THINKING OVER THE VERSES OF THE QUR’AN
(Surat Al 'Imran: 191)
THINKING OVER THE VERSES OF THE QUR’AN
The Qur'an is the last book Allah sent to all mankind. Every person living on the earth is responsible for learning the Qur'an and fulfilling the commands communicated in it. Most people, however, do not learn it and fulfill what Allah commands in the Qur'an, although they accept it as a divine book. This is a consequence of their not thinking about the Qur'an, but knowing it by incomplete information gained here and there. For a man who reflects, on the other hand, the importance of the Qur'an and its place in man's life is very great.
First of all, someone who reflects wants to know The Creator Who created him and the universe in which he lives, gave him life when he was nothing, and bestowed countless blessings and beautiful things on him. He wants to learn what kind of conduct He would be pleased with. The Qur'an, which Allah sent through His Messenger, is a guide answering the questions above. For this reason, man needs to know the book Allah revealed to people as a guide and in which He distinguished good from evil. He needs to ponder over each verse and fulfill what Allah orders in the most proper and pleasing way.
Allah states the purpose for which the Qur'an was revealed to people:
It (the Qur'an) is a Book We have sent down to
you, full of blessing, so let people of intelligence ponder its Signs
and take heed. (Surah Sad: 29)
No indeed! It (the Qur'an) is a reminder to which anyone who
wills may pay heed. But they will only heed if Allah wills. He is
entitled to be feared and entitled to forgive. (Surat al-Muddaththir:
54-55)
Many people read the Qur'an, but the important thing, just as Allah states in His verses, is to ponder on each verse of the Qur'an, to draw a lesson from that verse and improve one's conduct in compliance with these lessons. Someone who reads the verse, "For truly with hardship comes ease; truly with hardship comes ease," (Surat al-Inshirah: 5-6), for example, reflects upon it. He understands that Allah creates ease with each hardship, and therefore, the only thing he has to do when he meets hardship is to put his trust in Allah and find the ease that is with it. Allah's promise being so, we see that giving up hope or being stricken with panic in moments of difficulty is a sign of a weakness in our faith. After reading this verse and reflecting upon it, our conduct will agree with the verse throughout our lives.
In the Qur'an, Allah relates stories from the lives of the prophets and messengers who lived in the past, so that people can learn the ideal conduct, conversation and lives of a person with whom Allah is pleased, and take them as examples. Allah states in some of His verses that people must think over the stories of the messengers and draw lessons from them:
There is an instruction in their stories for people of intelligence. (Surah Yusuf: 111)
And (We left a Sign) also in Musa when We sent him to Pharaoh with clear authority. (Surat adh-Dhariyat: 38)
We rescued him (Nuh) and the occupants of the Ark and made that into a Sign for all the worlds. (Surat al-‘Ankabut: 15)
In the Qur'an, some of the attributes of past nations, their manners and the disasters that befell them are mentioned. It would be a great misconception to read these verses merely as a narration of historical events which simply relate the incidents that befell past nations. This is because, just as in all other verses, Allah has revealed the verses about past nations for us to think over, and for us to amend our conduct by deriving lessons from the events that came to pass on these nations:
We destroyed those of your kind in the past. But is there any rememberer there? (Surat al-Qamar: 51)
We bore him on a planked and well-caulked ship, which ran before Our eyes – a reward for him who had been rejected. We left it as a Sign. But is there any rememberer there? How terrible were My punishment and warnings! We have made the Qur'an easy to remember. But is there any rememberer there? (Surat al-Qamar: 13-17)
Allah has revealed the Qur'an as a guide to all people.
Therefore, reflecting upon every verse of the Qur'an, and living
according to it by deriving lessons and warnings from every verse is
the only way to gain the approval, mercy and the Paradise of Allah.
What does Allah Summon People to Think about in the Qur'an?
And We have sent down the Reminder to you so that you can make clear to mankind what has been sent down to them so that hopefully they will reflect. (Surat an-Nahl: 44)
Just as in this ayah of Surat an-Nahl, in many other of His
verses, Allah invites people to reflect. Thinking over the things Allah
calls us to think about and seeing the hidden purposes and the
creational miracles He has created is an act of worship. Each subject
on which we reflect helps us to further understand and appreciate the
omnipotence, wisdom, knowledge, art and other attributes of Allah.
Allah Summons Man to Think over His Own Creation
Man says, "When I am dead, will I then be
brought out again alive?" Does not man recall that We created him before
when he was not anything? (Surah Maryam: 66-67)
Allah Summons People to Think Over the Creation of the Universe
In the creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation
of the night and day, and the ships which sail the seas to people's
benefit, and the water which Allah sends down from the sky – by which
He brings the earth to life when it was dead and scatters about in it
creatures of every kind – and the varying direction of the winds, and
the clouds subservient between heaven and earth, there are Signs for people who use their intellect. (Surat al-Baqara: 164)
Allah Summons People to Think over the Temporary Nature of the Life of this World
The metaphor of the life of this world is that of water which We send down from the sky, and which then mingles with the plants of the earth to provide food for both people and animals. Then, when the earth is at its loveliest and takes on its fairest guise and its people think they have it under their control, Our command comes upon it by night or day and We reduce it to dried-out stubble, as though it had not been flourishing just the day before! In this way We make Our Signs clear for people who reflect. (Surah Yunus: 24)
Would any of you like to have a garden of dates and grapes, with rivers flowing underneath and containing all kinds of fruits, then to be stricken with old age and have children who are weak, and then for a fierce whirlwind containing fire to come and strike it so that it goes up in flames? In this way Allah makes His Signs clear to you, so that hopefully you reflect. (Surat al-Baqara: 266)
Allah Summons People to Think over the Blessings They Possess
 Man should ponder every animals or inanimate being Allah created. |
It is He Who stretched out the earth and placed firmly
embedded mountains and rivers in it and made two types of every kind of
fruit. He covers over day with night. There are Signs in that for people who reflect.
In the earth there are diverse regions side by side and gardens of
grapes and cultivated fields, and palm-trees sharing one root and
others with individual roots, all watered with the same water. And We
make some things better to eat than others. There are Signs in that for people who use their intellect. (Surat ar-Ra‘d: 3-4)
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Allah Summons Man to Think on the Fact that the Whole Universe Has Been Created for Man
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And He has made everything in the heavens and everything on the earth subservient to you. It is all from Him. There are certainly Signs in that for people who reflect. (Surat al-Jathiya: 13)
And by it He makes crops grow for you and olives and dates and
grapes and fruit of every kind. There is certainly a Sign in that for people who reflect.
He has made night and day subservient to you, and the sun and moon and
stars, all subject to His command. There are certainly Signs in that for people who use their intellect.
And also the things of varying colors He has created for you in the
earth. There is certainly a Sign in that for people who pay heed. It is
He Who made the sea subservient to you so that you can eat fresh flesh
from it and bring out from it ornaments to wear. And you see the ships
cleaving through it so that you can seek His bounty, and so that
hopefully you will show thanks. He cast firmly embedded mountains on
the earth so it would not move under you, and rivers and pathways so
that hopefully you would be guided, and landmarks. And they are guided
by the stars. Is He Who creates like him who does not create? So will you not pay heed? (Surat an-Nahl: 11-17)
Allah Summons People to Think about Their Own Selves
Have they not reflected within themselves? (Surat ar-Rum: 8)
Allah Summons People to Think about Good Values and Deeds
And that you do not go near the property of orphans before
they reach maturity – except in a good way; that you give full measure
and full weight with justice – We impose on no self any more than it
can bear; that you are equitable when you speak – and that you fulfill
Allah's contract. That is what He instructs you to do, so that hopefully you will pay heed. (Surat al-An‘am: 152)
Allah commands justice and doing good and giving to relatives. And He
forbids indecency and doing wrong and tyranny. He warns you so that hopefully you will pay heed. (Surat an-Nahl: 90)
You who believe! Do not enter houses other than your own until you have
asked permission and greeted their inhabitants. That is better for
you, so that hopefully you will pay heed. (Surat an-Nur: 27)
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Have they not looked at the sky above them:
how We structured it and made it beautiful and how there are no
fissures in it? And the earth: how We stretched it out and cast
firmly embedded mountains onto it and caused luxuriant plants of
every kind to grow in it, an instruction and a reminder for every
penitent human being. |
Allah Summons People to Think about the Hereafter, the Hour, and the Day of judgment
On the day that each self finds the good it did, and the evil
it did, present there in front of it, it will wish there were an age
between it and then. Allah advises you to beware of Him. Allah is
Ever-Gentle to those that serve Him. (Surah Al 'Imran: 30)
And remember Our servants Ibrahim, Ishaq and Ya‘qub, men of true
strength and inner sight. We purified their sincerity through sincere remembrance of the Abode. (Surah Sad: 45-46)
What are they awaiting but for the Hour to come upon them suddenly? Its
Signs have already come. What good will their reminder be to them when
it does arrive? (Surah Muhammad: 18)
Allah Summons Man to Think about the Animate Beings He Creates
Your Lord revealed to the bees: "Build dwellings in the
mountains and the trees, and also in the structures which men erect.
Then eat from every kind of fruit and travel the paths of your Lord,
which have been made easy for you to follow." From inside them comes a
drink of varying colors, containing healing for mankind. There is
certainly a Sign in that for people who reflect. (Surat an-Nahl: 68-69)
Allah Summons Man to Think about the Punishments That Might Suddenly Befall Him
Say: "What do you think? If Allah's punishment were to come upon you or the Hour, would you call on other than Allah if you are being truthful?" (Surat al-An‘am: 40)
Say: "What do you think?
If Allah took away your hearing and your sight and sealed up your
hearts, what god is there, other than Allah, who could give them back
to you?" Look how We vary the Signs, yet still they turn away! (Surat
al-An‘am: 46)
Say: "What do you think? If Allah's punishment were to come upon you suddenly by night or openly by day, would any but the wrongdoing people be destroyed?"(Surat al-An‘am: 47)
Say: "What do you think? If His punishment came upon you by night or day, what part of it would the evildoers then try to hasten?" (Surah Yunus: 50)
Do they not see that they are tried once or twice in every year? But still they do not turn back. They do not pay heed. (Surat at-Tawba: 126)
We gave Musa the Book after destroying the earlier nations, to awaken people's hearts and as a guidance and a mercy so that hopefully they would pay heed. (Surat al-Qasas: 43)
We destroyed those of your kind in the past. But is there any rememberer there? (Surat al-Qamar: 51)
We seized Pharaoh's people with years of drought and scarcity of fruits so that hopefully they would pay heed. (Surat al-A‘raf: 130)
Allah Summons Man to Think about the Qur'an
Do they not ponder the word (of Allah)? Has anything come to them that did not come to their ancestors the previous peoples? (Surat al-Muminun: 68)
It (the Qur'an) is a Book We have sent down to you, full of blessing, so let people of intelligence ponder its Sign and take heed. (Surah Sad: 29)
We have made it (the Qur'an) easy in your own tongue so that hopefully they will pay heed. (Surat ad-Dukhan: 58)
No indeed! It is truly a reminder to which anyone who wills may pay heed. (Surat al-Muddaththir: 54-55)
In this way We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an and We have made
various threats in it so that hopefully they will have taqwa or it will spur them into remembrance. (Surah Ta Ha: 113)
The Messengers of Allah Summoned Their People, Who Lacked Understanding, To Reflect
Say: "I do not say to you that I possess the treasuries of
Allah, nor do I know the Unseen, nor do I say to you that I am an
angel. I only follow what has been revealed to me." Say: "Are the blind
the same as those who can see? So will you not reflect?" (Surat al-An'am: 50)
His people argued with him. He said; "Are you arguing with me about
Allah when He has guided me? I have no fear of any partner you ascribe
to Him unless my Lord should will such a thing to happen. My Lord
encompasses all things in His knowledge so will you not pay heed? (Surat al-An'am: 80)
Allah Summons People to Resist the Influence of Satan
If an evil impulse from Satan provokes you, seek refuge in Allah. He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. As for those who have taqwa, when they are bothered by visitors from Satan, they remember and immediately see clearly. But as for their brothers, the visitors lead them further into error. And they do not stop at that! (Surat al-A'raf: 200-202)
Allah Encourages the Person to Whom the Message of the Qur'an is Communicated to Think Deeply
Allah Invites People to Think about Death and Dreams
Allah takes back people's selves when their death arrives and those who have not yet died, while they are asleep. He keeps hold of those whose death has been decreed and sends the others back for a specified term. There are certainly Signs in that for people who reflect. (Surat az-Zumar: 42)
