seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Quran 35:8. What of him whose evil deed was made attractive to him, and so he regards it as good? God leads astray whomever He wills, and He guides whomever He wills. Therefore, do not waste yourself sorrowing over them. God knows exactly what they do.
9. God is He who sends the winds, which agitate clouds, which We drive to a dead land, and thereby revive the ground after it had died. Likewise is the Resurrection.
10. Whoever desires honor—all honor belongs to God. To Him ascends speech that is pure, and He elevates righteous conduct. As for those who plot evil, a terrible punishment awaits them, and the planning of these will fail.
11. God created you from dust, then from a small drop; then He made you pairs. No female conceives, or delivers, except with His knowledge. No living thing advances in years, or its life is shortened, except it be in a Record. That is surely easy for God.
12. The two seas are not the same. One is fresh, sweet, good to drink, while the other is salty and bitter. Yet from each you eat tender meat, and extract jewelry which you wear. And you see the ships plowing through them, so that you may seek of His bounty, so that you may give thanks.
13. He merges the night into the day, and He merges the day into the night; and He regulates the sun and the moon, each running for a stated term. Such is God, your Lord; His is the sovereignty. As for those you call upon besides Him, they do not possess a speck.
14. If you pray to them, they cannot hear your prayer. And even if they heard, they would not answer you. And on the Day of Resurrection, they will reject your partnership. None informs you like an Expert.
15. O people! It is you who are the poor, in need of God; while God is the Rich, the Praiseworthy.
16. If He wills, He can do away with you, and produce a new creation.
17. And that would not be difficult for God.
18. No burdened soul can carry the burden of another. Even if one weighted down calls for help with its burden, nothing can be lifted from it, even if they were related. You are to warn those who fear their Lord inwardly, and perform the prayer. He who purifies himself purifies himself for his own good. To God is the ultimate return.
19. Not equal are the blind and the seeing.
20. Nor are the darkness and the light.
21. Nor are the shade and the torrid heat.
22. Nor are equal the living and the dead. God causes whomever He wills to hear, but you cannot make those in the graves hear.
23. You are only a warner.
24. We sent you with the truth; a bearer of good news, and a warner. There is no community but a warner has passed through it.
25. If they disbelieve you, those before them also disbelieved. Their messengers came to them with the clear proofs, with the Psalms, and with the Enlightening Scripture.
26. Then I seized those who disbelieved—so how was My rejection?
Ok... here's the commentary.
The quickening here is clearly the quickening to spiritual life.
The ultimate triumph of truth and the destruction of falsehood could not be expressed in clearer words. Good words ascend to God, i.e., prosper and bear fruit, and good deeds are exalted, while the evil plans to destroy Truth perish.
Note how spiritual truths are conveyed in words relating to physical life. Those in the graves are the very men who were actively engaged in opposition to the Prophet. The seeing are those who have their eyes opened spiritually, the light is the spiritual light, the living are those alive in spirit, and so on.
This broad doctrine that a prophet was raised among every nation is taught repeatedly in the Qur’ån, and, curiously enough, it is met with in the earlier revelation at Makkah as well as the later revelation at Madßnah. This great truth, which had remained hidden for thousands of years from the wisest men of the world, had shone upon the mind of an unlearned Arabian, who did not even know what nations then existed and what scriptures they possessed. This broad doctrine alone could form the basis of the universality of a Divine message to the whole of mankind. Only he who had the breadth of mind to recognize truth in all could unite all men.
My mind is busy today. Gotta admit, though, The last paragraph got through all the other noise this morning.
The people who put pen to parchment, or whatever they used to write this all down..... they were just common people like you and me. They didn't go to GCU or Harvard.... they didn't have fine robes and great gold chains hanging around their necks to show their "wealth" of knowledge.... they were every day guys who had never traveled the world..... they "didn't even know what nations then existed and which scriptures they possessed". They wrote what came to their head and their heart. They had to be guided.
I had a math teacher who adored using the chalk board eraser or his long pointer with a rubber tip to get our attention. As long as everyone was bright and answered all his questions actively with a smile.... he would walk around the room and teach.... but when we slowed down.... when we got a little lost... he would throw the eraser.... or poke us in the back with that pointer with the rubber tip. He figured chalk and rubber never hurt anyone... so he was good. I aced his class to get out of it. I didn't retain a single thing.
That teacher wanted me to learn what he was teaching. I chose not to absorb it. Oh I couldn't help but hear what he was saying. I didn't want the chalk to get on my clothes..... but I didn't absorb it. I aced the tests.... and let the knowledge slide right away. Kind of like a preacher.... who heard the word.... went to school for his mom's sake.... became a preacher.... but never absorbed the knowledge. That kind of preacher wears all the chalk of being in class.... but never absorbing the knowledge.... he's teaching tainted gospel.... and God knows it.
When the people who got their spiritual training from a dead preacher..... get to Judgement.... will God consider their excuse? Especially now... that we have the internet.... will God give us a break because our church is dead?
Hey.... Baptists.... we better get on the ball.... We teach that God interprets His Word for us..... so the dead church is no excuse. We are called to listen to God as He teaches us through His Word. Do you read? Or are you a dead "wanna believe" er.
