The Subtlety of God's Mercy

To me, surah 41 (Made Distinct) & 42 (Consultation), are enough evidence that the Quran is sent by God.  I already discussed parts of surah 41 and its coherency and guidance for perplexed, like me.  In the following verses from surah 42 (Consultation), I single out five parts and reflect on them.  I will reflect on the rest of surah in another note.

1.      “THE HEAVENS ARE ALMOST BROKEN APART FROM ABOVE AS THE ANGELS PROCLAIM THE PRAISES OF THEIR LORD AND ASK FORGIVENESS FOR THOSE ON EARTH. GOD IS INDEED THE MOST FORGIVING, THE MOST MERCIFUL.” (42:5)

2.      “So, We have revealed an Arabic Quran to you, in order that you may warn the capital city and all who live nearby. And warn [especially] about the Day of Gathering, of which there is no doubt, when some shall be in the Garden and some in the blazing Flame.  IF GOD HAD SO PLEASED, HE COULD HAVE MADE THEM A SINGLE COMMUNITY, BUT HE ADMITS TO HIS MERCY WHOEVER HE WILL; THE EVILDOERS WILL HAVE NO ONE TO PROTECT OR HELP THEM.” (42:7-8)

3.      “He made mates for you from among yourselves––and for the animals too––so that you may multiply. THERE IS NOTHING LIKE HIM: HE IS THE ALL HEARING, THE ALL SEEING.  THE KEYS OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH ARE HIS; HE PROVIDES ABUNDANTLY OR SPARINGLY FOR WHOEVER HE WILL; HE HAS FULL KNOWLEDGE OF ALL THINGS.” (42:11-12)

4.      “In matters of faith, He has laid down for you [people] the same commandment that He gave Noah, which We have revealed to you [Muhammad] and which We enjoined on Abraham and Moses and Jesus: ‘UPHOLD THE FAITH AND DO NOT DIVIDE INTO FATIONS WITHIN IT’– what you [Prophet] call upon the idolaters to do is hard for them; God chooses whoever He pleases for Himself AND GUIDES TOWARDS HIMSELF THOSE WHO TURN TO HIM.  They divided, out of rivalry, only after knowledge had come to them, and, if it had not been for a decree already passed by your Lord to reprieve them until an appointed time, they would already have been judged. Those after them, who inherited the Scripture, are in disquieting doubt about it.” (42:13-14)

5.      “God is most SUBTLE towards His creatures; He provides [bountifully] for whoever He will; He is the Powerful, the Almighty.  IF ANYONE DESIRES A HARVEST IN THE LIFE TO COME, WE SHALL INCREASE IT FOR HIM; IF ANYONE DESIRES A HARVEST IN THIS WORLD, WE SHALL GIVE HIM A SHARE OF IT, BUT IN THE HEARAFTER HE WILL HAVE NO SHARE. (42:19-20)

The surah in part 1) starts from the implosion of God’s Mercy, where out of compassion God is almost to change the order of heavens and earth and to save and forgive God’s creatures on the earth. 

In part 2) God declares that if God wanted to create one community of righteous and evildoers, God could do it.  But it is not God’s will.  Why?  There is so much confusion for those who read the Quran and ask: well, God says here EVERYTHING is in God’s hands, so why does God not erase the suffering and wrongdoings from the world?  The Quran repeatedly reveals that the universe and earth are made for a PURPOSE.  What is this purpose?  To erase the DOUBT and to LOVE GOD with understanding and with our whole heart.  Who can doubt?  Those who have autonomy and free will can doubt.  God could make all, the righteous believers and wrongdoer disbelievers, one COMMUNITY, but then what would happen to our having a “self”?  A forced community of worshippers who have not come to God with their own free will, AFTER the signs of God were revealed to them in themselves and in each region of the world and in Scriptures, is a community of automata, not a community of those who have the dignity of being a human. 

And in part 3) of above quotations, after reminding us that God has created mates for us and animals to multiply, God reveals that NOTHING is like God, because God “begot no one nor was He begotten.” (112:3).  God is ineffable and beyond comprehensive comprehension for human beings or any other creature, because God is uncreated, unbegotten, without beginning and end, and beyond space and time; however, God is the most merciful, as everything is sustained in God’s hands and we take them for granted.  God is the most merciful, because only the one who has no need can be the MOST merciful.  God allows us to understand God in degrees through thinking and heart—and this might be the story of our eternal growth—getting closer and closer to the Beloved, literally and figuratively.

In part 4), God clearly expresses the MEASURE of our freedom as autonomous (having free will) and the PURPOSE of creating the universe and the earth, and who will be guided to the right path: those who follow the prophets and don’t make factions between them and those who TURN TO GOD.     

And in part 5), God declares the SUBTELETY of God’s decisions and that the measure of our destiny is in our own desires and discretion and based on our own choice: those who only want a harvest in this world will receive some and those who want a harvest of the world to come will receive what they wish and live by.  “There are some who pray, ‘Our Lord, give us good in this world,’ and they will have no share in the Hereafter; others pray, ‘Our Lord, give us good in this world and in the Hereafter, and protect us from the torment of the Fire.’  They will have the share they have WORKED for: God is swift in reckoning.” (2:200-202)

The following is the whole parts of the surah 42, Consultation, from which I mentioned the quotations above:

“This is how God, the Mighty, the Wise, sends revelation to you [Prophet] as He did to those before you.  All that is in the heavens and earth belongs to Him: He is the Exalted, the Almighty.  The heavens are almost broken apart from above as the angels proclaim the praises of their Lord and ask forgiveness for those on earth. God is indeed the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.  As for those who take protectors other than Him, God is watching them; you are not responsible for them.” (42:3-6)

“So, We have revealed an Arabic Quran to you, in order that you may warn the capital city and all who live nearby. And warn [especially] about the Day of Gathering, of which there is no doubt, when some shall be in the Garden and some in the blazing Flame.  If God had so pleased, He could have made them a single community, but He admits to His mercy whoever He will; the evildoers will have no one to protect or help them.  How can they take protectors other than Him? God alone is the Protector; He gives life to the dead; He has power over all things.  Whatever you may differ about is for God to judge. [Say], ‘Such is God, my Lord. In Him I trust and to Him I turn, the Creator of the heavens and earth.’ He made mates for you from among yourselves––and for the animals too––so that you may multiply. There is nothing like Him: He is the All Hearing, the All Seeing.  The keys of the heavens and the earth are His; He provides abundantly or sparingly for whoever He will; He has full knowledge of all things.” (42:3-12)

“In matters of faith, He has laid down for you [people] the same commandment that He gave Noah, which We have revealed to you [Muhammad] and which We enjoined on Abraham and Moses and Jesus: ‘Uphold the faith and do not divide into factions within it’– what you [Prophet] call upon the idolaters to do is hard for them; God chooses whoever He pleases for Himself and guides towards Himself those who turn to Him.  They divided, out of rivalry, only after knowledge had come to them, and, if it had not been for a decree already passed by your Lord to reprieve them until an appointed time, they would already have been judged. Those after them, who inherited the Scripture, are in disquieting doubt about it.  So [Prophet] call people to that faith and follow the straight path as you have been commanded. Do not go by what they desire, but say, ‘I believe in whatever Scripture God has sent down. I am commanded to bring justice between you. God is our Lord and your Lord– to us our deeds and to you yours, so let there be no argument between us and you– God will gather us together, and to Him we shall return.’  As for those who argue about God after He has been acknowledged, their argument has no weight with their Lord: anger will fall upon them and agonizing torment awaits them.  It is God who has sent down the Scripture with Truth and the Balance.  How can you tell? The Last Hour may well be near: those who do not believe in it seek to hasten it, but the believers stand in awe of it. They know it to be the Truth; those who argue about the Hour are far, far astray.” (42:13-18)

“God is most subtle towards His creatures; He provides [bountifully] for whoever He will; He is the Powerful, the Almighty.  If anyone desires a harvest in the life to come, We shall increase it for him; if anyone desires a harvest in this world, We shall give him a share of it, but in the Hereafter he will have no share.” (42:19-20)

Fussilat: Made Distinct

“WE SHALL SHOW THEM OUR SIGNS IN EVERY REGION OF THE EARTH AND IN THEMSELVES, UNTIL IT BECOMES CLEAR TO THEM THAT THIS IS THE TRUTH.  IS IT NOT ENOUGH THAT YOUR LORD WITNESSES EVERYTHING?  TRULY, THEY DOUBT THAT THEY WILL MEET THEIR LORD; TRULY HE ENCOMPASSES EVERYTHING.” (41:53-54)

The above verses are the ending of the surah 41 (Made Distinct) and the ending of this reflection.  

In the following verses, I see the story of our lives.  We find tranquility in our companions.  We need the approval of our friends and family.  It is true.  But how many of us have ever reflected that “their” approval is not enough for “truths”.  We need to step out of the circle of our company and go to the opposite and the side and the above and the below and to the diagonal and the vertical and the horizontal to check out our truths.

“We have appointed, for the disbelievers, COMPANIONS WHO MAKE THEIR PAST AND PRESENT SEEM FAIR AND RIGHT TO THEM, but the sentence has already been passed on them, along with generations of jinn and men before them: they were losers.  The disbelievers say, ‘Do not listen to this Quran; drown it in frivolous talk: you may gain the upper hand.’  We shall certainly give the disbelievers a taste of severe punishment. We shall repay them according to their worst deeds– that is the reward of the enemies of God– the Fire will be their lasting home, a payment for their rejection of Our revelations.  The disbelievers will say, ‘Our Lord, show us those jinn and men who misled us and we shall trample them underfoot, so that they may be among the lowest of the low.’  As for those who say, ‘Our Lord is God,’ and take the straight path towards Him, the angels come down to them and say, ‘Have no fear or grief, but rejoice in the good news of Paradise, which you have been promised.  We are your allies in this world and in the world to come, where you will have everything you desire and ask for as a welcoming gift from the Most Forgiving, Most Merciful One.’” (41:25-32)

In the same surah (41: Fussilat, [Verses] Made Distinct), where God speaks of:

1)      Good and evil are distinct.  Repel evil with what is better.

2)      Our eyes, ears, skins will speak about our abusive behavior and negligence of God in the Day of Judgment.

3)      Don’t be deluded by identity politics and satisfaction in the approval of your companions.

God then expresses that God is never unjust to his creatures: every simple event is registered and counted, from our skins to a wheat coming out of its sheath:

“Whoever does good does it for his own soul and whoever does evil does it against his own soul: your Lord is never unjust to His creatures.  Knowledge of the Hour belongs solely to Him and no crop comes out of its sheath, nor does any female conceive or give birth, without His knowledge. On the Day He asks them, ‘Where are My partners?’ they will answer, ‘We admit to You that none of us can see [them]’: the gods they invoked before will have vanished away; they will know that there is no escape.” (41:46-48)

And in the same surah, where God expresses that good and evil are clearly distinct, and every single event is counted for, and our eyes, ears, and skins will testify about the way we lived, God again calls for reflection that after all these evidence, reflect what if the Quran is the Truth:

“Say [Prophet], ‘Have you ever thought, what if this revelation really is from God and you still reject it? Who could be more astray than someone who cuts himself off so far [from God]?’” (41:52)

And again, in the following verses that reveals the truth about the Truth that will be unfolded in our own self and in the world, God shows us how the truth is in the open and will come into open—as in our time.  This has been ringing in my ears for a long time now.

“We shall show them Our signs in every region of the earth and in themselves, until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord witnesses everything?  Truly, they doubt that they will meet their Lord; truly He encompasses everything.” (41:53-54)