Message of Hajj 15

If you search for the translation or the interpretation of the verse 15 from the chapter Al-Hajj, you will be perplexed upon reading. This verse has pronouns and outside references that have confused the scholars, and still there are discussions as to what means what. Personally, I think that the suggestions for the meanings don't make sense when thought critically. Let's read the verse itself, first:

"Whoever should think that Allah will not support [Prophet Muhammad] in this world and the Hereafter - let him extend a rope to the ceiling, then cut off [his breath], and let him see: will his effort remove that which enrages [him]?" (22/15)

The verse begins with mentioning God's support for someone, but that person is not revealed; rather, it is mentioned with a pronoun. Furthermore, the verses preceding or following this verse do not include an explicit name related to that pronoun. That is why there are variations in translations on this point, and that is why the prophet's name is put into parenthesis.

Second, the meaning of the word sabab and its suggested use have been a matter of discussion. Is it a means, a way or a rope? Why is it used? I am going to come back to this point later.

Then, the word samaa' has been scrutinized. Virtually everywhere in the Quran, this word is translated as the sky or heaven. However here, some scholars prefer to translate as rope in order to make it fit into the general picture they are forging. That forged meaning is suicide, but that doesn't make sense either, as I'll discuss later.

Fourth, the thing to be cut off is rather elusive. Some interpret it as cutting off the rope, whereas others refer to cutting off of the throat or detaching the feet from the ground. Both of these groups are picturing a suicide scene. Aside from these, there are those who mention the cutting of the means to the heavens, but what that means is a matter of discussion!

In the end, amidst these confusing interpretations, a verse that is basically intended to explain the uninterruptibility of God's help is hidden behind layers of uncertainties. There must be an easier way of understanding this verse!

Let's look at the occasion of revelation of this verse (see: a paper on this verse). There are two narrations, one focusing on the believers, the other on the disbelievers.

The narration looking at the believers say that this verse was revealed at a time when the believers, tired of the injustices committed by the disbelievers, were thinking that it was already the time God crushed them, considering all the threats He was making in the Quran. But seeing that such destruction was not coming, their anger of the situation was growing.

The second narration looking at the disbelievers says that two tribes were calculating their odds of future prosperity among Arabs considering the possibility of Muhammad pbuh not receiving any help from God.

The latter narration focusing on the disbelievers seem to support the interpretations that translate the verse as "whoever thinks that God will not help him (Muhammad)". However, this information doesn't really help to understand the suicidal comments! If a person kills themselves, can they check later on whether their anger has calmed or not? Furthermore, what does suicide have to do with calming the anger? Or let's go even further. If this anger is about God helping the prophet, enraging the disbelievers, does it make sense at all that they would imagine killing themselves to stop that help?

The above questioning is for the interpretations that use the unusual meanings for the words sabab (rope) and samaa' (ceiling). Things get even more complicated if you actually go with the regular meanings of the words sabab (cause, means) and samaa' (sky, heaven ). First of all, all of the questions above apply for this case, too. In addition, how can you associate the suicidal comments to tying a rope to the sky?

Leaving aside these interpretations that stem from the second narration, if we look at the more abstract interpretations that stem from the believers' anger, then we end up with a different set of questions. As before, how can we relate the suicidal comments and the mechanism thereof to the calming of the anger and the subsequent introspection? Second, if this anger is on the side of the believers, then the support that enrages them is coming from God to the disbelievers! So, we are saying that God is supporting the disbelievers against the believers! If this is really the case, we need to digest that carefully.

In order to solve this mystery, we can get help from the explicit parts of the verse, instead of getting stuck on the vague ones.

"Whoever should think that Allah will not support him in this world and the Hereafter - let him extend a means to the sky, then cut it off, and let him see: will his effort remove that which enrages?" (22/15)

We know that someone is hopeless of God's support, be it to themselves or to someone else.  We also know that this person is angry. Here, let's assume the person is not expecting of God's support on the other side, which means that it hasn't come so far, and it is not likely to come ever. But then, at an unexpected time, God's help arrives, enraging the person. This scenario supports the interpretation focusing on the disbelievers.

If we continue on the same avenue, than as a rational way, the disbelievers would do their best to stop what is going on. Then, the suggestion of Quran is similar to the invitation of Noah: do your best to stop God's help and see if it works (10/71). In the verse, we are also told the ultimate level of what they can do: establish a way to the heaven and interrupt God's support. Here, symbolicly, God's help is depicted as descending from heaven, hence the reason to build a way to it.

If we step back and assume that the angry person is a believer, then they are emotionally tired of the injustices committed by the disbelievers. Yet, God's promise to help is never fulfilled. Tortured, outcast, they are unable to host a hope emotionally. But they are mentally forcing themselves to keep their hopes as told by God, which strains the psyche of the believers. Still, the superiority of the disbelievers remains untouched, thanks to the mercy and generosity of God. The mercy shown to the disbelievers when the believers are suffering in all aspects of life enrages the believers. In this critical situation, God tells them that this rage will not change God's plan on the events (2/155, 57/22-23, 64/11, 76/30, 81/29), even if the believers were to build a means to the heavens and try to change things.

Before ending, I should remind you that among the scholars, all interpretations are treated as acceptable as long as they are in line with the basic tenets of the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad pbuh. So, I am going to add my two interpretations above to that list. God knows best.

Looking at the interpretation for the disbelievers, we read that God is implicitly telling that He is going to enrage them by His eventual support to the believers. This is a glimpse of hope for the believers. But, taking the interpretation for the believers, we read an implicit invitation to patience. So, I would like to share a few more verses that are related:

"But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not." (2/216)

"Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. 'Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people.' " (2/286)

"Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us and grant us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower." (3/8)

Prophet Cycle

People who have been in touch with God are honored with the title "best of the humankind". Their life stories, as much as available, are presented as examples to the attention of the new generations. If you look at those stories, you see some commonalities, which are also visible in the lives of other historical leaders. Loss of or being away from the father, longing for solitude in early life and looking after animals, not sufficing with what's readily available to the eye and an eagerness to discover a bigger picture are among these properties. The commonalities also extend to their social lives and to what befalls them after the beginning of their leadership or mission. Standing with the poor against the oppressing status quo is an indispensable one among those common social aspects. In this blog, in order to highlight one of the things that make a prophet, I would like to share a fictitious story.

Nicolas was an ordinary man among his people. He had a small and happy family with a son, a daughter and a dog. His wife, Bonnie, was a homemaker, and was an excellent cook. As Nicolas earned the daily food of the family, Bonnie made sure that their humble house would serve to them no less than a palace would for a royal family. The children attended their schools and helped their parents for the house chores. In the remaining time, they played with their friends, and climbed the trees or the mountains, or had fun at the seaside. But above all, cave exploration was an adventure they enjoyed regularly without telling their parents.

In fact, Gwen and Dan would hide their cave explorations from their friends, too. It was their secret hidden from everybody in the town, because the caves were considered holy, and were not to be entered by anyone other than the recluse erudite who would show up exclusively for the special days of the year. Every time they went to a cave, it was actually a meeting with the erudite. Together, the three explored the depths of the earth, and listened to the voice of the nature as it told the mysteries of existence and what this meant for the humans.

The erudite was once a sincere friend of Gwen and Dan's father, Nicolas. After he started calling people to good manners and truthfulness, things changed. Things changed, because Nicolas was a good friend of another man, too: the chief of the town, who was at the same time a significant business partner. "So what?" you may ask. Well, as it usually happens, the chief had some not-so-correct affairs, and they were known to Nicolas, but he would keep them secret. In return, the chief and Nicolas would conduct businesses, which provided a stable income and a descent life to their families.

The good manners were actually good, but not the ones proclaimed by the erudite. According to the prevailing custom, they meant that the poor or the socially less reputable people should serve and respect the rich and the elite of the town. The good manners meant that if the rich people committed an injustice, it was to be "understood and forgiven", but if a poor person committed a similar act, this was to be punished "for the sake of the integrity of the society". And the erudite had a problem with those "good manners". He spoke for the less fortunate, he raised his voice against the oppression of the poor by the rich. He emphasized the evilness of lying and the virtue of honesty. As would anyone would do, he first shared his opinions with his close friend Nicolas.

Nicolas saw the big picture described by his friend. Whenever they got together, he listened to him, and said "you are right, my friend; you truly are." For these words, the erudite thought that his friend was supporting him. Having close relationship with the chief of the town, Nicolas could help the erudite invite the chief to the right path. Upon hearing this idea, Nicolas suddenly became distanced and sensitive to anything about this "right path". Although he continued his friendship, he only passively shared the good things of the life and dreamed of the good of the future. The only things he would criticize would be the limitations of the reality.

Speaking of reality, Nicolas knew very well what it meant. Reality was that the society was corrupt. If he sided with the erudite openly, he would be outcast, and he would not be able to fare the good life of his anymore. He would lose his social contacts, his business would collapse. This was the truth. If there was another truth, it was that his and his family's survival demanded conformity to the interests of the rich, not opposing with them. Nicolas knew these truths, because he once had listened to the chief speak about the call of the erudite, and that was not a nice talk. The real truth was, in fact, the erudite had to shut his mouth to avoid a violent response, as required by the "good manners" of the town.

As the situation was aggravating, Nicolas wanted to warn his friend. After all, they were friends. During a visit, He told, "Look! Yes, the society is corrupt, but there are facts. You cannot ignore everything. Sure, the chief has immoral businesses. Yes, he is a liar sometimes. But the system is corrupt. What can you do just by yourself? What can I do other than being a good man at home and being the man wanted by the system outside? The best we can do is earn our living and let go of anything else."

To these, the erudite replied calmly, but resentfully: "You want me to shut down my heart? You want me to override my reason and fair judgment? I am inviting you to the path of the prophets, and you are inviting me to abandon the prophets."

After this talk, the corrupt system of the town did not tolerate the utterance of the real good manners for too long. Soon, the system asked people to stay away from the erudite, and people obeyed the system. Why wouldn't they? Anyone seen with him would have to suffer the same fate, too. So, although their hearts screamed of pain in doing so, the people of the town shunned the enemy of the system.

In the beginning, the erudite did not care about this situation much, but with time, compulsory solitude weighed heavy on him, and he cried to the faces of those who were once his acquaintances: "you are blaming the system for all this, but who or what is the system? The system is you. You are the instruments of evil. You are taking parts in this evil."

Upon hearing these words, people defended themselves, Nicolas included: "you are causing conflict in our town. You actually are hiding your real intention to become the leader. You are a hypocrite."

Heartbroken in the deepest sense, the erudite left the town to live in the rocky area overseeing the houses. With him gone, things settled down in the system. Everything went back to normal. That is the rich and the influential people oppressed the poor and the lay public, and the oppressed normalized the situation as a blessing, since they had their daily food taken care of, thanks to the auspices of the rulers.

Nevertheless, as months passed, the inhabitants of the town realized that they needed someone to conduct their affairs in religious celebrations. So, a group of envoys was sent to see the erudite. Upon consulting with the erudite, they agreed that he would descend to the town on the days of the celebrations, and otherwise would not interfere with what was going on. To the public, it was announced that the erudite had actually become ecstatic with his spiritual experiences, and so could be forgiven for what happened. So, he was going to take part in the celebrations much like a maestro, but still was to be avoided.

Thanks to these few brief visits, the youngsters of the town came to learn about the past; of course the version favored and promoted by the rulers of the town. Gwen and Dan were two individuals who were eager to explore the mysterious. So, they wanted to find and meet this outcast erudite. That's how their visits to the caves began. And it didn't take too long for them to learn the close friendship between their father and the mysterious man, along with the real version of the past. In one sense, it was relieving to discover that they were actually continuing a friendship that was already out there. In the other sense, however, they feared getting caught by their father or by someone else...

Types of Blindness

Blindness is one of the worst calamities that could befall a person. Our eyes are the epitome of beauty and they are the instruments of appreciating beauty, yet a darkness veils them for a blind person. It is our eyes that are the embodiment of our personalities, yet they are shut, not by a cover but, by a functional deficiency for the visually impaired. This is all sad, but there are different types of blindness belonging to different eyes of ours!

"And you cannot guide the blind away from their error. You will only make hear those who believe in Our verses so they are Muslims [submitting to Allah ]." (27/81)

"And We gave Moses the Scripture, after We had destroyed the former generations, as insight (enlightenment/eye opener/guide) for the people and guidance and mercy that they might be reminded." (28/43)

"And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless." (7/179)

It is obvious that the eyes that do not see in these cases are not the eyes that are viewing the outside world. Perhaps, those people had a very good vision in the physical sense, but they were blind towards a truth that was to be seen with their hearts!

Wait! Do we see with our hearts?

Have they not traveled through the land? Have they no hearts to learn wisdom, or ears to hear the Truth? Certainly it is not their eyes which are blind, but it is the hearts in their breasts which are blind. (22/46)

Means of insight have now come unto you from your Sustainer [through this divine writ]. Whoever, therefore, chooses to see, does so for his own good; and whoever chooses to remain blind, does so to his own hurt. And [say unto the blind of heart]: "I am not your keeper. (6/104)

So, in the Quranic sense, we do have different kinds of eyes. And their health is essential for our well-being both in this and in the other world.

You may already be familiar with all of the above from before, but I would like to use this information to arrive at a new realization about the Antichrist:

"Allah is not one-eyed and behold that Dajjal is blind of the right eye and his eye would be like a floating grape." (Sahih Muslim, 169e)

In other hadiths about the same topic, there are different details, but overall, their consensus about the eyes of the Antichrist is that one of his eyes is blind and the other is protruding abnormally! It is possible to interpret these descriptions literally or figuratively. I am not going to delve into the literal meaning, because of the general figurative taste of the hadiths on the topic. Then, what could they mean figuratively?

Traditionally, the one-eye blindness of the Antichrist is interpreted as his ability to master the matters of this world, but his failure to see into the afterlife. Not excluding that meaning, we can rethink in the light of the above discussion the meaning of the one-eye blindness.

If total blindness is the depiction of failure to understand the signs of the All-Mighty Creator, and/or take a lesson from them, hence a total resolution in disbelief, then having single-eye blindness could mean a person who is partially invested in belief and partially in disbelief! That is a hypocrite.

The second description of the eye of the Antichrist is that it protrudes out abnormally. If you think of the daily life situations, when would a person's eyes wide open and stay like that? In case of extreme fear. In fact, constant fear and a consequent watch for every potential threat is the state of a paranoid.

One problem with being blind is that you cannot know what you don't see, until and unless someone who can see tells you. But if you are too suspicious of everyone else to trust them, you are on your own. From that point on, you may consider any intervention from outside to help as a conspiracy. The movie "A Beautiful Mind" presents a good example of this situation.

As this hysteric state unrolls, those around you may or may not side with you. If they are with you, they do so by closing their own eyes to reality so that they can believe in what you tell them. If they don't side with you, you treat them as enemies. Such is the case depicted by the prophet Muhammad:

"Hudhaifa and Abu Mas’ud got together and Hudhaifah said: I know best what the Dajjal (Antichrist) will have with him. He will have with him a sea of water and a river of fire, and what you see as fire will be water and what you sea as water will be fire. If any of you who lives up to that time and desires water, he should drink from what he sees as fire, for he will find it water. Abu Mas’ud al-Badri said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say in this way." (Abu Dawud 4315)

Perhaps due to this complex and tragic situation, rather than a communal life (hence the herd psychology), a more individual life (hence the emphasis on the free will) is preferable. And the proper guidance for the "free will" can be found by a direct relationship with the word of God and His messenger.

God knows best.