A Brief Reflection on Trust in the Awesome Presence of God in the Surah The Bee

 “[Prophet], call [people] to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good teaching. Argue with them in the most courteous way, for your Lord knows best who has strayed from His way and who is rightly guided.  If you [believers] have to respond to an attack, make your response proportionate, but it is best to stand fast.  So [Prophet] be steadfast: your steadfastness comes only from God. Do not grieve over them; do not be distressed by their scheming, for God is with those who are mindful of God and who do good.” (16:125-128)

It took a long time, unfortunately, that I digested and understood this point and it is such a simple fact: I am very very very limited, not being able to see far enough, without God’s guidance, I would be lost.  In terms of limitation, I am much higher than animals as the guardian of life on the earth, but not far from beings such as worms and ants, limited, very very very limited.  It is this exuberant energy and passion for life, this excess in me that can guide me to hell or heaven, in this world and in the world to come.  If I were told to fear God and to love God, it perplexes me, as I want just the rosy picture of sleeping in the bosom of security of love without committing myself in body and soul to the source of my existence, who has sown in me what purification of soul and body means, and I would reap the fruit of my actions according to the freedom of my will:

“God commands justice, doing good, and generosity towards relatives and God forbids what is shameful, blameworthy, and oppressive. God teaches you, so that you may take heed.  Fulfil any pledge you make in God’s name and do not break oaths after you have sworn them, for you have made God your surety: God knows everything you do.  Do not use your oaths to deceive each other– like a woman who unravels the thread she has firmly spun– just because one party may be more numerous than another. God tests you with this, and on the Day of the Resurrection He will make clear to you those things you differed about.” (16:90-92)

Nonetheless, it felt inconvenient to me and I followed my whims and the delusion of pleasure and pride and instead of listening to the voice within me, to do good and being grateful for the overflowing ebullience of my life to my Source, I forgot how limited I am and the fact that I need God’s guidance and need to trust God, as a blind must trust a person who sees.  I know this after studying sciences and philosophy most of my life, and see how those who seek power and understanding only through human reason and vision are using an immense energy in a canceric and destructive way.  How desperate and ignorant is their arrogance!  However, when I awakened… No, it didn’t happen like this… as based on my eagerness, God awakened me to the startling awesome presence of God and awakened me to my limitedness, and taught me to ponder it, by recognition of God, the forgotten God, I reconnected my reason and heart back to God and I could adjust my reason to the Truth:

“If God so willed, God would have made you all one people, but God leaves to stray whoever God will and guides whoever God will. You will be questioned about your deeds. Do not use your oaths to deceive each other lest any foot should slip after being firmly placed and lest you should taste the penalty for having hindered others from the path of God, and suffer terrible torment.  Do not sell for a small price any pledge made in God’s name: what God has [to give] is better for you, if you only knew.  What you have runs out but what God has endures, and We shall certainly reward those who remain steadfast according to the best of their actions.  To whoever, male or female, does good deeds and has faith, We shall give a good life and reward them according to the best of their actions.” (16:93-97)

This is very simple, but there was a sickness in my soul, and the germ of this sickness is usually at the very seed of exuberance and energy of life, and it is at the very point of despair, insecurity and fear of my deep deep deep limitedness.  It is an energetic canceric rebellious cell that constantly demands power and absolute autonomy to its detriment.  When I could see the truth of my deep deep deep limitedness and dependent origination, I learned to separate the wheat from the chaff and let go of false images, gods, and goddesses of pleasure and orgies, of power and seduction, of delusion of scientism.  Science is a venue of knowledge and life, when disconnected from God, it becomes our soulless calamitous abuse of technology to our self-destruction-grandiosity.

There is no other way, we can’t invent a way or fabricate our God out of pure delusion, fairy tales, reason, or the arts.  The only way is to be completely receptive to the God of revelation, who has been constantly and repeatedly saying exactly the same thing in the course of thousands of years of history: abide in your trust in God, see your limitedness, be grateful for the energy of your life that will not last long, you are nested with death and are nothing, unless God gives you power and sustenance.  Use your reason to walk in the pathos of God.  Surrender to the will of God, the imageless, the nameless, the One who calls you to do good, whose seed has already been posited in you to be able to draw a line between the good and the evil, to be able to feel proper shame and guilt, to be able to hear, reason, and be responsive to Truth, surrender to the One who makes you reflect and doubt, who grants meaning and direction to your life, who connects you to your Source, without which you would perish in agony, who has promised you to be immortal according to your deeds, repeatedly in the course of history, for thousands years, it says you will return to God and this life is just a short dream, if you fear loss and being lost, it is because of forgetfulness and oblivion of the source of Being. 

I am amazed that how easily I fell asleep again and again despite this simple fact, that I am nobody, nothing, a limited limited being, all my wealth and fame, all my beauty of body and mind, all my glory and legacy, are fictitious delusions, a cover up on my deep deep deep limitedness and the fact that the only healing and content I can experience comes from the realization that I need to know my God and to connect to my Source; hence, in dying to my little self, to be granted the Self of immortality, but only for those who have attained that death, to open up to the Other: the experience of humility and nothingness, in doing good: 

 “[Prophet], call [people] to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good teaching. Argue with them in the most courteous way, for your Lord knows best who has strayed from His way and who is rightly guided.  If you [believers] have to respond to an attack, make your response proportionate, but it is best to stand fast.  So [Prophet] be steadfast: your steadfastness comes only from God. Do not grieve over them; do not be distressed by their scheming, for God is with those who are mindful of God and who do good.” (16:125-128)

A Brief Reflection on The Mercy and Justice of God in the Surah The Bee (16) in the Quran-Part I

“It is God who brought you out of your mothers’ wombs knowing nothing, and gave you hearing and sight and minds, so that you might be thankful.  Do they not see the birds made to fly through the air in the sky? Nothing holds them up except God. There truly are signs in this for those who believe.  It is God who has given you a place of rest in your homes and from the skins of animals made you homes that you find light [to handle] when you travel and when you set up camp; furnishings and comfort for a while from their wool, fur, and hair.  It is God who has given you shade from what He has created, and places of shelter in the mountains; garments to protect you from the heat, and garments to protect you in your wars. In this way, God perfects His blessings on you, so that you may devote yourselves to God.  But if they turn away [Prophet], your only duty is to deliver the message clearly.  They know God’s blessings, but refuse to recognize them: most of them are ungrateful.” (16:78-83)

God's Mercy

In this reflection, I will briefly discuss God's mercy in the surah The Bee (16), and in the next one I will discuss God's justice.  But before I start reflecting on the expressions of the mercy of God in this surah, I wish to remind you of the following verses, where God declares despair of God's mercy is evil:

“Say, ‘[God says], My servants who have harmed yourselves by your own excess, do not despair of God’s mercy. God forgives all sins: He is truly the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” (39:53)

“My sons, go and seek news of Joseph and his brother and do not despair of God’s mercy– only disbelievers despair of God’s mercy.’” (12:87)

"I bring My punishment on whoever I will, but My mercy encompasses all things.  I shall ordain My mercy for those who are conscious of God and pay the prescribed alms; who believe in Our Revelations; who follow the Messenger– the unlettered prophet they find described in the Torah that is with them, and in the Gospel– ” (7:154-5)

“When those who believe in Our revelations come to you [Prophet], say, ‘Peace be upon you. Your Lord has taken it on Himself to be merciful: if any of you has foolishly done a bad deed, and afterwards repented and mended his ways, God is most forgiving and most merciful.’” (6:64)

We wonder about the relation between mercy and justice in the Quran.  If we just read the parts about God’s punishment, without understanding how this punishment works as justice, we would be misguided to think God in Islam is not merciful.  But surely, this is a false judgement if we read the Quran consistently and don’t fall into too much or too little of contextualization.   Too little contextualization deprives us from understanding the concrete message and how it might be applicable differently in different times.  And too much contextualization robs the universality of its message of the Quran. 

The fact that we breathe and have food, shelter, and sustenance in our lives, the Quran declares, is God’s mercy.  God repeatedly exclaims that God’s mercy include everyone and as long we live on the earth, we have the chance to change our ways for better to avoid the ramifications of our own actions in the Day of Judgement.  

“If God took people to task for the evil they do, He would not leave one living creature on earth, but He reprieves them until an appointed time: when their time comes they cannot delay it for a moment nor can they bring it forward.” (16:61)

In simple words, understandable to everyone, God explains God’s favor and mercy to all, believers and disbelievers, alike:   

"In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy"

"God’s Judgement is coming, so do not ask to bring it on sooner. Glory be to Him! He is far above anything they join with Him!  He sends down angels with inspiration at His command, to whichever of His servants He chooses, to give [His] warning: ‘There is no god but Me, so beware of Me.’  He created the heavens and earth for a true purpose, and He is far above whatever they join with Him!  He created human from a drop of fluid, and yet human openly challenges God.  And livestock––God created them too. You derive warmth and other benefits from them: you get food from them; you find beauty in them when you bring them home to rest and when you drive them out to pasture.  They carry your loads to lands you yourselves could not reach without great hardship––truly your Lord is kind and merciful–– horses, mules, and donkeys for you to ride and use for show, and other things you know nothing about.  God points out the right path, for some paths lead the wrong way: if God wished, He could guide you all.” (16:1-8)

God's justice and mercy are intertwined. Sending scriptures and prophets are God's mercy which is part of God's justice. In the Quran, God repeatedly mentions that God will not punish a people before sending them the mercy of prophets and scriptures to warn them. This mercy is part of God's justice. After all these blessings, scriptures, prophets, and warnings then those who do evil, corrupt the earth, to be unjust and transgress people's and God's limits will be punished both in this world and in the world to come.

God invites us to forgive, while asks us to be just. God loves those who are patient and don't implement lex talianis, quesas, eye for eye, while God makes it lawful for them to do that. Indeed, God puts a higher value on mercy in justice than retribution: “Far better and more lasting is what God will give to those who believe and trust in their Lord; who shun great sins and gross indecencies; who forgive when they are angry; respond to their Lord; keep up the prayer; conduct their affairs by mutual consultation; give to others out of what We have provided for them; and defend themselves when they are oppressed. Let harm be requited by an equal harm, though anyone who forgives and puts things right will have his reward from God Himself—He does not like those who do wrong. There is no cause to act against anyone who defends himself after being wronged, but there is cause to act against those who oppress people and transgress in the land against all justice—they will have an agonizing torment—though if a person is patient and forgives, this is one of the greatest things. (42: 36-43)

Dispositional Difference between Those Who See the Gift of Life as the Mercy of God and Those Who Take it for Granted

The point of mercy is providing sustenance for us even if we are not thankful.  Now we take it as the survival of the fittest, a sense of arrogance that as if the so called "autonomous subject"—human being—is the most powerful, not being able to see that it is the Mercy of God that endowed us with the viceroy, the shepherd of other living beings.  Moreover, God’s mercy comes as revelations and scriptures to guide us, but it is “we” ourselves who ought to choose the right way, as I argued before, otherwise we would be automaton, not creatures with freedom of the will.  In the surah The Bee, named after the creatures which are now on the brink of extinction due to our own excess and greed, God continues to remind us of all good things that God has granted to all of us, believers as well as disbelievers, which we take for granted:

“It is God who sends down water for you from the sky, from which comes a drink for you, and the shrubs that you feed to your animals.  With it God grows for you grain, olives, palms, vines, and all kinds of other crops. There truly is a sign in this for those who reflect.  By His command God has made the night and day, the sun, moon, and stars all of benefit to you. There truly are signs in this for those who use their reason.  God has made of benefit to you the many-colored things God has multiplied on the earth. There truly are signs in this for those who take it to heart.  It is God who made the sea of benefit to you: you eat fresh fish from it and bring out jewelry to wear; you see the ships cutting through its waves so that you may go in search of His bounty and give thanks.  God has made mountains stand firm on the earth, to prevent it shaking under you, and rivers and paths so that you may find your way, and landmarks and stars to guide people.  Can God who creates be compared to one who cannot create? Why do you not take heed?” (16:10-17)

There is a difference between the internal state of a person who takes things for granted, sees himself or herself as random selection of particles in nature, and loses any sense of reverence for water, animals, and trees and focuses on appropriating them as sheer resources for survival, and a person who appreciates and is grateful for water, animals, plants, and for the beauty of the world, and sees them as gifts of mercy from God.  Who are we after all?  Who am I?  A frail body and a speck of dust, who has been wired into biosphere, water, food, graciously aware of my being in the world, and the responsibility of being the guardian and shepherd of God’s blessings that sustain us on the earth.  This awareness of my absolute dependence is the first step to understand the Quran, and in general religion, for me.  We are living in the delusion that as if we are “somebody”, because we could develop the capacity to exploit the earth; this is the satanic hubris, and this “somebody” forgets its dependent origination and how like a mad man has been sawing the branch upon which he sits and sustains him.  Now, everything is coming to surface: the sixth mass extinction and destruction of more than 20% of species and consequently ourselves is the immediate result of our ungratefulness.    

“If you tried to count God’s blessings, you could never take them all in: He is truly most forgiving and most merciful.  He knows what you conceal and what you reveal.  Those they invoke beside God create nothing; they are themselves created.  They are dead, not living. They do not know when they will be raised up.  Your God is the One God. As for those who deny the life to come, their hearts refuse to admit the truth and they are arrogant.  There is no doubt that God knows what they conceal and what they reveal. He does not love the arrogant.” (16:18-23)

We disconnect from ourselves, the earth, and God, when we see the world as random collusion of dead atoms and particles.  Late Heidegger, in his own way, could rightfully see this fact that we are more than our reductive sciences:

“Ek-sistence [standing-out in understanding-clearing of Being] can be said only of the essence of the human being, that is, only of the human way "to be."  For as far as our experience shows, only the human being is admitted to the destiny of ek-sistence. Therefore ek-sistence can also never be thought of as a specific kind of living creature among others - granted that the human being is destined to think the essence of his being and not merely to give accounts of the nature and history of his constitution and activities. Thus, even what we attribute to the human being as animalitas on the basis of the comparison with "beasts” is itself grounded in the essence of ek-sistence. The human body is something essentially other than an animal organism. Nor is the error of biologism overcome by adjoining a soul to the human body, a mind to the soul and the existentiell to the mind, and then louder than before singing the praises of the mind - only to let everything relapse into "life-experience," with a warning that thinking by its inflexible concepts disrupts the flow of life and that thought of being distorts existence.”

“The fact that physiology and physiological chemistry can scientifically investigate the human being as an organism is no proof that in this "organic” thing, that is, in the body scientifically explained, the essence of the human being consists.  That has as little validity as the notion that the essence of nature has been discovered in atomic energy. It could even be that nature, in the face it turns toward the human being's technical mastery, is simply concealing its essence. Just as little as the essence of the human being consists in being an animal organism can this insufficient definition of the essence of the human being be overcome or offset by outfitting the human being with an immortal soul, the power of reason, or the character of a person.  In each instance its essence is passed over, and passed over on the basis of the same metaphysical projection.” (Letter on Humanism)

And in releasing himself from the dominant nihilism and reductive thinking, he is capable of seeing that we are here for a purpose, we are the shepherd of Being:

“The human being is rather "thrown" by being itself into the truth of being, so that ek-sisting [standing-out in understanding-clearing Being] in this fashion he might guard the truth of being, in order that beings might appear in the light of being as the beings they are.  Human being do not decide whether and how beings appear, whether and how God and the gods or history and nature come forward into the clearing of being, come to presence and depart. The advent of beings lies in the destination of being. But for humans it is ever a question of finding what is fitting in their essence that corresponds to such destiny; for in accord with this destiny the human being as ek-sisting has to guard the truth of being. The human being is the shepherd of being. It is in this direction alone that Being and Time is thinking when ecstatic existence is experienced as “care" (cf. section 44c, pp.224).” (Letter on Humanism)

The Quran constantly reminds us—and this reminiscence is God’s mercy—that we should not, ought not to take the earth and its gifts for granted, we should not and ought not to take our life for granted and as the pleasure machine.  The Quran systematically reminds us that everything we gain and sustain us in our lives is the mercy of God and we have been given the chance of time in this world to rectify our thoughts, words, deeds, body, and soul, because surely there is another world to come and we will be judged—or more accurately our own body, skin, eyes, ears, lips, nose—will judge us.  And the Quran sees it as a physical-bodily resurrection, we are as well embodied in the world to come.  So, God constantly reminds us that whatever that we do, we do it to our own body/soul, and similar to a healed or progressive cancer, we can’t avoid the inevitable consequences of our actions on our own body and soul.  Could we ever escape them?:

“Are the disbelievers waiting for the angels to come to them, or your Lord’s Judgement? Those who went before them did the same. God did not wrong them; they wronged themselves.  So, the evil they had done hit them and they were surrounded by the very thing they had mocked.” (16:33-34)

“It is God who sends water down from the sky and with it revives the earth when it is dead. There truly is a sign in this for people who listen.  In livestock, too, you have a lesson– We give you a drink from the contents of their bellies, between waste matter and blood, pure milk, sweet to the drinker.  From the fruits of date palms and grapes you take sweet juice and wholesome provisions. There truly is a sign in this for people who use their reason.  And your Lord inspired the bee, saying, ‘Build yourselves houses in the mountains and trees and what people construct.  Then feed on all kinds of fruit and follow the ways made easy for you by your Lord.’ From their bellies comes a drink of different colors in which there is healing for people. There truly is a sign in this for those who think.” (16:65-69)

The venerable Huston Smith, the great teacher of religions, just died at the ripe age of 97 (12/30/16).  To the last day, every day, he opened his eyes and called out “Good”.  There is a difference between the one who follows one’s whims and principle of pleasure (hedonism) and finds no other meaning in life and in the world, and the one who sees one’ thoughts, words, actions, body and soul are related to the divine and has made one’s awareness of God as one’s internal disposition, which we call it “taqwa”--God-consciousness.  This has been the quest and the question of all the East and the West: How could I conduct myself ethically, if I had the Ring of Gyges to be invisible, as Plato asked in the Republic?  All our secular answers have failed; our egoism, utilitarianism, psychological evolutionary ethics! Our worshipping power and pleasure, all of them have failed and brought ruin to us.  When I see my existence here, the thoughts I engage with, the words I employ, the ways I act ought to come to oneness of my conscience and only under this condition I can be happy and content, I will realize in this oneness, even if I had the Ring of Gyges, resides God and I experience connection to my divine source and say: “It is all good”, “It is all God’s mercy”.

“But when the righteous are asked, ‘What has your Lord sent down?’ they will say, ‘All that is good.’ There is a reward in this present world for those who do good, but their home in the Hereafter is far better: the home of the righteous is excellent.” (16:30)

I end this brief reflection with what I started:

“It is God who brought you out of your mothers’ wombs knowing nothing, and gave you hearing and sight and minds, so that you might be thankful.  Do they not see the birds made to fly through the air in the sky? Nothing holds them up except God. There truly are signs in this for those who believe.  It is God who has given you a place of rest in your homes and from the skins of animals made you homes that you find light [to handle] when you travel and when you set up camp; furnishings and comfort for a while from their wool, fur, and hair.  It is God who has given you shade from what He has created, and places of shelter in the mountains; garments to protect you from the heat, and garments to protect you in your wars. In this way, God perfects His blessings on you, so that you may devote yourselves to God.  But if they turn away [Prophet], your only duty is to deliver the message clearly.  They know God’s blessings, but refuse to recognize them: most of them are ungrateful.” (16:78-83)

A Brief Reflection on Surah Al-Hijr (15) and Hubristic Doubt

In the surah Al-Hijr (the Stone), God highlights a kind of doubt which is rooted in hubris.  After explaining the origin of the universe and how disbelievers doubt it is created by God, even if God “opened a gateway into Heaven for them and they rose through it, higher and higher, they would still say, ‘Our eyes are hallucinating. We are bewitched.’” (15:14-15), because their hearts, out of hubris, are not attuned to Truth, then we have the story of creation of human beings and how another “doubt” (Satan’s doubt), out of the disposition of hubris, creates the cosmic war. 

What is interesting is that in both these cases the root of problem is not an innocent intellectual doubt, which is always legitimized in the Quran, but it is a kind dispositional doubt that creates a hiatus in the individual and cosmic soul/body: it is a doubt based on “I am better”, doubt based on “separation and disconnection”, doubt out of the illusion of autonomy.  

In the first case, a variation of disbelieves’ doubt is based on a blunt belief that brute and dead proximate causes should explain everything, otherwise we would violate the law of sufficient reason: nothing is without reason.  This identification of “reason” with causal law-like connections between material and phenomenal objects is rooted in a disposition of the soul, which translates itself into a presupposition: there is no God; don’t believe it under any condition; there is only interaction of objects (atoms, particles); and whatever cannot be inferred from the witness of our senses is not true.  This whole dispositional doubt is based on a despair and seeing our being here as a chance event, which turns into an ethical downfall.

The second doubt, the Satan’s doubt is purely based on hubris.  Surah Al-Hijr continues:

“We created man out of dried clay formed from dark mud– the jinn We created before, from the fire of scorching wind.  Your Lord said to the angels, ‘I will create a mortal out of dried clay, formed from dark mud.  When I have fashioned him and breathed My spirit into him, bow down before him,’ and the angels all did so.  But not Iblis: he refused to bow down like the others.  God said, ‘Iblis, why did you not bow down like the others?’ and he answered, ‘I will not bow to a mortal You created from dried clay, formed from dark mud.’  ‘Get out of here!’ said God. ‘You are an outcast, rejected until the Day of Judgement.’  Iblis said, ‘My Lord, give me respite until the Day when they are raised from the dead.’  ‘You have respite,’ said God, ‘until the Day of the Appointed Time.’  Iblis then said to God, ‘Because You have put me in the wrong, I will lure mankind on earth and put them in the wrong, all except Your devoted servants.’ God said, ‘[Devotion] is a straight path to Me: you will have no power over My servants, only over the ones who go astray and follow you.” (15:26-42)

Satan thinks because it is made of fire (a jinn, not angel), it is better than human beings.  Iblis (Satan) doubts God’s wisdom, after God breathes God’s spirit into human being, and calls itself better than human beings.  In the Quran, as I discussed in “Reflections on Some Verses of the Quran”, God takes charge for everything, good and evil, belief and disbelief, in the sense that God could stop evil and disbelief but is not willing to do so.  God could illuminate Satan about the truth and convince Satan to bow down to Adam, but God didn’t do that.  So, Satan says: “Because You have put me in the wrong, I will lure mankind on earth and put them in the wrong.”  The Quran repeatedly expresses that if God wanted there would be no dispute and disagreement and no disbelief and evil, but God treats us as those whom God’s spirit of wisdom is already breathed into.  God wants our maturity to arrive to the fact that, while we exist as independent beings with freedom of the will, we ought to purify ourselves with knowing our shadows and dissolve the doubts that are rooted in the permeation of lie and hubris in our souls.  Not strange that after showing this ethical corruption appears in disbelief and disconnect from God and consequently to ethical downfall in the story of Abraham and Lot, God states:

“We did not create the heavens and the earth and everything between them without a true purpose: the Hour will certainly come, so [Prophet] bear with them graciously.  Your Lord is the All Knowing Creator.  We have given you the seven oft-recited verses.” (15:85-87)

[Surah “The Opening”:

1 In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy!

2 Praise belongs to God,

Lord (The Arabic root r–b–b has connotations of caring and nurturing in addition to lordship, and this should be borne in mind wherever the term occurs and is rendered ‘lord’.) of the Worlds, (Al-alamin in Arabic means all the worlds, of mankind, angels, animals, plants, this world, the next, and so forth.)

3 the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy,

4 Master of the Day of Judgement.

5 It is You we worship; it is You we ask for help.

6 Guide us to the straight path:

7 the path of those You have blessed, those who incur no anger (Note that the verb here is not attributed to God)

And who have not gone astray.]

And then the surah continues:

“…and the whole glorious Quran. Do not look longingly at the good things We have given some to enjoy. Do not grieve over the [disbelievers], but lower your wings over the believers and say, ‘I am here to give plain warning,’ like the [warning] We have sent down for those who divide themselves into bands 91 and abuse the Quran––by your Lord, We will question them all about their deeds. 94 So proclaim openly what you have been commanded [to say], and ignore the idolaters.  We are enough for you against all those who ridicule your message, who set up another god beside God– they will come to know.  We are well aware that your heart is weighed down by what they say.  Celebrate the glory of your Lord and be among those who bow down to Him: worship your Lord until what is certain comes to you.” (15:88-98)

 

And this is the purpose of the creation of the universe and human beings.  We are part of the divine cosmic endeavor and war for truth: the straight path to God without doubt.  First and foremost, this “war” is spiritual.  And it doesn’t mean killing intellectual doubts but arriving at certainty through reflection and wisdom.  However, there are other kinds of “doubt”, such as the doubt of Satan and those whose soul and body is tainted with hubris, those who set intellectual and phenomenal knowledge as the only knowledge, who won’t be able to see the truth, unless they purify themselves through ethical-spiritual practices and remove the sickness of their hearts.

A Brief Reflection on the Relation Between Sin, Ignorance, Despair, and Mercy in the Surah Joseph in the Quran

“Say, ‘[God says], My servants who have harmed yourselves by your own excess, do not despair of God’s mercy.  God forgives all sins: He is truly the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” (39:53)

“Later, when they presented themselves before Joseph, he drew his parents to him– he said, ‘Welcome to Egypt: you will all be safe here, God willing’– and took them up to [his] throne. They all bowed down before him and he said, ‘Father, this is the fulfilment of that dream I had long ago. My Lord has made it come true and has been gracious to me– He released me from prison and He brought you here from the desert– after Satan sowed discord between me and my brothers. My Lord is most subtle in achieving what He will; He is the All Knowing, the Truly Wise.  My Lord! You have given me authority; You have taught me something about the interpretation of dreams; Creator of the heavens and the earth, You are my protector in this world and in the Hereafter. Let me die in true devotion to You. Join me with the righteous.’” (12:99-101)

In the following verses from the surah Joseph (12), there are five lessons that have occupied my mind:

1)     The first verses of the surah Joseph emphasize “understanding”:

“In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

Alif Lam Ra

These are the verses of the Scripture that makes things clear––We have sent it down as an Arabic Quran so that you [people] may understand.”

Now consider the fact that so many of Muslims read the Quran in Arabic and don’t try to understand its meaning and ponder it, even if they don’t know Arabic, because we think the language of scripture is miraculous.  Was this really God’s intention in revealing the Quran or God wanted us to understand the content?

2)    Joseph is considered the model of innocence and decency.  I envy his purity of heart and untainted soul.  However, he says: “I do not pretend to be blameless, for man’s very soul incites him to evil unless my Lord shows mercy: He is most forgiving, most merciful.’” (12:53):

“When he reached maturity, We gave him judgement and knowledge: this is how We reward those who do good. The woman in whose house he was living tried to seduce him: she bolted the doors and said, ‘Come to me,’ and he replied, ‘God forbid! My master has been good to me; wrongdoers never prosper.’ She made for him, and he would have succumbed to her if he had not seen evidence of his Lord– We did this in order to keep evil and indecency away from him, for he was truly one of Our chosen servants.” (12:22-24)

“The king said, ‘Bring him to me,’ but when the messenger came to fetch Joseph, he said, ‘Go back to your master and ask him about what happened to those women who cut their hands– my Lord knows all about their treachery.’ The king asked the women, ‘What happened when you tried to seduce Joseph?’ They said, ‘God forbid! We know nothing bad of him!’ and the governor’s wife said, ‘Now the truth is out: it was I who tried to seduce him– he is an honest man.’ [Joseph said, ‘This was] for my master to know that I did not betray him behind his back: God does not guide the mischief of the treacherous. I do not pretend to be blameless, for man’s very soul incites him to evil unless my Lord shows mercy: He is most forgiving, most merciful.’” (12:50-53)

3)    Joseph let his half-brother Benjamin know that he is Benjamin’s brother and does something strange: he places the drinking-cup in his brother’s pack.  He obviously did something wrong but for some good reason.  But first he secured the brother so that his mischief doesn’t harm his soul.  The Quran concludes: “In this way, We devised a plan for Joseph– if God had not willed it so, he could not have detained his brother as a penalty under the king’s law– We raise the rank of whoever We will. Above everyone who has knowledge there is the One who is all knowing.”

“Then, when they presented themselves before Joseph, he drew his brother apart and said, ‘I am your brother, so do not be saddened by their past actions,’ and, once he had given them their provisions, he placed the drinking-cup in his brother’s pack. A man called out, ‘People of the caravan! You are thieves!’ and they turned and said, ‘What have you lost?’ They replied, ‘The king’s drinking-cup is missing,’ and, ‘Whoever returns it will get a camel-load [of grain],’ and, ‘I give you my word.’ They said, ‘By God! You must know that we did not come to make mischief in your land: we are no thieves.’ They asked them, ‘And if we find that you are lying, what penalty shall we apply to you?’ and they answered, ‘The penalty will be [the enslavement of] the person in whose bag the cup is found: this is how we punish wrongdoers.’ [Joseph] began by searching their bags, then his brother’s, and he pulled it out from his brother’s bag. In this way, We devised a plan for Joseph– if God had not willed it so, he could not have detained his brother as a penalty under the king’s law– We raise the rank of whoever We will. Above everyone who has knowledge there is the One who is all knowing.” (12:69-76)

I thought about it for a while.  I have a theory or hypothesis: whatever we do affects us deeply in soul and body.  The goal and purpose of life is arriving at oneness of thoughts, words, deeds, heart, body and soul through faith in God.  However, this story says this is not a linear line.  Joseph had to violate a simple ethical practice, to frame his brother whom he loves up stealing the cup, in order to keep him with himself and this way bring the whole family back to Egypt.  First, he secures the brother and let him know so that he doesn’t feel shame.  But then he lies.  God says “above everyone who has knowledge there is One who is all knowing.”  Basically, God says the story of ethics is not linear and what you think you know about ethics is not comparable with what God knows.  This story is no legitimization for mischief and lying.  But it surely justifies some circumstantial white lies or mischief.  It is though difficult to keep the boundary; one might easily find it convenient to go about doing it every day, and this is not what God wants. 

4)    Joseph’s brothers had done the worst thing that one can imagine, short of killing.  However, their father says: “My sons, go and seek news of Joseph and his brother and do not despair of God’s mercy– only disbelievers despair of God’s mercy.’” (12:87) Despair of God’s mercy is a sign of disbelief and a seduction of Satan.  In a sense, the ultimate evil is despair of God. 

“Their father said, ‘No! Your souls have prompted you to do wrong! But it is best to be patient: may God bring all of them  back to me– He alone is the All Knowing, the All Wise,’ and he turned away from them, saying, ‘Alas for Joseph!’ His eyes went white with grief and he was filled with sorrow.  They said, ‘By God! You will ruin your health if you do not stop thinking of Joseph, or even die.’  He said, ‘I plead my grief and sorrow before God. I have knowledge from God that you do not have.  My sons, go and seek news of Joseph and his brother and do not despair of God’s mercy– only disbelievers despair of God’s mercy.’” (12:83-87)

5)    There are two general lessons in these verses:

5-1)          It seems to me, the Quran’s realism dismantles thinking in terms of totality.  For example, God’s commandment about not lying, cheating, killing, not committing adultery, etc. now is clear to us that rationally and with good justification are inviolable.  If it is the case that the way we conduct our thought-words-deeds affects the state of our body and soul in minute detail, and ethics and spirituality have intimate relationship, then all ethical commandment of God are inviolable, due to the effect of fragmentation of our conscience upon our body-soul.  However, the surah Joseph asks us to think differently: it is almost impossible for us not to make any mistake.  As Joseph says: I do not pretend to be blameless, for man’s very soul incites him to evil unless my Lord shows mercy: He is most forgiving, most merciful.’” (12:53) Of course this is not a license to go for mistakes, but to show that toxic guilt and despair are a work of Satan.  Proper guilt awakens us to our mistakes and God seeks to teach us a spiritual-rational-conceptual grasp of good and evil.  For example, I had this absolute principle that “ends don’t justify means”.  While there are so many good reasons for this principle, in terms of the effects of “means” that we use to achieve our goals on our body and soul and consequently on the goal itself, the Quran as always gives us a realistic sense about this principle.  We should not violate God’s boundaries and ethics.  We can’t kill people indiscriminately for the cause of God; this is oxymoron.  However, some small deviation, depending on its spiritual weight and contextual reasons are justified and God will forgive us for those mistakes.  For example, Joseph’s mischief to keep his brother is a minor misdeed for a good reason.  

“Then, when they presented themselves before Joseph, they said, ‘Mighty governor, misfortune has afflicted us and our family. We have brought only a little merchandise, but give us full measure. Be charitable to us: God rewards the charitable.’ He said, ‘Do you now realize what you did to Joseph and his brother when you were ignorant (jaheloon)?’  and they cried, ‘Could it be that you are Joseph?’ He said, ‘I am Joseph. This is my brother. God has been gracious to us: God does not deny anyone who is mindful of God and steadfast in adversity the rewards of those who do good.’  They said, ‘By God! God really did favor you over all of us and we were in the wrong!’  but he said, ‘You will hear no reproaches today. May God forgive you: He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.  Take my shirt and lay it over my father’s face: he will recover his sight. Then bring your whole family back to me.’” (12:88-92)

5-2)        Joseph’s brothers commit a horrendous sin and Joseph calls them “ignorant” and forgives them.  Surah Joseph (12) has so many elements that I didn’t discuss, such as the points about dreams, dreaming the future, interpretation of dreams, and God’s wisdom and foreknowledge.  In this short note, I just wish to highlight God’s great mercifulness and forgiveness, if we bring faith in God.  What is strange in the story of Joseph is that all wrong doers after admitting they have done wrong and learned their lessons were forgiven: the governor’s wife who wanted to seduce Joseph and framed him up to stay in prison for years said, ‘Now the truth is out: it was I who tried to seduce him– he is an honest man’ and was forgiven.  The brothers who throw their little brother in the well and lied to their fathers, when realized they did wrong and were ignorant, were forgiven.  The Joseph also admits that he was not blameless and even lied and deceptively put the cup in his brother’s bag to keep him by himself was forgiven.  It seems that in the surah Joseph, God wants to remind us that the story of good and evil, the story of ethics is not a linear one.  And God is the most forgiving if we realize our mistakes and make amends, and in this way God will restore the oneness of our thoughts, words, deeds, heart, body, and soul, if we learn our lessons and change our ways, in a word, if we genuinely repent.

The surah ends with these touching words of wisdom:

“Later, when the caravan departed, their father said, ‘You may think I am senile but I can smell Joseph,’ 95but [people] said, ‘By God! You are still lost in that old illusion of yours!’  Then, when the bearer of good news came and placed the shirt on to Jacob’s face, his eyesight returned and he said, ‘Did I not tell you that I have knowledge from God that you do not have?’  The [brothers] said, ‘Father, ask God to forgive our sins– we were truly in the wrong.’  He replied, ‘I shall ask my Lord to forgive you: He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’”  (12:94-97)

“Later, when they presented themselves before Joseph, he drew his parents to him– he said, ‘Welcome to Egypt: you will all be safe here, God willing’– and took them up to [his] throne. They all bowed down before him and he said, ‘Father, this is the fulfilment of that dream I had long ago. My Lord has made it come true and has been gracious to me– He released me from prison and He brought you here from the desert– after Satan sowed discord between me and my brothers. My Lord is most subtle in achieving what He will; He is the All Knowing, the Truly Wise.  My Lord! You have given me authority; You have taught me something about the interpretation of dreams; Creator of the heavens and the earth, You are my protector in this world and in the Hereafter. Let me die in true devotion to You. Join me with the righteous.’” (12:99-101)

“This account is part of what was beyond your knowledge [Muhammad]. We revealed it to you: you were not present with Joseph’s brothers when they made their treacherous plans.  However eagerly you may want them to, most men will not believe.  You ask no reward from them for this: it is a reminder for all people 105 and there are many signs in the heavens and the earth that they pass by and give no heed to– most of them will only believe in God while also joining others with Him.  Are they so sure that an overwhelming punishment from God will not fall on them, or that the Last Hour will not come upon them suddenly when they least expect it?  Say, ‘This is my way: based on clear evidence, I, and all who follow me, call [people] to God– glory be to God!– I do not join others with Him.’” (12:102-108)

“All the messengers We sent before you [Muhammad] were men to whom We made revelations, men chosen from the people of their towns. Have the [disbelievers] not travelled through the land and seen the end of those who went before them? For those who are mindful of God, the Home in the Hereafter is better. Do you [people] not use your reason?  When the messengers lost all hope and realized that they had been dismissed as liars, Our help came to them: We saved whoever We pleased, but Our punishment will not be turned away from guilty people.  There is a lesson in the stories of such people for those who understand. This revelation is no fabrication: it is a confirmation of the truth of what was sent before it; an explanation of everything; a guide and a blessing for those who believe.” (12:109-111)