God’s Words: What Do They Mean?

By Abdul Sultan, Manchester Jamaat, UK

I have studied the Holy Quran for the last 55 years. For many years, I had been left bewildered as to why God chose to use a particular word in certain instances, or why the revelation of a verse took place in a particular manner.

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“Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but a messenger of Allah, and the seal of the prophets. Allah is the knower of all things.” Surah 33, Ayat 40.

I always wondered why God used the word “seal”, why He did not simply say: “Muhammad is the last of the Prophets”?

My intuition has lead me to understand that the words “last” or “stopped” cannot be as strong and emphasizing as the word “sealed”. We know the difference between “An envelope is closed” and “An envelope is sealed”. It means it is completely closed and not to be reopened.

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“(O Muhammad) Deliver what has been sent down to you from your Lord; and if you do not do it, then, (it will be as if) you have not delivered His message (at all); and surely Allah will protect you from (the mischief) of men; verily, Allah does not guide a disbelieving people.” Surah5, Ayat 67.

The wording of this Ayat indicates that the Prophet had missed at least one opportunity to deliver, the reason being that he needed to be protected from some men. In Khom-e-Ghadheer, on the Friday when this Ayat was revealed, on the stage made of saddles of camels, there were seated only five “men”: (1) The Prophet, whom God was addressing this Ayat, (2) Hazarat Ali, who was to become the Prophet’s successor, and (3 to 5) the remaining 3 Caliphs. This means the prophet was concerned with one or two or all the three remaining Caliphs! The political circumstances were such that the people of the court were already aware of whom would not welcome this type of proclamation.

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Only God knows and knew the future. Only He knew that the Prophet would die in the next 5 months. Following the proclamation, God wanted to reveal the concluding verse of Quran. For this type of revelation also, the presence of 100,000 people (the majority of the Prophet’s Ummat) was the best opportunity.

Seeing as God had permanently sealed further Prophet-hood, He wanted to place a leader, (an Amirul Momnin / a Hazar Imam) for all the time, in the fast changing world. And He wanted the Imam from Ahal-e- Bait of the Prophet. If God had Himself proclaimed Hazrat Ali as the successor, then after every Imam, He would have to proclaim the last Imam’s successor. Since that would no longer be possible, He wanted the Imam of the time to proclaim his successor. On this occasion, the Imam of the time was Prophet Muhammad. The people referred to him as “Mowla”.

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God knows everything, past, present and future. God’s knowledge cannot be compared with the knowledge of His creatures, and in the comfort of this knowledge, I am no longer confused about these two Ayats.

One more lesson, a great lesson that I have learnt after coming out of this is that God has used every word in Quran, as a specifically chosen word with specific purpose.

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Notes:

1. Quran translations from; “THE HOLY QURAN” by Aqa Mirza Mahdi Puya , S.V.Mir Ahmad Ali.
2. Images, courtesy: Google images.

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