Sunni books and their names are mentioned in those books. Also, in “Abaghaat” written by Mir Hamed Hussein, the Tawatur (being Mutawatir) of this hadith has been proven. See: Al-Ghadir, vol. 1, pp. 14-114; Ibn Al-Maghaazeli, Manqib, pp. 25-26; Mutahhari, Murteza, Emamat va Rahbari, pp. 72-73.
[3] Al-Umdah, pp. 173-175; Ahmad bin Hanbal, Musnad Ahmad, vol. 3, pg. 32; Al-Ghadir, vol. 1, pg. 51; vol. 3, pp. 197-201.
[4] In regard to proving the tawatur of the ahadith relating to Imam Ali’s Imamate much effort has been made in the books of “Al-Ghadir” and “Abaghat”. Fazel Qushji does not deny the tawatur of some of these ahadith. See: Sharhe Qushji bar Tajridul-E’teqaad, Khajeh Tusi.
[5] Muhammad bin Hasan Hurr Ameli, Ithbaat al-Hudaat, vol. 3, pg. 123; Suleiman bin Ibrahim Qanduzi, Yanabi’ al-Mawaddah, pg. 494; Ghayat al-Maraam, pg. 267, vol. 10, quoted by Misbah Yazdi, Amuzeshe Aqa’id, vol. 2, pg. 185.
[6] “و ما ینطق عن الهوى ان هو الا وحى یوحى” Najm: 3, 4.
[7] Please refer to different commentaries under the verse being discussed here, such as: Fakhruddin Razi, Al-Tafsir al-Kabir, vol. 12, pg. 25; Tafsir Nemouneh, vol. 4, pp. 421-430; Jalal al-Din Suyuti, Dur al-Manthur, vol. 2, pg. 393; also, Sunni hadith sources have narrated this story, such as in: Dhakha’ir al-Uqba, Muhibbuddin Tabari, pg. 88; also, Jalaluddin Suyuti, Lubab al-Nuqul, pg. 90; Alaa’uddin Ali al-Muttaqi, Kanz al-Ummaal, vol. 6, pg. 391 and many other sources that Tafsir Nemouneh has pointed to in vol. 4, pg. 425.
[8] This analysis has been adopted from the book Emamat va Rahbari of Shahid Mutahhari, pg. 38.
[9] According to the Nahwiyyun (Scholars of Arabic syntax) “انما” indicates exclusiveness. See: Mukhtasar al-Ma’ani.
[10] Kuleini, Kafi, the book of ‘hujjah’, the chapter on Allah and the prophet’s explicit mention of the imams one after another, vol. 1.
[11] The hadith is as follows: “عن ابى بصیر قال: سالت اباعبدالله (ع) ‏عن قوله الله عزوجل “اطیعوا الله و اطیعوا الرسول و اولى الامر منکم”، فقال (ع) نزلت فى على بن ابى طالب و الحسن و الحسین فقلت له: انّ الناس یقولون: فما له لم یسم علیا و اهل بیته فى کتاب الله عزوجل ؟ قال (ع) قولوا لهم: ان رسول الله نزلت علیه الصلاة و لم یسم الله لهم ثلاثاً و اربعا، حتى کان رسول الله هو الذى فسر لهم ذلک .و نزلت علیه الزکاة و لم یسم لهم من کل اربعین درهماً، حتى کان رسول الله هو الذى فسر لهم ذلک .و نزل الحج فلم یقل لهم طوفوا اسبوعاً حتى کان رسول الله هو الذى فسر لهم ذلک.”
[12] This point has been elaborated on by Ayatullah Hadavi Tehran in his lessons on the “theological bases of jurisprudence”, which will be published in the second volume of the book of The Theological Bases of Jurisprudence.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Emamat va Rahbari, pp. 109-110, 27th print, Sadra Publications, Tehran, 1381.
[15] Ahzab: 33 “انما یرید الله لیذهب عنکم الرجس اهل البیت و یطهرکم تطهیراً” (Indeed Allah desires to repel all impurity only from you, O People of the Household, and purify you with a thorough purification). This verse is placed in the middle of other verses about the prophet’s wives.
[16] Ma’idah: 67 “یاایها الرسول بلغ ما انزل الیک من ربک فان لم تفعل فما بلغت رسالته” (O Apostle! Communicate that which has been sent down to you from your Lord, and if you do not, you will not have communicated His message) This verse is place among other verses related to rulings on eating dead animals and haram meat.
[17] Ma’edah: 55 “انما ولیکم الله…” This verse is mentioned after verses related not befriending the Jews and Christians.
[18] This point has also been mentioned in the lessons of the theological bases of jurisprudence by Ayatullah Hadavi Tehrani, and will be published in the second volume of The Theological Bases of Jurisprudence.

The Holy Qur’an and Modern Scientific Discoveries

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Modern Scientific

There is no doubt that the Holy Qur’an is not a book about natural sciences, medicine, psychology or mathematical studies.

The Holy Qur’an is a book of guidance and one which builds a human being. It mentions whatever is necessary for one to know.

We should not expect that the Holy Qur’an be an encyclopedia about the various sciences. We should seek the light of faith and guidance, piety and purity, humanness and ethics, order and law from the Holy Qur’an and it contains all of these.

But sometimes in order to reach this goal, the Holy Qur’an indicates some of the natural sciences and the secrets of creation, in particular, in its lessons on unity; it removes the veil over the secrets of the world of creation and it discloses facts which were unknown to the scholars of that era.

This expression of the Qur’an forms a complex which we call the intellectual miracles of the Qur’an. Here we will indicate some of the intellectual miracles of the Holy Qur’an.

The Holy Qur’an and the Law of Attraction

Before Newton, no one had discovered the law of gravity in a complete way.

It is famous that while Newton was sitting under a tree, and an apple fell from the tree, he began to think about the reason and said to himself, “What energy is this which attracts the apple to itself? Why did it not go up to heaven?” After many years of study, he discovered the law of gravity.

In the discovery of this law, it was proven where the order of the stars comes from, why this earth moves around the sun and why they do not fall into each other. What power is this which keeps them in their own orbit, and they do not move this way or that.

Yes. Newton discovered that the orbiting of a body causes it to flee from the center and the law of gravity causes it to return to the center and as long as these two are in balance, that is, the distance between these two bodies brings about a gravity to create a fleeing from the center and a gravity to pull it back to the center, this attraction and repulsion permits it to remain continuously in its orbit. But the Holy Qur’an, 1000 years before this event, says:

“God is He Who raised the heaven without any pillars that you can see; is firmly established on the throne. He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His Law)! Each one runs (its course) for a term appointed. He regulates all affairs, explaining the sign in detail that you may believe with certainty in the meeting with your Lord.” (13:2)

In a Tradition from Imam ‘Ali ibn Musa al-Rida about this verse, he says, “Does God not say a pillar without a pillar being seen?

The narrator says that in response to the Imam, I said, “Yes.”
He said, “Thus a pillar exists but you do not see it.”

Can an analogy simpler than this be found to express this to simple Arab people?

In a tradition of Hadrat ‘Ali we read: “These stars which are in the heavens are cities like cities on earth and every city is connected to another city by a ray of light.”
Scholars today, among the astronomers, believe that there are millions of stars which are inhabited with living creatures but the details of this are still not known.

The Discovery of the Orbit of the Earth around the Sun

It is famous that the first person who discovered that the earth moves around the sun was Galileo, who lived approximately four centuries before and before that, the Egyptian scholar, Ptolemy, had said, “The earth is the center of the universe and everything revolves around it.”

Galileo was reprimanded by the Catholic Church for his discovery and his denial of this discovery saved his life but finally other scholars followed up his discovery and today it is a certain scientific fact which has been proved by space flights.

In summary, the earth being the center was negated and it became clear that this was an error of our senses because we mistake the movement of the stars and planets for the movement of the earth. We are in motion and we assume that they are!

At any rate, the opinion of Ptolemy lasted for 1500 years and it influenced the thoughts of the scholars during those years, and, at the time of the descent of the Holy Qur’an, no one had the courage to speak against this view.

But when we turn to the Holy Qur’an, we see:

“You see the mountains and think them firmly fixed, but they shall pass away as the clouds pass away…” (27:88)

The Qur’an speaks very clearly about the movement of the mountains whereas we see them as immovable and the analogy of their movement with that of clouds is both an indication of calmness and quietude.

If we see that instead of the movement of the earth, the movement of the mountains is mentioned, this is so that the truth of the matter be made known because it is clear that the mountains, without the earth, have no motion and the movement of them is exactly like the movement of the earth, either around itself, or around the sun or both.

Now think that at a time when all of the scholars of the world and the masses of the people thought that the earth was motionless, and believed that all of the stars and planets moved around it, the direct confrontation of this idea and the mention of the movement of the earth is a scientific miracle!

And this from a person who had never studied and who, in general, arose from an area where there were no teachers and which was considered to be very backward from the point of view of science and culture.

Is this not a proof of the Truth of this Book?

Think and Answer

1. What is meant by ‘scientific miracles’ of the Qur’an?
2. Who was the first person who discovered the law of gravity and in what age did he live?
3. In what verse in the Qur’an and with what analogy does it refer to the law of gravity in general terms?
4. Who said that the earth was immobile and how long did this rule human thought?
5. In what verse and sura does the Holy Qur’an refer to the movement of the earth?

The World View of the Holy Qur’an

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Before anything else, we should study the intellectual and cultural environment from which the Holy Qur’an arose.

From the point of view of all historians, the Hijaz was among the most underdeveloped and backward areas of the world at that time. During the Age of Ignorance, the people of this area are referred to as savage or half-savage.

From the point of view of ideology, they were very firm worshippers of idols and stone and wood statues had cast their disgraceful shadows upon all of their culture.

They even say that they made statues and idols out of dates and they would kneel before them but at times of famine, they would eat them.

They held great hatred for female children so that they buried them alive and they called the angels, the daughters of God! They thought that God was just like a human being.

They were very surprised by the idea that a person should only worship One God. When the Holy Prophet invited them to worship the One God, with great surprise, they said,

“Has he made the gods (all) into one God? Truly this is a wondrous thing.” (38:5)

Whoever spoke against their superstitions and their myths were called liars and insane.

They were ruled by a very firm tribal system and the differences and disputes among the tribes were so extensive that the wars among them never ended and time and time again, they colored each other’s environment with blood, creating blood baths. They were proud of their plunder and considered it to be part of their daily activity.

The number of people who could read and write in the area of Mecca, the center of commerce, could be counted on one hand and it was very rare to find scholars among them.

Yes, in such an environment, an individual who could not read and write and who had never had a teacher, arose and brought a book which was so full of such content and meaning that after 14 centuries, the scholars are still busy with its interpretation. Every age discovers new truths in it.

The image that the Holy Qur’an gives of the world of existence is a very accurate and exact one: monotheism is presented in the most perfect form. It expresses the secrets of the Creation of the earth, the heavens, the night and day, the sun and the moon, plants and the existence of the human being — each one as a sign of the One God in the various verses and with a varied form of expression.

Sometimes, it goes into the depths of the human being and speaks about the unity of the primordial nature:

“Now, if they embark on a boat, they call on God, making their devotion sincerely (and exclusively) to Him; but when He has delivered them safely to (dry) land, behold, they give a share (of their worship to others)!” (29:65)

Sometimes it speaks of the intellect.

Sometimes it reasons from the unity of the intellect and relies upon the journey through the horizons and souls: the secrets of the creation of the earth and the heavens, animals and mountains and seas, rain and breezes and of the body and spirit of the human being.
When speaking about the Qualities of God, the most interesting and the deepest form of expression is selected.

The Holy Book says:

“There is nothing whatever like unto Him…” (42:11)

“He is God. There is no god save He; the Knower of the unseen and seen; He is the Beneficent, the Most Merciful. He is God; there is no god save He; the King, the Holy, the Peace-loving, (the bestower) of conviction, the Guardian (over all), the Ever-Prevalent, the Supreme, the Great absolute!

Hallowed is God from what they associate (with Him). He is God, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner; His are the Excellent Names; praises Him whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth; and He is the Ever-Prevalent, the All-Wise.”(59:22-24)

In expressing the Knowledge of God and explaining His Unlimitedness:

And if all the trees on earth were pens and the ocean (were ink), with seven oceans behind it to add to its (supply), yet would not the Words of God be exhausted.” (31:27)

“To God belongs the Face of East and the West: whichever way you turn, there is the Face of God …” (2:115)

When words are spoken about the resurrection and it denies the polytheists:

“He says, ‘Who can give life to (dry) bones and decomposed ones (at that’)? Say, ‘He will give them life Who created them for the first time! For He is well-versed in every kind of creation! The same who produces for you fire out of the green tree when behold! You kindle therewith (your own fires)!

Is not He who created the heavens and earth able to create the like thereof? Yea indeed! For He is the Creator supreme of skill and knowledge! Verily when He intends a thing, His Command is, be and it is!” (36:78-82)

“On that Day will (the earth) declare her tidings. “(99:4)

“That Day shall We set a seal on their mouths. But their hands will speak to us and their feet bear witness to all that they did.” (36:65)

“They will say to their skins: ‘Why bear you witness against us?’ They will say. ‘God has given us speech, (He) Who gives speech to everything: He created you for the first time, and unto Him were you to return.” (41:21)

The value of the knowledge of the Holy Qur’an and the greatness of its content and the greatness of its content and the fact that this knowledge is free from any kind of superstition will become clear when it is compared with the altered Bible and Pentateuch.

When we compare these two with each other, for instance, we see what the Pentateuch says about the creation of the human being and then what the Holy Qur’an says.

What does the Pentateuch say about the prophets and what does the Holy Qur’an says?

How does the Bible and the Pentateuch describe God? How does the Qur’an do so?

Here the difference between these two will be made clear.

Think and Answer

1. What were the particularities of the environment from which the Qur’an arose?
2. What effect did idol worship have in their thoughts?
3. What is the difference between primordial nature and reason?
4. What is the logic used by the Qur’an in describing the Qualities of the Creator? Give examples.
5. How can one better understand the content of the Holy Qur’an?

A Glance at the Miracle of the Qur’an

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What do the letters stand for at the beginning of some of the Surahs?

We see that the beginning verse of many of the surahs of the Holy Qur’an are letters, like alif lam mim, alif lam mim rah and ya sin.

One of the secrets and the philosophy behind these letters, according to some of the Islamic traditions, is that God is showing the great miraculous and eternal quality of the Holy Qur’an.

That is, how can the Qur’an make use of these simple letters and create such words which are greater than the letters while every child can repeat them and in truth the appearance of this important fact is one of the most important miraculous issues.

Now this question arises. From what point of view is the Qur’an a miracle? It is only because of its simplicity and tone, or, in other words, the sweetness and clarity of its expression and the extraordinary influence of it or is it because of something else?

The truth is that whenever we look at the Holy Qur’an from different points of view, each one presents another image of its miracle. For instance:

1. Eloquence: The sweetness and extraordinary attraction of the miraculous words and concepts.

2. The expression of the highest content from every point of view, especially beliefs which lack any sort of superstition.

3. Scientific miracle: That is, the uncovering of issues which human beings during that age had not come to know.

4. To foresee and speak directly and accurately about some future events (the hidden news of the Qur’an).

5. The lack of contradiction, disputes, disorderliness and others.

A discussion about each of these five areas is very extensive but we will discuss some of them here.

1. Eloquence

We know that every discussion has to aspects: letter and content.

Whatever letters and words of beauty contain the necessary unity and are free of complicated and complex expression and also the sentence structure is such that they are exactly what one desires to hear and they attract the heart, that expression is called eloquence.

The Qur’an has both of these two qualities to the highest extent possible so that to date no one has been able to bring verses and surahs with such attraction, sweetness and tone.

In the previous lessons, we saw that Walid ibn Mugharayah, a skilled Arab linguist, was enraptured by hearing a verse of the Holy Qur’an and was made to think about how to express something to the Quraysh which would lessen the Holy Prophet in the eyes of the people, finally thought of the word ‘bewitchment’ and called Muhammad a be This is what they called the Prophet of Islam, even though they wanted, in this way, to condemn him, but, in truth, they were unable to do so.

At the same time, this calling the Prophet a magician is to admit to the extraordinary effects of the Qur’an in the sense that it cannot be explained and justified in simple terms and it must be recognized as being something miraculous.

But instead of them accepting the truth, and considering it to be a miracle, and gaining faith, they took the way of myth and legend. They were led astray and said that it was magic.

In the history of Islam, it can very often be seen that whenever harsh individuals went to see the Prophet, or hear verses of the Holy Qur’an, they changed their direction in life and allowed the light of the Holy Qur’an to guide them. This well shows that the attractions and eloquence of the Qur’an are miraculous.

We do not need to go far to see that whenever those people who are familiar with the Arabic language read the Qur’an, and they repeat it, they receive pleasure; they do not tire or become satiated.

The words of the Holy Qur’an are very accurate, are mixed with the purity of expression, and, at the same time, are clear and enlightening as well as, when necessary, they are firm.

It is necessary to point out that the Arabic language at that time had progressed a great deal as a language and examples of poetry during the Age of Ignorance, before the appearance of Islam, are among the best poems from the point of view of language.

It was famous that every year, the greatest literary men of the Hijaz would gather together and would offer the best examples of their poems in a commercial-literary center in the ukaz bazaar. One poem would be chosen as the best of the year. They would write it down and recite it in the Ka’bah. At the time of the Prophet, seven of these still existed and were called mu‘alaqat sab’.

But after the descent of the Holy Qur’an, they paled in comparison to the eloquence of the Holy Qur’an, so that one after another, they were removed from there and were forgotten in history.

The commentators upon the various verses of the Qur’an express all of the wondrous qualities of the verses so that reference can be made to them to gain a familiarity with it.

A familiarity with the Holy Qur’an shows that this saying of the Prophet of Islam, is not an exaggeration, “The Holy Qur’an has a beautiful exterior and a deep and subtle interior. The wonders of the Qur’an can never be counted and the miraculous qualities of the Qur’an will never age.”

The Commander of the Faithful, ‘Ali, peace be upon him, a great student of the Holy Qur’an, also says in the Nahj al-Balaghah, “The spring of hearts is in the Qur’an and it is the source of the springs of knowledge. There is no better way to remove the rust of the hearts and souls of people than through the Holy Qur’an.

Think and Answer

1. What is the philosophy behind the beginning letters of some of the verses of the Holy Qur’an?
2. Is the Holy Qur’an a miracle from only one point of view? Or from several points of view?
3. Why did the opponents of the Holy Qur’an refer to the Prophet of Islam as a ‘bewitcher’?
4. What is the difference between eloquence and bewitching?
5. What age did the mu’alaqat sab’ refer to and what does it mean?

Why is it forbidden to give the Qur`an to a disbeliever?

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Giving the Qur`an to a non-Muslim is forbidden on condition that such an act becomes cause for its disrespect and violation of its esteem, but if we know that a non-Muslim truly intends to study about Islam and thus desires to analyze the Qur`an, not only would it be permissible to give him the Qur`an but it might even become obligatory; those who have prohibited giving the Qur`an to a non-Muslim did not intend the prohibition for such a case.

Consequently, great Islamic circles insist that the Qur`an should be translated into various languages of the world in order that the invitation towards Islam reaches those who seek the truth and yearn for reality

Is Bismillah a part of (every) chapter?

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Amongst the Shi’ite scholars there exists no difference of opinion in the fact that Bismillah is part of Suratul Hamd and every chapter of the Noble Qur`an (except Suratul Taubah as shall be mentioned later)50. Basically, the presence of Bismillah in the beginning of all the chapters in the text of the Qur`an is itself proof of this issue since we do know that nothing has been added to the text of the Qur`an and the mention of Bismillah, at the start of all chapters, has been prevalent since the time of the Noble Prophet (s.a.w) till today.

However, as far as the Sunni scholars are concerned, the author of Tafsirul Manar has presented a comprehensive collection of their views, which is as follows: “There exists a debate amongst scholars as to whether Bismillah, at the start of every chapter, is a part of the chapter or not?  The ancient scholars from Makkah – jurisprudents and the Qur`an-Reciters alike – amongst them Ibn Kathir; those from Kufah, amongst them the Qur`an-reciters ‘Asim and Kasa`i; some of the Companions and the Followers51 of Madinah; Thauri and Ahmad (in one of his two opinions) and so too Shafi’i and his followers – all are of the belief that it is part of the chapter. And similarly the Twelve-Imam Shi’ite scholars and (according to them) the Companions like ‘Ali, Ibn ‘Abbas, ‘Abdullah b. ‘Umar and Abu Hurairah; some scholars from the followers such as  Sa’id b. Jubair, ‘Ata, Zuhri and Ibn al-Mubarik  – all have opted for this opinion.”

He then adds: “Their most important proof is that the Companions and those who came after them – despite emphasizing that the Qur`an ought to be purified from everything which is not part of it, for which reason they never mentioned ‘Amin’ at the end of the (recitation) of Suratul FatiHa – were unanimous in reciting ‘Bismillah’ at the start of every chapter, except Suratul Baraat.”

He then goes on to state that Malik, the followers of Abu Hanifah and some others considered Bismillah to be a separate verse, which had been revealed to indicate the beginning of the chapters and serve as a separator between them.

He then narrates from Ahmad (the renowned Sunni jurisprudent) and some of the Qur`an-reciters of Kufah that they believed Bismillah to be a part of Suratul Hamd only and not of the other chapters.52

From what has been mentioned above, it can be concluded that a definite majority of the Ahlus Sunnah are also of the belief that Bismillah is a part of every chapter.

We present below a few of the traditions that have been narrated by means of the Sunni and Shi’ite chains of narrators (and confess that mentioning all the traditions that exist in this regard is beyond the scope of this work and more suited to a full-fledged jurisprudential discussion on the issue.)

i. Mua’wiyah b. ‘Ammar, one of the companions of Imam as-sadiq (a.s) says: “I asked the Imam (a.s): ‘When I stand for prayers, should I recite ‘Bismillah’ in the beginning of Suratul Hamd?’  The Imam said: ‘Yes’. I questioned him once again: ‘When al-Hamd is completed and I have to recite another chapter after it, do I have to recite ‘Bismillah’?  Again he (a.s) said: ‘Yes.’”53

ii. Dar Qutni, a Sunni scholar, upon the authority of an authentic chain of narrators reports that a person approached Imam ‘Ali (a.s) and asked: “What is the ‘al-Saba’ al-Mathani?’”54  The Imam (a.s) replied: “It is Suratul Hamd.”  The person said: ”(But) Suratul Hamd has (only) six verses.”  Whereupon he (a.s) said: “Bismillahir RaHmanir RaHim is also one of its verses.”55

iii. Baihaqi, the renowned Sunni narrator, upon the authority of an authentic chain of narrators reports from Ibn Jubair that Ibn ‘Abbas said:

إِسْتَرَقَ الشَّيْطاَنُ مِنَ النَّاسِ، أََعْظَمَ آيَةٍ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ بِسْمِ اللٌّهِ الرَّحْمٌنِ الرَّحِيْم.

“Satan has tried to steal the greatest verse of the Qur’an away from the people, and that is Bismillahir RaHmanir RaHim) (an allusion to the fact that they do not recite it at the start of the Surahs.”56

Apart from all the above, the conduct of the Muslims had always been to recite Bismillah at the start of every chapter while reciting the Qur`an, and it has been established – by means of successive narrations – that the Noble Prophet (s.a.w) too used to recite it. How is it possible that the Noble Prophet (s.a.w) and the other Muslims would recite something that was not part of the Qur`an and persevere in this act of theirs?

The notion that some people have stated about Bismillah being an independent verse and a part of the Qur`an but not a part of the chapters, is one which appears to be feeble and baseless. This is because the meaning and contents of Bismillah indicate that it is for starting or initiating a task and not that it possesses a meaning that is independent. In reality, this is intense rigidity and bias that in order to prop up their opinion they present forth every conceivable possibility and consider a verse like Bismillah – whose meaning screams out aloud that it is a beginning for that which is to come later – to be an independent verse, totally unrelated with that which is before and after it.

The only plausible objection, which the opponents possess in this regard is that when the verses of the chapters of the Noble Qur`an are computed – with the exception of Suratul Hamd – Bismillah is usually not taken into account; rather, the verse which follows it, is regarded as the first verse.

The answer to this objection is clearly provided by Fakhr Razi in his commentary Tafsir al-Kabir when he says: “There is no harm if ‘Bismillah’ is the first verse, by itself, in Suratul Hamd, and a part of the first verse, in the other chapters of the Qur`an.”  Thus, for example, in Suratul Kauthar,

بِسْمِ اللٌّهِ الرَّحْمٌنِ الرَّحِيمِ. إَنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ

in its entirety, shall be considered to be one verse.

In any event, this issue is so plain that it is reported that once, during his reign, Mu’awiyah did not recite Bismillah during a congregational prayer. After the prayers some of the Muhajirin (The Emigrants) and the Ansar (The Helpers) confronted him and said:

اَسْرَقْتَ اَمْ نَسَيْتَ؟

“Have you stolen (Bismillah) or have you forgotten it?

Why are some of the verses of the Qur`an ambiguous?

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Why is it that the Qur`an, despite being light and illumination, and a true and manifest speech and a book that has come for the guidance of the general masses, contains the Ambiguous Verses?  Why are the contents of some of the verses vague, so as to be misused by those seeking to sow dissension and discord?

This is an issue which is immensely important and thereby calls for great attention. For the most part, it is possible that the following aspects could be reasons for the existence of the Ambiguous Verses in the Qur`an:

a. Words and expressions, which are used by humans for the purpose of interacting with one another, have only been created to fulfil the needs of their day-to-day lives; it is for this reason that when we step beyond the finite boundaries of this material world and the discussion dwells upon, for example, the Creator, Who is Infinite in every respect, we observe very clearly that our words do not possess the ability to hold and convey those lofty meanings.

As a result, we are forced to utilize words, which are non-expressive in various aspects. This non-expressiveness and insufficiency of the words is the cause of a considerable portion of the Ambiguous Verses of the Qur`an. Verses like:

يَدُ اللٌّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ‏

“The hand of Allah is above their hands.”45

أَلرَّحْمٌنُ عَلَي الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى

“The Beneficent (Allah) on the ‘Arsh’ is firm.”46

إِلـى‏ رَبِّها نَاظِرَةٌ

“Unto their Lord (they will be) attentive.”47

and words like سَمِيْعٌ (All-Hearing) and بَصِيْرٌ (All-Seeing) are some examples of this category, whose meanings become clear and manifest upon consulting the Clear Verses.

Many of the realities (of the world of Existence) are related to the ‘other world’ or the metaphysical world – a realm, which is beyond the horizons of our thoughts – and being imprisoned in the dimension of time and space, we are unable to perceive the depths of those meanings. The loftiness of the horizons of these meanings and the inability on the part of our thoughts to comprehend such meanings become another reason for many of the verses to appear ambiguous – like some of the verses that deal with Qiyamah and other similar issues.

This is exactly similar to the case of a person desiring to explain the issues of this world to an infant, who is in the embryonic stage in the womb of the mother. If the person does not speak, he has fallen short in his effort to convey the meaning, and if he does speak out, he has no alternative except to mention them in a general and implied manner, since the listener, in those circumstances, does not possess the ability to comprehend more than this.

c. Another of the secrets for the presence of the Ambiguous Verses in the Qur`an is to put to work the mental and reflective machinery of man and to create within him the motivation to ponder and meditate. It is similar to the complex intellectual issues that are propounded to strengthen the mental faculty of scholars in order that they reflect more deeply and profoundly over issues.

d. A further aspect with regards to the presence of the Ambiguous Verses in the Qur`an – an aspect also corroborated by the traditions of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) – is that the presence of such verses serves to make apparent the people’s intense need and dependence with respect to the divine Imams, prophets and their successors, and the reason that people flock towards these leaders in order to benefit from the knowledge and various forms of guidance that lie in their possession, and in this manner practically acknowledge their leadership.

We can compare this with some of the academic books, which are formulated in a manner such that the explanation of some of the topics contained within them has been placed upon the teachers so that the students, experiencing a sense of dependency with respect to the teacher, do not sever their ties with him altogether, and as a result of this dependency acquire inspiration from his thoughts and ideas in all issues.  In the case of the Qur`an, this is a confirmation of the famous testament of the Noble Prophet (s.a.w):

إِنِّي تَارِكٌ فِيكُمُ الثِّقْلَيْنِ كِتَابَ اللٌّهِ وَ عِتْرَتِي أَهْلَ بَيْتِي وَ إِنَّهُمَا لَنْ يَفْتَرِقَا حَتَّى يَرِدَا عَلَيَّ الْحَوْضَ‏.

“I leave behind amongst you two Weighty Things; the Book of Allah and my Progeny. And surely, the two shall not separate from one another till they come to me at the Pool.”

What are the ‘clear’ and the ‘ambiguous’ verses?

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In verse 7 of the chapter Ale ‘Imran we read:

هُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْهُ آياتٌ مُحْكَمَاتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ الْكِتابِ وَ أُخَرُ مُتَشَابِهاتٌ‏

“He it is Who has sent down to you (O’ Muhammad!) the Book, of it there are some clear Verses, these are the basis of the Book and others are ambiguous.”

The question, which arises here, is: What is meant by the ‘Clear’ and ‘Ambiguous’ verses?

The word مُحكَم has been derived from احكام which means ‘to prohibit’ and it is for this reason that fundamental and firm issues are called محكم, for they prohibit and repel away destructive factors from themselves. In addition, firm and conclusive talks and ideas, which keep away every possibility of contradiction from themselves, are referred to as محكم.

Thus, the Clear verses are those verses, whose meanings are so clear and manifest that there exists no need for any sort of discussion with respect to their meanings – such as the following verses…

قُلْ هُوَ اللٌّهُ أَحَدٌ

“Say: He Allah is One (alone).”37

لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْ‏ءٌ

“Nothing whatsoever (is there) resembling the like of Him.”38

اللٌّهُ خالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْ‏ءٍ

“Allah (alone) is the Creator of all things.”39

لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الْأُنْثَيَيْنِ‏

“The male shall have the equal of the shares of two females.”40

And thousands of other similar verses – dealing with issues relating to ‘Aqaid (beliefs), laws and rulings, preaching, history – are all Clear verses.

These Clear verses have been named as Ummul Kitab (Basis of the Book) i.e. they are the basis for the interpretation and explanation of the other verses.

The word مُتَشاَبِه (which appears in the verse under consideration) basically means ‘a thing, whose various parts are similar to one another’. For this reason, the sentences or words, whose meanings are ambiguous and at times appear to possess several meanings and possibilities, are called مُتَشاَبِه. This is exactly what is meant by the Ambiguous verses of the Qur`an – for these are the verses of the Qur`an, which initially and at first sight appear to be ambiguous and possess several meanings (although, after taking into consideration the Clear verses, their meanings become evident and manifest.)

Although commentators have presented numerous possibilities in connection with the meaning of ‘Clear’ and ‘Ambiguous’ verses, what we have stated above is not only in total concordance with the original meaning of these two words, but also with the occasion of revelation of this verse, the various traditions which explain the verse and with the verse itself.

This is because in the later portion of the abovementioned verse, we read that certain individuals always utilize the Ambiguous verses as their pretext (to promote their personal motives). It is evident that they misuse those verses, which at first sight appear to possess several meanings and interpretations, and this very fact conveys that متشابه (Ambiguous) is in the meaning stated above.

The verses that speak of the Attributes of Allah and the details of the Day of Judgment can be presented as examples of the Ambiguous Verses. Some of these verses are as follows:

يَدُ اللٌّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ

“The hand of Allah is above their hands”41,

which is regarding the Power of Allah;

وَ اللٌّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ‏

“And surely, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing”42

which refers to the Knowledge of Allah;

وَ نَضَعُ الْمَوَازِينَ الْقِسْطَ لِيَوْمِ الْقِيامَةِ

“And We shall set up the balances of justice on the Day of Judgment”,43

which speaks of the means of measuring the Deeds.

It is evident that neither does Allah possess hands and ears (meaning a special limb or organ) nor are the Scales for measuring the Deeds similar to what we are accustomed to; rather these are expressions which refer to a universal concept and meaning for Power, Knowledge and Measurement.

It is necessary to mention that محكم and متشابه have also been used differently in the Noble Qur`an. In the first verse of Suratul Hud, we read:

كِتابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ آياتُهُ

“A book whose verses are firmly arranged (together).”

In this verse, all the verses of the Qur`an have been characterized as محكم, denoting that all the verses of the Qur`an are interrelated and in complete harmony with one another.
In verse 23 of Suratul Zumar we read:

كِتاِباً مُتَشاَبِهاً

“A Book consistent (in its parts)”, which means ‘a book, all the verses of which are consistent and similar to one another with respect to correctness, veracity and authenticity’.

From what we have stated with respect to the Clear and Ambiguous verses it is clear that a truth-seeking person, in order to comprehend the Speech of Allah, has no option other than to place all the verses alongside each other and derive the truth and reality from them.

If at first sight, he faces an intricacy and ambiguity in the apparent meanings of some of the verses, he should clear the vagueness by taking into consideration the other verses of the Qur`an thereby reaching the essence of the verses. In reality, the Clear Verses, from one perspective, are like highways while the Ambiguous Verses are like byways. It is apparent that if a person happens to lose his way in the byways, he endeavours to reach the nearest highway and find his way from there.

Reference to the Clear Verses as Ummul Kitab (Basis of the Book) is yet another point which serves to corroborate this reality. The word Umm means ‘basis’ and ‘origin’ of a thing and this is why a mother is referred to as Umm, for she is the basis of a family and a shelter for the children in times of trouble and distress. Similarly, the Clear Verses are regarded as the basis, foundation and the mother of the other verses.