Friday, December 25, 2020

Sam Shamoun "Revisiting the Worship and Prayers of Allah"


Throughout time, the opponents of the prophets, because of their incapacity at denying the forceful arguments presented, reckoned that the only way in which they could tone down their ever increasing influence on the masses was to besmear their character and integrity
Ezek21:5"O Lord God, they say of me, 'Is he not an inventor of parables?".
Among their attacks, they would twist their prophecies publicly and deride the revelations
Ezek33:30-31"the members of your people who talk about you beside the walls and in the entrances of the houses..And they will come to you as a public gathering, and they will sit before you as My people, and they will hear your words but not fulfill them; instead they make them into jokes with their mouth; their heart goes after their gain".
These talks did cause them grief and sorrow however they were relieved knowing that God is their witness and, along with the angels, constantly showers them with blessings. 

Concerning the prophet who is the first and foremost in submission, obedience and devotion to Allah 6:14,39:11-12 we are told that
33:56"Allah and His angels send blessing/yusallun upon the Prophet".
Divine blessings are showered on him as was done with past prophets and messengers 37:113 such as Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqoub, Musa or Ilyas. The Quran tells us to praise, these eminent personalities, remember their exalted status among later generations 37:108,119,129,38:45-49. Muslims consequently remember them along with all the righteous in the daily prayers. To add to the sense of appreciation from Allah, yusallun is in the present form, which conveys the sense of perpetuity and continuity of a state in classical Arabic. This makes the prophet constantly under Allah's blessings.
When Allah and His angels yusallun on the prophet just like Allah and His angels yusallun on the believers 2:157,33:42-43,40:7-9 it does not mean the ritual salaat of worship. Neither does the word yuqimu precede it 4:103 nor does it say ila/to or for, rather aala/upon.  There is no hint at anyone praying to any other than Allah, much less of Allah praying to someone else. Confusing doctrines such as these are found in Trinitarianism, with separate divine entities contingent on oneanother, praying, begging, receiving things, and needing permission from eachother.

Salat stems from s-l-y. It is used in concrete for the horses in a race whose heads connect with the lower back of the one in the front. In the vivid conceptual language of the Arabs, it became a metaphor for closeness in connection, reaching of a goal. All these apply to the ritual salat to God. The goal is Allah with whom a person connects through worship of Him exclusively, the One to Whom all praise is due in the Heavens and Earth and in the Hereafter 34:1. When the angels do salat upon (not to) the believers, the goal are the believers with whom the angels connect by worshipping Allah so that He communicates His blessings on them. At no point are the believers worshipped by the angels, although they are intended in the angels' worship to Allah. Similarly God tells the believers to do salat on their prophet 33:56. Their goal is the prophet and they connect with him by worshipping Allah so that He communicates His blessings on him. Never is the prophet worshipped, intentionally or not. 

The prophet Muhammad is commanded to reciprocate, and do salat on the people 9:103 as it will give them a sense of relief. Never did the prophet worship any believer. 

Finally when Allah does salat upon (not to) someone, such as the prophet, then similarly Allah's goal is the prophet with whom He connects, not by worshiping him, but by communicating His blessings on him. Salat is not equal to worship but may include it. Salat is a connection with a goal. The type of connection and goal are different depending on the sender and receiver. Between created entities their goal is to connect with oneanother, never through worshipping one another, rather through worshipping Allah that he might send his blessings. When God is the sender of salat unto His creation, He establishes connection with it not by worshipping it or any other entity, but by blessing it with His guidance 33:43. 

Had the action of Allah doing salat involve the worship of another entity so that it might bless another, then the result would instead be for that worshipped entity itself to cause the blessing. But the guidance comes from Allah alone 
"He it is Who does salat upon you, and His angels that He might bring you forth from the darkesses into the light, and He is merciful to those who put their trust in Him". 
Again, when someone does salat on another who isnt worthy, he will not receive Allah's mercy. This shows again, the implication of doing salat is to communicate something from Allah upon another, never from another divine entity. Consequently the prophet is told that he should not do salat (yusalli) on the disbelievers when they die because they have been forbidden from Allah's forgiveness 9:80,84. 

The result of Allah doing salah upon someone is therefore to bestow goodness from Himself on the person. But because mercy best encapsulates goodness from Allah, we find in the Quran and ahadith the salah from Allah equated with mercy from Himself 
2:157"Those are the ones upon whom are salawaat from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided". 
The WAW which is translated in general as AND, also often means inclusion of a particular entity within the general more encompassing entity. The purpose is to highlight one aspect of the more encompassing concept. Salah from Allah therefore includes mercy, as well as other good things one may think of. Al Bukhari reports from Sufyan Ath-Thawri that 
"The Salah of the Lord is mercy". 
He also reports that
 "Allah's Salah is His praising him".
 The following narration, although weak also explains what is meant by the salah of Allah
 “The Israelites said to Musa: Does your Lord pray? Musa said: Fear Allah, O Sons of Israel! Allah said: O Musa! What did your people say? Musa said: O my Lord, You already know? They said: Does your Lord pray? Allah said: Tell them My prayer for My servants is that My Mercy should precede My Anger. If it were not so, I would have destroyed them.”
 In another equally weak narration 
“He (the Prophet PBUH) asked: ‘What is His Salah?’. He (Gabriel) said, He says: ‘Perfect, Most High is the Lord of the angels and the Spirit, My Mercy overwhelms my wrath.'”

The same reasoning applies to the greeting of "salaam" which is a supplication to Allah, that He might bestow peace on another. When Allah in turn greets with "salaam" He is bestowing peace from Himself upon another 

11:48"It was said: O Nuh! descend with peace from Us".  
To the dwellers of heaven, their peace will manifest by Allah appeasing their hearts to the fullest 

5:45-7"in the midst of gardens and fountains. Enter them in peace, secure. And We will root out whatever of rancor is in their breasts".  
No entity obtains salaam unless shown the way by Allah 

20:47,5:16"God shows unto all that seek His goodly acceptance the paths leading to peace/salaam and, by His grace, brings them out of the depths of darkness into the light and guides them onto a straight way". 
In sura yasin, when someone receives the word of peace from Allah, the verse ends by stressing Allah's mercy, because it is only through His mercy that peace enters the hearts of the believers 36:58. 

A comparable terminology is in regards to the concept of intercession. Speaking of the hereafter, the prophet said 
"Then the prophets and Angels and the believers will intercede, and (last of all) the Almighty (Allah) will say, 'Now remains My Intercession. He will then hold a handful of the Fire from which He will take out some people whose bodies have been burnt, and they will be thrown into a river at the entrance of Paradise, called the water of life. They will grow on its banks, as a seed carried by the torrent grows. You have noticed how it grows beside a rock or beside a tree, and how the side facing the sun is usually green while the side facing the shade is white. Those people will come out (of the River of Life) like pearls, and they will have (golden) necklaces, and then they will enter Paradise whereupon the people of Paradise will say, 'These are the people emancipated by the Beneficent. He has admitted them into Paradise without them having done any good deeds and without sending forth any good (for themselves).' Then it will be said to them, 'For you is what you have seen and its equivalent as well.'" 
The word for intercession here is Shafa'a which is linguistically different than tawasul. Shafaa of Allah is not a pleading action to another God. The people of paradise here recognize that it is Allah Himself who caused those people to enter heaven. This will be the ultimate act of Mercy, hence the people of paradise referring to Allah as al Rahman. Those sinners for whom Allah did not allow any intercession will ultimately be honoured by the shafa'a of Allah Himself, once their sins have been cleansed in the hellfire. The shafaa of Allah is to come between the person and his punishment, then doing as He pleases and deems fit; which is to take the person out of hellfire and place him in paradise. Shafaa between human beings entails that someone, allowed by Allah, comes between Allah and another person so as to honour and uplift that person.

By now it has been made clear, salat is an action that does not always include worship, neither by the sender nor to the receiver of the salat. Further it is not exclusive to the prophet Muhammad. He is a nabi like all the others between whom Muslims should never discriminate 3:84. Nor is the command to salla reserved for the prophets; it is a universal and recommended action between all believers equally.

A similar terminology is God's repeated command that the believers should "aminu" in the prophet. Although often translated "believe", that rendition doesnt do full justice to the word which literally means to "make oneself safe in an entity" ie fully trust it. So the believers are to fully trust their prophet and feel safe in him just as he does in them 9:61. 

Finally, the tashahhud during prayer mentions the prophet, but also oneself and all righteous servants of God, present or not. The prophet said 
"When you send Salam on me, send Salam on all the Messengers, for I am one of the Messengers".
None of those individuals are glorified, nothing is expected from them, nor are they believed to be able to perceive these words of prayers directly. Calling upon them emphasizes their presence in one's mind. At all moments, God is glorified and asked to send His peace and mercy on them. Talking in this manner to someone absent and beyond sensory perception, dead or alive, doesnt deify the person. This is done very frequently in everyday life. Nothing is expected in return from that person nor is he thought to directly perceive what is said. This is in stark contrast with the worship of saintly personalities as is widely practiced in Catholicism. Saints hear the prayers directly, and are expected to fulfil particular needs of the devotees, either through their own power, or through intercession with a higher stationed entity.

In ancient times, the practice of necromancy consisted in conversing with the dead, inquiring and receiving answers from them through dreams or while awake. The occultist would lie in graveyards, dig up bones and speak to the dead person seeking answers for future matters. The practice seems to have been widespread among the Israelites in the time of Isaiah (Isa8:19). Of course all this is far from the Islamic prayer in which Muslims ask God to bless the prophet, their own selves and all the righteous present or not. 
In Islam, dead people, believers and disbelievers alike, are alive in an intermediary realm until the day of resurrection 2:154,3:169,40:46. An inviolable barrier is placed between us and them preventing any type of interaction between these parallel realms 23:99-100. 

The only manner for those alive in that realm to know of things happening in our world, is indirectly. If God decides to convey to them information from the present world. For instance the prophet said 
"‘Allah has angels who travel around on Earth conveying to me the Salams of my Ummah". 
In addition, there are deeds they have left behind that can benefit them. Things such as an ongoing benevolent action that benefit people down the line (like planting a tree or digging a well) or beneficial knowledge, or a righteous child who will pray for his dead parent. 
This is a major Quranic theme, exemplified by the prophet and stressed upon the Muslims; that the best, most beneficial deeds are those that have God and one's fellow human being as motivating factor, no matter how insignificant 
"Allah's Messenger said, "While a man was on the way, he found a thorny branch of a tree there on the way and removed it. Allah thanked him for that deed and forgave him".
However the deceased wont be aware of those deeds while they are performed in his name, including prayers, until they are raised

"A man's status will be raised in pradise and he will ask, How did I get here? He will be told, By your sons' duaa for forgiveness for you". 
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Thursday, December 24, 2020

Sam Shamoun "Turning the Tables Pt. 5"


Spending in charity is called in the Quran "lending" to Allah 57:11. It is the best investement that will be amplified and returned manifold 2:261,27:89,6:160 because Allah is just as well as generous.
The HB in Prov19:17 speaks of charity with similar terms when it says 
"He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him his reward".
Bani Adam are Allah's vicegerents 2:30,6:165,35:39 meaning that the real Owner of the Heavens and Earth is Allah 10:55-56 and all things that come under the vicegerent's posession are nothing but trusts 
57:7"spend on others out of that of which He has made you trustees". 
It is a position man ows only to Allah who is the Real owner 6:165,7:10. God says in
 Job41:3"Everything under the heavens is Mine". 

Man has therefore no right to have his own will but he is there to fulfil the will of the delegating Authority when making use of what he has been entrusted with 
102:8"Then, on that Day, you shall certainly be called to account for the blessings and comforts of life". 
It would be dishonesty and treason, if he assumed sovereign powers, or used his trusts according to his own whim, or if he acknowledged another as his sovereign and submitted to his will.
All things in the Heavens and Earth declare Allah's glory 17:44,24:41 and Allah made many of these things subservient to man 45:13, thus honoring him above most of His creation 14:32-33,17:70. 

Possessing something is therefore only from our perspective because in reality nothing ever ceases to be under the mastership of its sustainer in the heaven and earth, and all will eventualy return to Him 2:107,19:65,30:11,19:93,3:83. In the HB, a very eloquent prayer from the prophet-king David starts by acknowledging God's all encompassing ownership and ends with a reminder of the notion that what we think as our possessions are in fact things God has entrusted us with in order to dispose of in righteousness 
1Chr29:11-17"Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, and the might, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and on the earth [is Yours]; Yours is the kingdom and [You are He] Who is exalted over everything as the Leader. And wealth and honor are from before You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is strength and might, and it is in Your hand to magnify and to strengthen all. And now, our God, we give thanks to You, and praise Your glorious Name. Now who am I and who are my people that we should gather up strength to donate like this, for all is from You, and from Your hand we have given it to You...And I know, my God, that You test the heart and You desire equity; I, with the sincerity of my heart, have willingly donated all these; and now I have seen with joy Your people, who are present here, offer willingly to You".
When something falls under someone authority, it in reality never ceases to be in God's ownership, from the instant we posess it to the moment we release it. He could amplify, reduce or take away such posessions as He deems fit 
17:20,30,13:26,35:2"Whatever Allah grants to men of (His) mercy, there is none to withhold it, and what He withholds there is none to send it forth after that, and He is the Mighty, the Wise". 
One is thus left with no excuse to hold on to such trusts whenever the owner requests a portion of it 
57:10"what reason have you that you should not spend in Allah's way? And Allah's is the inheritance of the heavens and the earth". 
"Giving" to Allah, spending in His ways, is nothing but a transfer of trust and the ackowledgement that one should manage them in accordance with the Owner's directives. So when the Quran calls whatever one spends in Allah's ways, ie as commanded by Him for the well-being of the entire community 2:215, and for the cleansing of one's own soul, as "lending" to Allah it is in fact telling the believers that although all things one possesses are ultimately Allah's, and whatever one spends in Allah's way is in reality disposing of such trusts as ordained by the Real Owner, Allah has established a tremendously generous system of multiplying to the borrowers (us) the amount they returned to the Lender (God). 

To call such a system of transfer of trust, a "loan" 57:11,18 strikes the listener in his sense of shame. How greedy and oblivious one has to be that one's master, who made the person rise, grow and thrive from nothing, who really in addition is the true owner of all the person posesses deep down to his own soul, has to "ask" for a "loan" instead of the person itself initiating the action. A more practical example would be that of a father/mother and son/daughter. How selfish, greedy and oblivious a child must be, for the parents to have to ask for a loan instead of the child himself initiating the gesture, in grateful recognition of moral obligations towards those that nurtured him? The weight of the word becomes all the more striking if one considers God's intricate and unfathomable "parenting" and sustaining of humanity.

Clearly that demand for a loan isnt due to a shortage in God's treasury, the possesor of the means by which all things in the heavens and the earth are continuously sustained 15:21. He increases whatever meager ammount given in "loan" exponentially and eternally and He is the One to have given the wealth in the first place. Despite the fact that everything we have is really Allah's, Allah has established a system where he pays back with interest whatever the borrower has been entrusted with if he spends it as ordained by Allah. It is the opposite of riba 
2:276"Allah erases "riba", and He "yurbi" what is given in charity".
Again in the same spirit of tremendous generosity, despite God being the ultimate owner to whom all things eventually return, God describes Himself as "buying" with Paradise, the life of the righteous when they willingly "sell" it to Him by living all the aspect of their lives in God-consciousness 9:111,35:29-30,61:10.

Spending in the way of Allah, as prescribed by Him pleases Him because it is a source of great benefit to His creatures 
2:265"for the strengthening of their souls"
individually and socially 
2:272"and whatever good thing you spend, it is to your own good; and you do not spend but to seek Allah's pleasure". 
The use of the word zakat, steming from z-k-w is very appropriate in such context. Zakat is an act of charity causing the person to mature and bear spiritual fruit 2:261-2,23:1-4. That is why the hypocritical charity or the one done injuriously to the receiver are not only considered void but actually a sin; the aim of zakat isnt solely to answer an external abstract or concrete need but most importantly to raise the giver spiritually. It delivers one's soul from what the Quran considers as among the pitfalls of mankind; avarice and covetousness, the blind pursuit and attachement to worldy benefits. It creates a sense that such assets are in fact tools to achieve spiritual growth 64:15-16.

Whatever pleases Allah does so because of the direct and indirect benefit of a prescribed action on His servants 
39:7"And if you are grateful, He likes it for you". 
This particular verse when it was recited to the believers in Medina, was mocked by the people who considered that it is not theirs but God's duty to feed the poor 36:47, as well as mocked by the Jews 3:181. Allah to them was depicted as poor, seeking to borrow from the rich. They went on boasting of their riches -acquired mostly through their usurious transactions- as compared to the humble assemblies of people close to the prophet, as well as the rest of the believers who were mostly poor to begin with or had sacrificed their wordly belongings to migrate away from the persecution 
5:64"And the Jews say: The hand of Allah is tied up..Nay, both His hands are spread out, He expends as He pleases". 
Here, besides illustrating the materialistic world view where wealth, ease, and status are synonymous with divine approval, Allah is assuring those narrow minded accusers that He will enrich the Muslims materially as well as spiritually. Allah is unambiguously in the Quran the Self Sufficient, Provider of bounties. More particularly in the context of charity and spending in His way the Quran stresses that Allah is Rich. That is why He stands in no need of insincere charity, especially if followed by injury to the receiver, giving him something while increasing his emotional ruin 2:263-4,89:17. This last verse puts honor or any emotional consideration through words of kindness, consolation, affability and guidance to the needy as the foremost requirement due to them. It is only after honor has been given, that physical/material support may be released. 

As reflected in the Hebrew Bible in 
Prov13:8,14:13"The ransom of a man's soul is his wealth, as long as the poor man has not heard a rebuke..He who oppresses a poor man blasphemes his Maker, but he who favors a poor man honors Him". 
The aim of such command is therefore like all commands by Allah for the bettering of the soul and the improvement of our humanity. The gesture in itself, devoid of its human and spiritual import misses the higher purpose 
2:267"O you who believe! spend (benevolently) of the good things that you earn and or what We have brought forth for you out of the earth, and do not aim at what is bad that you may spend (in alms) of it, while you would not take it yourselves unless you have its price lowered, and know that Allah is Self-sufficient, Praiseworthy."

Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "Turning the Tables Pt. 5"
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Sam Shamoun "The Prophet of Shirk Strikes Once Again!"


Ellipsis is a well known feature of Quranic sentence construction.
9:31"They have taken their rabbis and their monks (as) Lords besides Allah and the Messiah, son (of) Maryam. And not they were commanded except that they worship One God. (There) is no god except Him. Glory be to Him from what they associate (with Him)."

The ellipsis allows for a more concise statement. Rendered fully it would be
9:31"They have taken their rabbis and their monks (as) Lords besides Allah and the Messiah, son (of) Maryam has been taken too as Lord besides Allah. And not they were commanded except that they worship One God. (There) is no god except Him. Glory be to Him from what they associate (with Him)."

The verse warns to worship only one God, besides Whom there are none and Who has no associates. It would have made no sense to include that warning had it meant that Allah and Jesus are to be worshiped together. Jesus' deification is on a different level than that of the religious scholars. It was appropriate for the verse to mention him appart from that group, especially considering the message of divine unity at the end.

Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "The Prophet of Shirk Strikes Once Again!"
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Sam Shamoun "How Many Gods Are There in the Quran?"



"Helping Allah" does not denote weakness. One may ask another for help in order to test his commitment and reward him, not necessarily out of need. It is the case in those verses, pointing to Allah's self sufficiency as they end with an emphasis on His might 
22:38-41"Allah will help him who helps His cause; most surely Allah is Strong, Mighty". 
This passage for instance speaks of helping Allah on the battlefield and for the defence of religious sites, mosques, churches and temples where His glorious name is mentionned. Besides the verse's end with a reminder of His all encompassing power, the preceding verses make it clear that 
"Allah will defend those who believe" 
and that 
"Allah is well able to assist them". 
Allah therefore is not in need of human help, and victory only comes from Him. Should the believers help Allah, He will establish and reward them 
22:41"Those who, should We establish them in the land, will keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and enjoin good and forbid evil; and Allah's is the end of affairs". 
There are thus indicators in the context, the wider sura, let alone the Quran as a whole, on how to understand those Quranic terminologies. One finds similar wordings in previous scriptures. YHWH, through His angel, curses the inhabitants of a village that did not come to God' help at the battlfield 
Judges5:23"Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.'" 
Helping the Lord is a metonym for helping the Israelites in performing His will. 

In 48:7 it says that 
"And Allah's are the hosts of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is Mighty, Wise"
 then 2 verses later speaks of helping Allah. But that does not mean the outcome of the battle hangs on whether the believers help Allah or not. God will ultimately grant the believers victory and reward them 
48:16"You shall soon be invited (to fight) against a people possessing mighty prowess; you will fight against them until they submit; then if you obey, Allah will grant you a good reward". 
Concretely, this "help to Allah" is done by assisting His divine representative in any given task 
48:18"Certainly Allah was well pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquillity on them and rewarded them with a near victory". 
The whole sura fath, contains verses emphasizing that Allah grants victory and reward to those that "help him", meaning that this "help" is only a matter of test 
48:21"Allah has surely encompassed them, and Allah has power over all things".
 Jesus' request to his close circle makes it clear that helping Allah is helping His representative against the opponents and for the establishment of truth 
61:14"O you who believe! be helpers of Allah, as Isa son of Marium said to (his) disciples: Who are my helpers to Allah? The disciples said: We are helpers to Allah". 
Again in sura Hadid it encourages spending in Allah's way all the while making it clear that Allah already owns all things 
"And what reason have you that you should not spend in Allah's way? And Allah's is the inheritance of the heavens and the earth". 
It then speaks of God making available items of warfare as a means of testing those that will help Him and His representative even although 
57:25"surely Allah is Strong, Mighty". 
Allah therefore is in no need of that help, rather requests it so as to test the commitment of the believers and reward them both in this world and the next. In Sura Baqara, after encouraging the believers to defend themselves through the stories of past nations who were commanded likewise to fight in Allah's way, after calling them to contribute to the war effort anyway they can, the Quran ends with a set of verses, the most emphatic being ayat ul kursi 2:255. It reminding the believers that Allah is all powerful sustaining the universe despite its apparent complexities and moments of chaos. He could immidiately end all differences but has decreed that people should arrive to the truth by their own will after it has been clarified 2:256.

The believers receive the religion of Allah through the prophet, he therefore represents the religion and the believers are told to help him while the Quran never says that the prophet is the believer's helper 8:72,9:40,47:7,59:8,7:157. This set of verses shows that supporting Allah means establishing and applying the way revealed to His prophet. This "helping" is a test. Whether one assists Allah or not, the outcome will eventually conform to His will, when all things return to their Creator.

Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "How Many Gods Are There in the Quran?"
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Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Sam Shamoun "Original Forgiveness – Did Original Sin Really End with Adam?" (2)


In 7:170-179,46:27 Allah explains that 
"We make clear the communications, and that haply they might return". 
The concept of returning to God implies that the instinctive ability to perceive His existence is in human nature 7:172, and that man's turning away from Him is an unnatural consequence of his spiritual degeneration. In other instances Allah says that this Quran is "their" reminder, ie with the aim of bringing them back to their true uncorrupted nature that must lead them to recognize divine guidance, bring them back to the way from which they have deviated 23:71,74. 

It is a pervasive notion seen in many Quranic terminologies, as for example the inaba/returning to God 30:33 where the Arabic derived from "noub" means returning again to something. This is because the most fundamental Quranic teaching is that man’s nature is hardwired with monotheism and theology, while polytheism is alien to it. 

The concept of Allah "misguiding" is then introduced, through the parable 
7:175"of him to whom We give Our communications, but he withdraws himself from them, so the Shaitan overtakes him, so he is of those who go astray". 
Because they first turned their backs to the guiding light leading them to the straigth path, and followed a different path, disputed about Allah without knowledge and deliberately misused and misinterpreted His guidance, innovated in religion 6:140,22:4,74:31 the shaitan/evil entities among the men and jinns managed to overtake them and lead them further away from the correct path. Such people are 
"unjust to their own souls" 
and indulging in spiritual self-destruction, willfuly opening up the door to the whisperings of evil beings. They are responsible for their straying and the statement that Allah causes their "idlal" means He abandons them altogether to thread the wrong path they have freely decided to walk on despite all warnings to the contrary 
7:178,186"Whomsoever Allah causes to be lost/yudil, there is no guide for him; and He leaves them alone in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on". 
In the background in which the Quran was revealed, the word idlal from d-l-l carried strong implications, since being lost in the desert would most often result in a painful death.
Once truth has been clearly made distinct from error, a volitional entity cannot be coerced into accepting a proposition against its will 2:256,18:29. God "misguides" them by removing His guidance 53:30, providing them what they wish for and leaving them to walk the path they freely choose 
2:257,7:30"A part has He guided aright and (as for another) part, error is justly their due, surely they took the Shaitans for guardians beside Allah, and they think that they are followers of the right". 
At that point, rejection of the right path, causes one to enter into a path where warnings and signs of truth, the light of guidance and the correct spiritual direction are absent 
24:40,59:19,64:6,9:67"they have forsaken Allah, so He has forsaken them". 
The only active guidance left on that path is that from the evil guardians spoken of above, now more than readily taken as open friends, yet they truly are the weakest of all guardians 29:41. The feebleness of their opposition is likened in 9:32 to the puff from a person's mouth attempting to extinguish a strong light. No matter their plots and machinations looking complex and elaborate on the outside, they are as a spider's web taken away by a breeze, while Allah's guardianship which they have rejected is 
31:22"the firmest thing upon which one can lay hold"
 elsewhere described as an extended rope of salvation which the believers are urged to hold fast by 3:101-3,4:175,22:78 and warned not to sell for a small price once they have tied themselves with it, to God 2:27,3:77,5:7.
As demonstrated through the history of previous nations upon whom revelation was bestowed, as soon as they forsook their covenant with God, they became disunited and their comunity disintegrated. This disunion is counted in the Quran as a divine punishement 6:65. The use of the spider's web, as well as other insect habitations, to convey the sense of fraility of a false system is found in previous scriptures too Job8:14,27:18. 

Allah's guardianship is the strongest foundation upon which one can build his spirituality 
9:109"Is he, therefore, better who lays his foundation on fear of Allah and (His) good pleasure, or he who lays his foundation on the edge of a cracking hollowed bank, so it broke down with him into the fire of hell; and Allah does not guide the unjust people". 
Allah remains the Watcher over them despite them having rejected His guardianship and turned away, thinking they have any ability to really choose a protector other than the sole keeper of all that exists 42:6,9,48. 

Clearly, Allah's turning away from those who initially willfully turned away from His guidance, is what causes their misguidance. Just as with divine guidance, divine misguidance is always contingent on an initial willful action. The lights of guidance are turned off, not haphazardly but in consequence of persistent rejection, which leaves nothing but darkness. That is the definition of divine misguidance/abandonement 
10:11"We leave those alone who hope not for Our meeting in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on".
 As plainly stated in 7:170-179, Allah sends guidance to all indiscriminately so He cannot be spoken of as arbitrarily "leading astray" as stated here regarding the Thamud nation 
41:17"We showed them the right way, but they chose error above guidance". 

The objects of idlal are therefore always those who have already turned away and chose the wrong path
 14:27,40:34,68:7"Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course" 
or 
45:23"Allah has made him err having knowledge" 
ie knowing what he has done previously to deserve being left in error 
"him who takes his low desire for his god". 
When the prophet David in the HB admonishes the entire nation through his own son Solomon, he very eloquently describes this notion. God sends guidance to all but does not insist on those that shut themselves to it 
1Chr28:9"And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father and worship Him with a whole heart and with an eager soul, for the Lord seeks all hearts, and He understands the thoughts of every creation; if you seek Him, He will be found to you, and if you forsake Him, He will abandon you forever".

Similarly in 7:16,15:39 after Iblis' curse, he says it is Allah who "ighwa" -literally "made him err". How was this done? Indirectly and not arbitrarily, not by compeling Iblis to sin but by puting him in a situation where his own arrogance and prejudice were exposed. The choice was of course his, to either obey or disobey the command. He chose rebellion and his reasons given to God after he was given the chance to explain himself were evil and totally unjustified.

This is a central theme in the Quran, that God aids all people in the direction that they want to take. The notion is also present throughout the HB, as in 
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Sam Shamoun "Original Forgiveness – Did Original Sin Really End with Adam?" (1)


In accordance with the divinely established system of freewill, guidance is a condition of Allah's will in the sense that He has decreed that He will guide only those who seek guidance. This is a very common Quranic terminology, for example it is stated that God grants success in the hereafter to 
22:14"those who believe and do good deeds" 
and the sentence ends with 
"Allah does what He pleases".
Doing what He pleases in relation to success in the hereafter does not mean designating people haphazardly or arbitrarily regardless of their condition, but it means doing what He pleases in regards to the decreeing of laws and enforcing them, laws according to which 
"Allah will cause those who believe and do good deeds to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow".
Divine guidance is a grace from God with which He rewards all who desire to be guided, reflecting that desire through certain sincere actions 
28:56,24:46"from on high have We bestowed messages clearly showing the truth; but God guides onto a straight way [only] him that wills [to be guided]". 
The ever recurrent divine statement 
"Allah yahdi man yasha" 
lit. means 
"Allah guides whom wills". 
Linguistically, it can equally be rendered as 
"Allah guides whom He wills" 
but it is closer both implicitly and explicitly to 
"Allah guides whom wills to be guided" 
since there are instances where the phrase is used with God as the direct subject 74:56. Both renditions still however carry the same meaning: Allah knows those who are willing and deserving His spiritual guidance and He will grant it to them 
28:56"Allah guides whom He will/Allah yahdi man yasha and He knows best those who are willing to be guided". 
This is the major point often missed by non-Muslims coming across this peculiar Quranic terminology, as well as some Muslims themselves who advocate predestination; the overarching principle in terms of freewill and causality is that God does as He said He will do, not as others want him to do. This is the meaning of God doing "what He wills". The prophets throughout the Quran have captured that notion to their people, including Jesus 
5:116"If You should punish them - indeed they are Your servants; but if You forgive them - indeed it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise". 
God doing "what He wills" to His creatures is connected to His might and wisdom; He will never do an injustice to anyone 
4:40"Surely Allah does not do injustice to the weight of an atom, and if it is a good deed He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward".
Further, by making the "release" of guidance strictly in God's will, contingent upon criteria He alone validates, leaves no room for pride, boldness and complacency in anyone regarding the matter. The expression appears in similar contexts in order to negate all prejudice, when speaking of forgiveness 5:18 or prophetic guidance 3:73-4.

It is a central theme of the Quran, sometimes inside a larger sura or in the form of an entire sura as in the fatiha, to teach the believer how to seek Allah's guidance. 
 
Man has to first choose by himself the basic guidance that has been made available to all human beings, as pledged to Adam, in various forms such as revelations or scriptures 
4:174"O People, surely there has come to you manifest proof from your Lord and We have sent to you clear light". 
This verse manifests the supplicant's prayer in sura fatiha, where he asks God for guidance towards the right way. After having been exposed to this indiscriminate divine guidance, one is free to accept it as there is no coercion in religion 2:256,18:29. The finding of the right direction therefore originates first through man's own choice and inner struggle 
47:17,91:7-8,13:11"surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition". 
Once that basic, indiscriminate guidance is accepted, God further increases in guidance those that seek Him 
3:101,4:175"Then as for those who believe in Allah and hold fast by Him, He will cause them to enter into His mercy and grace and guide them to Himself on a right path". 
This is Allah's internal guidance. It is contingent on man's initial willingness to be guided, which is reflected in deeds and attitude. Countless verses reflect that notion including 2:213,4:69,5:16, 6:117,10:9,12:22,19:76,28:56,29:69,31:4-5,42:13,53:30,58:22,64:11,68:7 and many more verses where Allah declares that He best knows who are the followers of the right way and strive therein from those who choose to go astray, those who incline to truth, who obey and believe in Him, the doers of good, worship Him with certainty of heart, those who turn to Him and those who give priority to true faith above any other principle that may contradict it. These are the people that He guides, impresses faith on their hearts, bestows on them wisdom and knowledge 28:14 (as similarly stated by Solomon in Prov2:7), His mercy and grace 4:70,175. 

These are the ones whose breasts are expanded so as to give them inner certainty and create a favorable receptacle for guidance 6:125,18:13,39:22-23. The most eminent of prophets such as Moses and Muhammad similarly had their chest expanded as they set themselves to face the tyrants of their times 20:25,94:1. The servants of God are further tranquilized, healed, and strengthened in their hearts 10:57,48:4. Just as the believing youths who had fled their land on account of the religious persecution and hid in a cave were increased and established in guidance 18:13-4. Solomon in the HB stated concerning God's guidance 
Prov3:8"it shall be healing for your navel and marrow for your bones". 
Long before, as Solomon was placed on the throne and shouldered with the responsibility of building the Temple, David his father admonished the nation through him, reminding him of that notion of conditional divine guidance 
1Chr28:9"And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father and worship Him with a whole heart and with an eager soul, for the Lord seeks all hearts, and He understands the thoughts of every creation; if you seek Him, He will be found to you, and if you forsake Him, He will abandon you forever".

God's communications become self-evident to the rightly guided 29:49, making their "steps firm" 14:27,47:7 during their ascent to moral heights. Although this ascent may seem like an uphill climb, it ultimately leads to a pure, happy and fulfilled life for the God-conscious, whether in this world or the next 16:97,90:11-18,92:7. 

Those that reject Resurrection and the Hereafter on the other hand live in mental torture as regards the higher meanings of all occurrences in this life 34:7-8. Contrary to those whose hearts are at peace and who walk firmly the path of this world, evil entities make the disbelievers' step "slippery" 3:155, an imagery employed in previous scriptures Jer23:12,Ps35:6 and sometimes attributed to God Ps73:18. This is because the righteous' way is enlightened while the one of the wicked is dark and crooked regardless of his perception of it, as here stated by Solomon 
Prov5:18-19"But the way of the righteous is like the light of dawn; it shines ever brighter until the day is perfect. The way of the wicked is like pitch darkness; they do not know on what they stumble". 

The notion of God guiding the righteous who walk in His way, making their steps firm by leveling and smoothing their path is expressed in the Hebrew Bible Isa26:7,Ps4:8,18:33,27:11,143:8,Jer31:8. David supplicated God for that 
Ps5:9"O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness; because of those who lie in wait for me, make Your way straight before me". 
The effect was that God
 Ps18:37"enlarged my step[s] beneath me, and my ankles have not slipped". 
Solomon depicted the one who attains spiritual and moral heights 
Prov3:23"Then you shall go securely on your way, and your foot shall not stumble". 
The prophet Habakkuk said concerning the uplifting nature of divine guidance 
Hab3:19"The Sovereign Lord is my strength, He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights".
The rightly guided ones are given a clear discernement of right and wrong during that process 
6:122,7:201,47:17,57:28"and make for you a light with which you will walk". 
It is God-consciousness that prevents man from being misled into the path of the spiritually unaware. Elsewhere the Quran is very appropriately referred to as al-Furqan/the Criterion, precisely for its endowing the believer with the correct insight to discriminate between right and wrong 
25:1,45:20"This (Quran) is visions for the people and guidance and mercy for a people who are certain"
 and answer the call of 
8:24"that which gives you life; and know that Allah intervenes between man and his heart". 
In a hadith, the prophet Muhammad quotes Allah 
"My servant continues to draw closer to Me with voluntary acts of worship until he becomes beloved to Me. And when I love him, I become the hearing with which he hears, and the seeing with which he sees". 
It is interesting to note that in the hereafter, this spiritual light will become physical light. Only those who possessed it in this life will be able to use it to find their way in the hereafter. That sharpness of spiritual insight endowed upon those God deems fit is such that faith and righteousness become the dearest of values while unbelief and transgression become hated 49:7-8. 

Love of Truth and aversion towards everything false and sinful is the natural outcome of the acceptance of the straight path. One becomes in a heightened state of spiritual awareness, constantly longing to be increased in divine knowledge and wisdom. It is however important to keep in view that the Quran here is not speaking of hatred towards the sinful person itself. There are countless verses encouraging rectitude and compassion indiscriminately even towards one's enemies, and regardless of the person's religion or lack thereof. Religious hatred is hatred for evil and evil deeds. This again, demonstrates the supreme pragmatism of the Quran; infatuated love and destructive hatred completely miss the mark. One hates for the sake of God and loves for the sake of God. One hates the evil deed because it harms the sinner, just as one loves the good deed because it brings one closer to guidance. 

The HB surely echoes the theme of religious hatred although it amalgamates hatred towards the individual itself as reflected in David's 
Psalms119:104-5,139:21-22"From Your precepts I shall gain understanding; therefore, I hate all ways of falsehood. Your words are a lamp for my foot, and light for my path...Did I not hate Your enemies, O Lord? With those who rise up against You, I quarrel. I hate them with utmost hatred; they have become my enemies". 

Solomon reflected that notion too Proverbs2:7-10,13:5. Again in 2Sam22, the prophet David speaks of God's guidance as the lamp by which one walks in darkness, levelling the obstacles along the path, 
making every step firm, a rock, forteress and shield of salvation. In his later days, he would state 
Ps19:9"the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes". 
It is obedience to God's commandements, meaning initial action and proof of submission to the divine will, that then causes one's inner self to be lit up. And just as transgression is hated by the upright, to turn away from it is just as hated by the spiritually dead Prov13:19.

The Quran, which repeatedly says it is a guidance for mankind, also says that its guidance is conditional on the internal disposition of the one who approaches it. That internal disposition is nurtured through deep reflection on the physical signs in the heavens and the earth, leading one to acknowledgement the unseen realities, such as a higher purpose of existence, the existence of a Creator and the inevitable return to Him. Finally one has to display sincerity in his thoughts and deeds, which characterizes itself through the person's readiness to put the revealed teachings into practice 2:1-4,45:1-6.

The same is stated by Jesus in his sermon Matt5 where he describes the bestowal of God's spiritual blessings as being contingent on righteousness and spiritual awareness. He says the same in the bags of gold parable where a master favors his servants with wealth proportionate to their abilities, like God favors his servants whom he graces with guidance depending on their degree of spiritual awareness. The more God-conscious in their faith and behavior, the more they are granted spiritual insight. The spiritually blind get nothing and are kept away from guidance as often stated by Jesus Mk4:10-12,Matt7:6,13:13-15.

Similarly to "Allah yahdi man yasha", in 42:13 Allah says that 
"yahdi man yunib" 
meaning 
"he who turns". 
Just like "man yasha", "man yunib" must be referring to the people not to Allah, because they are doing the action of Inabah (turning to Allah) 
13:27"Surely Allah makes him who will go astray, and guides to Himself those who turn (to Him)/man anaba". 
Therefore similarly "man yashaa", must mean those who already believe and who want to be guided by Allah 
22:54"and most surely Allah is the Guide (hadi) of those who believe, into a right path". 
That Quranic expression "Allah yahdi man yasha" or "Allah yahdi man yunib" is also used in other variants such as "Allah yahdi man yurid" and demonstrates again that principle of Allah guiding whom wills to be guided. For example in 6:104 Allah states that each one is free to follow the communications when they come to them and then through 22:16 Allah declares to have sent the Quran containing clear arguments, Allah guides through it "man yurid"/he who wills.
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Sam Shamoun "Allah and his Messenger Fail A Scientific Test"


There are several wordings of this hadith. 

It occurred when Umm Sulaim, a woman from the Ansar, boldly came to the prophet 
"Messenger of God, God is not ashamed of the truth. Is any washing necessary for a woman when she has a sexual dream?” 
The prophet tells her women, like men, should purify if they see the liquid discharge when they wake up. Umm Salama the prophet's wife, who was also present, felt ashamed about the topic of discussion, trying to pass off the notion of wet dreams for females as something she was unaware off 
"You have embarrassed the women. Do women experience wet dreams?". 
Aisha, who was also present, was equally embarrassed, telling the questionner 
"May your hand be covered with dust and injured". 
The prophet rebuked them both 
"Leave her alone. In what way does the child resemble her but for the fact that when her water/MAA' is dominant, the born child resembles his maternal uncles but if the water/MAA' of the man was dominant, the born child should resemble his paternal uncles". 
Water is a very general term that can mean several things in that context, including sperm, vaginal discharge, follicular fluid, and even genes. In other versions of the hadith, there is clarification of the discharge that is meant as being involved in genetics 
"Muslim added in the version of Umm Sulaim, "The man’s liquid is coarse and white, the woman’s fine and yellow, so the resemblance comes from the one which prevails or comes first". 
What transpires from this is the prophet's cool-headed response despite the awkwardness of the moment. He tells the woman what to do in her situation then follows by rhetorically rebuking his condescending wives; he confirms the notion of female wet dreams during which discharge may be emitted, then, further presses on the very topic of female discharge which his wives found embarrassing, by saying which type of liquid is involved in genetics. 

This idea of dominance as a factor that determines physical attributes in a future child is seen in a similar hadith that occurs on a different occasion 
"The water of the man is white and the water/MAA' of the woman is yellow. When they get together, if the sperm/MANNI of the man dominates the sperm/MANNI of the woman, the child is male, by the permission of Allah, and if the sperm of the woman dominates the sperm of the man, the child is a female by the permission of Allah". 
The Arabic "manni" never refers to female secretion, but only to the male's. For a woman it is maa', as in the first part of the hadith. Here again the idea of dominance is implied. Sperm carries male and female chromosomes. At some point, within one sperm cell, one of the chromosomes is inactivated in favour of another who then becomes dominant. The future child's gender is therefore determined, among other things, by whether a sperm with a dominant gender characteristic overcomes the sperm with the opposite dominant gender characteristic.

Interestingly the prophet mentioned that physical traits also go beyond the direct implication of the parents
“A man from Banu Fazarah came to the Messenger of Allah, and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, my wife has given birth to a black boy! The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Do you have camels?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘What color are they?’ He said: ‘Red.’ He said: ‘Are there any grey ones among them?’ He said: ‘Yes, there are some grey ones among them.’ He said: ‘Where does that come from?’ He said: ‘Perhaps it is hereditary.’ He said: ‘Likewise, perhaps this is hereditary! “
In another narration, the prophet attributed a woman's impregnation/sowing to one partner, regardless of being "watered" by different men while pregnant 
"It is not lawful for a man who believes in God and the last day to water what another has sown with his water". 
It is an ethically, morally detestable thing to do even though physically, the most a sexual partner's semen can do in this case is to "water" what has already been sown. 
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