C OMPARACIÓN DE RESULTADOS

69. And We have not taught him (Muhammad) poetry, nor is it meet for him. This is only a Reminder and a plain Qur'an.

Another motif of this Surah now begins: affirming the status of the Prophet Mohammed (s)

57 | P a g e

Why is he mentioned here? In the previous ayaat Allah speaks about two fundamentals of our religion:

Tauhid (worshipping Him alone) and Akhira, and Risala or belief in the Prophet (s) is now left to talk about as the third pillar.

The only thing left for them to say was that it was poetry, Allah responds we did not teach the Prophet (s) this. Waleed ibn Mugheera was the leader of Banu Makhzoom and was the top poet of the Quraysh.

Yet even he was stumped for two to three days thinking what Prophet Mohammed (s) could be doing, until all he could say was that this is some type of magic, he even knew that this was not poetry.

Allah asks: where do you think he got this Qur'an from? For 40 years of his life the Prophet (s) did not write a book or poetry – he was illiterate and unlettered and he was not known to be someone who would write or speak such things. Even non-Muslim Arabs consider the Qur'an to be the pinnacle of their language, and Allah says in the Qur'an: You did not write a book with your right hand, nor a novel or anything, if you did this than maybe people could doubt that this is a

fabrication. And Allah says to those that say he was a poet: You did not teach him poetry and neither did we.

In the Qur'an the Prophet (s) says: I lived a lifetime with you people, do you not understand?

And from the revelation onwards the Prophet (s) began to recite such a powerful book as the Qur'an, and the stories of the Bani Israel, the Propehts Yusuf (as) and Musa (as) and of the people and Prophets of before. But now all of a sudden from the middle of no where, with no library for miles, he became lettered? The Quraysh had no knowledge of such and the Prophet (s) did not contact a Rabbi or a priest. And Allah says about Mohammed (s) that you were not there when the Prophets were mentioned, and to this day opponents of Islam have no answer even though the non-Muslims try diligently to find the answer to this question of how the Prophet (s) really knew. In their minds he is a super-human academic yet they do not know where he got this knowledge from. The hallmark of our society is education, yet we take much pride in the fact that our beloved Prophet (s) was unlettered.

For us to learn we need to read the books of men, but the one with direct access to Allah does not need any books. So for the Rasool of Allah, illiteracy was a positive thing but for us he encouraged us to read and write.

The ruling on poetry

Some poetry is ok and allowable but too much of if it that prevents worship is haraam. It may be Mustahabb for those doing it for a good cause such as Hasan ibn Thabit (as) but for the Prophet (s) this is not good because his Maqam dictates that nothing should interfere with the beauty of the Qur'an.

The Prophet (s) though did engage in poetry. The Prophet (s) once said that the most truthful line of poetry was by Labeed: “everything except for Allah is a waste”and he even quoted this poetry with his mouth. And at the instance of when the Muslims were digging the trench before the battle of the Confederates or Trench, he recited poetry than too, yet Allah says that poetry is not befitting of him.

How do we reconcile?

Again, that the Prophet (s) quoted other poetry but he did not versify or create the lines.

Quoting Shakespeare does not make you a Shakespeare!

58 | P a g e

And so we get to an important point, why did Allah reveal the Qur'an?...

70. That he or it (Muhammad or the Qur'an) may give warning to him who is living (a healthy minded the believer), and that Word (charge) may be justified against the disbelievers (dead, as they reject the warnings).

The Qur'an is thus a warning to the living, those whose hearts are alive and that are spiritually alive. As for one whose heart is dead they will find no benefit in the Qur'an. Allah says that if your heart has life than you will be guided and Allah‟s Qadr does not force us to act like robots. If you have good in your heart Allah will bless you with more good. So Allah‟s Qadr has much wisdom in it!

71. Do they not see that We have created for them of what Our Hands have created, the cattle, so that they are their owners.

The Qur'an is explicit that Allah has created animals for us. This refutes classical arguments of vegans and vegetarians who do not want to consume animals for animal rights causes. The Qur'an mentions many blessings of animals: that they are for carrying, for fur, for honey etc and that they are a blessing. The Qur'an mentions that this whole world and everything in it was made for us. Thus if a Muslim says it is immoral to eat animals they are going against the verses of the Qur'an. People that say it is wrong to eat meat likely come from the Darwinism theory that cows are related to us.

On Animal and Human Evolution

“We” in this ayah means that Allah and the angels have done so, and this does not mean Allah fashioned animals as they are (i.e. that we don‟t believe in animals evolving). We can not use this verse to say that animals were fashioned by Allah, the “we” here means that the angels are in charge with the command of Allah. Rather with the creation of the humans Allah ascribes the fashioning of the human to Himself in the direct singular form.

Thus we have no problems with animal evolution, but yes we have major problems with human evolution. It is not problematic to affirm micro and macro evolution. This ayah does not mean Allah sent one cow, one sheep and all the rest came from this. The theory of evolution does have strength in other biological creatures, but for us theology is clear and the Qur'an is clear: human evolution does not exist. If we think of the domino analogy, where one domino falling led to another and this is how species evolved, it is logical to conclude that one without theology will think of the last domino as the

59 | P a g e

source of human creation instead of from Allah. Yes, it is true that our DNA matches animal DNA and this is but Allah‟s perfection and His creation, but again in Islam we are clear that while we may believe in animal evolution we do not believe in human evolution.

72. And We have subdued them unto them so that some of them they have for riding and some they eat.

Horses, cows, buffalos, camels and other animals that we utilize are much more powerful than humans and could kill us should they choose. But Allah says We made these animals docile for them, and when they see humans they become meek and subservient. Allah has given us thus mastery over these animals.

73. And they have (other) benefits from them (besides), and they get (milk) to drink, will they not then be grateful?

And again, we take so much benefit from animals, they provide our fur, food, honey, milk, carry our goods and provide much for us, and Allah asks, why not be thankful to Allah than?

74. And they have taken besides Allah aliha(gods), hoping that they might be helped (by those so called gods).

And they respond in an even worse way, instead of thankful Allah they turn to others beside Him!

75. They cannot help them, but they will be brought forward as a troop against those who worshipped them (at the time of Reckoning).

This is a powerful verse that shows the weakness of the idols!

We can derive multiple interpretations from these ayaat:

60 | P a g e

1. “Wahum” the gods, “Lahum” the people who worship them. You yourselves for the sake of your idols become armies fighting for the idols, how do you think these idols will help you when they can‟t even defend themselves?

2. The second interpretation is that on the Day of Judgement, Jesus Christ will dissociate from Christians (there are multiple ahadith and ayat where Esa will return and say that he did not tell the people to worship him), the angels will say we never told the Quraysh to worship us, and every single good person that was worshipped beside Allah (i.e. as an idol) will become an enemy to those who worshipped them beside Allah. When an idol is insulted you become defenders of your OWN gods, how can they defend you? Abdul-Qadir Al Jilani was a righteous man, but today millions worship him. On the Day of Judgement he will become an enemy to those who worshipped him.

76. So let not their speech, then, grieve you (O Muhammad ). Verily, We know what they conceal and what they reveal.

This ayah was revealed when Waleed Ibn Mugheera acknowledged in private to Abu Jahl that the Prophet Mohammed (s) was not a poet, madman or a magician but they still agreed to lie in public and to tell the people that he is all that. Allah tells the Prophet (s) that he should not be grieved at what they do. Being grieved is human nature but it is the sunnah of Allah to console the one in tragedy as He does for His Prophet (s) and so we as well should use this principle for others as well. Allah says we know what they have said in secret and what they say in public, do not grieve because we know truly the reality of their souls.

BENEFITS FROM THIS SECTION

1. The miracle of the Qur'an is the ultimate miracle.

2. Nature and the animals around us are Allah‟s gift to us. We may believe in guided animal evolution but that Allah created animals

in this form for us.

3. Many who reject the Prophet (s) reject him publicly while affirming him privately.

4. When someone is in distress, we should console them and be sympathetic because Allah even consoled the Prophet (s) , “Fala yahzunka qowlahum”

5. The Surah begins and ends by affirming the Prophethood of Prophet Mohammed (s), this is how important he is.