Deception and reality of life - Al Kahf (7&7th last)

Juma Mubarak. Don’t forget to recite at least first ten and last ten Ayahs of Al Kahf today and if possible the whole Surah.

Firstly, few words on Fate (Taqdeer). If everything I shall do tomorrow is already written somewhere, what is the point of my being?  What is my role in a pre-programmed theatre of life? Things are happening in a preordained and predetermined manner. If the choices that I make are already jotted down in The Book up in heavens, then what is the point of having freewill? These are few tricky questions and my mind remained occupied with these for some time now. The answers I got failed to satisfy my query.  This one came closer to logic. You have to give credit to Allah for being All Knowing. Have we got life out of our own choice? No. Have we got freewill out of our own choice? No. However, Allah for His title Al Rehman has given us free hand to make choices at will. Now if the choices that we will make are known to Him does not change this status. He swt has to run the affairs of entire universe and being the best of organizers, He swt has documented all happenings in advance which clearly stamps authority of the Creator over the creatures, may it be His best creation i.e. Humans. Finally, life is a reality with definite ending not a fiction. And we could not expect The Author of this story to leave anything voids including likely changes or twists in story which could come to pass by Dua. 

I have no real qualifications to talk about Quran except that I believe in Allah’s word and feel obligated to share my thoughts to anyone interested in reading. However, I found an interesting connection between 7^th and 7^th last Ayah of Al Kahf. Please note, this kind of similarity is no coincidence, such patterns are abundant in beautiful Quran.

Let us look at Ayah No 7:

إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا مَا عَلَى الْأَرْضِ زِينَةً لَهَا لِنَبْلُوَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا ﴿18:7﴾ 

7.  That which is on earth We have made but as a glittering show for the earth, in order that We may test them--as to which of them are best in conduct. (Yousaf)

 

What do we understand from this Ayah? Allah for His kindness did not land humans on earth soon after the creation of earth because it was not inhabitable at that time. Resulting from big bang (for which I agree with modern science except that no particle was blasted rather it was Allah’s will which made it happen out of nothing) the earth in its early years was in gaseous form. Then it attained solid form and got shrunk on cooling down. Then immense rains flooded the world, followed by creation of life on earth. Quran mentions that all life is attributable to water. The dinosaurs and the big quakes must have taken place. Till this point science and Quran are in sync. However, creation of Humans is a serious point of difference. Modern science could not come out of the shadows of Darwin’s evolutionary theory. Though a deeper study of his work would reveal that he never really had the substance to prove that how long it took chimps to transform in to humans and what made it happen? It is quite demeaning to accept as well when Quran declares us the best of creatures in Al Teen.  Anyhow, this Ayah clearly tells us that Allah through all the process mentioned above, created ideal living environments on earth for us to live. With our knowledge, progress and development in different fields of life, life at earth is becoming more and more attractive. With Allah’s help and blessings, quality of life on earth has improved, pretty much turning this world in to a ‘glittering show’ as mentioned in translation above. But there is a downside to the matter. As much as the life becomes attractive, as much we deviate from our real cause of being which is to do the best deeds. All the adornment Allah did for us from the point of creation of earth till this day was not just to eat, drink and be merry but it was meant to be a test. A test of our inbuilt goodness to do good realizing the fact that we cannot just go by our urges and desires because we are created much better than the other creatures who succumb to their urges. We must sit down today and figure out what kind of best conduct is mentioned in this Ayah? If we fail this test it will have serious consequences. There will be no looking back, no intercession by our Pir sahib who gives us Taweez for every problem in life. Because on the Day, Pir Sahib may himself be running from pillar to post for his deeds/ misdeeds.

Finally, folks, we have not evolved from monkeys. Allah has spread this earth with all its bounties for our service. All the creations on earth are there to facilitate us humans which is Allah’s mercy but there are no free lunches. After having enjoyed all the blessings like food, shelter, clothing, health, wealth, power, position etc etc, we will be answerable for our conduct. The difference from this world to that world is that here punishment is instant. We over-speed and get a ticket by traffic police, but Allah’s court will be established once and for all and full HD videos, evidences and statements of witnesses (our own hands, legs, tongue, earth and other creatures) will be shown to us. No excuse. No escape. No friends. No family. None. Just good deeds can come for our rescue on that Day. The whole arrangement is quite logical for those who can relate it with their inbuilt divinity (little bulb of Noor kept in every human heart). Now look how Allah has sealed the case of those who blindly run after pursuits of this world.

الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا ﴿18:104﴾ 

 104:  "Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they thought that they were acquiring good by their works?"

7^th and 7^th last Ayah of Al Kahf are the thesis of this Surah. Life of this world is the greatest Deception (Dajl). Although Massih Al Dajjal will appear in human form in a Jewish household any time soon. Old Rabbis are already calling for all Jews to reach back to Israel because according to their religious calculations and knowledge it is time for him to appear. But, even now if we look around only one ideology is running across the globalized globe i.e. material godless world i.e. pursuit of happiness. Material gains to pay homage to material god of our desires. It is pretty much the greatest deception which is the exact literal meaning of Dajjal. Most of the modern world and ‘aspiring moderns’ among our ranks are Godless because they don’t feel they need of a provider. A false sense of self-sufficiency has sunk in. But it will be too late to correct our fallibilities of life on the Day of Reckoning. These are the times when we can seek refuge in Quran.

Only Allah knows the whole truth.