THE AL-SAJDAH CHRONOLOGY
6.1. GENERAL
We begin this chapter with unearthing the evident and real intention behind the manner in which the creation of Man would be processed and completed. That objective will be achieved by looking and understanding the different types of supernatural feats; namely those that do and those that not involve human participation.
As regards those in which not the slightest involvement of any created creature or thing is allowed, the best example is the origination and creation of the concomitant realms of Al-Akhira and Ad-Dunyaa. It was an awesome mind-blowing and astonishing miracle, which involved Allāh’s (swt) sole exercise of His (swt) Divine cosmic and infinite Knowledge, Power and Creative Wisdom:
Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before We clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe? (Sūrah Al-Anbiyā [Ch.21]: 30)
Moreover, He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and to the earth: “come ye together, willingly or unwillingly.” They said: “We do come(together), in willing obedience.” (Sūrah Fuṣṣilat [Ch.41]: 11)
It was also Self-Witnessing in that Allāh (swt) alone was present and knows the truth, neither JINNs nor Man were in existence to witness and bear testimony to those overwhelming and astounding cosmic events:
Behold! We said to the angels, “Bow down to Adam”: They bowed down except Iblis. He was one of the jinns, and he broke the Command of his Lord. Will ye then take him and his progeny as protectors rather than Me? And they are enemies to you! Evil would be the exchange for the wrong-doers! I called them not to witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor (even) their own creation: nor is it for helpers such as Me to take as lead (men) astray! (Sūrah Al-Kahf [Ch.18]: 50-51)
Examples of the second type of supernatural feat, the first of the three self-evident and most well known is the following:
We sent an inspiration to Moses: “Travel by night with My servants, and strike a dry path for them through the sea, without fear of being overtaken (by Pharaoh) and without (any other) fear.” (Sūrah Ṭā Hā [Ch.20]:77)
Then We told Moses by inspiration: “strike the sea with thy rod.” So, it divided and each separate part became like the huge, firm mass of a mountain. (Sūrah Al Shurā [Ch.26]:63)
Here we see Allāh (swt) performing the awesome act of parting a sea, as if it were a gorge or canyon, so that the Children of Israel could escape the wrath of Pharaoh of Egypt. However, this tremendous miracle was accomplished through granting to Prophet Moses (pbuh) the honour and privilege of participating in a physically manifest manner. The role he played was to use a physical object, namely the multipurpose rod he had, to actually strike the real-time Red Sea, to trigger precisely what Allāh (swt) intends. The next event appears in the following Wonderful Arabic Qur’ānic passage, and it too involved Prophet Moses (pbuh), and was also achieved in the same way:
We divided them into twelve tribes or nations. We directed Moses by inspiration, when his (thirsty) people asked him for water: “strike the rock with thy staff”: out of it there gushed forth twelve springs: Each group knew its own place for water. We gave them the shade of clouds, and sent down to them manna and quails, (saying): “Eat of the good things We have provided for you”: (but they rebelled); to Us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls. (Sūrah Al-‘Arāf [Ch.7]: 160)
A third example is provided in the ensuing passage:
Man, We did create from a quintessence (of clay); Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out of it (the sperm) another creature. So, blessed be Allāh, the best to create! (Sūrah Al-Mu’minūn [Ch.23]: 13-14)
In this latter example, Allāh’s (swt) use of the reproductive process, to demonstrate His (swt) creative skill in creating and giving life to a new human being, is the phenomenon to which the passage is expressly referring. The cosmic value and importance of this divine miracle is established for mankind within the context of the Sūrah Alr-Raḥmān (Ch.55: 1-4) rankings. In and among the order of the, universally, most valuable and noble gifts and acts of kindness to the human race, having a Creator and object of deification (Allāh [swt]) that has the absolute quality in being Alr-Raḥmān is inexplicably infinite in value. The Arabic word Alr-Raḥmān has been rendered to mean, one who is intense, unceasing and overflowing with kindness.
What ranks after that tremendous gift is that Most Wise and All-Knowing Creator’s personal and literal guidance, which in this case is the Arabic Qur’ān. Third in the line of the cosmically most precious and important things to the human race is their origination, creation and grant of existence, without which the first two is of no benefit to them. As a consequence, the act and exercise of the Divine creative skill in the creation of Man out of clay and water, and in perpetuating his kind through the reproductive process, has a celestial value and status that is superseded only by the above two universal valuables that were mentioned.
What is striking, enlightening and instructive is that it is the Sovereign Creator, Allāh (swt), and Him alone without the aid of any of His (swt) creations, that began the creation of Man. For this the human race is perpetually indebted and is compelled to show gratitude, if they are indeed truthful and just. However, the acts of Divine and Regal graciousness did not end there, Allāh (swt) then went on to designate for the human race the extremely high cosmic and regal position of Khalēefa of the “earth”. In practical terms, this meant that, as regards the management and administration of the “earth” Man was given the desirable and immense status, honour and privilege of being Allāh’s (swt) deputy.
Added to what is encapsulated in the raft of things that the Divine and Sovereign Rabb had already honoured Man with, including the great and powerful position of being Allāh’s (swt) Deputy Administrator and Manager of the “earth”, the very strong and solid allusion in the above Sūrah Al-Mu’minūn (Ch.23: 13-14) passage is that, commensurate with that tremendously high rank, Man was now being honoured even more with the awesome privilege and distinction of participating in the reproduction creation process of his own kind.
We can therefore understand why Iblis (Shay’ṭān) was filled with so much envy and hatred, and swore to prove Man as an ingrate that is not worthy of such an honour:
He (Iblis) said: “Seest Thou? this is the one whom Thou hast honoured above me! If Thou wilt but respite me to the Day of Judgment, I will surely bring his descendants under my sway – all but a few!”(Sūrah Al-Isrā’ [Ch.17]: 62)
He (Iblis) said: Because thou hast aghwāytanee (allowed/caused me to commit wrongdoing), lo! I will ambush (lie in wait for them) on Thy Straight Way, then will I assault them from between their hands (min bayēni ayēdihim) and from behind them and from the right and from the left: nor wilt Thou find in most of them gratitude. (Sūrah Al-‘Arāf [Ch.7]:16-17)
As with the manifest physical acts of striking the Red Sea and the rock, the physical exertion in the act of coitus between the Islāmic spouses, is a crucial and very involved aspect of the wonder and miracle of the reproduction creation procedure. It is yet another unquantifiable dignifying element and weight, for which Man would be required to manifest the optimum unqualified and purest gratitude. It therefore comes of no surprise that, throughout every person’s life, from the beginning of our human lives, to their end culminating with death, regardless of race, geography, era and how the things forming the contents of each are configured, the fundamental challenge would always be the core conflict created by the actual abovestated Shay’ṭānic (Iblis) assaults with waswasa (inciting each person to act, think and adopt the character of an ingrate) and the universal reality of Man’s rank and status before Allāh (swt), within the creation scheme.
For that nobility and status in rank within the created world, and before the Lord and Cherisher of the realms, truth, reality and justice demand, of each person, that they should execute their spiritual and legal obligations in freely exercising their power to will, and actually cause, their consciousness, character and conduct to show and bear witness, to their inordinate love and manifest gratitude for the undeniable and inexorable honour in being the Khalēefa of the “earth”, his zawjat and, as Islāmic spouses, active participants in Allāh’s (swt) reproduction procedure.
The true purpose of drawing on those obvious and very lucid examples is to provide clear and irrefutable proof that demonstrates and explains, that there are Divine creation procedures, phenomena, and miracles in which human beings are divinely honoured and privileged by giving them a role that allows them participate in the divine activity. As can be seen very plainly in the last of the above three examples, that is indeed the case with the divine miracle, sign, lesson, wonder and phenomenon that is the creation of human beings. But while one aspect of the human participation is quite obvious when it come to the reproduction process, it is not so obvious as regards the original creation.
It is therefore the aim of this chapter to demonstrate and expound on the point that, in order to show human beings Divine preference, and confer upon them the honour of participating in the completion of their own creation, the divine miracle, sign, lesson, wonder and phenomenon that is the creation of the very first human beings, Ādam, and Ḥawwa’, as well as every subsequent person, involves a series of four tranacations, all of which must be completed before the creation procedure of human beings can be said to be completed.
6.2. FOUR PHASES IN COMPLETING MAN
It is undisputed that the creation process of the primal humans is part of the “Unseen Knowledge” belonging to the “Unseen Pre-Earth Al-Akhira Period”. Humans have no way of knowing what is the real truth, unless they have access to the authentic statement and evidence of the Creator Himself (swt) or an entity that was present during that era. The Sūrah Al-Sajdah (Ch.32:6-9) statement is not only an authentic divine revelation that there is series of events forming the single creation procedure transaction of the human race, but also their chronology. In the previous chapter, consideration was given to the first two of the four events in the series, and the significance of each and their position in the proper ancient order, was identified and deliberated. It is the aim in this chapter to provide a brief reminder of those first two events of the creation process, then identify and ponder the third and briefly make mention of the fourth.
6.2.1. The First Phase Of Al-Sajdah (Ch.32:6-9)
The first stage was preceded by a pre-Earth Al-Akhira period during which Man was a none-existant thought, word, entity or thing that was not even mentionable (Sūrah Al-Insān [Ch.76]: 1). That phase of the process began when humans were originated as a concept and ended with the lifeless human bio-chemical being created, being optimally moulded into shape and then made ordered, justly balanced in every conceivable respect, and containing all that was essential for it to be what it was designed to be, and to function and complete the purpose for which Allāh (swt) originated and created it.
By the time that first stage came to an end, the primal lifeless and lowly substance, that was moulded to the optimum from the dust of dark clay in a slimy state – Sūrah Al-Ḥijr [Ch.15]:26, had the physical form of a mature adult, purposefully preferred and endowed with:
- Sex organs that gave him the capability of reproducing his own kind;
- The benefits of physical sense organs with receptors to enable his hearing, and seeing,and the fuād (plural, af’idah {see, Sūrah Al-Naḥl [Ch.16]:78; Sūrah Al-Insān [Ch.76]: 1-3; Sūrah Al-Aḥqāf [Ch. 46: 26; Sūrah Al-Mu’minūn [Ch.23]: 78; Sūrah Al-Sajda [Ch.32]:9; Sūrah Al-Mulk [Ch.67]:23}) toenable discernment in smells, taste, touch and between positive and negative extrasensory information;
- the capacity to reason, desire, and a limited freedom of choice, and the power to will actions;
- A crainial information processing unit (the brain) capable of decoding cryptic transmission from the natural surroundings, and to reason that information, choose, make judgements and the power to will responses; and
- Three groups of organs, namely, respiratory [lungs, chest wall and diaphragm], phonatory [complicated voice box assisted by the throat and larynx] and articulatory [production of the sounds of speech are made with the organs that configures the vocal tract], working together to enable articulate speech in communicating intelligently.
However, none of those talents were operational. They merely formed part of the lifeless bio-chemical form, in much the same way that humans make a computer, having decided how it is to function and for what purpose it is to be used, but without the necessary power to put it into operation and cause it to operate. It is left up to the person who acquires it to enable it by inserting it into the appropriate power source and input the necessary data.
Allāh (swt) describes the completion of that first stage of the creation of Man with the Arabic words, Thumma Sawwāh, meaning, He (swt), “fashioned it in due proportion”, made it with optimum capability of being what it was created to be, and having all the necessary faculties to function and fulfill its intended purpose). To appreciate what exactly is meant the preferred recourse in this effort is to the Divine appeals in the following Divine Sayings (Divine Ḥadith):
Do they not look at the Camels, how they are made? – And at the Sky, how it is raised high? – And at the Mountains, how they are fixed firm? – And at the Earth, how it is spread out?(Sūrah Al-Ghāshiya [Ch.88]: 17-20)
Evidently, an urgent plea is being made to the human race, demanding that they ponder the four matters that are mentioned in the above ‘ayāh passage. To identify the realistic and practical wisdoms that justify all four matters being used as proof of the existence of Allāh (swt), and to appreciate why they are coined as divine similitudes of Allāh’s (swt) knowledge, wisdom, and tremendous creative skills, would require volumes of detailed considertion of their essence, characteristics, and physical features. For the purposes of this work, it is not possible to ponder them all, or even to deliberate any one of them in any great depth.
It suffices then to, very briefly, contemplate the Camel only. The utmost human description of the optimal appropriateness of the camel’snumerous and unique physical traits that enable them survive in harsh desert climates, is in dubbing them the “ships of the desert“. No other animal on planet Earth can match the camel as regards its suitability for transportion in the desert, and it this feature; the details in how they are made and their suitability to the desert environment, that is being cited as strong and powerful proof of the existence of a Knowledgeable, Intelligent and Forward-Planning Creator. The phenomenal quintessence, features, and physical qualities of the camel are all undoubted signs, lessons and guidance, and among the amazing facts about it are the following:
- The Camel’s Feet Eyes Nose And Mouth
a. Camels have large, flat, feet covered by thick, protective pads. These wide pads, which form the bottom of their feet, are tough and leathery, and help prevent camels’ feet from being burned by desert sands as they walk, and keep them from sinking into the sand. This in turn make camels’ gait on sand easier and saves valuable energy.
b. Camels were designed with a double row of extra-long lashes, which gives its eyes natural protection from airborne sand. It also has three eyelids which shield camels from the sun’s rays and during sandstorms they use their transparent third eyelid to help keep sand and dust out of their eyes.
c. When travelling in the sandy desert sensitive muscles in the nostrils close enough to form a barrier that filters out dust to protect its lungs. Because of its God-given intricate, hair-lined sinus nasal cavity, the camel avoids losing moisture and conserves water when it exhales, by trapping water vapor in the nostrils, which is reabsorbed into the body. Additionally, by eating green herbage camels can ingest sufficient moisture in milder conditions to maintain their bodies’ hydrated state without the need for drinking.
d. Camels have thick lips and endothelium (a very thick leathery lining) of mouth which allow them to chew thorny desert plants (such as cactus etc).
2. Hydration System Of Camels
a. Relative to their environment and function, camels have
the optimal hydration system, being able to go as much as a week (in hot weather), and sometimes months (in colder temperatures) without water.
b. Camels are created tolive in difficult conditions without
drinking water dueto four main mechanisms which avoid the effects of dehydration and permit their survival:
– Firstly, the anatomical characteristics enable camels to conserve water and limit the volume of urine in extreme desert conditions by concentrating its urine so that is comes out as a thick syrup, it excretes less water.
– Secondly they were created with the ability to produce small faeces that are so dry it can be used immediately as fuel in fires.
– Thirdly, if forced to go without water, because camels created with oval red blood cells which do not stick together when their blood thickens due to dehydration (which is ordinarily fatal). This then facilitating the flow of red blood cells during dehydration so that camels are able to survive.
– Fourthly, camels can drink as seldom as once every 10 days even under very hot conditions and can lose up to 30% of their body mass due to dehydration. A camel may store up to 45 kilograms (100 pounds) in the hump or humps, drawing on this to replaced the water loss. Fat metabolization yields one gram of water for every gram of fat processed. Camels can drink more than 100 litres (30 U.S. gallons) of water in less than 10 minutes, which rapidly restores their dehydrated tissues.
3. Temperature Maintenance
The camel’s cooling processes includes its variable internal temperature, long legs and fur.
a. Camels are able to withstand changes in body temperature having a large variable internal temperature which ranges from 34°C (93°F) at dawn and steadily increases till nearly midday to heat up to 41°C (104 °F), at which it starts to sweat.
b. Any sweat that does occur evaporates at the skin level rather than at the surface of their coat. Camels can withstand losing 25% of their body weight to sweating, whereas most other mammals can withstand only about 12–14% dehydration before cardiac failure results from circulatory disturbance. The camel can ‘cool off’ overnight.
-c. The camel’s thick fur coat provides such great insulation, it is able to withstand both the intense midday heat and cold desert night temperatures. During the summer the coat becomes lighter in color, reflecting light as well as helping avoid sunburn.
-d. The camel’s long legs also help by keeping its body farther from the ground, which can heat up to 70 °C (158 °F).[
e. In general, camels lose only 1.3 liters of fluid intake every day while the other livestock lose 20 to 40 liters per day.
f. Dromedaries have a pad of thick tissue over the sternum called the pedestal. When the animal lies down in a sternal recumbent position, the pedestal raises the body from the hot surface and allows cooling air to pass under the body. Domesticated camel calves aid heat loss by lying in sternal recumbency, position
4. Load Bearing
a. Bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg (660 to 2,200 lb), and dromedaries 300 to 600 kg (660 to 1,320 lb), and a working camel can comfortably carry half their own body weight for 6-8 hours a day
The clear divine intention behind the imperative implorations is to provide human beings with clear proof that everything in, and about the prevailing realm, was not a chance creation, but that it was designed and made truly Sawwā(fashioned in due proportion, made it with optimum capability of being what it was created to be, and having all the necessary faculties to function, and fulfil its intended purpose) and by an intelligent, forward- planning Creator.
So, by considering the camel, this most remarkable and important of all desert-adapted animals, Man will then be able to reflect on the very clear soundness and excellence in his own bio-chemical structure, and will then be able to arrive at certainity and appreciate his practical appropriateness and how equally Sawwā, if not, how much more so, he too has been created. In extrapolating the information regading his own case, and that of the camel, the believing humans are given the opportunity to arrive at even greater certainity as to the reality of Allāh (swt), and increase in their imaan. While the disbelievers are given an enormous opportunity to either attain to belief, and put their trust and confidence in Allāh (swt), or increase in their disbelief.
6.2.2. The Second Phase Of Al-Sajdah (Ch.32:6-9)
The Sūrah Al-Sajdah (Ch.32:6-9) divine statement makes mention of a second stage in the single human creation transaction process. This involves bringing the marrying of a pair of opposites in property, to bring about a new “Union” under the governance of what is termed nafs. The procedure through which this new “Union” was established was to Nafakha, that is to say, to “breathe” of the Rūuḥ into the excellently moulded and Sawwā lifeless bio-chemical form:
But He fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him Rūuḥihēe (something of My Spirit). (Sūrah Al-Sajdah [Ch.32]: 9)
In the previous chapter, this phase of Man’s creation process was discussed. It therefore sufficient just to remind and make mention that, what is striking is that, just like a computer that switches on automatically, and is triggered into motion when electricity added, by joining the Rūuḥ to the lifeless bio-chemical form, this has the effect of activating all the bio-chemical faculties, which Allāh (swt) had gifted to both those features of the new nafs, making it capable of motion, acquiring and using knowledge and reproduction.
6.2.3. The Third Phase Of Al-Sajdah (Ch.32:6-9)
It is a mistaken belief and a misunderstanding that the single divine miracle, sign, lesson, wonder and phenomenon that is the creation process of human beings, only comprises what is wholly within the remit and responsibility of Allāh (swt), and that which is the Qadr of each individual human being; namely the creation of Man’s bio-chemical form and the Nafakha into that form of the Rūuḥ.
The Divine evidence and very strong allusion in the Sūrah Al-Sajdah (Ch.32:6-9) divine statement, the reality regarding the manner in which humans develop, and the following ’ayāt of Allāh (swt), is that the single divine and wonderous procedure for the creation of a human involves a third stage or phase, in which humans are divinely permitted to participate, as well as a fourth stage, which is also within the remit and reasponsibility of Allāh (swt), for its completion.
This knowledge should not prove difficult to accept and understand because there are numerous examples of the performance of divine miracles, signs, lessons, wonders and phenomena in the past, some of which are mentioned in the “Grand (Arabic) Qur’ān”, in which humans that are specially preferred are given Divine authority, dispensation and honour to participate. Examples are, Prophet Moses Daraba (striking) the Red Sea, the Rock and his actions in all the other miracles leading to the release of the Children of Israel from captivity in Egypt; Prophet Elisha giving life to a small boy, by Allāh’s (swt) permission (II Kings Ch. 4:17-37); and the many miracles that Prophet Jesus performed, also with the leave of Allāh (swt).
The Sūrah Al-Sajdah (Ch.32:6-9) divine statement captures this third stage of the human participation in the completion of their own creation with the divine statement:
And He gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and and afidah: little thanks do ye give!
Allāh (swt) has singled out for special mention, in His (swt) usual succinct and profound form of address, the gifted faculties of “hearing, and sight, and afidah”, which human beings are obliged to employ in order to participate in the miracle of their creation. It is thus not only the faculties themselves, but also the immense honour that is bestowed upon Man for which he is required to exhibit and manifest meaningful and enormous gratitude, but for which Allāh (swt) says he has shown very little.
This third stage in completing the Wonder that is the creation of Man will be looked at in a little more detail shortly. To see the entire picture of the human creation miracle that span thousands of our years, the fourth stage in process should be briefly considered. It is important to note that this last stage comes into play only after human beings have been given ample time to perform their role in this realm of Ad-Dunyaa. The miracle or wonder in creating Man, is a single creation transaction comprising a series of events or stages that span not only the ages, but also realms; hence, the role humans are to play occurs in this realm of Ad-Dunyaa, while both the primal and original creation, and the final event in respect of every single created individual, has been slated for the realm of Al-Akhira.
The authority and source of the knowledge is the following ’ayāt:
Those who reject Allāh and hinder men from the path (or cause) of Allāh,- their deeds will Allāh bring to naught (make it go to waste). But those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, and believe in the Revelation sent to Muhammad – for it is the Truth from their Rabb (Lord and Cherisher) – He will remove from them their ills and) ‘aṣlaḥa (meaning, set aright or improve) Bāalahum (meaning, their heart or mind or condition). This is because those who reject Allāh follow vanities, while those who believe follow the Truth from their Rabb: Thus does Allāh set forth for men their lessons by similitudes….But those who are slain in the cause of Allāh – He will never let their deeds go to waste. Soon will He guide them (in the hereafter) and yuṣliḥu (meaning, set aright or improve) Bāalahum (meaning, their heart or mind or condition). and admit them to The Garden which He has promised them. (Sūrah Muhammad [Ch.47]:2-6)
Do ye then see? The (human seed) that ye throw out, is it ye who create it or are We the Creators? We have decreed Death to be your common lot and We are not to be frustrated From changing your Forms and creating you (again) in (Forms) that ye know not. And ye certainly know already the first form of creation: why then do ye not celebrate His praises? (Sūrah Al-Wāqi’ah [Ch.56]:58-62)
What is clearly shown above is that, with every feat in creating a human being the stages are: (i) the creation of the bio-chemical form; (ii) the Nafakha into that form of the Rūuḥ to form the nafs-union government; (iii) The nafs-union government being allowed to participate in the creation process by utilizing the divine gifts of hearing, and sight, and afidah to prove itself either ungrateful, untrustworthy and insincere, or grateful, trustworthy and truthful; and (iv) Allāh (swt) completing what He (swt) began by crystalizing the condition of each person, relative to the actions they have willed.
Based upon the guidance in the above ’ayāt, the fourth stage is where Allāh (swt) completes the creation process. He (swt) will execute this aspect of process by taking into account an infinitely accurate measure of the entire past deeds of every person in fulfilling their primal obligation, and the degree to which the believers completed the “Spiritual Loan-Purchase Agreement” they made with Him (swt).
This contractual agreement is of the highest significance and therefore requires some measure of elucidation. The Glorious Arabic Qur’ān explains that, to sincerely comply with the Primal Directive of worshipping Allāh (swt) to the exclusion of all else, it is vital that a person sells to Allāh (swt), on credit, their person and the entire present and future wealth produced through the exercise of their energies:
Allāh hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is Jannat (the Gardens of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a contract (promise) binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Qur’an: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allāh? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme. (Sūrah Al-Tawbah [Ch.9]: 111)
The essence of this agreement is that the individual, because of his trust and confidence in Allāh (swt) honouring His (swt) part of the covenant, enters into a contract of sale and credit of the nafs-union and its wealth. Allāh (swt) then covenants to takes the nafs-union and the totality of its wealth on trust, upon the understanding that it will be paid for in the future; the consideration being an eternal life in Jannat.
For the residue of the term of life of the nafs-union on planet Earth, Allāh (swt) then loans back all that He (swt) has purchased on the trust and understanding that it will be kept fully maintained and put and kept into a good and righteous state; hence the proceeding reminders:
Allāh did aforetime take a covenant from the Children of Israel, and we appointed twelve captains among them. And Allāh said: “I am with you: if ye (but) establish regular prayers, practise regular charity, believe in my messengers, honour and assist them, and loan to Allah a beautiful loan, verily I will wipe out from you your evils, and admit you to gardens with rivers flowing beneath; but if any of you, after this, resisteth faith, he hath truly wandered from the path or rectitude.” (Sūrah Al-Māidah [Ch.5]: 12)
If ye (bring the) loan to Allāh, (as) a beautiful loan, He will double it to your (credit), and He will grant you Forgiveness: for Allāh is most Ready to appreciate (service), Most Forbearing. (Sūrah At-Taghāabun [Ch.64]: 17)
For those who give in Charity, men and women, and (bring the) loan to Allāh (as) a beautiful loan, it shall be increased manifold (to their credit), and they shall have (besides) a liberal reward. (Sūrah Al-Ḥadēed [Ch.57] :18)
In effect the term “Loan” is divinely used in the above context to represent the nafs-union (the person or individual) and its wealth. It will be regarded as a “Beautiful Loan” if the consciousness, character and conducts of the nafs-union is of such a high moral state and weight in goodness that, upon Allāh (swt) completing the process of creation in relation to the particular individual nafs-union, it qualifies for the special treatment that will be mentioned shortly.
So, using an infinite measuring scale so as not to do the least injustice, upon completing the process of creation in relation every person, Allāh (swt) will weigh all their deeds against the weight of His (swt) Divine Standard for each and every action, and liberally reward each individual in accordance to what they have earned:
And We shall set up mawāzēn (acutely accurate scales of justice) during the Period/Cycle/Day of Resurrection so that no soul will be wronged in aught. And even if it were the weight of a grain of mustard seed, We would bring it forth. And sufficient are We as reckoners. (Sūrah Al-Anbiyā [Ch.21]: 47)
And the weighing during that Period/Cycle/Day (of Resurrection) will be the true (weighing). So as for those whose scale (of good deeds) will be heavy, they will be the successful (prosperous and allowed to enter Paradise). And as for those whose scales are light, it is they who shall have ruined (and lost) anfusahum (themselves/ego) because they wrongfully denied and rejected Our Ayat (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations.). (Sūrah Al-‘Arāf [Ch.7]:8-9)
On that Period/Cycle/Day (of Judgement) will men proceed in companies sorted out, to be shown the deeds that they (had done). Then shall anyone who has done an atom’s weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom’s weight of evil, shall see it. (Sūrah Al-Zalzala [Ch.99]:6-8)
Accordingly, it is the Qadr of Allāh (swt) that only two formats will be used under the creation scheme, to bring to a finality and complete the Divine aspect of the creation process of each and every individual nafs-union. It is either that they will be treated as not having benefitted from having been divinely honoured and gifted with the faculties of hearing, and sight, and afidah, and so, will be treated as fuel for the fire of Hell, or to have benefitted, and so qualify for the additional mercies of Allāh (swt) mentioned below. It is for each person to decide for themselves, by their consciousness, character and conducts, which of the two formats they truly desire; and it is for that reason, all the struggles, efforts, and deeds of every nafs-union will be carefully and accurately weighed individually, to determine which of the two formats they exercised as their election.
For those whose deeds in consciousness, character and conduct measure up to meet the minimum Divine moral standard, and are heavy weights on the Divine’s Cosmic Scale, the format of the divine completion process will take a different turn from the “Light-Scale” individuals. These “Heavy-Scale” individuals will achieve the supreme success in being Divinely completed so as to prosper by having:
- Any existing ill (meaning, deficiency in the “Loan” / stain of evil inclination in the nafs-union) removed;
- The state and condition of their Bāal (consciousness/heart /mind/ego) improve; and
- An unimaginable new “form” (Nunshi’a) created to house the purified nafs.
And by way of reward for their past deeds they will be given:
- Allāh (swt), The Most Intensely Gracious (Ar-Raḥmāan) and The Most Intense and Over-Flowingly Merciful (Ar-Raḥēem) as their object of adoration and servitude and their guide;
- Virgin-pure and undefiled “maknoon zawjat” as companions;
- As friend, neighbours and companions similarly devout, righteous, trustworthy, and grateful servants of Allāh (swt) (’Abdullāh); and
- The region called “Jannat” in the realm of Al-Akhira as their place of abode.
Now that there is knowledge and understanding of the full spectrum of the process in the creation wonder of Man, we can now consider, in a little bit more more detail, the third phase in the chronology that is mentioned in the Sūrah Al-Sajdah (Ch.32:6-9) divine statement, which features the human participation in the creation process.
