Friday Sermon: Life
by Imam Arif Rahman
4 August 2017 (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-e-Islam Lahore, Trinidad & Tobago)
کَیۡفَ تَکۡفُرُوۡنَ بِاللّٰہِ وَ کُنۡتُمۡ اَمۡوَاتًا فَاَحۡیَاکُمۡ ۚ ثُمَّ یُمِیۡتُکُمۡ ثُمَّ یُحۡیِیۡکُمۡ ثُمَّ اِلَیۡہِ تُرۡجَعُوۡنَ ﴿۲۸﴾
“How is it that you could be ungrateful to Allah when you were without life and He brought you to life, then He will let you die and again raise you to life so you will return to Him.” (The Holy Quran, 2:28)
I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I also bear witness that Muhammad is the last and final Messenger of Allah after whom no Prophet old or new will come.
I begin in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
As-salaamu alaikum
Peace be unto you
The existence of life and death has always puzzled human beings. People are still asking questions about life. They want to know what life is. When does life start? What is the purpose of life? Is there a life beyond this life? How is human life different than the life of other creatures? Is there life outside of this world? Life is the quality or attribute of a thing which causes it to function, develop and grow. Life is an active, dynamic principle or force which distinguishes a thing from its death or inactivity. This driving force is also known as instinct. It is described in the Quran as: to be driven or inclined or to have an impulse. Life is an action that a creature has to perform whether or not it likes it. Life is an automatic reflex action that is possessed by all living things. Reflex action may be caused by something external. For example when you clap your hands you make a bird or other creatures fly or run. Reflex action may also be caused by something internal. For example when you are addicted to something you are motivated to get it at any cost. But reflex action can also be caused by a desire which is an urge to get something that is necessary for survival. Examples of this are our hunger and thirst for food and drink, etc.
In the Quran, the words hay-yun or hayatun which means life signifies the capacity to grow that is found in animals as well as plants. It also signifies the ability to have feeling and sensation and it is also applied to the faculty of an active intellect. But life also is used to mean freedom from grief or sorrow. In 3:169, those who die in the way of Allah are called “alive” because they are free from grief and sorrow and are enjoying the blessings of the life hereafter. Another use of the word for life is everlasting life in the world to come which can be obtained by knowledge and intelligence. The word life also used to indicate wakefulness as well as spiritual life.
In 29:64 and 89:24, life means the life eternal. Hay‐yun means life but when it is used for God it means Ever-living. The concept of life in the Quran also gives us the meaning of saving one from destruction. In 5:32, saving a life means saving it from death and destruction and in 2:258, the use of the expression “I give life” means that an opponent of Abraham forgave a person and thus caused him or her to live. In 2:179, we are told that life cannot exist in peace until those who are guilty of homicide are punished in retaliation and evil and wickedness are destroyed. The Quran uses the word to mean life of the world as well as life in the beyond.
In the physical growth of any creature it is the internal changes which manifest themselves in external development. In the simplest forms of cells we see changes in the nucleus bringing about the growth of the cells. We note that in trees it is the internal chemical process in the sap, in the trunk and in the root that determines the growth of the tree and its fruit. We know too, that changes inside a cocoon determine the butterfly that eventually comes out. We also observe that changes within the body through the digestive process determine growth of animals. Vegetation, animal and human beings at the physical level possess similar life that is driven by instinct. Animals have lives and senses but they do not have understanding. It is human beings alone who have an additional existence called the soul which gives them the ability to understand and to exercise discretion. This soul also has the capacity to acquire Divine attributes. There are about ninety‐nine attributes of Allah listed by Muslims of which about thirty are found in the Quran. This soul that is with each human being is the Spiritual self which does not die. The soul is also the personality or character which makes each individual distinct from others.
How could anyone know about the soul? Isn’t it strange that even though each person has a soul many persons ask the question: what is the soul? If you are eating and enjoying the taste of a fruit such as a mango or an apple, etc., how can I know your taste? I could never know or explain whether you enjoy the taste of what you are eating or whatever is inside your mind. No human being can know exactly the pleasure or pain that another person experiences. We may have similar experiences but we are unable to know exactly what another person thinks or feels. Each person knows I am so and so, I am a human being, I am a male or I am a female, I am different from other creatures. I have responsibilities. I know right from wrong and I can choose either one to act upon. The soul therefore is the God given ability to recognize oneself. The soul is the recognition of myself as an individual who is special and separate from others. The soul is my own identity. It is my personality and character.
Many people who do not understand religion, or who follow no religion, or who have a wrong concept of religion, do not recognize or admit that they have a soul that is given to them by God. Often they experience a crisis of identity. A broken identity is a cause of unhappiness and is a crisis of identity. What is one’s identity? It is how I see myself and it is how others see me. It is in addition, what Allah wants of me. Human lives are crafted and shaped by lifestyles, by media recognition, by legal rights and by cosmetic appearance. But Life also offers the opportunity to ask:
فَبِاَیِّ اٰلَآءِ رَبِّکُمَا تُکَذِّبٰنِ ﴿۲۱﴾
“Which of the blessings of your Lord will you deny?” (The Holy Quran, 55:21).
It is the Creator who defines existence, not the created.
ہُوَ الَّذِیۡ یُصَوِّرُکُمۡ فِی الۡاَرۡحَامِ کَیۡفَ یَشَآءُ ؕ
“He it is Who shapes you in the wombs as He pleases”. (The Holy Quran, 3:6)
It is for this reason that the Quran expresses God’s thoughts of how He wants us to understand our own selves, our rights, our responsibilities, our relationships with one another and our purpose for living.
This self-awareness, self-consciousness, self-choice, this faculty of discretion — is called the nafs or human soul. When we sleep or faint or go into a coma our physical body continues to function but not our consciousness. The Quran in 6:60 tells us:
وَ ہُوَ الَّذِیۡ یَتَوَفّٰىکُمۡ بِالَّیۡلِ وَ یَعۡلَمُ مَا جَرَحۡتُمۡ بِالنَّہَارِ ثُمَّ یَبۡعَثُکُمۡ فِیۡہِ لِیُقۡضٰۤی اَجَلٌ مُّسَمًّی ۚ ثُمَّ اِلَیۡہِ مَرۡجِعُکُمۡ ثُمَّ یُنَبِّئُکُمۡ بِمَا کُنۡتُمۡ تَعۡمَلُوۡنَ ﴿٪۶۰﴾
“And He it is Who takes your souls at night, and He knows what you earn by day, then He raises you up in it that an appointed term may be fulfilled. Then to Him is your return, then He will inform you of what you did” (The Holy Quran, 6:60)
And, again in the verse:
اَللّٰہُ یَتَوَفَّی الۡاَنۡفُسَ حِیۡنَ مَوۡتِہَا وَ الَّتِیۡ لَمۡ تَمُتۡ فِیۡ مَنَامِہَا ۚ
“Allah takes this self-awareness away at the time of sleep and at the time of death” (The Holy Quran, 39:42).
Death does not destroy the soul or end its existence. It puts it in the protective custody of Allah. The unique feature of the soul is its ability to acquire, possess and develop Divine qualities. The qualities that are needed for the development of the human soul, personality or character are obtained only from God. Qualities which only God possesses are the Divine attributes of Love, Peace, Forgiveness, Truth, Justice, Mercy, Generosity, etc. These qualities do not exist in any physical or material creation but they are needed for the soul. Just as the body has to feed on material food to grow and develop so too the soul needs the Divine attributes to develop its morality, spiritually, personality and character.
Living a Godly life is not easy for any of us. Neither is trusting and submitting to Allah’s will. Yet, He requires us to be guided by Him to live a life pleasing to Him and expressing His will. The more challenging the path before us, the more He helps us. Allah assures us that He never forsakes us and what He has for us later on is better than what we had before. With this assurance we face every obstacle with hope and perseverance. Do not borrow other people’s lifestyles and behaviour. Let our own behaviour be improved with God’s help and guidance.
اِنَّ اللّٰہَ لَا یُغَیِّرُ مَا بِقَوۡمٍ حَتّٰی یُغَیِّرُوۡا مَا بِاَنۡفُسِہِمۡ ؕ
“Allah does not change what is in people until they change what is in their souls” (The Holy Quran, 13:11).
Life requires not conformation but reformation. To express our true identity we don’t have to conform to other’s lifestyles, we have to reform our lifestyles. When we surrender to God to live the life He has for us we are certain it is a life created just for us.
As-salaamu alaikum
Peace be unto you
بَارَکَ اللّٰهُ لَنَا وَلَکُمْ فِي الْقُرْآنِ الْعَظِیْم، وَنَفَعَنَا وَاِیَّاکُمْ بِالْآیَاتِ وَالذِّکْرِ الْحَکِیْم۔ اِنَّہٗ تَعَالیٰ جَوَادٌ کَرِیْمٌ مَلِکٌ بَرَّ رَوُوفُ رَّحَیْمٌ۔
Baarakal-laahu lanaa wa lakum fil Qur’aa nil ‘azeem
Wa nafa ‘anaa, wa eeyaakum, bil aayaati wa zikril hakeem
In-nahoo ta ‘aalaa Jawaadun Kareemum, Malikum, Bar-rur-Ra’oofur-Raheem.